I’m 29 but I get told I look 18-19. And the people who tell me this regularly see a lot of people on the daily, from police officers to nurses to salon workers. When I tell them my actual age they literally gasp or laugh at me. The older I get, the more pronounced their reaction is. Doctors were saying “you definitely have something wrong, I can tell just by looking at you” but then the hormonal results all came back normal and they just shrugged. Another weird thing is anti-loitering devices hurt my ears, and those aren’t supposed to affect people older than 20.

  • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    It’s a great superpower. In my 30s I got to experience my 20s (I pretty much wasted those years working) and had a bunch of early/mid 20 friends. I didn’t stand out. Everyone thought I was their age, but I had the brain of a 30++ year old so men couldn’t take advantage of me. It was awesome. Had I done that in my actual 20s, I would’ve made a lot of mistakes…

  • RBWells@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    Yeah I tell people when they ask, they gasp, but then they forget. It’s mostly people younger than me who do this, though. And when I was 12 people often perceived me as a grown woman (I was tall. Didn’t even have my period yet, just the height and my overall look and face I guess read ‘adult’) but just stayed the same for a long time. I am aging, I can see it. But nobody seems to think I look like their idea of my age.

    We have an intern at our work who does look like a 13 year old. I think he’s 21 or so but really does look like a child. I can imagine it’s annoying.

  • VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world
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    Another weird thing is anti-loitering devices hurt my ears, and those aren’t supposed to affect people older than 20.

    That assumes that your hearing is damaged at the average rate. Don’t blast your music or TV and wear hearing protection when using a lawnmower or other loud device and you can keep hearing those high pitched sounds into your thirties.

    • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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      I didn’t realize anti loitering devices were a thing. What part of the world are they used?

      • Panda@lemmy.today
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        Yeah I’m 36 and can hear them as well. They’re so annoying and give me a headache. :-/

      • Siethron@lemmy.world
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        34 here and have occasionally felt the need to punch random people who are experimenting with those in public because they can’t hear it.

    • grissino@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      I remember, in my teens, being able to hear CRT screens when they were on (without of course seeing the screen), sometimes even from the adjoining room. But I haven’t had the chance to be next to one in almost 20 years so I can’t know if I still have this ability.

    • HasturInYellow@lemmy.world
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      It’s a part of your inner ear that calcifies as you age. It doesn’t harden for everyone. But most people around mid 20s

  • Melvin_Ferd@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    I have the same problem with being handsome. I’m just really really good lookin. Nobody believes it. When I meet people and tell them I’m really good looking, they’re like no way. My doctor wouldn’t send me for tests but was shocked.

    • Beacon@fedia.io
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      2 days ago

      Yeah same thing with my cock, people expect it’s gonna be around average size and then they ask me what size it is and they’re shocked when i reveal that it’s ten inches. What a burden.

  • Maestro@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    Eh, I’m 45 and anti-loitering bothers me as well. Also, anti-mosquito sound devices that some people put in their yards. And cheap USB wall warts.

  • ApollosArrow@lemmy.world
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    You’re not… supposed to tell these mortals about being immortal… it’s literally in the first page of the handbook.

  • BombOmOm@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Please go submit yourself to the agency for anti-aging research. The world needs you!

  • Today@lemmy.world
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    I used to get that a lot. I was constantly carded. Once they wouldn’t sell to me, even with my ID, because I had the babysitter with me and they thought we were both underage trying to buy alcohol. When I was about 25 I started adding10 years to my age when people asked, just to see the reaction.

    • RBWells@lemmy.world
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      Yeah my brother said you should always tell people you are older than you are, so that they think you look good for your age.

    • NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de
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      When I was about 25 I started adding10 years to my age when people asked, just to see the reaction.

      I love it. This is the way.

  • BlameThePeacock@lemmy.ca
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    2 days ago

    Had the same problem, now I’ve got a touch of grey hair at my temples and it has helped immensely.

    I got carded for alchohol up into my late 30s.

    • Apepollo11@lemmy.world
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      Same - growing a beard helped massively too.

      Once I started working, I used to grow a beard every winter - mainly because I got bored with shaving every day. I noticed that once I had my beard, I never got age-checked, when I shaved it off, I’d still be asked.

      Mind you, I’ve had a beard for eleven years now - who knows how haggard I look underneath nowadays!

  • subignition@fedia.io
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    2 days ago

    Even if it’s annoying now, future you will miss the lost youth later! I can imagine it being annoying when dating though especially if you’re more mature than most of the people you attract

  • toomanypancakes@piefed.world
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    2 days ago

    I had that problem until the bags under my eyes gave me away, nobody’s surprised anymore. Just gotta give it time.

  • cobysev@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    When I was a kid, I always got confused for an adult. Nobody believed I was a minor. I once got confused for a college student when I was just about to graduate from elementary school.

    Now I’m 41 and I have the opposite problem. Everyone thinks I’m in my late 20s/early 30s. Even with a white patch on my beard, people still think I’m just a young man who’s going gray young.

    It doesn’t help that I retired at 38 years old. No one believes me when I say I’m already retired. I’ve had a few people ask me if I’m just living with my parents and calling it “retired.” Ha!