Younger and Older
Maybe it’s just a function of my advancing age, but I’m convinced that the people in the world around me are all getting younger; everyone, that is, except for girls in their late teens.
As an aside, I feel the need to say at this point that I have a rule. If you are 20, you can, without fear of recrimination, call any female under the age of 16 a “girl.” However, to maintain political correctness, you must use the term “young woman” for females 16 to 18, inclusive, and “woman” for females older than 18.
However, according to another component of my rule, if you are older than 20, the “young woman” and “woman” thresholds advance by a year for every ten years you are beyond 20. I’m 57, so I can get away with calling any female under the age of 19 a girl. I still have to call 19-year-olds “young women,” but I don’t have to call them women until they pass the age of 21. Once I hit 60, I will be able, in full political correctness, to include the entire range of teenage years under the “girl” label. But I digress.
I swear that the people I see strolling on sidewalks, chatting in coffee shops, shopping in malls, clerking in stores, dining in bistros, serving in restaurants, or whatever are at least 10 and probably 20 years younger than the people doing those things when I was 20 years old or younger.
At the same time, what the hell is going on with girls? When did girls in their late teens get to be so mature? And were they that physically well-endowed when I was a young lad? I don’t think so.
Of course, I’m just making an observation here. I don’t want you to get the impression that I’m having any lewd thoughts about late-teen girls. It would be perverse for a man of my age to get romantically involved with someone that young. Then again, until I hit 60, 19-year-olds are still young women, not girls. I’m just saying.
Categorised as: aging
I don’t think it matters so much what you call them – as long as you still think about calling them.
Therein lies the problem. I always think about calling them, but I never do.
I can say nothing. My husband is more than a decade younger than I am and I still describe people his age (and younger) as kids, gender notwithstanding.
And we’ve been happily married nearly eight years.
Robbed the cradle, did you? I’m happy that you’re happy and I hope that you have many more years of happiness.
If you are a woman, and about my age, you can get away with calling other women younger than you a girl. But, you are right, a guy would be considered not politically correct to do so.
Well penned and I wholeheartedly agree~
I have a very smart Cairn Terrier who was my first indoor dog. I wish I had known my other dogs so well. She is sweet, and she sometimes signs with a little squeek when I cover her up. She also loves to play with bubbles and round up water. She loves her ball and to bark at the neighbor’s dog through the fence. She is a problem solver and much more intelligent than what I ever imagined a dog to be.
I don’t worry about the redemption of my terrier. They don’t have to deal with the way God handles fallen man, through election of just a few to eternal life. I worry much more about my family than I do about my terrier.