We are all growing up.  This really kind of sucks.  But how has this whole
"adult becoming" process affected you?  How has it affcted what you say, do,
or who you talk to?  How does it affect friendships?

220 responses total.

Wow!  I'd been thinking of entering an item like this too.  I became an
"adult" a little less than a week ago, and a lot is the same, and a lot of
stuff is now different.  For one thing, I'm now considered legally
responsable enough to do things without having to get my parents'
permission (not that getting their permission to do things was ever a
problem), and I'm now allowed to register to vote as soon as I make it
over to the Secretary of State's office (which I plan to do RSN).  A lot
of stuff is still the same, too.  I still have the same jobs, the same
school schedule, the same friends, and things like that.  I'm especially
glad about the last one.  I'm not sure how different it's going to be in
the long run.  I think growing up is a much bigger process than just the
one birthday when it is legally recognized as happening.

but it's more then just turning 18...it's the sudden facing of the real world,
going off to collage, etc

Yeah, but I haven't done that yet, or haven't gone off to college anyway. 
I'm still not sure exactly what the real world is, or how much of it I've
faced.

reality is   differentforeverybody (sorry...damn space bar only works every
now and then.)

You guys know me in real life.  I'm 21.
I AM NEVER GROWING UP!!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHA
Never.
I plan on being this way forever.
Heeee!
Eric

growing up seems to involve a combination of being financially self-reliant
and planning for the future in specific terms.  i am doing moderately well
in the former but the latter continues to elude me, even though i have a
retirement plan through my employment benefits program.

I am 18 as of two weeks ago today.  I'm still financially reliant on my parents
and probably will be (for tuition, etc) for at least another two and a half 
years, depending on whether I graduate in three or four years.  So far being
18 is not really different, since I don't smoke, don't go to nightclubs or
other age-limited places, and I don't really care *who* gets elected governor
of anything.  Except I hope my friend Nick gets elected student body president
just because student council would be ridiculously screwed up  ;)

  I think that this is a situation of preconceptions chanigng with time.
Today people live longer and live more untraditionally.  I know of several 
friends who had to move back home after college for fo
financial reasons.  In the old days people got married young and set upon
a specific course, but today the world is much more crowded and the
job market is not nearly as stable.  And we have found out that the 
dreams our parents had are not necessarily the dreams that we have for
ourselves How many of you reading this really want a house in the 'burbs and a
25-year mortgage?  I personally wouldnt live in the 'burbs again unless I had a
gun pointed to my head?

We should never grow up! We should fight and rebel and be whoever the hell
we want to be, and we should use the pursuit of those ideals as a way to
stay young.  I have friends who are in their 40s who are as young as 
any of my college-age friends.  It really is all in the mind.
                                                RICH
/HLEP

I don`t think we should ever GROW up!!  I will be 40 this summer and my wife
still tells me on a regular basis that I need to grow up and act my age. To
hell with that!! Stay young and think young never GROW UP

Amen, Jemmie.
I'm 27, still haven't "grown up" yet.
There are a few issues involved though, and financial responsibility is
such a small part of becoming an adult human ... we've come to equating
financial independence with releasing our sense of wonder, joy, and playful-
ness at the world.  I need to become financial independent, but not if it 
means becoming stoic and stodgy (and it doesn't need to:  I just haven't
figured out how to yet :)

Some people, like me, have been TRYING for some twenty-four years to at
least grow up a little bit.  There's a lot involved to this growing up
stuff, and it's all such a gradual thing.  I don't think you could put
your finger on any exact moment when you could say that you had become
an adult.
As for me, I'm not sure I'll ever become an adult fully.
I don't like the requirements.

The growing ujp process gets strange if you leave home around the recognized
age of accountablity for some reason. . .I certainly am a bit different
here at school that I am at home.
I'm still wondering how I'm going to explain thie tatto to my mother when
she picks me up at the end of next quarter.
At least I don't have to worry about it tyhis weekend.

the TATTOO?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

you are forgetting to mention smething to me, i think.....

and i caon't wait for you to get here1!!!

Bhell- so are you still going to get it her in A2?  Still want me to come with?

bhell:  you're going to be home this weekend too?  Cool!  Give me a call 
or something  :)

Well, I'm 18 as of three days before lynne (sorry, I had to) and as of
next year, I will be financially independant of my parents.  I don't plan
very well, but I am learning.  Turning 18 was sort of anticlimactic, in
spite of teh huge surprise party my friends gave me.  Not much has really
changed.  I don't know if that is because I was relatively grown up
before, or that I'm still a kid now.  I guess time will tell.

<lynne gives danyel the requisite smack upside the head>
I'm never going to grow up!  :)

I grew up long ago.  I still share the joy and excitement of dicovering the
world around me.  I feel you can grow up and deal  with responsibility, and
also continue to play and love life.  Children play; adults go to work.  The
key is to enjoy what you do and not be afraid to have fun and laugh.  Adults
can learn a lot about themselves by watching children.  

Meg, I didn't tell you?  Perahps because I knew I'd get just that reaction  :)
Anne I don't think I'm going to get it here. I'm going to wait
until I buy my books for Spring Quarter.
And 18 was sort of an anticlimactic birthday for me too. I know
how you feel Danny boy.  21 however, willl be far from boring.
Speaking of classes, is Hope on a quarter system?

Bhell- Alrighty, just let me know if you want me to tag along..

I think so.  Might be semester, but it's not trimester.

People suck.

We love you too face.

No, face...it goes....Mean people suck.  *grin*

People suck? What do they suck? They don't suck anything. They don't suck!
I was never aware that people suck!

Excuse me while I creep back into denile.

Just kidding. People don't, *in general*, suck. Only people who are
convinced that everyone else sucks and think that this is the "norm" and
they, in turn, act like assholes. No offense, face.

- Robert     o/~

People suck if youpay them.

ROTFL!

That's *not* how I meant that, adania!!! <robert grins>

- Robert     o/~

Oh my gosh.....that is so funny, adania......*giggle*
*rotfl*

(in defense of face, I've never noticed him acting like an asshole)

I've not noticed it either, Steve.

I never got to meet face, and we had lots of conversations when I was a grex
party freak.  =)

I've been told I saw him in person, but I don't remember.  But, online,
I've never seen him act like an asshole... <shrug>

I don't think face is a bad person. *shrug*

I'm a toys r us kid.  I ain't gotta grow up.

Wb Gerund!  My suggestion is to not grow up... It isn't any fun, 
I've decided not to go any further.. ;)

GERALD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Welcome back!

Gerald, nice to see you buddy, missed ya...
   As for growing up, I don't want to anymore...:(

Growing up is not all it's cracked up to be.  Sure you get independence
and freedom but then you have to figure out how to earn enough money to
get yourself ample food, some sort of shelter and clothing so you don't
freeze if you can't find a heated shelter.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss