Is 26 Old ?

When does "old" begin ?

Is 26 Old ?

It seems like every day, I feel older and older. On different messages boards and other places on the 'net that I frequent, when I mention something from when I was a kid ; a favourite cartoon, tv show, movie, etc, hardly anyone knows what I'm talking about. I try to explain, but no matter how deeply I get into whatever it is I'm talking about, they just don't get it. Has anything like this ever happened to you ? At first, it starts out small and slow. Your favourite songs start playing less and less on the radio. Then, the commercials you used to really get a kick out of are just "blah", the same as any other commercial. Then, you stop enjoying the movies you used to like as much as you used to enjoy them. Suddenly, all if not most of the toys/games/movies/music you think is so cool is considered lame by the uninformed. When it really starts hitting the fan is when "your" videos and music are now playing on the classic stations and channels. Since when did Bon Jovi and Guns & Roses become classic rock ?

That made me feel real old when, one day, I was rocking out to Welcome To The Jungle and went silent when the station bumber came on and said that they played the classics of yesterday. Classics of yesterday ? That made me feel 100 years old, when I heard that. When you were younger, there were countless cartoons, music, and movies that you just loved and would watch almost every day. Even if you already owned the record or videotape, if the movie or song was playing, you'd sit and have fun. You and your friends would spend hours talking about your favourite characters and bands. But as you got a little older, you find that there are less and less people that won't make fun of you because of the things you like. Probably in a tie with having your music on the classic/soft station, is watching Mtv. It really hits you when you turn on Mtv and have no idea of who any of the VJs are anymore.

None of the people that were on when you originally watched are there anymore ; Tabitha Soren, Nina Blackwood, Martha Quinn, Downtown Julie Brown, Bill Bellamy, Kennedy, Doctor Dre & Ed Lover, etc. Do kids nowadays even know who these great VJs are ? I seriously doubt it. They wouldn't know a real VJ if one came up and bit them on the backside. At least Matt Pinfield is still working.

When you get older, you're expected to like more "grownup" movies and tv shows ; bloody, gory thriller types. Now, don't get me wrong. Every once in a while, I like to watch movies like Friday The 13th and Stephen King movies.

Movies like that are just fine. And you may enjoy them, too, as well as discussing them with your friends......when what you really want to do is put on some Thundercats, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Smurfs, He-Man, Voltron (a personal favourite of mine), or Transformers, grab a huge bowl of really sugary, fattening cereal with absolutely no nutiritional value whatsoever and geek out for a few hours, remembering when you were a kid. No responsibilities, no job, nowhere to go. Ah, those were the days !

Go into a store these days, all around the toy aisles you'll see a lot of the toys and games you played with as a kid with labels like "An update of the time honoured classic", "Classic Edition", etc., and you'll instantly feel like heading for the Geritol and Ben-Gay.

When I see shows like I Love The 80s, listen to really cool music only to find out it's a classic station, or when I get up or sit down and realize that I make the same "old man noises" that the really old men in my family make. Most people would say that 26 is still very young. But when I sat down to write this all out, and thinking about all this, I feel almost ancient.

Is 26 old ?

ps. please forgive the crude-itity of this article. It's my first. Hopefully my next will be better.....but probably not.

Comments

I'll be 19 in 3 months. Catching up on several old movies with Rick Moranis in them is actually something to broaden my horizons and interests. I didn't see Little Shop of Horrors (the one movie that made me interested) until I was 17. I had a good bit of catching up to do... shame on me for missing out, because of stuff like anime (which I also like).

I'll be 43 in July and although I don't feel that old, sometimes I do ache a lot. however, carrying brake rotors, car batteries and such then again I deliver auto parts. Still it seems like it takes longer to recharge than it used to, I must confess, it is hard realizing that I'm not 18 anymore. I think I might need bifocals soon. B-)

What is interesting is the music I listen to is on "oldies" stations now, I listen to the radio in the truck a lot as I tool around the area. It is weird hearing Wham!, Flock of Seagulls and Van Halen being called "oldies." I guess you are as old as you think you are and sometimes my grade school buddy and I still act like kids from time to time.

im 21, soon to be 22...and i feel soo bloody old sometimes.
I have no clue were the time goes.
I did find a old cinema ticket the other day, and it did say something like "20-11-00". Ity hit me like a bat, 8 year..it was 8 years since i did see this movie...and it feelt like only yesterday day :.(

...I've also made a bet with myself and its kind of morbid and kind of funny. I have decided that the second I start hearing KoRn on a classic rock station that I am writing my living will and making my funeral arrangements. Same goes for if some actually attempts to remake the original Star Wars trilogy...that is of course in at least another 20 years...shit, by then I'll be 42. Ick! Hopefully I have a great job, a wife, and a nice house by then. I better get laid before then too...^_^

Hey, I'm 22 and I'm just now starting to feel old. I sort of know how you feel. It's almost been four years since I graduated from high school and I don't have too much to show for it. I'm in school to become an EMT right now and I've probably got another year and a half left of it. I'm kind of depressed that college is almost over because some say that those are the best years of your life. I concur. I could write at least a short essay on some of my experiences, some good, some not so good.

I know exactly how you feel so I enjoy telling people this little factoid. The fastest growing age group in the world are 100 year olds. So rejoice for the fact that many of us may live for another 60 to 70 years! Thinking about that does make me feel pretty young!

It begins when you are in your 30s and after. You are 26/27, you are still young.

I agree, Im 25 and it seems to become harder to accept with each passing day. I long for the soft, lame cartoons and commercials, and shows of yesteryear (Hey Dude, Smurfs, Lil Bits, Goof Troop). I constantly feel like Im close to 50. I guess its just something Ill have to learn to live with.

LOL! I'm 36 with 6 kids, a full-time job and I am attending law school (in my spare time of course

I'm old! You are still young...enjoy it!

That old addage of "You're only as old as you feel"...yeah right. You're as old as your birth certificate says you are. But, getting old is not that bad. I have a lot of good years left in me and you have 10 more than me left in you. Have fun and enjoy your age...whatever it is.

Well, of course you're not old. You know you're not, I think growing up is just hitting you. I'm going through the same thing. I turned 20, which is not old at all. It's very young, but people get jobs, get married, and have kids in their 20's... I don't feel prepared for that at all. It just makes you wish you could go to a simpler time, I guess...

No it's not old. I'd like to be 23 again as I'm 32. With the internet I find myself going back to the old days with sites like this where I can read about shows, toys and foods I ate growing up.

I do have to say that some stuff is making a comeback again like Strawberry Shortcake and Carebears. I was in Canada a few years ago and I actually found the little plastic smurfs we bought as kids, I was tempted to purchase. I remember coming home from school and finding smurfs hidden around the house. My parents would get them as little rewards for doing good in school and what not.

One of the biggest things I remember and I dunno how many of you can recall this, but I would buy pac-man gum off the ice cream truck. It would come with those trading cards and stickers. Most have no clue what I am talking about, but I remember it like yesterday.

Great article! Getting old is inevitable I guess. Just be glad we have some good memories

. Take care

I know how you feel..im 23 and i feel old. Cartoons and movies these days are just not as awesome as they used to be..i find myself watching lookback movies such as "13 going on 30" to reminisce about the good ol days. I blog constantly about the games i used to play with my brother when we were young, i have a folder full of old songs from my childhood in my laptop and most of all i lovee retrojunk.

I think we've all been there, that's why we flock to these nostalgic sites.

I'm 27 and I gotta say man, Guns N' Roses and Bon Jovi should never be considered "Classic" because they aren't and have never been good enough to fit that calibre.

On a less slamming note, I know what you mean. It's odd when I meet people who I assume are at least close to me in age but they've never heard of Gumby or The Snorks.

The other thing that makes me feel old is when new slants on older toons that I still regularly watch. I'm still a hardcore viewer of the original He-Man and TMNT series while there are kids watching the new ones who don't even realise that they are rehashes at all.

It's odd. Let's face it. You're on a 'retro' website which means that you're not a kid anymore or you're into stuff that came out before you were born. We're all getting older dude.

www.jejinternet.blogspot.com

jej

I think how old you feel depends on your life experiences. If you look at my article "Don't Call Me A Poser", I talk a lot about my personal life in it. In between my pop-cultural tastes and my life experiences, I feel like I'm in my 40s, even though I'll be turning 24 on December 22nd.

What really kills me is seeing shows like "That's So Raven" being considered retro on this site. Christ!

I know I'm only 17, but whenever someone talks about the late '90s being retro, it makes me feel old believe it or not.

Ironically, just as I am writing this comment, a commercial for a new special edition Transformers the Movie dvd just aired on my tv! Geeze... Anyway, I think feeling old is natural once you hit your mid twenties, but it's not being old. It's true, we are getting there. I'm 27, so I feel exactly what you're going through. Bon Jovi, GNR, Motley Crue, etc. are now played on the classic rock station these days and the younger kids are listening to rap-rock bands like linkin park. I miss watching the real G.I. Joe and the original turtles and not the japanime reproductions of them. I miss my childhood from the 80s. I miss not having to worry about work. I miss blowing into a nintendo cartridge prior to popping it into my nintendo entertainment system. I miss side scrolling games, and for some reason, downloaded emulator roms just don't feel the same. But you know what? It's the memories that make our childhood era so special. A kid watching pokemon today may not realize it, but this time will have so much value when he or she looks back many years from now. It's what we go through in life. To be human is to age. Just cherish those memories in our genre, and our childhood will live on.

It happens to all of us. You hit the second half of your twenties and you become more aware of the aging process. Years stack up. Memories add up. Awhile ago becomes long ago. I went through the same thing. When I was 26 and started going through that same thing, I was vulnerable to the sudden 2002 rehash of 80's lines. I went into nostalgiacoma, collecting and collecting. It passes.

I feel your pain. I'm 17 and I'm actually really starting to feel old, and I know that sounds utterly ridiculous, but that's the way I feel. I tell that to people, and they're like "You don't know what old is! You're just a kid!" But when my friends pick on me for playing old N64 and Playstation games, and I see the old shows I used to watch like Full House and The Fresh Prince of Bel Aire on Nick at Nite (the place for TV classics, it gets REALLY depressing. NONE of the cartoons I used to watch are on TV anymore, save maybe 2 or 3 like The Little Mermaid or Aladdin. I know this sounds stupid, but I really wish I was younger. People expect me to do adult stuff, but adult stuff just doesn't make me happy. I've spent a lot of time lately looking at the old movies I used to watch, and they still do make me happy, plus it's a lot of fun because now I understand them a lot better! But already, I feel like I'm not supposed to do all the things that I love like watch anime, or play video games, or write fanfictions anymore. Everyone expects me to "adult stuff" like go out to clubs and get a boyfriend and things like that. It's really depressing...

I'm going to hit a point that no one has really hit yet. I'm 24 and definitely don't feel old yet. I loved growing up in the 80s, and luckily still have some of my original toys/games! Getting older is almost better for us retrojunkies.
Why you ask? we can do anything our hearts desire now that we're older and can buy stuff to keep our hobbies going! Also us computer geeks have access to almost every console/arcade game we could ever think of! I'm not just talking about emulation either, you can even buy great game packs for fractions of what one of the original games would cost for an old system. Even things like Gametap are cool when you look at where we were with games just 15 years ago.
I have an old Ms. Pac-man arcade cabinet in the house, I have every movie/cartoon/game I could possibly want, and even fulfilled my childhood dream of building a screen accurate Proton Pack this halloween.
If you're into 80s pop culture now is the time to be into it. With the advent of DVD, and high powered computers this is definitely the age for revenge of the 80s nerds. The key is to be open minded and adaptive to your surroundings. For example, I absolutely love my old Atari systems (even the new flashback and flashback 2.0), but am also excited about new systems like the Wii and PS3. It's all your state of mind, and how old you want to be.

I don't mean to hijack the topic, but it's sort of on a similar note; when are you too old to be playing videogames? I'm 25 right now and I think it's perfectly alright to play videogames right now. I mean, just look at the Xbox 360 or the PS3. Those systems are more geared towards adult gamers and I love that. But what would be the cut-off for "graduating" off of videogames and moving off to other hobbies like... getting a good HDTV?? Well anyway, sound off if you'd like.
And now to the topic at hand; Some guy in this topic said it best: you're as old as you feel. Just be glad you're not in your 50's. (not that there's anything wrong with that)But one thing that I really notice now a days is that I don't seem to have enough time anymore. Time just seems to just fly by.

-sigh- I heard Red Hot chili peppers on a classic rock station just a week ago. I usually get choked up when a brat on World of Warcraft tells me he has never played a NES nor Atari.

barfly you are so right. I heard a latin musician say the same thing. If you get more closed as you get older, THEN you're old.

I feel you brother, I'm 30 myself. I don't think an age determines whether or not you're old. Hell, I still return to my old frat house every year for homecoming and drink the younger "more battle-ready" guys under the table every time. I'm not Frank-The-Tank status or anything, I just enjoy a good 'ol fashioned chugger contest you know. Anyway, I believe "old" is when you no longer have the ability to keep your mind open to new ideas. When you stop wanting to have the latest and greatest and instead bitch about how things were "so much better when I was young" That's when it happens. Hey, at least they recognize our stuff as "Classic" and "Time Honored". Could be worse, you know.

All these trends nowadays and of yesterday will keep coming back around full circle, as always. Those parachute pants we used to wear in the eighties will come back too unfortunately. Nowadays i must admit shows like csi and 24 and the like make audiences feel more involved. Epsecially with the improved fx.
as long as they use the fx to tell the story better.

rule of thumb: you're only as old as you feel. as long as you can get out of bed without feeling like you're about to break your hip, you're not old.

26 isn't that old. I'm almost 30. I'm a 29 year old with the personality of a 5 year old my psycholigist tells me. Today's entertainment is mostly crap in my opinion.

Music-A lot of the bands in this age is watered down emo/metalcore/nu-metal bands. I'm so sick of hearing about how depressed you are because your girlfriend broked up with you, I hate emo. Modern rap music is trash. The rappers in this age are just carbon copies of each other. I'm sick of hearing about bling-bling, whips, houses, baby mama drama, ick! Just give me Run D.M.C. or Grandmaster Flash anyday. Pop music is basically boy bands and girl singers. I never really listen to it. R&B music was good until like the 90s. Most music these days is trash, there's some good music out there but I'm telling you right now, you're not going to find it on MTV or the radio.

TV-Reality TV is f*cking bullsh*t. It's not even reality. It's just make-over, switching lives crap. The sitcoms today for the most part are mostly repetitive with the same old jokes, ick. Yes we had bad sitcoms back then, most of the sitcoms I like are from the 70s and before. TV dramas, for me it's about 80s and before. The cartoons, man don't get me started. Just remakes of old cartoons for the most part. There are only a tiny handful of shows I'd had interest in since the 90s.

Movies:I haven't seen a movie that kept me interested in a long time. 90 percent of the movies I like are from the 80s and before.

Video Games:Back in my day video games used to be all about the fun factor! No one gave a crap about the graphics like they do now. It was all about the gameplay. Recently, the Wii has brought back my interest in video games. I really haven't played any games since 2000 and once I brought this thing it reminded me of the days of the NES, SNES etc.

Oy, I know what you mean. I still get up and watch cartoons on saturday, but I usually break out the Animaniacs DVDs because there's nothing worth watching these days, unless you're watching the classics.

No I don't think 26 is too old at all. I symphatize with your frustration as I have also experienced it. I love GNR and Bon Jovi too and I also like a lot more underground bands. I have been listening to metal for a very long time, since 1986 and I still love thrash, speed, death metal. I still go to the shows and check out all the cool bands.

Things have changed since the "golden days" but the way I deal with it is I just block out all the new trendy crap. I don't pay attention to it, I just live in my own world. I used to love MTV but clearly the channel is not what it used to be, so I never watch it anymore instead I can see the real headbangers ball on youtube.

These days you have to create your own entertainment if you want to keep the past alive and I love the good ol days a lot more than anything out today.

It all depends on your perspective. If you feel like you're old because some little shits don't know what it means to have a good time then you'll always be depressed and frustrated about how no one gets your tastes. Believe me there are still a lot of people out there who like your stuff. Even younger people are gradually going back to the real stuff because today's entertainment values are worthless, it's the "processed-food" generation - nothing has artistic value or even a fun element - it's all about rappers, fake women and pimped out cars. Come on what sort of fun is that? Give me David Lee Roth now that is entertainment!

I'm 24 and I enjoy alot of the shows that you mentioned. There are very few cartoons that are on right now that can't even hold a candle to the classics. if they were to create a channel deadicated to 80's and 90's cartoons it would rock. Boomerang. Ha Bommerrang doesn't even have the good stuff it should. There should be a Bommerang 2 that shows alot of 80's and 90's stuff. It would be like VH1 classic.

I know exactly what you're saying dude. I'm 27 and yes somewtimes I feel old. I look at the nieghbor kids as old as 16 and *sigh they know nothing of the days of transformers/gi joe/Bon Jovi. I miss the 80's soooo much it's crazy. My brother is like ur living in the past. No i'm simply trying to remember the past and my childhood because it was cut short.... Listening to that great 80's music and watching cartoons like care bears reminds e of how i once used to be before that day in april 1990.........

Ok stop. i'm 33 and i fell as young as ever. I just recently quit my job to start a new one and am on a 3 week break. you know what it feels like? like summer vacations used to. i miss that. i miss alot of things when i was younger. how do i cope? i watch cartoons, play retro games, even collect stuff (see my articles like star wars toys and see what i mean) and noone can tell me i'm a child. I make 120k a year and am successful and what I do. Don't sweat the age. Think about this: the quicker you hit 65, the quicker you can sit around and not work anymore!

I'm hitting 26 next year with a bad back and going to the chiropractor for. But I'm still mobile and play video games and still heavily into anime and manga. I'm just hoping it stays that way.

langoliers sucked. hahha! hey! i'm 25 =( ima not old...yet

Spottedfeather, I read your article in its entirety, and you make a very convincing argument.

Here's my take on it:
•26 IS a relatively young age. I’m 23, by the way. Most people in history would have loved to live that long.
•Be glad everything you grew up with, music, movies, toys, video games, cartoons, and commercials, are still being recognized (i.e. retrojunk.com and x-entertainment.com), even if they are considered classics. I take that as a compliment. Everything I grew up with is being recognized by retrojunk, and by a majority of people.
•The only thing I really miss about the 80s is the music, which I was not old enough to appreciate then.
•If I had a chance to turn back the clock and be a kid again, I would go with my better judgment and say no. If being a kid again involves losing all of the knowledge I’ve gained since, let’s say 5 or 6, then I am happy to be an adult. Going back to more innocent times of our lives would also mean repeating those personal moments of heartbreak, such as a family member or pet dying.
•Finally, be glad you actually had a childhood. Look at people who have missed out on theirs (i.e. Michael Jackson). Many folks in their 20s and beyond are living a lot longer these days, and have retained their youthful spirit. You have 39 years until you have to worry about old age and retirement (I did the math here).

Is more a thing from the mind, shusre, some kids today have little or no respect of what we saw, or heard during our time, but then again, why hear them, Classic smashic, enjoy the original series.

My first question to you; Do you feel old?
I'm turning 32 and I still feel like I'm fresh off the assembly line. My wife and I still watch cartoons, enjoy video games, and check out toy stores. Doesn't mean we're immature, we like to have fun. Old begins when you say it does. Heck, my folks are now considered senior citizens, and they're tickled they get discounts on stuff like movies. Even as we speak, they are milking this whole senior citizen discount thing as though they had college school ID discounts. They don't consider themselves old, and they're grandparents now.
I don't feel any older than I did when I was 18. The difference is, now I have more stuff, like bills.

Breathe in every day, because they are never the same.