My bet on why people don’t identify with that anymore is shifting social expectations and economy leading to having kids way later than in their day.
Which… I love my kids, wouldn’t trade 'em for anything. But they can definitely make you feel old both by just watching them age and the extra responsibility reducing the freedom/spontaneity you might have had more of earlier in your youth. If you had kids in your early 20s, this starts earlier. If you don’t start until your 30s, you’re probably already starting to settle a bit anyway just from being more established in a career and such.
I’d also be curious to know rates of messing around with harder drugs and drinking and such. My sense is those have gone down, and that kind of thing can be hard on your body.
I like to think I did my 20s right, if that means anything. Partied often, built my career, worked on my established, longstanding friendships. I lived a bit wildly, but I also think that I gradually wound those things down. I have been in my career since I was 20, but in my mid-20s, my friends would show up to my jobs at night, I’d change out of my suit in the bathroom, and we’d all take a train into Manhattan, on a Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s something I couldn’t even consider. Our nights started at 1030, 11. Now, that’s essentially when they end for me.
I’m now in as late as your 30s get, have kids, and that lifestyle is a very distant past, which I’m happy about. I have friends who still like to live it, and that’s cool. I’ll hang out with them, but I also have no problem tapping out early, and they also don’t care that I do. We’re all past the point of “uno mas,” which is funny because it’s been the name of our group chat for the past 15 years, and it’s okay. I had fun, it’s no longer what I want to do for fun, and that’s cool with me and everyone.
It’s nice to all grow to a point where peer pressure has seemed to finally met it’s demise, although I do always say peer pressure is a great motivator of youth, and I wouldn’t change my youth for a second, because my present is great.
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My bet on why people don’t identify with that anymore is shifting social expectations and economy leading to having kids way later than in their day.
Which… I love my kids, wouldn’t trade 'em for anything. But they can definitely make you feel old both by just watching them age and the extra responsibility reducing the freedom/spontaneity you might have had more of earlier in your youth. If you had kids in your early 20s, this starts earlier. If you don’t start until your 30s, you’re probably already starting to settle a bit anyway just from being more established in a career and such.
I’d also be curious to know rates of messing around with harder drugs and drinking and such. My sense is those have gone down, and that kind of thing can be hard on your body.
Just spit balling here.
I like to think I did my 20s right, if that means anything. Partied often, built my career, worked on my established, longstanding friendships. I lived a bit wildly, but I also think that I gradually wound those things down. I have been in my career since I was 20, but in my mid-20s, my friends would show up to my jobs at night, I’d change out of my suit in the bathroom, and we’d all take a train into Manhattan, on a Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s something I couldn’t even consider. Our nights started at 1030, 11. Now, that’s essentially when they end for me.
I’m now in as late as your 30s get, have kids, and that lifestyle is a very distant past, which I’m happy about. I have friends who still like to live it, and that’s cool. I’ll hang out with them, but I also have no problem tapping out early, and they also don’t care that I do. We’re all past the point of “uno mas,” which is funny because it’s been the name of our group chat for the past 15 years, and it’s okay. I had fun, it’s no longer what I want to do for fun, and that’s cool with me and everyone.
It’s nice to all grow to a point where peer pressure has seemed to finally met it’s demise, although I do always say peer pressure is a great motivator of youth, and I wouldn’t change my youth for a second, because my present is great.