Matt came home a few months ago after a night out with some new friends and told me he'd had something of a revelation. Over some beers, someone's age came up and so everyone started asking everyone their ages. Matt was the oldest. In fact, he was one of the only ones over 30. He said he suddenly realised "Hey, I'm the old guy. I'm that guy".
In our twenties in London we had a couple of much older friends (those guys). One was in his forties and the other was 50! And they partied with us in warehouses, clubs and flats all over London. And we thought, how crazy that they are still doing this kind of thing at their age.
When we first visited Thailand in 2001, we met a Swiss ex-heroin junkie on Ko Chang (he'd come to Thailand to dry out would you believe?). He was in his forties and was so worldly he blew our innocent little kiwi minds. He had been to Thailand ten years before. We looked at him in awe and asked with bated breath, "What was it like here back then?"
A few days ago I found myself in a cooking class on Ko Lanta with a Danish couple who could barely keep their 20-something-year-old hands off each other and a Texan pair who were visiting Thailand for the first time. I heard myself saying the words "my daughter" and "I came to Ko Lanta 11 years ago" - utterances so ridiculously grown up and from the stable of "my husband", "ten years ago", and "in the 80s" that I can't quite believe they came out of my mouth. And it dawned on me: OMG I am a different generation from these people.Why do I feel like an imposter for saying words that are entirely age appropriate? What next? A one-piece and short hair? Chinos and boat shoes for Matt? And BTW OMG, I am one of those old people that thinks they are talking young (albeit ironically) by saying OMG. Would the real irony please stand up?
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