Age is like alcohol

Devashish Sharma
Jul 27, 2017 · 4 min read

How to deal with turning 30…

Dude to Rude

One would think that the transition from youth to adult, brother to uncle, dude to sir would happen slowly but it happens rather abruptly. One day the kids are wanting to play with you and the next day they are scurrying away from you. One day they are calling you brother and the next day you are uncle. All of a sudden the security guard decides to accord you respect and starts referring to you as “Sir”. You are pleasantly surprised by that elevation until the implication hits you. The transition in your head takes much longer. First you’re in denial. You look at yourself in the mirror and feel reassured when you see no wrinkles. Then you check your hair and conclude that the probability of anyone noticing one strand of white hair is rather low. So you blame the obscure incident on the formal office attire.

However, it gets unnerving when you pull out your Guns and Roses T-shirt from the bottom of the pile, wear your coolest linen shorts and still get called an Uncle (because obviously no one wears a GNR T-shirt anymore). It takes you a while to realise that the dude is the guy with a groomed beard, wearing a parrot green T-shirt with a hashtag something printed on it, engrossed in a weird fickle social network called Snapchat (whatever that is!) on his phone. Not only do you, then, realise that you are no longer the dude but also that you don’t want to be one. But you aren’t prepared to become your father. Hence you suffer an identity crisis. Sandwiched between the future and past, you fail to recognise the present and you just go from being a dude to being rude.

Hunger to Taste

If you are at the cusp of thirty or have just crossed it, then do not fret. Once you accept the reality that you are no longer young, you start experiencing the bright side. You realise that you are the demographic on pretty much everyone’s target list. Bask in the glory of respect and dignity that you are accorded everywhere. Your opinion is not only heard, it is actively sought. If you make a fuss at a restaurant, it is treated seriously and you can expect to score some free meals. Every financial institution will offer you a credit card, personal loan and an insurance policy at great terms. Brands want to own you and want you to own them. After forty they have missed the bus, in twenties they are trying to catch you young - an investment for the future, albeit risky. However, in thirties, you are just right for them.

You will not go out looking for deals and offers, they will find you! Money and deals are directly correlated – the more money you have, the more deals you land. In a way the deals are out there for the ones who need them the least. It sounds ironical but that’s the way it works. If it helps, think of it another way and it makes complete sense – The one whose need is greater, must strive to meet it. Yesterday your need to find deals was greater so you were hunting for them, today the need of businesses to find you is greater, so they try to lure you. Everyone assumes you have some money or some power or both and hence people want to connect with you – If you sought friends on Facebook earlier, the “connections” seek you on LinkedIn now. When you introduce yourself or are introduced as someone with a decade of work experience, people look at you to lead, not follow. When you are young you are constantly hungry – hungry for food, drink, money, beauty, power. Hungry people just need a fill, it is only the satiated that taste. Hunger dissipates as soon as you eat, taste lingers. So taste the world in all its flavors for your time has come.

Fear to Freedom

If you have ever seen a documentary about tigers on National Geographic, you would have noticed that a tiger walks alone, does what pleases him, is fearless and does not give two shits about anything or anyone else. You, my thirty-something man, are the tiger in its prime. All your life you have been tamed, named or shamed. But now you have earned the right to tame, name and shame at will. Whether you choose to exercise that privilege is up to you (depending on how miserably lonely you want to be when you die). What is more important is for you to realise the opportunity that age presents you with. Age is like alcohol, it sets you free. Wear what you want. Watch what you please. Read what you need. Do what you must. Have an opinion, however contrarian. Say what is necessary. Write what you feel. Stand. Hold. Defend. Fight. Live unencumbered, uninhibited, free!

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