Me in my 20s: I need to put the world to rights, and I will stay up all night to make this happen!
Me in my 30s: I need to make a sandwich, and I will curl up on the sofa and watch the world burn on the news.
this post was submitted on 20 Apr 2025
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me_irl
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Tell me more about the sandwich
I go to the shop, buy a mini pork pie they have on discount, take it back home and microwave it for 45 seconds. That's my sandwich, and I love it
My dad loves pork pies in a sandwich wrap.
Tortilla, bit of cheese, salad and branston pickle, quarter a pork pie and wrap it up
Noice
that sounds, no joke, amazing
I have never had a pork pie but I looked it up and so want one now.
I'm not in the UK, but look for a British food place!
they're good in theory, in practice they're a bit disappointing and really greasy
You could do both, being curled up on the sofa with a sandwich and make the world a little better, by reducing your meat consumption. There are very nice vegetarian/vegan sandwich options.
I love vegan food (the ice cream/cake scene alone is amazing), but it's usually not discounted sadly
me in my 20's. Im going to study and research and be part of improving the world.
me in my 30's. Im going to work and hopefully manage to keep a roof over me and my wifes head.
me in my 40's. Im gonna own a place and save for retirement.
me in my 50's. I wonder at what point I will be homeless.
I've figured out a lot as I've gotten older, but In many cases it has taken a lot of time and a lot of mistakes to get there. Plus, just because you've figured something out, that doesn't necessarily mean your life will be any easier or better. One of the things I've figured out is that many things are outside of my control, and there isn't a damn thing I can do about them. I've also figured out that there are a lot of things that are within my power to change, but knowing and doing are two different things.
I'm 42 years old and if my younger self could see where he would end up, he would probably be furious that he hasn't accomplished more, that he isn't more of a success, but that idiot can kiss my ass. He doesn't know shit.
Exactly. My life is a hot mess, and I could tell myself exactly how to fix it, but actually doing those things is the hard part.
As a kid I would always fantasize about meeting my older self so he could tell me what I was doing wrong, and how I could just feel right about myself.
So now I think about what I would tell him, cuz that suffering got me here, so it NEEDS to happen, so the real idea would be streamlining it so less suffering is needed. It's a bit surreal
Yeah that’s right. You can still surprise yourself though.
Teenager Me: "I can't wait until I'm an adult. I can do whatever I want."
Adult Me: "Who the hell keeps turning ALL the goddamn lights on in the entire house? This is going to add like $5.00 to our electric bill!"
Also Adult Me when I realize it was probably me forgetting to turn off that light last time I was in the room. You know, when I walked into the room and forgot what I came there for.
I'm in this comment and I don't like it.
Man I'll tell you what though being old rocks. Ok physically maybe not so much but Jesus life gets easier once you drop all the bullshit you got worked up about when you were young. I mean the world being on fire isn't great but on a personal level I'm not insecure or worried about much of anything any more. Straight blissing.
YMMV: I didn't give two shits what anyone thought when I was nine and I didn't have to worry about rent.
Lucky for you. The folks I know all grew up with various forms of insecurities, fitting in, doing well at school, whatever it was. But happy to hear you're not one of them.
Internally at least, I chalk it up to being oblivious rather than being self-assured. Especially in retrospect. But a comfortable home/upbringing definitely enabled that.
But then they always say 'ignorance is bliss'.
On the other hand, I loathe humanity
You figure one thing out. You figure that it doesn't really matter whether you care or not.
It’s amazing how much “mature wisdom” resembles being too tired.
—Robert A. Heinlein
You figure stuff out, but it's mostly how to most easily circumnavigate shit rather than solving it, because that's a mug's game.
Can't relate, lifelong curtain peeker who can't stop.
It's done my sanity in a few times, not recommended. 5/10 with rice.
I felt this way till recently. In my late 30s now with a feeling of confidence I've never had before. I work for myself, which goes a long way to figuring out "behind the scenes" stuff.
Idk I feel like a more complete person now than I ever have. And when I was younger and suspected the adult world was full of bullshit, I was absolutely right.
They are all bullshitting the whole way down
If anything, I am getting dumber over time.
I don't know about that. Granted I am still young so I may not have much life experience compared to older people, but my mom in her retirement years have been reckoning and expressed regret of her past life decisions. She is dogmatic in many things (influenced by her rural and religious conservative upbringing); always sure of herself; has bit of ego and typically don't admit having made mistakes even though it is clear as day. But she had figured out that she had been wrong on so many things. She turned around on many views that had proven to be wrong. But my mom still being my mom, she pretends though that she has always held the opposing views that she now adopts.
Yeah, something like that.