Howard

Take away the wife, the 2.3 kids, the house, the mortgage, the SUV, the 9 to 5, the graying hair and the age lines, and you've got� nothing. WTF happened? I used to be hot, hip and happening. I used to rock; I used to roll. I used to be COOL!

I used to smoke dope and have wild sex on a whim. Now I drink martinis and have "marital relations" on a schedule. I used to listen to ear-shattering music that irritated the hell out of grown-ups. Now my tunes are on easy-listening stations and background music for insurance commercials.

I used to say "Crank it up" and "Let's get down." Now I say "When I was your age�" and "Turn that %$#@& music down!"

Such is life I guess. At some point you can't keep up with a world that's changing way too fast. You just want to pull the cord and say, "Stop this train! I want to get off at a place where people aren't pierced, tattooed and sex-obsessed, where Mick and the boys are still young, and where I'm still cool. I want to be a kid again.

MzNeko

It's times like this that I'm glad I never was cool...

Nerdiness can have its advantages.

Undercurrent

<Homer>I used to rock and roll all night and party every day. Then it was every other day. Now I'm lucky if I can find one day a week in which to get funky.</Homer>

I must add that if you ever actually said "Let's get down," out loud in public, you were never actually cool. Of all your complaints, though, the sex on a schedule one seems the easiest to fix.

AquaVita

Hell, Howard...I'm 20 and I already feel the same way. I guess it's because I never really got much of a chance to be a kid in the first place. I've been working since I was 14 and full time since I was 15, all the while getting through high school. My parents never bought me a damn thing. Not even lunch for school. Or other food or clothes or anything.

Sometimes I feel like I missed out on a lot. Most other people my age still don't have real jobs. They have almost no responsibilities and society seems to think that's ok. Maybe my sense of reality is just warped.

In short, just be greatful you even got to BE the rebellious loud kid at one point. Some people are never so lucky.

Howard

That was a pretty good pick-up line in the 60's � when everyone was wasted.

Quote:

Of all your complaints, though, the sex on a schedule one seems the easiest to fix.

I know, but my wife would kill me.

You do have one big advantage over your contemporaries. You already know what a cold, cruel it is world out there, and how hard it is to make a buck. Still, it seems a shame not to be an irresponsible kid for a while.

elanah

The advantage of not being cool in the first place is that I can't mourn it when it's gone.

I'll do some irresponsible partying for you while I'm at college.

auto-da-fe

As someone who fits your description of "now" (wife, kids, mortgage, 9 to 5, etc., except I am bald and not gray), I can relate. Although how cool I was is still a matter of some debate, I do often lament the carefree years of childhood. Hell even adolescence doesn't seem that bad nowadays. Espically when the kids are screaming, the wife has a headache, the bills need paid, and I have 30 minutes before I have to go to my ego crushing job.

Maybe we could start a support group.

Babylon Sister

I remember being "cool" AND "hip." (I can still claim those titles, but only among my other friends who have never grown up.)

Thank Ed I was never groovy!

Not male, no spouse (deceased), no child (also deceased), no mortage, but have the SUV (it's even "mid-life crisis red"), the 9-5 (actually 6-3:30), the greying hair and the age lines. Can I join the support group?

Ab_Normal

Well, I was never ever cool or hip, but I'm getting very tired of being a grownup. I'm tired of worrying about money and jobs and schools and the neighborhood teenage idiots. Oh, well, I'm stuck with it.

Babylon Sister

Can I get a "Right On"?