Growing (and especially looking) older is a delicate subject, more so for women. Since coming to Country A, however, I noticed a commendable increase in the number of times I've been mistaken as being younger. Sometimes it works against me, like the time I was asked to produce an identity card when I wanted to buy mulled wine at a Christmas stand.
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Not
that I have anything against being judged to be younger than I am (heck, I like
it!), but it was a little embarrassing, holding up the queue and having to show
my ID to buy alcohol, in front of so many people. Note that here, you need to
be above 16 to buy alcohol. Nobody else was asked to show their ID.
Sometimes, it works in my favour; just this
week, I was issued a "child pass" when I went to a museum. The lady
at the counter realized her mistake when I told her my age, but she let me use
that cheaper ticket anyway. Maybe I should mention that I wasn't alone; my
sister, who's older than me by a year, was issued a child pass as well!
I don't
think we both have some amazing genetic quality which makes us look younger,
although that would have been awesome. No, I think it could be because of the
way we're attired, and the way we behave. I have mentioned before that I grew
up for the most part in an Asian country, where the culture and society are extremely
different from Western countries. That too, it wasn't a big city we lived in.
All that does seem to influence this age confusion. I reckon we both dress, look
and act like a couple of slightly shy teenagers, by European big city standards.
Ironically, in Country B, I was often asked if I'm the elder of the two of us.
One very embarrassing situation stands out - when I was 19 or 20, I visited my
sister at her student hostel for the first time. One of her friends asked her
if I'm........ wait for it........................her mother!!
That's just... just...
That's just... just...
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Being mistaken as the mother of a 20+ year old college girl
whilst still a teenager is not really a compliment. Anyway, right now, we're
both mistaken to be "teenies" very often, and it doesn't bother us.
All I can say is, I hope this "mistaken as younger" thing carries on
for a good half century more ;)
AHAHA! I loved when you talked about being mistaken for the MOTHER of your sister, ugh, the worst. That's happened to me, but lately I've been getting the what are you doing out of school so early scoldings by older people now that I live in Korea. I'll take getting mistaken for a high schooler any day of the week!
ReplyDeleteThat was definitely one of the low-points of my life -_-
DeleteI think it has got to do with familiarity. It could be because it's difficult to precisely guess a person's age by their appearance, if that person looks different from the race one's used to seeing in a country without a lot of ethnic diversity.
You know what I honestly think some people are just super off with guessing age!
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was 14 or 15, I went to the store with my dad and the worker there mistook me for his wife! Talk about awkwardness..... I mean my dad looks fairly young for his age but there is no way one can mistaken me as a middle aged woman when I was 14! -_-
Oh goodness, this is even worse than getting mistaken as my sister's mother!!
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