So for those of you who hit it, how do you cope with turning 30 years old?

[BubblyShell22]

Nah, 50 will be that way for me. I still felt the same way when I turned 30 as I did when I turned twenty. As long as you have your health, I don't see what's so terrifying about it. Could you maybe elaborate a bit on why it terrifies you so much?

[Gorilla Grodd]

I turn 29 next month. I'm not really sweating 30. For me everything from 27 on has been great since I feel like I've hit a certain level of experience and maturity while still being in my physical prime. It's surprisingly been a lot of fun being in my late 20s. I should be able to stretch that deep into my 30s. I might start worrying a bit when 40 is approaching.

[XERO]

Eh, I turned 30 in March. Besides my hairline obviously receding, nothing's that different.

My bones creak more, I guess. Haha.

[Jester]

I'm a little grey (which is a family thing. My dad's been salt and pepper to pretty much white for as long as I can remember.), but other wise feel the same.

[CyberCubed]

When you guys turn 30 that's when the "fun" disappears. Man will I feel weird watching cartoons and playing videogames when I hit 30.

I remember when I was a teen and in my early 20's everyone use to tell me I was too old for cartoons and videogames. And this was from people I used to go to school with or in College, not just family members.

Imagine being 30+ years old and watching cartoons for kids and playing videogames with Mario hopping around.

[Jester]

See..what you do is you have kids. They keep you young (and allow you watch cartoons with impunity.)

[Icebot]

The youngest member of my family turned 30 today so I guess I'm gonna start getting used to this now.

It's making me realize how short life is and you gotta be happy!

[DarkFell]

A bit of fun wisdom is needed here. Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

[Gorilla Grodd]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

When you guys turn 30 that's when the "fun" disappears. Man will I feel weird watching cartoons and playing videogames when I hit 30.

I remember when I was a teen and in my early 20's everyone use to tell me I was too old for cartoons and videogames. And this was from people I used to go to school with or in College, not just family members.

Imagine being 30+ years old and watching cartoons for kids and playing videogames with Mario hopping around.

No one cares even a fraction as much as you think they do in your head. You're building things up that aren't necessarily accurate. In your mind you think, "Oh such and such thinks this about me. So and so thinks that." When the reality is that they honestly don't think about you much at all. So go ahead and do whatever you want.

[Jester]

Indeed...in this setting MOST of us probably do those childish thing like playing Mario and watching cartoons.

[CyberCubed]

Originally Posted by Gorilla Grodd

No one cares even a fraction as much as you think they do in your head. You're building things up that aren't necessarily accurate. In your mind you think, "Oh such and such thinks this about me. So and so thinks that." When the reality is that they honestly don't think about you much at all. So go ahead and do whatever you want.

How many of your co-workers play videogames, (outside the generic Call of Duty or Madden), or still watch cartoons?

If I ever said I still watch cartoons at a public job you would get weird looks. You're looked down upon if you still enjoy things intended for kids. The only thing that's socially acceptable as an adult is watching sports or various big movies in theaters, but nothing else.

[Jester]

Most....
I have a co-worker who makes custom action figures and his desk has toys on it, too. He's not quite 30, but he's not that far from it. heck one guy is yo-yoing as I type.

One even brought a PS4 up here and played during the down time.

[Machias Banshee]

We've got Hello Kitty stuff and ninja turtle balls all over the place at my work... and we've definitely got 30+ people... there's even a 40-something filipino woman who watches the cartoon with her boyfriend, and we discuss the show.

I've got white hair, but I just say it's blonde highlights... Turning 30 is not the end of the world...

[MrPliggins]

Turning 30= not a big deal. Heck, I was more bummed about turning 20. Currently I'm 4 years away from 40 and I say bring it on. With age comes wisdom and maturity, and you become happy that you're that age, and have matured and lived though your immature years. (Although there are some over-30s I know who have never matured past their teenage years). I wouldn't want to be 20 again. Been there, done that. I can still watch cartoons and read comics.

[Gorilla Grodd]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

How many of your co-workers play videogames, (outside the generic Call of Duty or Madden), or still watch cartoons?

If I ever said I still watch cartoons at a public job you would get weird looks. You're looked down upon if you still enjoy things intended for kids. The only thing that's socially acceptable as an adult is watching sports or various big movies in theaters, but nothing else.

I think you're living in a bit of a bubble and working off of a lot of confirmation bias. This may be true at your workplace, but it's just not the case everywhere. You're also overrating how much attention people actually place on that.

I have an old fogey that I work with that I can say, "Yeah I still read comic books." and he will scoff and be like, "That's kid stuff." and then five minutes later he's forgotten about it. Because he doesn't care. People do not actually care about what you do in your off time as long as it's not something really shady. It sounds to me like you are taking a momentary strange look and building up the anxiety in your head. "OMG everybody is talking about that nerdy thing I do and making fun of me behind my back." when they're actually not.

My ex-girlfriend really liked Nightmare Before Christmas. She had a bunch of memorabilia. Her dad walked into her room and saw it once and made some snarky comment, "You need to grow out of that kid stuff." Then literally walked into his room and began unpacking his collection of Hot Wheels toy cars.

Those are the people that are giving you funny looks. They are projecting their own insecurities. It's not something you should let affect you.

[DarkFell]

Originally Posted by Gorilla Grodd

My ex-girlfriend really liked Nightmare Before Christmas. She had a bunch of memorabilia. Her dad walked into her room and saw it once and made some snarky comment, "You need to grow out of that kid stuff." Then literally walked into his room and began unpacking his collection of Hot Wheels toy cars.

Couldn't help but get a chuckle off of the dad that plays with toy cars and yet rags on his daughter for liking Nightmare before Christmas. My folks are sorta like that as well. Maybe it's a parent thing...although there are some parents can be really cool and relaxed towards what their grown kids still enjoy.

[XERO]

Who the hell should care about what you watch or like at a certain age? They're probably the same hypocrites who call themselves "bronies" or something like that. I know, I have close friends that like MLP, and I love them to death. We all respect what each other like and still like to this day.

I'm gonna be a TMNT fan until the day I die or my brain shuts down on me. People are just gonna have to deal with that. It doesn't matter what you like, as long as it's not physically harming anyone, especially yourself.

Express yourself to the fullest, however as long as you can.

[ssjup81]

Originally Posted by CyberCubed

How many of your co-workers play videogames, (outside the generic Call of Duty or Madden), or still watch cartoons?

If I ever said I still watch cartoons at a public job you would get weird looks. You're looked down upon if you still enjoy things intended for kids. The only thing that's socially acceptable as an adult is watching sports or various big movies in theaters, but nothing else.

All of my coworkers know I watch Ninja Turtles. I don't give a crap what they think either and find it amusing. Every job I've had, I've mentioned being a turtles fan here and back home. I also went to NYCC once and was open about it and that I collect things like Hello Kitty merch. I like what I like. As long as I don't act like a kid, then no prob.

I don't watch many animated programs not because of my age, or that I'm over 30, but because a lot of it doesn't interest me, be it something American or Japanese. Probably because I'm not the target audience, so something that's supposed to appeal to like preteens probably won't appeal to me as much. If I had kids though, I probably would watch more.

I will say this, seeing an animated movie as an adult feels weird unless you have a kid with you and I blame the stigma attached to that when growing up.

As for gaming, I'm not as big a gamer as I was when I was a kid, and the interest dropped some once I turned 18 and had to start buying my own, but with no job I couldn't. With me, if I don't get or do something when first interested, I lose interest. Many games I wanted but couldn't afford. Because of the gap, my attention span isn't as long as it was when I was a kid.

To answer your original question, though, I thought nothing over becoming 30. Didn't bother me at all. As you get older you don't really think about it much.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

I'm well over 30 now, and my only regret is that I still haven't achieved my main goal in life of getting a book published. Now, 40, on the other hand, is starting to look kind of scary. I'm only a little more than two years away, and it's starting to bother me a bit.

As for getting weird looks from people or having them look down on my hobbies or interests, I don't sweat it. Everyone at my old job knew I loved comics and cartoons, especially Spider-Man and TMNT. A few of them even brought things to work for me to add to my collection, or simply because they knew I was into that stuff. One co-worker even brought me the shell from a on old Ninja Turtle costume her nephew's mom had found while cleaning out their closets. I wore it at work the rest of the day, and no one said a word about it other than that hey thought it was funny. Even some of my customers thought it was cute, and I wore it on my last day there, too. Haven't done anything like that yet at the new job, but I already know that the son of one of the girls I work with now likes TMNT, and that his favorite is Leo. So I can use my interest to talk to people, and even get to know the people I work with better because of it!

I even have an older customer with whom I'm on a first-name basis that asks me about how my writing is going- though I haven't told him yet WHAT I'm writing about. He just knows I write a lot of comic-book type stuff....

[CyberCubed]

Look at this article about turning 30:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_2724609.html