Do people mistake your age for being younger or older than what your actual age is?
 

I was wondering if there are some people out there who are constantly mistaking your age, for example I'm going to turn 21 pretty soon, and I have a young looking face, so people are always asking me what grade I'm in or what classes I'm taking in high school. Having a young sounding voice doesn't help either, (on my normal days my speaking voice sounds like I'm about fifteen) When I tell them I'm 20 they either are shocked or they give me a look like they don't believe me. It's kind of frustrating because I want to show people that I can be a mature adult and not just a kid anymore. Does this happen to anyone else?

I have that problem. I am 27 but look like I am 20. It caused alot of adversity that I had to overcome even after years of training to get the position in my alum high school as a teacher. If you know me its not a thought to enter your mind that I have not physically aged but if you don't people are skeptical of my ability in my profession even though I am among the best.

When I was 10, I looked 15. When I was 15 I looked 20. Now I just look like in in my 20's.

Yeah I actually have had that sort of thing happen. I'm 18 now, but I've been told I looked 14-16. I mean my brother is two years younger than me, and people thought he was older than me.

For me this is hilarious. If I have a beard, I looked about 35 (I am 27). If I don't have a beard, I look 17. Now I found a perfect middle ground.... I just keep a one week after 5 o'clock shadow and now no one assumes either lol

Most of the time, people mistake me for being in my early 20s. But I was at Chick Fil-A a couple months back and some kid asked me and my better half which high school we go to because we apparently looked familiar. Depends, I guess.

Depends if I shave.

Same. I STILL can't buy beer, I have to send my wife to buy it, because I don't carry ID on me. Granted, a few laugh lines aside, I do look exactly the same as I did in high school. But it's a little ridiculous. I don't exactly put these gray hairs in by myself because I want to look distinguished.

That said, I'm glad I look young. S'what happens when you don't smoke cigarettes and don't crawl into a bottle every night.

I met a girl at a bar who thought I was 19 and kept asking when I graduated high school. I'm actually 36. I thought she was 25 and it turns out she was 45. Shows how you really can't tell anymore. I guess she was the Gwen Stefani of the bar that night.

Yes, I appear a lot younger than I actually am. My mum's new friend thought I was 21 back in 2012 (I was 30). I do look quite young but I have days where I'm fvcked up and the bags under my eyes on those days don't do me any favours.

Personally I thought I looked quite masculine in my blue hat. Oh well, guess not.

Oh, and I hate not being clean shaven. I feel dirty and look it.

I'm in the same boat with you, but an older version and no longer feel the wish to prove my age. And I know I'm just sounding like an 'old' person now, but trust me, give it time and, as I was often told, you prob really will appreciate it eventually.

Once I got to the young 30s it turned fun. (Late 20s also to a slightly lesser extent.) Being asked by coworkers, esp those in their 20s who think I'm close to their age, and watching their reaction is priceless. One girl who was about the age of my younger sister was pretty much convinced my parents had been lying to me forever about my true age. :lol: She just could not believe I was in my 30s.

Right now at 35 I still pass for upper 20s. Although the restaurant carded me on my last birthday when I ordered a drink. I think that's pushing it a little. lol

I will miss it when I really do start passing for 30. Enjoy your youth though, the 20s is a fast decade.

Despite being 33 now, I still sometimes get mistakened for being younger, like early to mid 20s for some reason. I just don't see it. People say I look young for my age. I still get carded for alcohol. lol Others seem to guess okay, and assume late 20s...it is closer to the 30s after all. Some just guess my age base on the things I may have said and go from there, but still seem genuinely shocked. "Wait, I thought you were in your 20s, but you were talking about <insert nostalgic thing here> like you were actually around, so I figured you had to have been older." Junk like that.

People are generally surprised that I'm as advanced in age as I am, but not by much.

When I got my job people thought I came right out of High School. When I told people I was in my late 20's they were shocked and thought I was lying. People think I'm only 19-20 for some reason...like I'm some freshly graduated High School kid.

Its also probably because I'm only 5'6'' in height, so I'm rather short for a guy. Everyone thinks I'm a little boy! Its like I'm some adult man-child or something.

No worres. I'm about 5 foot 7 or 5 foot 8 myself, although most people seem to think I'm 6 foot 2 from photos.

Being smaller comes in handy for me when playing soccer. Low centre of gravity and the ability to twist and turn at speed. Not sure if there are any benefits for you, what with you not bring sporty. It definitely sucks when it comes to women, that's for sure.

This many people... Look, it's scientific proof that the Turtles keep you young. :tgrin:

:lol::lol:

Didn't even occur to me until your comment. He's practically begging for it, isn't he?

I can relate to the topic. I'm now 33 and 5'4. Since there is a high school not far from where I live at, I might still be viewed as a student.

Actually I am a student. College sophomore. :)

Similar heh... I look mid 30s with the beard (I'm 40) and have been mistaken for early 20s without it. I do look younger than I am in general, probably from taking care of my skin, and not being out in the sun for hours on end.

4'11". High pitched voice, loud laugh. Shortest guy here probably.

Anyone that doesn't already know how old I am have any guesses? Because I'm 23. And nobody gets it right.

Pretty sure that's just a Cabbage Patch Kid.

:tgrin:

I keep my beard mainly to look my age, although eventually my hair will probably grey to the point that I look OLDER than I really am. Funny how that works.

I still get carded.

And not for drinks but for M rated games, which are for 17 and up.

I'm 31 and I definitely look younger than that and have a younger sounding voice. It's kind of surprising since I've had gray hair since my 20's and there are still people who think I'm way younger than I am. But everyone tells me to enjoy it because it's a good thing for people to think you're younger. I don't mind it at all and am just waiting for when the gray hairs really set in.

Oh my god, I've never heard this before and I'm laughing so goddamn hard. Holy ****.

I think some people mistake being carded for looking younger, when in reality employees HAVE to do that or they lose their job or get fined.

I'm sure they know some of you are over 18 or 21 or whatever, but they have to card you just to be on the safe side. I know if that were me I wouldn't want to risk losing my job or getting fined (like $1000 fine) if I didn't card someone even if I knew they looked like they were of age.

i've been told i look older than I actually am. could be the hair loss factor lol! :lol: :P

I DON'T GET CARDED WHEN I ASK FOR ALCOHOL.

It's only happened to me maybe twice.

Nah, most places entirely don't give a sh*t. I mean it depends. I get carded at big places, like concert venues and stuff. Sometimes T.G.I. Friday's, that's 50/50, I usually flirt with the waitress first to distract her a little and they'll usually "forget" to ask. At Hooters or any of the hole-in-the-wall places wrestlers go after a show, nobody ever asks. You see 30 roughnecks in a row stumble into a place at 11:30 at night, makin' all kinds of noise and smashing dishes on the floor, you tend to not ask too many questions and just give everybody what they want. :lol:

Sometimes I still do. On and off at H.E.B. If the cashiers have seen my I.D. before, then they don't ask and I get to go home with the beer. Depends if the cashier is new. If so, then I usually get carded. That's how I can spot the newbies there.

I've always looked a few years younger than I actually am. When I was 15, people thought I looked 12 or 13; and now that I'm 19, people assume that I'm 17 (and still in high school).

"So where do you think you're going to college?"
"Uh, well, I'm already there."

Cracks me up every time.

I find it interesting so many people agree they look older when they have a beard, and then when they shave it they look really young. Its the same for me too, sometimes I just get lazy and forget to shave for a week or two and then I notice how visibly older I look like when I see myself in the mirror.

Then I shave completely and I look in the mirror and I look like a 20 year old again. Amazing how some hair on your face can totally make you look older by about 10 years.

People thought I was in high school when I was in my mid 20s. Seriously, I was nearing 27 at the time, and it was late as I was in the building after hours cause I was doing a late class. The janitors saw me there every week and they finally just asked, what grade I was in since it was after 10 and stuff. They were like, "Why is a 16 year old always here?"

I've been mistaken for a high school student multiple times. I think it's partly because of the way I dress- jeans, t-shirt and sneakers/boots. If I dressed more like a ~lady~ I might seem my age or older. I also spend a lot of time indoors hiding from the sun. :tcouch:

I was always presumed much younger than I am for a long time, but it seems like in the last maybe two years a switch flipped and now I don't get that confusion anymore. I'm nearly 30 now and I'd say I'm probably starting to look it.

I have a baby-face, I'll look like a teen till my late 50's because I still eat a lot of fatty foods. If you wanna maintain youthful looks, eat fatty foods. When you age, your outer fat cells, under your skin, shrink. It results in looser skin (wrinkles) because the fat layer is no longer there to stretch out the skin, that gives it that "bounce."

So, if you do want to maintain youthful looks, eat fats (not excessively)...don't avoid ice cream, be ice cream!

I get mistaken for being younger than I am all the time. When my work colleagues found out how old I was recently they were all quite surprised - they thought I was a good 7-8 years younger than I really am. I've pretty much looked 27 since I was 14, although I've much less hair these days. My last girlfriend was even reluctant to go out with me at first, 'cause she thought I was much younger than her (even though I was 2 years older!)

When I'm clean-shaven, I still get ID'd for booze & ****, which always makes me chuckle - I drank underage in various pubs & clubs for years without getting ID'd, but as soon as I hit my 30s it started happening with alarming regularity. I suppose I should take it as a compliment....

I will follow this advise. FOR SCIENCE!

I'm 38, but I still have people think I look like early 20's. I even still get carded once in a while. Being 5 ft(even) and 96 lbs doesn't help. I also live right across from the high school here. for some reason, lots of people think I am much younger than I am. Then again, wearing Avengers and TMNT tees and kids' sized clothes and shoes probably also contributes, but I don't have a choice in that. Seriously, my shoe size is STILL a child's 2-3, and has been since high school. I can't even get the "Shoes For Crews" because they don't make them in my size.

I can get that, my previous girlfriend was five foot exact too, and has pretty much the same size feet. Was shopping in the kids section for shoes often. It automatically puts you in cute territory ;)