Let me preface this by saying that I am 17 years old. I also haven’t shaved in two days; so I have barely more than a 5 o’clock shadow going. I also work at a little family run diner in town as a server. Today the owner had her two kids, that are 4 and 6 (I’m pretty sure) running around as well. They are really good kids so I usually talk with them and because of their Albanian roots, end up calling me by my Albanian name (at least I can hope its not some slang word). Well, it started when this older couple came in for breakfast. First thing they asked me was how old my kids were. I just thought they were joking around with me and I gave them a long “Nooooooooooo. I don’t have any kids. Not yet” response. They cracked a smile so I went with it.
About half an hour goes by. This gentleman in his mid to late 40s comes in and sees me talking to the kids again. I get his order and then bring his food. He then tells me how well I’m raising my kids because they are so well behaved. I gave him a kind of confused nervous smile and just changed the subject.
Finally, this rather attractive 20 something year old brunette came in to pick up a to go order. I was watching TV with the kids at the time which she noticed. While ringing up her order, she told me how cute my kids were.
Then, the final nail in the coffin was when I went to Best Buy to buy an M rated game. This requires you to be 17+. The guy didn’t even bother to ID me or ask my age.
It isn’t the first time this has happened either. On countless Craigslist test drives I did, people were convinced I was at least 21 if not older (as evident by the one lady selling a Volvo 850 sedan who almost asked me out for drinks). One time when I went to get breakfast with my mom at Ihop, the waitress was shocked to learn I was her son and she was my mom.
What’s the point of this post? I don’t really have an answer. It’s just kind of a weird feeling honestly. I actually kinda like the feeling of getting carded when making my “mature rated” video game purchases and Redbox movie rentals; but I’m really not getting to experience it. Anyone else have this?