Is it better to be 18 and look 30 OR 30 and look 18? How has this effected your life?

20 comments

1. I was 17 and looked 30.

   I could buy age restricted goods without getting ID’ed, even under Think 25.

   As I got older, the age converged to my correct age, which was a good sign I guess!

2. Depends if you maintain looking about 30 once over 30. To look younger, it’s a gigantic disadvantage growing up as you wont get taken seriously at all really by anyone, perhaps leading you to feel very low. Looking slightly older is and advantage when you’re young.

   Obviously everyone wants to look young for as long as possible once they are past 30.

3. When I was 21 I was often told I looked about 27, when I was 37 I was told I looked 27. I’m now more than 10 years older and absolutely certain I don’t look 27 anymore.

4. I got asked for ID buying alcohol quite regularly until I was in my mid thirties, which was quite annoying, and I sometimes felt like I didn’t get taken as seriously as I should at work as people thought I was younger and less experienced than I was.

   On the other hand, I am 40 now and I regularly get told I don’t look older than 30, which is nice.

   If you looked 30 at 18 and still looked 30 at 30, then obviously I would say that is better than the other way around. But a lot of the people I knew who looked 30 at 18 now look about 60, so I wouldn’t take that deal…

5. > as it’s fairly hard to be taken seriously as a 5″9 baby face male

   Consider growing a beard? I think it helped me early in my career when interviewing/etc.

6. I’m 31 and I still get asked for ID. Whereas I do see the nice side of looking young, it is very frustrating to be treated like a teenager when I am in my 30s. I don’t feel people really have much respect for me often.

7. I have a similar problem.

   Older women tend to be the worst – they equate me to their uni-age immature sons & think I’m equally undeserving of any respect.

8. I’m 30 and look 18

9. I am 35 and was ID’d for Christmas Crackers, which are classed as indoor fireworks, and age-checked for **12**.

   I hope she was taking the piss, but since I also get ID’d for alcohol every single time, I know I look young.

   I’m sure I’m going to appreciate it when I’m old, but it does get to be a pain in the ass.

10. I’m a guy who looks young I’ve been told it constantly since I was 16 I’m now 33 and still get ID’d occasionally. I’ve never hated it, I embrace it, and the older I get the more I feel it’s a flex. It’s quite funny that everyone who works for me looks years older than I do.

    U just got to embrace who u r u can’t change it

11. I am very young looking for my age. When I was in my twenties, I still looked about fifteen and the amount of pedo creeps who thought I was still in school was uncountable.
    I still get angry to this day thinking about them. Nasty barstards.

12. Almost 40 and I look half my age. I’d defo prefer this, I look healthier and younger

13. Currently 32 and I still get the occasional ID check. Apparently I look 25!

    I used to hate it when I was younger, like you said difficult to be taken seriously. But in the work environment isn’t much of a problem. Sometimes it was a struggle when instructing/ disciplining someone who thought they was being told by an 18y/o. But your experience and knowledge will shine through that. Your employed for your skills, experience and personality- That’s what matters.

14. My SIL is now 30s and still looks 21, and when she had a baby at 25 the tutting she got from people assuming she was 15 was unreal. I had a baby at the same time (35 and looked it…) and the amount of respect I got from doctors, teachers, transport staff etc that she didn’t was ridiculous.

    She was grilled about her kid’s age (and my one) as soon as they were 6ish, as they assumed she wasn’t an adult and thus they should have to pay for tickets, whereas I never got asked once when taking her kid and mine anywhere. Any medical issues, she’d be patronised like hell, ditto the education system.

    I could pass as 25 age 16 so probably looked 30 at 18, and it didn’t do me any harm.

15. I’m 25 but I look really young. I’m a teacher and people have been really shocked when they see me and asked if I’m an assistant because I don’t look old enough to have graduated. I do feel a bit judged for how I look but things like getting IDed for little things don’t bother me as they’re just doing their job.

16. I got asked for ID to buy a packet of paracetamol ON MY 30th BIRTHDAY 😂 I don’t know who was more mortified, the lady checking my ID or me

17. I’ve looked 30-ish since I was in my late teens. I’ve never once been IDed for alcohol for instance. But now I’m nearly 40 I still look 30-ish.

    One of my exs, however always looked younger. He was older than me physically but people always under estimated his age. I think it was much more of a bother even if he was objectively better looking than me as society prefers younger looking people on average.

18. I’m 25 and still get told I look 16.

    I personally prefer it.

19. I’m in that situation I’m 29 and look 18, it’s got to the point where I still get asked for ID everywhere and when they see my id they always look so confused. When I tell people my age their whole perception of me changes

20. I am 20 and have terrible baby face. I look like a school kid. It’s very annoying because people don’t take you seriously professionally. And also I get IDed for the weirdest things, things I didn’t even know you NEED ID for.

    On the flip side, I grew a moustache a year or two ago (I was inside for all of the awkward stage and it accidentally happened out of laziness and then curiosity) and suddenly people thought I was really old. No more being IDed for redbull. No more student discounts or cheap travel either though :/

    It made me realise that people are more lenient with you if they think you are a kid. It’s easy to get away with whatever nonsense you’re up to and I feel like I get given a lot of free stuff and discounts but it all stopped when I grew a moustache. I even kept getting a “do you work here” type of thing whenever I was just chilling so people thought I was a waiter or whatever.

    Looking old overall is worse than looking young. I want to look young forever. I love flexing that I always look like the youngest person in every room, especially at work.