Problems with age and ''authority people''

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Hi all =)

I'm having a problem with my age. Im 24, but I feel like 12-13, and I look young. People around me don't really understand me on that. When they treat me as an adult and that stuff i feel really sad. When i tell them i feel like a kid, they say '' we can't treat you as a kid, you are over 18, an adult''

Can anyone relate?

I get more annoyed when people treat me like a kid just because I look young and vulnerable. I like it when elderly people say nice compliments like ''you're so slim'' or ''you've got such a healthy look'' or whatever, because it makes me feel like a young lady, but I hate it when older people (especially women) think they can just treat me how they want and think I won't react just because they think I'm ''just a kid''.

When I was a teenager, I hated being expected to be like an adult. I want to still act like a little kid, and when I was about 14 I used to not like going to the shopping mall because I hated having to ''act like a normal teenage girl''. Well, when I was that age, the suitable behaviour for my age was to be all grown-up, but now 14-year-olds are allowed to act like little kids, and I see teens older than 14 whizzing around on little scooters, but when I was that age I was told I was too big for scooters. It seems like the expected behaviour for age has changed since I got older.

best thing to do is imagine you're 35, wishing you were 24-45. 12-13 maybe long gone, but you're still very young

*sigh* Even at my age, I still get this.

I hate being told what to do, most often because I can think of a better way to do whatever it is, so I have a great dispassion for authority. On another level, people "of authority" either tend to pick on me (I've been told I look like an 'easy target' as I look very young for my age and am rather naive) or mother me because they see that people do this sort of thing to me regularly.

Its frustrating because, being a 24 year old female, I would like to be acknowledged as an adult. Do I feel like one? Not at all. But it would be nice.

Though, when bus drivers mistake me for a teenage boy and demand I start paying youth fare, that's pretty nice too..

Keeping your mind young is a good thing.
If anyone treat you in a way you are not comfortable, it's ok to ask them not to treat you like that, and give them reason why.
Most people are kind and understand how you want them to treat you.

Yeah I can relate. I've always had a screwed up sense of age in that it's hard for me to grasp societal expectations of age groups. Like people will have certain expectations of a 20-30 year old and different expectations of 40-50 year old. I shock people with how good I am at guessing their age but at the same time I have to consciously remind myself that 20 year olds and 60 year olds will have different perceptions of me while I see both as peers. I'm still not sure what their expectations of me are but I know age makes a difference to people. I still see people in a similar to the way I did as a kid. I'm not sure about the authority thing because the concept has eluded me my entire life. What people see as authority figures I see as people who want control over my freedom. Been like that since I can remember.

Apart from only having a "thumbnail sketch" of current pop culture and being about 5 years behind the bulk of it, I consider my age to be early 20s. Authority by nature is the 'guru' - police are not 'law gurus' though I'm having to appeal to them to 'call off their dogs' nearly once every week or 2 lately. Additionally, being of 'age of majority' I resent the necessity and hassle of having to chase a dollar while already receiving a disability allowance just to hopefully enjoy a 'broke-azz value combo meal' once a month

I think most of the time people think I am a lot younger then I actually am so I get treated younger. Even when people know my actual age, I still get treated younger. It annoys me when people treat me downright like a child with no degree of respect. If they seemingly respect me, then I dont mind a younger treatment. I worked at an internship this summer where almost everyone was like 20 yrs older. To them, I was sorta the cute kid intern. They loved my work but socially I was treated like a kid.

I'm very dependant, so when it comes to others, yes, I am treated "like a kid". Which is strange, because everyone says I look older than I actually am. I guess my actions speak louder than my [book] cover*.




* Reference to "don't judge a book by it's cover"