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No one believes I'm 21! Not my friends, not my lil brother's friends, not my neighbours, not even my own parents! Just last week, I overheard mum compaining about my erratic sleeping habits, to which dad shook his head and snorted, saying, "Teenagers." Before that, mum, during one of her lectures,- I don't remember what started it... was it the wall hanging I'd ruined by spraying it with water from a hose (I was trying to spray the neighbour's cat) or the book end I'd broken (while trying to hit the same cat, after spraying water at it got boring)- said I was supposed to asct more mature, now that i was at the brink of my Tweens.
"But Mum, I'm 21!"
"No, you're not. That's your brother. And you should learn a thing or two from him." My brother. My younger brother. How do you argue with that?
It's commonplace to hear myself being described as the younger brother. Once, the old lady who lives upstairs in our block, asked me where my big brother was.
"You mean my younger brother. I'm older than him." I said. Heard that before.
"Really? You look like the younger one."
I wanted to say she was probably 500,000th person to point that out, but i just shrugged and said nothing.
"So my niece needs some advice regarding her extra-curriculars for 7th grade. You're in the 8th grade, right?"
"I'm in Dental school," I said, no longer making an effort to hide my exasperation.
"But didn't you just have your 11th birthday?"
"That was 10 years ago!"
I used to think it's because of the way I look, but it's not limited to just that. Take the phone call I received yesterday, for instance. This is how the conversation went:
Anonymous caller: "Hello, may I speak to Dr. Hadi?"
Me: "Sure! absolutely. You don't need my permission!"
Anon: "Umm... Who is this?"
Me: "Wait a minute... you're supposed to say 'Knock! Knock!' first."
Anon: "Uh kid, is there an adult around I can talk to?"
Me: "I'm 21!"
Anon: "Sure you are. I'll call back later."
"But Mum, I'm 21!"
"No, you're not. That's your brother. And you should learn a thing or two from him." My brother. My younger brother. How do you argue with that?
It's commonplace to hear myself being described as the younger brother. Once, the old lady who lives upstairs in our block, asked me where my big brother was.
"You mean my younger brother. I'm older than him." I said. Heard that before.
"Really? You look like the younger one."
I wanted to say she was probably 500,000th person to point that out, but i just shrugged and said nothing.
"So my niece needs some advice regarding her extra-curriculars for 7th grade. You're in the 8th grade, right?"
"I'm in Dental school," I said, no longer making an effort to hide my exasperation.
"But didn't you just have your 11th birthday?"
"That was 10 years ago!"
I used to think it's because of the way I look, but it's not limited to just that. Take the phone call I received yesterday, for instance. This is how the conversation went:
Anonymous caller: "Hello, may I speak to Dr. Hadi?"
Me: "Sure! absolutely. You don't need my permission!"
Anon: "Umm... Who is this?"
Me: "Wait a minute... you're supposed to say 'Knock! Knock!' first."
Anon: "Uh kid, is there an adult around I can talk to?"
Me: "I'm 21!"
Anon: "Sure you are. I'll call back later."
To be honest, it's not that big a deal. It'll definitely play to my advantage sometime later, when my friends'll look... well, their age, and I'll still look like I'm in my twenties.
What a weird thing to say... :o
-NH
lolx. I have the exact opposite problem. This was fun to read though. keep em coming.
ReplyDeleteHaha... I guess human beings are never truly content with the way they are. :p
DeleteAnd Thanks! :)