I was at the grocery store the other day, making the usual rounds and trying to spend more time in the produce section than the bakery. While walking to check out, I passed a 6 year old boy having a complete meltdown in the candy aisle. “But Mooooooooooom!” he sobbed while kicking his feet next to the bins of candy. Poor little guy, his mom finally dragged him away candy-less. I thought about all the Reese’s peanut butter cups and sticks of gum I’d begged my own mom to buy me, and I marched right over to the gummy worms and bought a huge handful. Because I am an adult.
Driving home I thought about all the other great things about being 24 – like having my own Netflix account with suggestions that actually include my love of severe weather documentaries and emotional dramas featuring a strong female lead. I have a bank account with a small, steady income source and zero shame when it comes to saying no.
You know what else is great about growing up?
1. Movie theater popcorn. In high school and college, I never bought popcorn at the movies. It was either Triscuits brought in under my jacket or nothing at all. I could barely afford the $10.25 ticket on my babysitting salary, let alone an $8 tub of popcorn. But then my mid-20s came that all changed. I can’t even go to the movies anymore without walking in armed with popcorn and diet coke with no ice.
2. Friday at 6:00pm. You think you love the weekend, but you do not really love the weekend until you sit at the same desk for over 40 hours a week. By the time 4:00pm on a Friday rolls around, anticipation has reached hysteria. The possibility of the weekend is almost better than the weekend itself. Walking out of my office onto the street at 6:01pm on a Friday is filled with so much hope and promise. Work e-mail, off. Sweatpants, on.
3. Bedtime is acceptable. Don’t ever go to sleep on the same day you woke up, that was the rule in college. I’d miss so much going to bed early that one night asleep by 11:00pm felt like six months in Uganda. But now, going to bed before my grandmother is completely acceptable. I don’t get any more 1:00am texts asking me where I am, nobody is throwing rocks at my window. And maybe that’s supposed to make me sad but mostly I just really need 8 full hours of sleep to function.
