I once had a conversation with someone regarding what it takes to make you an adult. Since I'm mainly a 13/47 year-old girl (depending on the day...or hour) trapped in the body of a twenty-something, I do think about this often. When will the transition take place? At what moment does one stop being a big kid and start being an adult? Lately I've realized the process is probably a slow burn, though I can't help but think that I'll wake-up one day and think, "Oh my. It's happened."
In the aforementioned conversation, two things were mentioned that mark the change from boy to man. 1) The ability to swallow pills without water. This seems as if it might be reserved for swarthy older men and precocious teens. I'm able to do it, but I spend some concentrated time stirring up spittle before hand. I've also known a 70-year-old woman who had not graduated past children's chewable Tylenol. She was definitely an adult.
The second point is when one has a newspaper delivered to their home on a daily basis AND they sit down to read it, cover to cover. When I was younger, I imagined myself in a large men's button-up shirt and glasses, musing over the headlines with my morning cup of coffee. The day that this will happen is still easily decades away.
I am reminded most often that I am "not yet a woman" (thank you, Britney Spears) when I buy a bottle of wine. Near my office in DUMBO is a wine shop called Blanc et Rouge. French, non? Sometimes I stop there on my way home from work. Stepping inside a wine store makes me feel as if I am a toddler walking in my father's shoes. I stroll around, trying to look at ease, likely to accidentally bump into a towering glass display at any time.
It is at Blanc et Rouge where I found one of my favorite wines...I know enough about my personal taste to stay within the Pinots (Noir over Merlot, Grigio over Chardonnay). From there, price and label rule the choice. Fleur de California costs a bit more than my usual Trader Joe's, but the label is definitely worth it (vintagey looking flowers on a green glass bottle? come on).
Uh, it tastes good too.
Anyway, when I am sitting in my apartment after a day at the office, sipping Fleur's Pinot Noir, I think, "Oh my. Has it happened? Doubtful."
(picture courtesy of thekitchn.com)
you should just plan on being a kid as long as possible. that's what i'm doing.
ReplyDeletereading the newspaper cover to cover takes an absurd amount of time. i always tried to do it at skidmore with the times, a person can only do that if you somehow cheat at life and get to live in an old home while you're still sane and have all your vision, that way you have enough time and brain power: essentially impossible. therefor essentially impossible to be an adult? i hope so.
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