> I don't agree with the idea that you attain adulthood at the age of 18. In fact, I think that an arbitrary cut-off age between adolescence and adulthood is an inaccurate statement of exactly *when* you should consider yourself a fully grown, responsible member of society.
>
> The turning point, I feel, is when you no longer get the summer off between the end and the start of the academic year. Hence if you go straight into work from school, you're an adult. If you go to University, you're elongating your adolescence.
>
> Over the past couple of years, though, I've blurred this transition somewhat by taking placement work and industrial jobs related to my field of study (chemistry) but I've still managed to get away with between three weeks and a month off over the summer.
>
> This year is probably going to be the last one. In one weeks time I'll be wandering (late, probably) into the new lab that will see the majority of my waking hours for the next three years. I have one week of adolescence left.
>
> That's a worrying thought. I can't see myself as a responsible adult. I hang upside down off of too much high stuff to be responsible.
>
> Bo"Checklist: mortgage, kids, white picket fence"urne

I have similar problems. I can't remember when I changed from a child to an adult. I'm not even sure I ever did. Most of my friends are in their second or even third childhood, but I seem to be clinging to my first. The calendar says I am 69, but my mirror tells me that I am still 17. Haven't aged a bit. Not everybody notices my youth, but it is plain to me. Second and third childhoods are a time when guys buy things like a new Corvette. My neighbor did, and his wife says it is a third childhood. His second childhood was show horses.

But a first childhood is when you ride bicycles, and buy used motorscooters, and hunt for arrowheads or fossils. That's me and I find it confusing. I think I'd like a Corvette someday.

I am also confused about some other things. For example, I have retired and that makes it difficult to tell when I am on vacation. I know I am not on vacation all them time, because I can't afford it. It is confusing to be retired at such a tender age. Maybe I'm just unemployed.

And my kids. Why do they look so much older than me?

Just the other day, I made a slingshot. I used a maple fork cut from a tree, rubber bands cut from an old inner tube, and a leather pocket from an old shoe. My grandson wondered why I didn't just buy one ready made. Bought slingshots are for second or third childhoods.

I have some serious problems with the idea that at a certain age, you magically become an adult. If you buy insurance for a car, you better not be too young. It will cost a fortune. Why? Because other young people have had a lot of accidents. You are being held responsible for the actions of others. You are paying for somebody else's mistakes. Is that fair?

Will Rogers said that there would be no wars if Congress had to go first. Even people who are too young to vote for Congressional candidates, can go fight. Can't you just see President Bush leading Congress into Bagdad? Not going to happen. Why should us young folks fight the wars that old guys start? See, my brain is still 17. I'm going to have to get rid of that calendar.
Howard