age

when i was 16, i went to the beach with a friend and her family. one night we decided to hit up a little amusement park, and my friend and i rode pretty much every ride that didn't make me barf. most of the park workers were local teenagers, and as teenage boys are wont to do, they flirted with us. except - they flirted with my friend, telling us they thought she was 17-18 and i was her 13yr old kid sister.

when i was 21, i was in my senior year of college. i went to a local restaurant in the city with some friends for a champagne brunch. we were carded, of course. but when the waiter looked at my license and looked at me, he frowned and said he needed to take my card to his manager. mind you, my friends had out-of-state licenses, in-state licenses, you-name-it. here i was with my in-state as-legitimate-as-you-get-license, getting the twice-over from some waiter likely because of my age.

i could go on and on. apparently i look younger than i am.

but - over the past year, something changed. around january, i stopped getting carded at restaurants. it was mysterious really. i would order my drink, look down to my purse to fumble for my license, and the waitress would have already disappeared. i have been chalking it up to the chronic state of sleep deprivation and stress of third year, especially since just prior to january i had my surgery rotation.

and then it happened. we got our pictures taken for our residency application, and i picked them up yesterday. i looked nice, i thought, and then, out of nowhere: "hey, who is that grown-up?!" apparently somewhere along the way it is the goal of medical school to attempt to make you look like you are old enough to take care of so-and-so's dying mom. hey medical school? goal accomplished. ...or maybe medical school has just flown by so fast the last time i looked in the mirror was my early twenties? in any case, here's the evidence.

yours truly, all grown-up: