I won't be a grown-up until...

[Bizarre Atheist]

As I seem to be attending more and more parties where I am the oldest guest, my knees have started giving me trouble in the cold and I've been known to stay in on Friday nights for a nice dinner rather than go out on the lash, I've been musing on the nature of adulthood.

So - what is it for you that will finally signify that you are a grown-up? For me it'll be when I;

- own furniture that arrived ready-assembled
- pay for things with a card without wincing
- own, and use, impressive kitchen equipment...pestle and mortar, melon baller, Sabatier knives etc

[Duggeh]

I'll be grown up when I hit six feet. I've been 5 foot 10 for 5 or 6 years.

[Person]

When I graduate, have to manage actual finances, own furniture (unassembled or not), own actual art pieces instead of ripped posters I'm not even allowed to put on my wall, have a reasonable set of speakers and other things that don't fit in my uni suitcase. When I have to wear something responsible looking every day. When I have dinner parties (and go to dinner parties) where people don't eat off paper plates held in their laps, and I don't have to desperately convince people to attend by promising alcohol and a rowdy time.

Melon baller is a pretty high goal - considering most people probably never get those I guess the world's adult population is very very small. But I've always wanted to get myself a nice mortar and pestle, they just seem to be so ridiculously expensive for the basic function they perform, and manual labour they require.

Personally I'm very much looking forward to this adulthood I imagine for myself. That quiet night in for dinner sounds wonderful.

[munchingfoo]

When I stop posting on the sinner.

[Frank]

I always assumed it'd be when I start branching out in terms of 'what I drink'. The development of my hot bevereges have. essentially, been a marker for my development.

When I was little, it was almost uniformly hot chocolate. When I turned fifteen I'd started making cups of tea for myself unprompted. Soon after I'd started moving away from milk-in-my-tea. By the time I had my first proper job it was onto Earl Grey. By third year at Uni I'd went out of my way to invest in a decent teapot for drinking leaf tea from rather than purely bagged stuff. Fourth year saw the beginnings of my 'experimental' year where I overdosed (figuratively) on types of tea. (The legacy of this persists, my room is still festooned with over thirty different varieties and brands of tea)

Nowadays I can drink a cup of coffee, but I think the true marker of my adulthood will be having a means of properly storing/organising a variety of tea in a less haphazard manner. This'll presumably mean being truly in my own place more permanantly than I've lived through University. One day, one day...

[RandomMusings]

....until I start eating green sprouts?

[Senethro]

I bought a collander this semester. Never thought I'd have a need for one before now, but suddenly its an essential part of my kitchen!

Why eat at a table unless yo'ure eating in company?
VVVVVV

[Power Metal Dom]

When I cut my hair short.

When I buy a pair of gentleman's leather shoes.

When I eat my meal at a table instead of in my bedroom.

[ojk6]

When I've got a mortage.
When I care about the fact that I'm the oldest person in a group.

[Gubbins]

Kids. Until then you don't really have to grow up. And then you get to have a second childhood.

[ct3012]

... I'm no longer living in the family home in any way, shape or form.
... I work full time for money rather than academic purposes, whilst begrudgingly repaying a student loan.
... I'm married.
... I have kids to be responsible for and be responsible around.

[Garnet]

...i stop caring so much.

[Hennessy]

...When I have not just responsibilities but obligations as well
...When I can get up regularly every morning, at a certain time, and not feel in a wretched mood
...When my possessions amount to more than bric-a-brac and a motorbike
...When I can get a coffee, a newspaper, dinner at a sit-down restaurant and a few beers in a day and not have blown my budget for the week.
...when I can get get a few beers and not end up sprawled over something or someone.
...When I have to phone someone to tell them I'll have to re-schedule because of work
...When I actually get an appreciation for walks in the park or picnics instead of considering them a waste of time
...When my porn file on my laptop is of little consideration in my sex life
...When I can pick up a ballot sheet and vote for a political party
...When the lines under my eyes most days have become a permanent feature.