Why do people treat me like a little kid?

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Oddish
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30 Mar 2007, 7:35 pm

I'm 20, and I'm constantly treated like I'm 12. People ask me how I'm doing in high school, they ask me what year I'm graduating, they ask if my mom or dad are home if I answer the door. Then they act shocked and actually ask to see my ID when I tell them how old I am, and then they look it over like they think it is fake or something. It's degrading, and I am tired of it. I know I look young, but even if I try to dress "older", I still don't get treated like I'm older. It's one thing to get ID'd four times in one night -- it is quite another to talk to me like I am a child when I am clearly a fully-functional, mentally competent adult. How many twelve-year-olds have facial hair? :roll:

How do I get people to recognize that I'm not a little kid? I don't even know what it is about me that makes them think that I am so young, but it is really frustrating and I am really tired it.



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30 Mar 2007, 7:41 pm

Just say it. You know, as they're looking over the ID say "You don't know how many times I've been asked for this. I'm 20 years old and the NEVER believe me!!"

Birth certificates can also help. :)


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hartzofspace
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30 Mar 2007, 7:47 pm

Believe me, I have had that same problem most of my adult life. When in my twenties, I was constantly talked to and treated like a small child. When in my thirties, my daughter was as tall as me, (I'm five foot three inches) and people would say what cute sisters we were. When I visited her high school, the teen boys there tried to ask me out. They didn't believe I was a mother! Now, in my forties, I have sprouted some gray hair around my temples, and people are finally giving some semblance of respect. But it took a long time!


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jnet
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30 Mar 2007, 8:02 pm

I have the same problem. I look a lot younger than I am. I'm 20 and I still get offered the kids menu at restaurants. I can handle that, but what really bothers me is that people my own age, for example my roomates, who KNOW how old I am still treat me like a child.


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DejaQ
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30 Mar 2007, 8:10 pm

Oddish wrote:
How many twelve-year-olds have facial hair? :roll:


I did when I was thirteen. Not too far off.



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30 Mar 2007, 9:10 pm

I don't think that the main reason is the physical appearance , it is the body language. When it comes to those people whom you interact with, ofcourse it is the childish behaviour that we show. Around one and a half year ago i wrote in a scrap book about myself "Like a child i am, what ever they say i don't give a damn"



30 Mar 2007, 9:13 pm

I'd take it as a compliments. People won't see you as a pervert when you're with kids or playing on a playground with other kids, they will think you're a kid too.


People ask me how I'm doing and I always took it as a social thing, not because they think I'm still a kid. I also get ID. people are starting to think I'm younger now. When I was a kid, people always thought I was older. I always took it the hard way. I bet could pass of as being sixteen or seventeen. I bet I could go trick o treating and say I'm still in high school and I get candy because they think I'm a kid. But I never gotten stopped by a police officer asking why I'm not in school. Maybe it's because you can be 16 to quit school so perhaps they think I'm a high school drop out.



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30 Mar 2007, 9:51 pm

I don't know what kind of regulations your school may have on it, but some amount of facial hair can help. Definitely makes me look a couple years older than if I'm clean-shaved. Well...more that if I don't have any facial hair I look a couple years younger.



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30 Mar 2007, 9:54 pm

I get treated like a kid at home, and I'm 15. :?



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30 Mar 2007, 10:47 pm

RedMage wrote:
I get treated like a kid at home, and I'm 15. :?


??What are you talking about? 15 IS a kid.



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30 Mar 2007, 10:54 pm

Ticker wrote:
??What are you talking about? 15 IS a kid.

Is not!! ! It's teenager!! ! :x



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30 Mar 2007, 10:54 pm

Generally speaking if you get treated like a child as an adult then you are either 1) acting childish, 2) have a childlike voice if you are female, 3) use slang language like a teenager (a 35 yr old friend still calls everyone "dude" as an example), 4) you are buying something meant for children like kid's breakfast cereal, candy, toys or video games, 5) you are still dressing like child or 6) you have a childish face and/or bodyframe.

When I go to town in my hoodie and jeans and buy candy I have learned not to get offended when I get treated like a child because if I want treated differently I need to appear more mature. It's all in your presentation.



RedMage
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30 Mar 2007, 10:57 pm

Video games are NOT for children. My step-dad is 30 something and he plays them!



GoatOnFire
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30 Mar 2007, 11:13 pm

Oddish wrote:
I'm 20, and I'm constantly treated like I'm 12. People ask me how I'm doing in high school, they ask me what year I'm graduating, they ask if my mom or dad are home if I answer the door. Then they act shocked and actually ask to see my ID when I tell them how old I am, and then they look it over like they think it is fake or something. It's degrading, and I am tired of it. I know I look young, but even if I try to dress "older", I still don't get treated like I'm older. It's one thing to get ID'd four times in one night -- it is quite another to talk to me like I am a child when I am clearly a fully-functional, mentally competent adult. How many twelve-year-olds have facial hair? :roll:

How do I get people to recognize that I'm not a little kid? I don't even know what it is about me that makes them think that I am so young, but it is really frustrating and I am really tired it.


A few years from now you probably won't think that is such a bad thing. I'm 20 and I still look like a 15 year old.


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Trisia
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31 Mar 2007, 3:07 pm

oh gosh! I get treated like a little kid all the time, especially by people at work ! I don' t know if it is my voice or my appearance or both. But some people talk to me like I'm 5, and I get really ticked off by that.



mikh07
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31 Mar 2007, 3:16 pm

haha.. a lot of times I feel like I'm the baby of the family even though I'm 17. It's pretty annoying but I tolerate it