Last of the Brohicans
When I was a kid, I thought 30 year olds were really old. As I sit here at 32 years young, I don't feel very adultish (yes, I know that is not a word but it should be). I have a steady job that I love. That's really the only "adult" thing about me. I'm still a bachelor. I live in a "bachelor pad". I have two roommates. For people that don't live in New York or San Francisco, having roommates in your 30's may seem odd. Here it's the norm if you're not in a serious relationship. Or if you're not a super baller that can afford a $3,500 rent for a 500 square foot studio. I don't have a craving for children at the moment and I go back and forth on whether or not I'm even looking for love. Although men don't really have a biological clock, I do feel most men get a little bit of a nesting urge to settle down and start a family. I am completely lacking that urge at the moment but I seem to be one of the few. Quite literally, 90%-95% of my guy friends are married or engaged and they're almost all younger than I am. Does this put pressure on me? No, not at all. Aside from the cliched yet still accurate parent pressure, the peer pressure has 0% affect on me. In fact, I halfway believe being surrounded by couples almost drives my desire to be single. I feel I am one of the Last of the Brohicans. Carrying the torch for all my married fuckers. I don't have many fellow Brohicans to kick it with anymore. I am occasionally being forced to stay at home on weekends due to having a lack of options of boys to roll out with, which is far from my liking. I once had a friend who used to encourage me to go out on Fridays when I wasn't feeling up to it because "we only have a finite number of Fridays in our lifetimes and we should take advantage of them." Ever since he enlightened me to this fact I feel I get a bit stir crazy when I stay in on a Friday or Saturday night which is just another sign that I'm not ready to really embrace full adulthood. But it also points out that, much like how the singles tables at weddings I attend are growing smaller, so are my group of wingmen.
It's weird being one of the last Brohicans. Your social circle is constantly in flux. You seek out fellow Brohicans that you didn't hang out with much before or even really know. It's instant common ground. "Dude, you're single? I'm single. Let's go out and talk to girls sometime!" You meet a lot of new people. You feel you are somewhat being judged for your antics because you're acting the same way you were in your 20's. And while you don't feel exiled from the married folk, you also don't feel you have as much in common as you used to when you were trading war stories.
That being said, I still see my married friends quite a bit. But it's different. They have someone to answer to now - their wives. They can't get rowdy with Macster and then arrive home obliterated. It's almost like being in high school and having to sneak in past your parents. To credit my friends wives however, they're pretty good at rolling their eyes and letting boys be boys on the occasions the dogs do get off the leash. However, my friends are now starting to take that next step in life - having kids. I thought all the weddings were scary, now I am going to have to start dealing with mini versions of my friends. Marriages and wives are one thing. Kids are quite another. As Bill Murray states in Lost in Translation, when you have kids "Your life, as you know it, is gone." Kids are a whole different ball game. I haven't had to deal with it much yet, but the time is coming. Several of my friends are expecting and once those little guys and gals appear, it's diapers, baby food, and a whole lot of lack of sleep. In other words, not a world I operate in or know how to navigate very well. I'm excited for them and look forward to seeing how these mini-friends of mine turn out. I can easily imagine myself as pretty much every friend of my parents: constantly telling these offspring that they remind me so much of their father (or mother) and why. But I can't tell a baby about my latest inebriated escapade.
At the end of the day, it's an interesting dynamic. Friends you've grown up with have different priorities and different routines and different responsibilities. You're still always going to be friends And one day I'll be right there with them. Changing diapers. Finding problems with my house to work on during the weekends. Saving money for my kid's education instead of spontaneous trips to Vegas. But I'm not there yet.
To paraphrase Chingachgook from Last of the Mohicans:
"... for they are all there but one - I, Macster, last of the Brohicans.
My Name is Macster and I Approve This Message
It's weird being one of the last Brohicans. Your social circle is constantly in flux. You seek out fellow Brohicans that you didn't hang out with much before or even really know. It's instant common ground. "Dude, you're single? I'm single. Let's go out and talk to girls sometime!" You meet a lot of new people. You feel you are somewhat being judged for your antics because you're acting the same way you were in your 20's. And while you don't feel exiled from the married folk, you also don't feel you have as much in common as you used to when you were trading war stories.
That being said, I still see my married friends quite a bit. But it's different. They have someone to answer to now - their wives. They can't get rowdy with Macster and then arrive home obliterated. It's almost like being in high school and having to sneak in past your parents. To credit my friends wives however, they're pretty good at rolling their eyes and letting boys be boys on the occasions the dogs do get off the leash. However, my friends are now starting to take that next step in life - having kids. I thought all the weddings were scary, now I am going to have to start dealing with mini versions of my friends. Marriages and wives are one thing. Kids are quite another. As Bill Murray states in Lost in Translation, when you have kids "Your life, as you know it, is gone." Kids are a whole different ball game. I haven't had to deal with it much yet, but the time is coming. Several of my friends are expecting and once those little guys and gals appear, it's diapers, baby food, and a whole lot of lack of sleep. In other words, not a world I operate in or know how to navigate very well. I'm excited for them and look forward to seeing how these mini-friends of mine turn out. I can easily imagine myself as pretty much every friend of my parents: constantly telling these offspring that they remind me so much of their father (or mother) and why. But I can't tell a baby about my latest inebriated escapade.
At the end of the day, it's an interesting dynamic. Friends you've grown up with have different priorities and different routines and different responsibilities. You're still always going to be friends And one day I'll be right there with them. Changing diapers. Finding problems with my house to work on during the weekends. Saving money for my kid's education instead of spontaneous trips to Vegas. But I'm not there yet.
To paraphrase Chingachgook from Last of the Mohicans:
"... for they are all there but one - I, Macster, last of the Brohicans.
My Name is Macster and I Approve This Message
Comments
Post a Comment