I find that being in your mid-20s comes with a certain amount of pressure. Indeed, any stage in life will have its pressures, but I think your 20s is a particularly 'awkward' time, with a level of expectation that you should have pretty decent grasp on the direction your life is going in, and a plethora of interesting things to tell vaguely distant relatives about just how well you're doing.
But, then come the questions. You know the type. The ones that make you roll your eyes, laugh nervously and give your pre-prepared answer that you conjured up in the car on the way to the family gathering, because you just know that your opinionated and slightly abrasive uncle will ask you the same thing he asks every time.
Let's start with a classic example, shall we?
1. 'Sooooooo, has he proposed yet??'
Ahh, the dreaded question for anyone in their 20s (or maybe 30s or 40s) who has been in a relationship for more than six months.
After a response of awkward laughter and shaking your head, I often find that the initial question is followed up with 'Well, you want to be telling him that he needs to put a ring on it!'
Well maybe, just maybe, I don't want him to yet??
2. 'Do you think you'll have kids one day... Soon?'
How is it possible that one tiny, four-lettered word can change what is seemingly a really casual question into somewhat more of a 'reminder' that kids is really something you should be thinking about now that you're 25 and your ovaries are on an inevitable ticking time bomb which could implode at any moment? (I of course mean this in jest, but you get the idea of the amount of pressure adding the word 'soon' creates). When I feel like voluntarily growing to the house of the house and going through childbirth (which soz, sounds like a hell that I am not ready to put myself through), I'll let you know, kay?
3. 'Aren't you a bit young to be settling down? Shouldn't you be going out and enjoying life?'
JFC I can't win. And why doesn't being in bed at 8pm with snacks and a good box set qualify as 'enjoying life'??
4. 'Are you EVER going to use that journalism degree?'
Why no, vaguely distant family member who has no bearing on my life whatsoever, I probably won't. I'm an estate agent now and I like it. Is that cool with you?
5. 'What's your long term career goal?'
Bloody hell, I don't know. Not getting sacked by next week? Making it through to Friday without guzzling down a bottle of wine per night? Don't say I don't dream big.
Please tell me someone else can relate??
Love,
Sian xo
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