So This Is 20?

When I was younger it was hard to imagine being 20, I assumed my jaw line would become rugged like all the men I saw on the adverts,that I would be far hairier and women would be falling at me feet. Funny how things turned out so different.

I don't feel much taller than I was at 18, and I was a teenager then..surely I should have an adults frame now, a few extra inches here and there (don't snigger at the back). My feet stopped growing at about the age of 17 so for the last three years the only thing they have gained is hair. That's nothing to write home about.

My hair is as curly and unmanageable as it has ever been and requires a good few minutes under the burning hot tongs to resemble anything half human, even then I need another 5minutes alone with a tub of gel and a lot of imagination.

My sense in fashion is no more advanced than it was when my mum was dressing me, in fact I think I would look a whole lot better if she continued to do so. I walk into a clothes store and I just see the queue at the till and work myself up before I've even started grabbing things off of the shelves.

I assumed with age came knowledge, what I have ended up with is the knowledge that the world can be a very bleak place to roam and that all this roaming makes your legs ache.

I remember laughing in the face of people who used to watch me wolf down absolute crap and yet not gain any weight. When you hit the ripe old age of 20 what happens is you no longer enjoy food, you have it when you need to. You want to eat everything but you know that your face will become rounder and your thighs will begin to rub. Only in the last year have I felt the humiliation of jeans not being able to button up or popping open when under the stress of something like...oh I don't know, walking.

Shaving isn't remotely fun, okay this didn't come with being 20....but by the time you hit 20 you are pretty much over the novelty of watching hair drop into the sink.

Everything pains me, bending down to pick up something iv dropped (the very fact iv dropped it is due to my clumsiness that has come with age), looking up to fix a light bulb, walking up and down flights of stairs, shuffling around shopping centres.

On a brighter note (yes, I can do them!) I have become wittier (for better or worse) and can cross the road without holding anyone's hand. What more could I want?

So to conclude this chapter I end on a quote...

'The most wasted of all days is one without laughter'

e e cummings (1894 - 1962)

Because no matter how much I moan, I can still laugh...and with that I look forward to tomorrow, and the day after, and the day after that.

Joe Tribe (1988-      )

:)