When You Dont Look Your Age

When you are told that you dont look your age ...it bothers you, doesn't it? I got nasty remarks like, "oh you're only 30 I thought you're 36!?" more than once from some insensitive people back in the Philippines. But I took it as, "Hmp.Kala mo naman baby-faced siya, Tse!" I never slapped anyone for saying that but the words she/he said is like a sticky post in my head.

But what blows my mind is that even here in the States, I still get that you-dont-look-your-age remarks. Only this time, they say I look younger than my age! One time a woman guessed my age and she said I'm 18. Naks naman, malamang binobola lang ako ni lola. Then someone else said I look 28. Not one could really tell my age right and when I said I'm turning 35 soon, you can see their eyes grow big. They cant believe it. It was flattering at first, but later it became annoying because of the fact that my husband is older (please note older, not old LOL! ) than me. When they think that our age gap is like 30 years or more, I feel uneasy. And I feel sorry for Dean because I dont want people to think he is a cradle snatcher or something. You never know what's on other people's mind. So now I wear my glasses a lot more often than before since it makes me look older.

Then last Friday night, Dean, his daughter Abby and I went out to have some fun dining and dancing. Actually it was more for my hubby to get to sweat out some unwanted pounds and for Abby to forget she's lonely. We were virtually bar hopping. Abby didnt like the first place we went to because the band wasnt playing her kind of music. From there we went to this huge club in Fort Myers. To our dismay, we were not allowed to get it in because I didnt have the ID to prove I'm over 21. The guy who was checking the IDs particularly of those who looked really young called a co-worker. I couldnt hear what he told him but I remember how this other guy ran his eyes on my whole body as if scanning for I dont know what. That made me very uncomfortable. Despite Dean telling them sorry I forgot my passport and that I'm 35 and we got married last January, etc etc. we were still told to step aside and let the manager decide. After 10-15 minutes the manager came out. Dean talked to him and then finally we got the green light. Whew! I'll never forget that incident. I think I really should just carry around my passport whereever I go. The reason I dont is because I can be very forgetful and I dont want to lose it.

Anyway, the point is Filipinos or Asians for that matter really look younger than their white counterparts. I think it has to do with our skin and this thing called pigmentation. We have a lot of this which protect our skin from the harsh rays of the sun. Our skin dont wrinkle as bad and as fast as the white's skin. And that's good but it also has some disadvantages especially if you are caught in the same situations I was in.

Since I mentioned we were bar hopping that night let me just continue what happened after that ID thing. So we got inside this club but my!oh my! I was absolutely in the very wrong place. Too wild, too dark, too loud, to crowded, too stinky (with the cigarette smokes all over) for me. None of us could dance to this very sensual R&B beat or even hip-hop. Hanggang ballroom lang po ako. I miss Johnny, the DI ng bayan. Kelan kaya ako makasayaw ng swing at cha-cha uli with Johnny, haay...

So after half an hour, we left the place and stopped at another bar. At last Dean's and Abby's kind of music -- walang kamatayang country music. Finally my husband and I got to dance. And that's it, one dance and we were ready to go home. Got home at 1:30 AM. Did I really have fun? No, not really. I wont mind going out dancing again with my hubby but at least now I know where to go and where not to go.