Why “You’re an adult” doesn’t work
I wrote some thoughts on a post from Pete Brown where he uses the oft-heard phrase “you’re an adult…”.
“You’re an adult” kind of implies that given our age we should be better at being better people. There are obviously several problems with that assumption.
First of all, the age range of “adult” is very wide. I would expect different things from adults of differing ages.
Secondly, adults have baggage, potentially a lot of baggage. We were kids once, raised by imperfect parents and other adults. We may have mental health problems. We may be in a bad living situation. Who knows.
So when I hear someone say “you’re an adult…” I cringe a little bit. It’s just an assumption that we have the capacity to brush away our problems at a moment’s notice in an act of complete self-awareness. If only it were that easy.