Do You Hide Your Age Or Tell It Proudly?

While some people tell their age with great zest, other people shy away from the question or simply refuse to answer. I was out to get some answers when I asked this question recently of the HubPages community:

Do you hide your age or tell it proudly?

I received several answers and thank all hubbers who responded to the question. Here are a few of the answers, along with my musings about the aging process.

Hubber emilybee

emilybee writes,

"I tell it proudly because everyone tells me I look like I'm 18 after I inform them I'm in fact 23. lol I really don't mind, it's a good thing, at least I don't look old, and when I really am old I won't look it :-)"

Emily shares how old she is when asked because she has received feedback that she looks younger than her actual age of 23. Yes, she proudly puts her exact number within her answer at HubPages.

Emily often leaves me kind comments on HubPages and she posts great hubs about making delicious treats. Perhaps another reason she readily gives her age when asked is because she is such a genuine, straight-forward person in character. Thanks Emily for your great answer!

Hubber justateacher

I laughed as I read justateacher's answer to my question:

"As a teacher of students in kindergarten I am asked my age quite often...I first ask how old they think I am...I am amused by the answers...I get you are old..you must be at least twenty...to gosh your old...are you a hundred? I always give my age proudly...its nothing to be ashamed of..."

I like this comment about aging for many reasons. I like that justateacher asks a question back to her students rather than offering the answer. She is holding off telling her number until she extracts more information from the children about their thoughts on aging. I notice other people use a similar technique, answering the question with a different question to change the subject of conversation. Some people do avoid having to answer the original question of "Just how old are you, anyway?"

I also like the answers that justateacher receives from the kids in the class. As adults, we would never think to say to another adult, "Gosh you're old... Are you a hundred?" Yet when children say it, we laugh at the comment and they likely giggle as well.

The children in the kindergarten class do not have the same conceptions about aging that we seem to acquire over the years. justateacher does not look anywhere close to one hundred years old in my opinion and common sense tells me other hubbers agree. Yet children do not have the reference point to know what one hundred "looks like" in terms of face, hair, changes to body, and other characteristics.

Hubber sandonia

Another great comment was written by hubber sandonia:

"I tend to neither hide nor share my age proudly. To me, it's a simple fact of life. It would be nice to be younger with the wisdom of the years, but it is what it is."

I like the statement here that age cannot be rewound or sped up. The number of years need to be faced for what they are: a set number that will increase with each birthday that comes. Yes, a simple fact of life.

sandonia writes about wisdom as it relates to how old a person is: "It would be nice to be younger with the wisdom of the years..." Why do we often get wiser as we age? Is it because we have likely lived through more experiences by the time we are sixty than we have as a 20 year old? Does the mere act of living a longer time make us wiser?

I say thank-you to all of the people who answered the question that I posted at HubPages. I enjoyed reading all of the responses and the positivity of many of the comments. I would love to hear your thoughts on aging and whether you tell your own number proudly as well.

The complete list of answers I received can be found at the link here:

Do you hide your age or tell it proudly?