Irrefutable Signs That I am Indeed, A Grown-Up. Maybe...

I think one of the interesting events of the quarter life crisis is being grown-up, while not quite being an adult.  The constant juxtaposition of these two extremes can be liberating, frightening, funny, and quite frankly exhausting.  Lately I've found myself experiencing some things that are irrefutably "grown-up" yet they are quickly followed by another event which is undeniably childish.  For example:

Grown-up thing: I receive emails notifying me I've been "payed dividends", and I'm not playing monopoly.
Childish Contradiction: I still consider giving up groceries for a week in order to buy shoes a perfectly reasonable way to maintain a budget.


Grown-up thing: As much as I love my Ikea bed, I'm kind of starting to wish it was a little higher off of the ground.
Childish Contradiction: I make my bed roughly 14 times...a year.

Grown-up thing: Being introduced by someone as their "boss".  

Childish Contradiction: Daily dance parties at my desk complete with hair flipping when my boss is out of the office.

Grown-up thing: I used to go out with waiters or musicians or students, usually after meeting them at a bar or at house parties.  Now, I find myself hanging out with accountants and flirting with doctors while being introduced to professors at fundraising events, and getting invitations to meet lawyers over a game of squash.
Childish Contradiction: Still being too self-centered for any kind of "serious" relationship.  Also, do musicians ever stop being appealing?




Grown-up thing: I live with only one other person in a nice apartment with real furniture that we did not inherit, but purchased.
Childish Contradiction: I'm pretty sure that getting house plants might be too much responsibility.


Grown-up thing: I'd say a good 2/3 of my wardrobe now could be considered 'professional attire'.
Childish Contradiction: I only do laundry once a month.  Actually, it's probably more like once every 5 weeks.  I have bought new underwear, sheets, and pants to avoid laundry.  When I do, do laundry, I separate nothing, throw everything in the dryer and hope for the best.


Grown-up thing:  I've lately been buying wine by the box.  This is convenient since a box lasts much longer than a bottle.  Also, it's fiscally and environmentally more responsible than buying by the bottle.
Childish Contradiction: Inevitably you get to the end of the wine, and have to pull apart the box and take out the bag to squeeze that last glass out.  This never, never, never feels remotely like an adult thing to do.

So I imagine that some of these habits will change as I continue to navigate the weird phase of being a twenty-something.  Someday, I will buy a car, and won't eat crackers and hummus for dinner so often, and will maybe even start to think of myself of being an adult instead of an adolescent with a credit card.  Other things though, like the office dance parties I hope I never grow out of.