The Advantages of Being 30

OK, I've been 30 for the better part of 4 days now, so that more than qualifies me to opine on the subject of the advantages of being 30, no?  Here's my by no means unabridged list in no particular order:

1. Professional respect - Remember when you were in high school or college working on a group project, and you struggled to get all your immature team members to focus and get their C-/D+ efforts to you at least 4 hours before the deadline so you'd have time revise into an A-/B+ finished product? Well, now it's even worse because those people are all 10 years older and make way more money than you. Hopefully, maybe they'll focus for at least 5 extra minutes between fart jokes now that the person trying to keep the project on track isn't some snot-nosed twentysomething.

2. Getting carded is fun - Seriously, it doesn't even occur to me to reach for my ID anymore. And I'm not just talking about One Stop, where they know me.  I'm talking about some 18-year old kid who's never seen me before, but somehow takes for granted that I'm so far above 21 that carding me would be no use.  Last night I ordered a beer at dinner with Mindy, and our server (probably born during the 1st Bush presidency) carded me out of left field.  It was awesome.

3. Being married is normal - I know people are getting married later in life these days, but geez, I was made to feel life a walking episode of Engaged & Underage when I introduced myself as a married 28-year old.  And that's in Ohio and Kentucky.  Imagine how people on the coasts acted. Thankfully, those days are over.

4. Staying in's the new going out - A few year back, you'd have to deflect and make excuses to your friends as why you were passing on happy hour on Friday.  Now your friends are just as tired, cheap, and intolerant of crowds as you that dinner at someone's house (including kids), then home by 9:30 p.m. is a perfectly reasonable Friday night option.