‘What ridiculous things have you come to care about as you’ve got older?’ – 23 terrifyingly middle-aged opinions

When you’re young and idealistic, your thoughts are full of wild romance and world-changing ideas. But as you age, you slowly evolve into your parents and start caring about things like carpet pile depth and birdwatching.

Over on the AskUK subreddit, user Friapuck1 has been coming to terms with this and asked ‘What ridiculous things have you come to find you care about as you’ve got older?’, before adding an example of their own:

I have just realised I have an opinion on teaspoons. I care about their shape and weight. I’m horrified at myself. And don’t even get me started on road traffic laws.

And there were a lot of people who were also disturbed by their slow transformation into Alan Partridge, like these…

1.

‘Overgrown bushes coming into the pavement.’
–welovetulips

2.

‘I have a ‘work-day’ mug (Darth Vader on it) and a ‘weekend mug’ (Animal Crossing on it). This rule cannot be violated.’
–arashi256

3.

‘Socks, no longer will just any pair do now they must be soft, comfortable, preferably bamboo and great colours.’
–mom0007

4.

‘The lack of ‘new queue’ etiquette. We will all queue and wait our turns politely and without question but once a new tills open its an all out war to get to the front of that one.

Trisha mate, if you’re 7th in this queue what makes you feel suddenly entitled to be first in the next one to the point you’re pushing some old guy in front of you to the side with your mountain of shopping?’
–wildcharmander1992

5.

‘Not being able to park directly outside my property winds me up even though I know they are entitled to park there.’
–ApprehensiveBluejay3

6.

‘I am very particular about mops. I had a £20 voucher for Dunelm and appalled myself by excitedly reading the reviews for mops… it took me almost an HOUR to buy a mop. I am picking my shiny new mop up today and genuinely cannot wait to get home again. Somebody send help.’
–Minimum_Leopard_2698

7.

‘I’ve realised I really appreciate how well organised our local recycling centre is. It’s so efficient, clean and easy to use. I’m in my 20s.’
–LDNLibero

8.

‘Birds. I love hearing all the different birds chirp on my morning walk and find I am more interested in spotting the different types of birds in the area.’
–plumtreecat

9.

‘I turns out I care deeply about my mirrors and windows being spotlessly clean. I also have strong feelings about which cloths should be used for this job. I can’t tolerate smears.’
–littlestsquishy

10.

‘Wheelchair accessibility. Or lack thereof. A bit ridiculous, because I’m able bodied, so I don’t have a wheelchair, and I don’t even know anyone who has one, but for some reason, I notice it and remark on it whenever I go anywhere with steps but no ramp.’
–Icy_Example_5536

11.

‘Dealing with people! As much as they bring joy, they increasingly frustrate!’
–ArtichokeDesperate68

12.

‘I was out for a walk a recently and stopped outside a house and stared for a few seconds, until someone in a garden across the street shook me out of it by asking ‘Are you alright there mate?’ and I replied ‘Yeah, I was just admiring the paving on this driveway’.’
–FeedFrequent1334