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Back in May 2017, about a week after I moved out of the apartment my ex and I had shared and into my own new space, I wrote this article about the concept of “adulting.” I had just bought a $124 tool set on Amazon so that I had wrenches and the like, as well as some toiletries. So I was feeling pretty adult on this new journey, I must say! I was 36, by the way. I probably should have felt that way sooner, but we all run the life race at our own pace, ya heard?
Anyway, I’ve long thought that work is kind of “fake adulthood.” In conventional white-collar bullshit life arcs, which admittedly are changing rapidly, you’re drinking beer and discussing the world with your friends at 21–22. Suddenly, at 23, you’re talking about “strategic initiatives” and saying you will “circle back” in meetings with people 30 years+ older than you. It all seems kind of forced and fake.
The Atlantic recently wrote an article on this, about how buzzwords specifically are the way people pretend to be adults. I’d agree with that, broadly. Knowing the right buzzwords is kind of like joining a club company-wise, and it makes you feel less like an impostor or a child. Ironically, buzzwords did evolve from a good place — to give different silos kind of a shared language. Over time, they’ve become insufferable, and I think we all know that.
