Thirty is NOT Middle-Aged!

Just when I though that I had found some common ground with Katlin, she managed to throw me for a loop.
As we were waiting to bike to work this morning, we were talking and then she says "Well at least I'm not 30 and middle-aged yet!". I told her that 30 was not considered middle-aged. I gave her my reasons backed up by biological reasons that 30 isn't considered middle-aged. She responded with "Well I remember you said you were born in the 70's so you must be middle-aged".
I let it go. I decided that when she turns 30 (in a few short years), she can deal with it however she wants to.
Me? Well, besides the fact that I use magic math, I admit that I was born in the 70's. I didn't do things in the traditional sense (I worked for awhile before going to university), but my experience does not mean that I am old.
Honestly, I would like to think that middle-age begins in the 40's. Today's life expectancy is a lot longer than it was a few decades ago. While I may have had a lot of experiences that other 30 year olds may not have had, it does not make me middle-aged and it doesn't mean that I can't come to grips with my own mortality.
I have chosen to have a younger attitude and to TRY not to take certain things so seriously. As long as I can laugh at myself (and with others when they laugh at me), I will keep a young heart. And if people in Japan don't want to believe that I am older than 24, it's perfectly fine with me.