Before I walked out the door the other day, I took that last look in the mirror, like I’m sure most people do. I do this almost every day, and largely, I never think anything of it. It’s essentially the final part of my routine before I face the day. I’m 21 years old now, barely an adult, but still legally one. When I looked in the mirror the other day, I saw myself and I just said, “This is not an adult.”

I don’t know what it was. I just knew at that moment that I was still a kid. Just a big, grown kid. Adults don’t have a haircut like I do. Adults don’t wear Social Distortion hoodies and baseball caps every day. Adults don’t listen to music coming out of headphones. Adults are copy-pasted, cookie cutter, cut and dry. Boring, really. Right?

I came across this documentary called “The Other F Word,” which profiled a number of aging punk rockers trying to adapt to a new life of fatherhood. For so long, they had sung about defying authority, not listening to your parents, doing whatever you want, but now the tables have turned. They were the authority. They were the parents. For some, the transition was easier than other. Blink 182 bassist Mark Hoppus talked about how strange it was that he finally had to buy the clean version of his record to play for his kids in the car. NOFX bassist Fat Mike, on the other hand, chose to change seemingly little about his personality, still being the loud, flamboyant person he is.

The biggest thing was, though, they didn’t instantly turn into the dad from “Leave It To Beaver.” Just because you grow up and are met with new challenges, doesn’t mean you have to totally change who you are. You can still be fun. You can still be original. You don’t have to be, you know, boring.

Over the weekend, a good friend of mine, who isn’t that much older than me, got married. I feel like marriage is something I’ve been actively trying to avoid for awhile now, and not because I’m afraid of commitment or because I’m worried about not finding the right person. I’m certain those things will come. I think more so what I’m trying to put off is being an adult. I don’t think marriage is a decision you can make when you’re a kid. In my friend’s case, he isn’t a kid. He and his now wife both have jobs, their own place, and all that. But when I look in the mirror, just like I do each day, I still see a kid.

Eventually, I will have to change a little bit. I will have to put on a nice shirt, get a real job, and, as scary as it sounds, provide for other people. It’s not that I don’t think it will ever happen. It will. It happens to everyone, and if it doesn’t, you’ll probably end up in a gutter. But when it does happen, and when I do look in the mirror before I head to my real job with my nice shirt, I might not see the same kid I see today, but I’m definitely not going to be looking at Ward Cleaver. Just because you grow up, doesn’t mean it all has to change.

Dominic Renzetti is a family and consumer scences major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].