Growing Up

I noticed something about people my age. Pretty much everyone wants to grow up faster. Get their driver's license, go to prom, get a job. 

But then I noticed something about people my parent's age. All they ever seem to talk about is the times when they were younger, didn't have wrinkles, went to parties, and hung out with their friends in high school.

But people my grandparents age, I don't know, for the most part they seem content just as they are.

Maybe it's just a mental thing, growing up. I had never even really stopped to notice how much I had grown up, even just this year, until yesterday when I worked a job for the first time ever. After a boring week of training for 9 hours a day, I finally took on the job of being a lifeguard at Bon Air, starting for the first time with the longest shift (11-8) and being on trash duty. Even though it sounds like a drag, the excitement of working for real, wearing the uniform, and seeing all my friends come to the pool while I sat up in the lifeguard chair kind of distracted me from the downsides of the job, at least this time. But when the day was over, and I came home, I realized that from now on, I have a duty to this job. From now on I'm going to have to work for some of the money I use to support myself, instead of just relying on my parents. Along with just working for the money, I have a huge responsibility with this job, I'm protecting the lives of the people in the pool, as well as working to keep the pool clean, and my bosses happy. I don't think people realize how much more comes along with a job along with just the pay.

All of this scares me a little bit. I'm excited to be growing up, but sometimes I miss those days when I was younger and happy and I didn't really worry.

What happened to that little girl?