9 Reasons People Ask About Your Age

It’s the question that continues to take you by surprise no matter how many times you have been asked. And sometimes, you can’t provide a natural response even when you had practiced responding to this question.

But you can be sure that when someone asks you “How old are you?” or “What is your age?”, they are up to no good.

They can say all they want about this being an innocent question. But who are they kidding?

They are trying to stereotype you with your age. Knowing your age allows people to chuck you into a certain category in their minds. Meaning that instead of finding out who you really are, people think they know a large part of you based on your age.

So why do people ask you about your age?

1) Are you worthy of respect or ridicule?

This happens frequently in both work and social settings.

Your co-workers and friends won’t care about your age until you become a threat of some kind to their status.

At work, it shouldn’t matter which year you are born in as long as you do your job well. And at play, revealing your age has nothing to do with having fun with a group of friends.

So when you are asked about it, it means that the asker is sizing you up to judge whether your wisdom is worth digesting.

The funny thing is that you can never get a boost in your status no matter what you age is.

The older you are, the more people will think that your ideas are entrenched in the past. The younger you are, the more people think that you need more life experience in order to be taken seriously. And if you are around the same age, people will think why the hell they are listening to you when you are as old as they are.

2) Are you as old as you look?

Most of the time, we can judge the age of someone pretty well with their appearance. But once in a while someone comes along who exudes confidence and ability beyond his years, or display immaturity despite his looks.

This is when people start to question themselves about whether the category they have put you in is correct.

This is why they ask.

Some people might envy you for youthful good looks. And some just want to make fun of you about how old you look.

3) Romantic interest?

One of the first things you want to know about someone you fancy is how old he/she is. It is somewhat human instincts.

So if you find that someone of the opposite sex keeps pestering about your age, there is a very good chance that he/she fancies you as a romantic interest.

Even if that’s not the case now, it sets the stage for moving forward should feelings develop in the future.

There will always be a possibility that he/she would make a move on you if you are within the suitor’s dating age range.

4) Are you a loose cannon?

The perception that older people tend to control their emotions better than younger ones have stuck around for centuries.

Although personality traits is a better determinant of whether someone is a loose cannon, most people are still stuck at using age to judge someone.

For example, if a veteran manager at work is having conflicts, his boss might expect him to suck it in and resume regular routines with any glitches. But if the person experiencing conflicts is a young chap, serious measures could be taken to ensure that appropriate behavior and corporate culture is enforced.

If you aren’t a loose cannon, you need to display it now. Because if people are having that perception of you, you are suffering from negative energy at the workplace when you don’t deserve it.

5) What can be sold to you?

You age reveals a lot about the stage of lifestyle you are at. And if marketers and salespeople get their hands on this important piece of information, your value to them can explode tenfold.

For example, insurance agents will get a better idea of what are your priorities at this stage of life. This will help them narrow down on the types of products and policies that will appeal to you the most. And you can bet that they will try to squeeze that endowment plan in their sales pitch somehow.

Another predatory professional are real estate agents. When you are in your thirties or forties, you become a prime target of sellers to sell you your first or second home. And the older you are, the more buying power you are expected to have… and the more expensive your house can be.

Answering this question to salespeople can be tricky.

The younger you reveal yourself, the more they might think about ripping you off. And the older you declare your age to be, richer you are believed to be.

6) Your age is the reason you have made a mistake

People, young and old, makes mistakes all the time. And sometimes, it is just more convenient to attribute something you did wrong to your age… even if it has nothing to do with it…

When powerful egos are present in the office at work or at home, the younger or older ones tend to take the blame.

As long as the person you are taking the rap for is your boss, at least you can find comfort that you are doing your job for “protecting” him.

7) What is your lifestyle?

People tend to paint pictures of what other people are like in lifestyle. That includes you and me.

For example, you’d expect a man in his twenties to frequent the clubs or bars after work. While a woman in her thirties might spend more time at home watching reruns of variety shows.

Knowing someone’s age can help someone quickly think about who might be interested to tag along for some activities. Young men could be great prospects for a game of basketball. While young women could be a sure-in for window-shopping at the malls.

You could very be a great travel companion for someone else.

8) Do you deserve what you are getting?

In this modern day and age, a lot of people still value seniority more than anything else. In some societies, this is a deeply embedded culture.

At work for example, you could be holding a high position. But someone in the other office envies your fast rise to the top. And in an effort to find some solace and feel better about himself, he wants to know that your age.

If you are too young, he can tell himself that you don’t deserve the post and you either got very lucky are have a friend at the top. If you are too old, he can comfort himself that you got the job because of your seniority. He was never going to get to where you are when he is so much younger.

Perverts.

9) Are you a success or failure?

We are all naturally curious. And people like to gossip about how well or how bad other people are doing in their careers.

And one of the best benchmarks to identify this is age.

You can definitely tell how successful someone has been in his career by finding out his age matched against his job.

If you have yet to reach a management level in your thirties, it is a clear sign that you are doing as well as what the average employee can achieve. And if you are already managing a sales department in your twenties, it sure says that you pack a punch in the office.

Ultimately, the person asking is sizing you up and judging how well you are doing in your career. He will then either feel better about himself, or find you a source of envy or motivation.