I remember there was a guy I met named Chris. He was a Mita copier machine repairman and had come to my office to fix ours. Kind of a slick looking guy, a little older, toward the late 20's, maybe 30 on the nose. I was 23 then.
Office appliance repair men being so able to come only one time and remedy the problem they were called in for, Chris came in at least three times in a few weeks, toting outdated parts for our dinosaur copier. Eventually he asked me out.
I was living in a hotel room at this time. He picked me up in some truck. We got po boys and went back to his apartment and sat around talking. As I do with every guy I meet, I perused his CD collection. It was odd to me that almost all his CD's were of bands that were playing on the local "alternative" radio station, none of which I listen to. I found it strange that a man who is older than me is more up to date on the latest music "scene." That was the first and last date with Chris.
There was another instance of this when I accepted a date with a guy who I thought was maybe early 30's when in fact he was almost 40. He picked me up in (another) truck and on the way the restaurant, he pops in this tape of yet another popular band, like Creed or something like Creed. When you don't listen to certain bands on a regular basis, they will tend to sound a lot alike. I don't want to give the impression that I want to stereotype music or that I'm some old fart.
I found this behavior to be somewhat troubling, and maybe it's partly due to how men might perceive middle age. I have a 40 year old brother; he lives his age and enjoys it. He listens to mostly music from when he was younger, which gives a telltale indicator of his age. He is a little crusty about popular music, but I don't mind. I think he's somewhat supposed to. Now, the men I have met might have been a bad example of most middle aged (or nearing middle age) men, but I equate this kind of behavior with wearing clothes that are trendy for people 20 years younger than you thinking that this makes you younger by association.
And then there's me, remember? The 20 something girl these guys may or may not want to impress. Well, I wasn't impressed. I would have been if these guys had acted more their age. I didn't agree to go out with them out of pity. They were both hot looking guys. But they didn't impress me once I realized they were trying to steal their youth from a newer time, one that was already beyond me.