Age Ain’t Nothing But a Number … Or Is It?

Destiny Diamond | Staff Writer

With age comes experience, wisdom, and knowledge, but whether that statement applies to all people is debatable. While I personally cannot speak for anyone but myself and my experiences, I think it’s safe to say that in the case of dating, dating someone older is automatically better than dating someone the same age, or younger.

I have this idea that older guys (an older guy is someone who has graduated college or who is at least five years older than you are) have their heads on straight, know what they want and are tired of playing games, though this is not always the case.

As someone who has dated an older guy for a while, I can definitely see some positives and negatives to the situation. As juvenile as it may seem, right off the bat older guys have an air about them that younger guys don’t. They have their own car, their own place and in most instances, more money than you. This all seems great, especially being a college student who is trying to get to where they are.

However, it isn’t so awesome when you are stuck with the task of making a relationship work between two people who are in completely different worlds. I mean, let’s be honest, the college world and the business world are not one in the same.

Sometimes people aren’t able to mesh the seams of the different lifestyles, and complications arise, breaking the two apart. Also, conversation topics can sometimes differ, making it hard to have simple conversations between two people with major age differences.

For example, after a crazy week of exams, house parties, and friend drama, I might want to call up the “boo-thing” and tell him all about what’s going on with me and my life, and though he may listen and give some advice on troubles, he, too, has his own problems, most likely problems that I wouldn’t be able to relate to. That can be very frustrating. If I can’t relate to whomever I am dating on a base level, it makes normal everyday things much harder than they need to be.

Next, there is the obvious issue of going out to clubs. If you’re dating someone who is 21 or older and you aren’t 21 yet, I hate to say it, but you’re not going out with your man on Saturday night. This is when dating someone your age can be a better choice. Not only are the two of you going through the same social issues, but both of you are probably going through the college struggle, and at the end of the day can snuggle up in a little twin size bed and cupcake until the break of dawn.

A downside to dating a guy your age or younger, is having to put up with the additional crap younger guys are still dishing out during their college years, better known as their “dog phase.” They are kind of lost, really dumb, and quite frankly most of them cannot make up their mind on what they want. So, instead of dealing with that bull, it might just be easier to date someone older anyway.

Ultimately, at the end of the day, age doesn’t matter, and when you get to college the age gap essentially disappears. It is all about what you want and being happy with whom you are with.

One thing to keep in mind however is that whether in a relationship with someone older or younger, the grass isn’t always greener.