What AF said is true. It's an unfortunate - and something that
*ought to be* unnecessary - burden on the shoulders of adults
who deal with, talk to, are friends with younger people. I avoid
that trap as much as possible but I do it a bit. I'll say, "I'm
not a role model, just sharing my story", which is a tip of the
hat to feeling required to say something *just in case* someone
is looking up to me and I don't realize it. But, I remember.
What you experienced feels like ageism. And... it is ageism.
It's a pervasive part of society, affecting all levels. Ageism
affects youth. Affects elders. Affects middle aged. It's very
hard to break free of in certain circumstances. I work very hard
to combat it: It's been one of my missions since I was about 18
and decided I would never make someone younger than me feel bad
for being born in the timestream when they were and I would
never make somebody older than me feel bad for being born in the
timestream when they were.
