I Made the Same Mistake Twice

I'm one of those people who is very into their birthdays. I've been known to celebrate not just on March 10th (yes, my bday was yesterday!), but for the whole month of March. For example, this year I managed to snag a dinner date with my dad, a birthday soiree party last weekend, and tomorrow some friends are taking me out bowling. And my birthday present this year was a flight to NYC so next week I will be celebrating my birthday (oh, and WG1's too). 

Point being, I love my birthday. Usually about a month before my fated day, I begin announcing it to anyone who will listen. Last year I publicized my birthday enough at my old workplace that some people bought me cupcakes, sang happy birthday to me, and bought me presents. But this year was a much different situation. I've only been at my new job for 4 months so putting my birthday on people's Outlook calendars didn't seem kosher (just kidding, I definitely did NOT do that last year). 

This year only a few people knew of my birthday - one of these people was Bill. Bill is our new IT guy who replaced Jay (the IT dude I thought had a crush on me). He and I started around the same time so he stops by desk at least once a day and mostly he tells me stories about his wife and crazy stories from his after work bar-tending gig. 

So one day, I of course let it slip that it was my birthday the following week and that I was turning 24. To which Bill responded, "Aw man, I'm 24 too! We must be the youngest people in the company!"

Insert dropped jaw here. 

To understand my shock, I guess you have to realize that Bill first of all looks much older than 24. He has facial hair, which always throws me off. And he's married. So when I see rings on fingers, I automatically assume that I'm talking with someone in their late 20's. I can't help it. 

And I didn't make this mistake just once. A few months earlier when I was in Atlanta for our conference, a co-worker of mine, Carlos, and I were eating dinner together when he got a call from his wife. He disappeared from our table and was gone so long his food got cold. When I asked another co-worker if they had seen him they laughed and said this happened all the time since his wife is so young that she often picks fights with him. Of course, I then inquired how old she in fact was. Apparently, she is the ripe young age of 22. 

Insert dropped jaw here.

Color me surprised when I found out he was actually in his mid-twenties and not over 30 like I had previously thought. Again, I had assumed Carlos was older not only because he was married, but also he had facial hair.

Moral of this working girl awkward moment, don't assume someone is over 25 just because they can grow facial hair. Oh, and also if they have a ring on their left finger.