pardon me: an adolescent moment

I found out that a group of friends are getting together without me, the reason given because they are all the same age, which is about a decade older than I am at the lovely age of 25. I suppose age is a more comforting reason than say coolness or relationship status (I’ve always loathed couples hangouts, though I’m entertaining the idea of organizing one now that I can. But, I hate thinking about the people I can’t invite merely because they aren’t in a romantic relationship. It seems lame to not invite them, but a couples game of scrabble sounds pretty great.). But I want to know why my 20-something self is so different from their 30-something selves? What are the differences between women in their 20’s and women in their 30’s in NYC?

It seems like one of the great things about being over 30 and in the city is that you don’t have to act like you’re over 30. You don’t have to have the obligatory husband/children/minivan to be considered normal. You can still be ‘finding yourself’ or figuring out what you want to do with your life. You can live what is typically considered a 20 something life as a 30, 40, or 50 something and beyond.

The “I’m not invited” situation above makes me feel like I have to sit at the lil kids table again. Is that necessary at all now that we are all adults? I think not.