this thing about age

i remember during my first year in sweden, my language classmates invited me to join them for a night out - have dinner and drink and dance in one of the city's posh restaurant club. i accepted the invitation eagerly and looked forward to the event. in sweden, you are not allowed to these clubs unless you are 18 years old. there is also this queue-system outside the club, complete with muscled bouncers and all at the door. like obedient pups, we stood in line and waited for our turn to get inside. when it was my turn at the door, the big muscled guy stopped me and asked me how old i was. i was quite surprised to be asked in that way, so it took me a while to answer - i thought the guy was joking! so i said i'm 28 years old. he took another look at me, unbelieving if i may add. he asked me for my identification card! at this point, the whole process seemed like an eternity. after looking at my card, he told me to step aside and asked me to go home. my head screamed discrimination! i asked the guy calmly why i was not allowed to go inside the club, to which he replied: "i believe your ID is a fake because you look 16 years old to me and not 28 as you claim". my jaw dropped. i couldn't believe i heard that - and i didn't know whether to laugh or cry! i find it ridiculous and insulting. my classmates tried to convince him but it was no use. they didn't want to go inside the club without me, so we went to McDonalds instead. i went home early and told my hubby about the incident - boy, how he laughed! he told me to take it as a compliment. he went on to tell me that it happened to him, too. he was stopped at a liquor store from buying a beer and was thought to be underage when in fact he was already 25 - he said it was a humiliating experience, but he survived.

i'm now 41, and modesty aside, most people here would guess that i'm between 28 to 31 years old. i just smile and say thank you. nowadays, i don't really think much of this thing about age.