Milestone

Today, I turned eighteen.

My alarm clock rang at 6:45 as usual.

I'd been waiting so long for this moment that I didn't know how or what to feel when it actually got there. The day before, I didn't feel excited and restless like I'd always been before my other birthdays. It's strange, I suppose. Poised on the verge of what has seemed since childhood as ultimate freedom, I didn't know whether to look back or forward.

Why reflect on my life past? On waking up that morning, I didn't feel any different. No magical change occurred over the course of the night. I haven't been a child for quite some time, nor have I been an adult either. Change happens gradually, I've come to discover.

Why face the bright future suddenly opening up to me? Because there wasn't one. There wasn't a majestic stone archway engraved with that strangely exciting yet sobering word "ADULTHOOD" opening up a path into a mystical, wonderful world for me.

Most of the people I know have celebrated their eighteenth birthday before going to college. Maybe for them it was a milestone, maybe it wasn't. College was my milestone. One day, I woke up and had to make breakfast and decide what I would do that day, without anyone hovering over my shoulder, advising, bothering, guiding, and hindering me all at the same time.

In Western civilizations, eighteen is the magical age when suddenly everything is allowed. It's probable that it doesn't apply to me because most everything about my life is unusual.

When you turn eighteen, you get to vote. Not me, I'm not American.

When you turn eighteen, you get to smoke. Not me, I personally prefer living to dying a horrible death choking on tar-blackened lungs.

When you turn eighteen, you can drink in most countries. Not me, I live in the United States.

When you turn eighteen, you can drive in most countries. Not me, I don't have a license.

When you turn eighteen, you get to go clubbing. Not me, I'd never be able to prove my age because my European ID card has the month and the date backwards, so it looks like I was actually born in December.

I was born at 14:01 seven time zones from when I live now. This morning, just to feel special, I ate a chocolate truffle at 7:01, sitting on my bed while my roommate snored.

That minute was special. So was that truffle.

At 7:02, I got up and walked down the hall to the shower.

At 7:03, I came back and got my towel I'd forgotten.

Just another regular day.