Alas, the title of this post is neither as song nor a bumpersticker. It's a book title that has fascinated me ever since I was little. I have not read the book, or any book by Anne Tyler, actually, but the title inspired such a mind-fuck in my young self that I just keep the thought of it in my brain and bring it out occasionally.
I think my discovery of this title was somewhere around the time when I discovered that my mother was an actual person. It sounds strange, but little kids have different perceptions of things, and I distinctly remember that one day I looked at my mom and thought "Holy guacamole, she's like, a regular person, with so many qualities similar to me that it is extremely freaky!" That last realization came later, but the first part is accurate. With this new insight, "Back When We Were Grownups" threw me for a loop. "What does that mean?" "Is there some age after 'grownups', like when people get reeeeeally old?" "Maybe grownups get confused too." And there it was. Adults also have no fucking clue what they are doing, just like kids (except you get guidance from your parents) and teens (who get guidance and then flail around anyway). And now I get to test this out, this grown-ups-get-confused-too revelation of my youth, in the way we all dream about: going to college and living away from my parents. I couldn't be more elated and terrified because I know I'm going to have no fucking clue, but this time I get to figure out everything for myself.
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