Turning 18 was the biggest “gotcha” moment of my life. All your life you are told 18 is when you are a legal adult.

What they meant is that ONLY under the law are you an adult.

So yeah. If you get arrested, you can be tried as an adult.

All those permission slips your parents had to sign, you can sign those now.

Finally, you can participate in choosing your elected officials by voting.

I don’t want to diminish the value of any of the rights/privileges that I just listed, but the whole you are an adult bid is not what it seems.

For example, whenever I go home and I want to do something the whole “I am an adult” argument will never fly. The only thing I can do at my parent’s home is complain about my lack of freedom. Apparently, I am unable to make any decisions at the house I was raised in until I start paying bills there.

You may start to think to yourself that all you need to do is start paying bills then society will start taking you more seriously. Then out of nowhere when you are out celebrating your friend’s birthday a bouncer bounces you to the curb.

Being 18 is basically summed up by the lyrics “I don't see how you can hate from outside of the club, you can't even get in”. If it isn’t obvious you’re the one who is outside of the club.

I know someone who pays for rent, car insurance, life insurance and is for the most part completely self-sufficient. Yet, he is unable to participate in Applebee’s $2 Lemonade Vodka special.

Even socially people won’t see you as an adult once you turn 18. The only people who think you’re an adult when you turn 18 are people under 18 years old. I promise you everyone that is 21 and older will say that you are 12, it’s a joke which only they find funny.

I have high hopes for when I turn 21. Hopefully, it is everything I imagine it to be and not a scam part 2. I plan on being belligerent, dancing on elevated surfaces, and proudly showing my ID.