Let us take a minute to think about the legal age in the United States of America. At the age of 18, you are considered an adult in the eyes of the land, but as I quickly found out about two years ago, that means very little. You can't drink, you can't rent a car and there are very few hotels you can book. You can sacrifice your life for your country, drive a car, smoke and go to jail.
It's hard to rationalize this discrepancy. Not to mention that you can drive a car two to three years before you become a legal adult. This means there is a decade between the time you are deemed responsible enough by the country to drive a car, but not responsible enough to rent a car (25 is the average age you can rent a vehicle from a private company, although some allow younger, but with outrageous fees). In Europe, the ages are switched. You can drink when you are younger, but can't drive until you are 18. This way, young adults are allowed to learn to drink and make mistakes without adding a car, and therefore the lives of others, into the mix.
If I am allowed to live on my own and take responsibility for my finances, why wouldn't I be able to rent a hotel. Renting cars and hotels are a part of the grown-up gig. Of course, the argument is that younger adults are less responsible, and there is a higher risk of the room getting trashed. So, we are responsible enough to drive and put the lives of others in danger, but trashing a hotel room is too high risk? Furthermore, I feel I pose much less of a threat as a responsible, college kid saving up for a weekend trip than a group of early 30-something bachelors wanting to blow off some steam on a weekend getaway.
For example, I go to college far away from home, and the best means of transportation is definitely a car. When trying to find my way home for Thanksgiving my freshman year, my mother and I were shocked to find out all the limitations set on younger adults. No way to rent a car to drive to a less expensive airport, and road tripping home with a friend would be out of the question due to the fact we would have a hard time finding a place to stay.
"Adult" is a highly relative term because of all these differences, but we are taught at a young age that 18 is the age of adulthood. Maybe all these higher age limits show a trend arguing a higher legal age, or maybe they are the unfortunate bi-product of a few too many newly minted adults doing irresponsible things. Either way, we should take a moment to consider the way we understand the word idea of being an adult and what that title really means in America.
