Birthdays are Bosh

Saturday is my 24th birthday and I'm not all that excited. The thrill of getting older is no longer appealing to me. And I wonder if it comes to everyone as they get older and are forced to become more responsible. When you are younger, the joy of parties and presents is overwhelming and then you reach the teenage years and the world begins to open up to you. But after 21 or 22 the world starts to close back in on you. You have to have all the answers and you are expected to have your life planned out until at least retirement. Bills are piling up but money isn't coming in--only failing grades. The pressures to do everything and be everything are amassing, and all of this as you're being told that you must make something of yourself or you will be of no value to anyone. I really never asked to get older. Why couldn't I stay little?