A Depressing Thought (and also Slightly Passionate)

I'll start with the depressing thought first.
Picture this scenario; there's a young man standing in a small classroom, he's talking to a class of a little under 20 kids. I say kids, ha, more like 'young adults with the work ethic and/or intelligence of adults, and even if they're not, they have little in common with kids'.
The man honestly doesnt look that much older than some of the students watching him, his skin is smooth, he's got curly caramel colored-hair cut close to his head, a circular baby face, big eyes, simple features. He uses hand motions while he talks, he's got a good voice, engaging and relatable. Right away he picks out a student to mildly poke fun of, he gains some laughs, and more importantly, the kids' attention. The class likes him, especially after the first 2 speakers (they were old, slighly crazy, the anticipated stereotype). I liked him too. Well, I didn't dislike him.
He was wearing a black polo, cheap khaki pants, and shiny shiny black shoes that looked like plastic, straight from a box. I always do that when I meet people, or even when I don't. I "scan" them, as Sarah says. With this guy, you know he's headed to a pretty stable future. He was a good speaker especially. I was zoning out a bit, but something he said brought me to the present with a bump. He was talking about writing college essays, how to use life experiences that don't necessarily have to be epic adventures.
"You all are what, 17, 16, 18 years old? Really, your lives haven't begun yet. I'm 24 years old in college, and my life hasn't begun yet."
Jesus Christ, I thought. That's depressing. 18 I understand (barely) but 24 years old? God, if your life hasn't begun by the time you're 24, when does it? When has your life begun, when you're 30 and have taxes to pay and bills and drink too much coffee and compain to your co-workers about the bags under your eyes in an office somewhere?

He shouldn't have said that. No one should say that. I understand what he's trying to say, but that doesn't mean I agree with it. He has no gaurantee he's going to be around at the time when "his life officially begins". My life started 17 years ago. It hasn't been fantastically great, but it started and it's what I've got as a springboard for the rest of whatever happens next. And this kid standing in front of us - I don't know his name, he was a speaker from Davidson - is saying that at 24 years old, his life hasn't stared yet. A quarter of the 100 possible years we humans have, eh, it was just a build-up.

Now you know one of my strongest fears. Not living. Working and working and years passing -but your life hasn't started. Christ, buddy, someone needs to take you out to stare at an ocean or something. Maybe try some absinthe.

Later,
Sam