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Thoughts on Growing up

2012-04-20 · Hank · watch on YouTube · Everyday life · conversation qa

Answering Facebook and Twitter questions on adulthood in reply to John's love-and-sex Q&A, Hank says adulthood excludes thoughtlessness, not silliness, that failure is welcome, and that there is no moment you become an adult: life stages are not destinations but a journey.

What is said

00:00:00 — Thanks John for his love-and-sex Q&A; sibling rivalry; questions from Facebook and Twitter on adulthood

  • ★★ Hank thanks John for his well-received video answering questions on sex and relationships; out of sibling rivalry he answers Facebook and Twitter questions on adulthood and growing up. (playful) — 00:00:00 · John Green, Facebook, Twitter

00:00:17 — What doing taxes is like: a skit with a top-hatted, bearded man who asks for your fair share and then hits you with a stick

  • ★★ Asked what doing taxes is like, Hank says paying your fair share for defense, education and health care for old people sounds reasonable, but the process is inexplicably hard and painful. (playful) — 00:00:19

00:00:44 — Rapid answers on adult life: Peter Pan syndrome, job applications, free time, cheap socialising, failure, Disney, time speeding up, being younger, credit, friends

  • ★★★ On Peter Pan syndrome, Hank says growing up is what you make it: being silly is still allowed, and what adulthood excludes is thoughtlessness, so be thoughtful and silly. — 00:00:46 > «What's excluded by adulthood is thoughtlessness.»
  • ★ Hank says job applications are awful and suggests someone go into human resources and revolutionise hiring, which he calls pathetic and bad. (playful) — 00:01:00
  • ★★ On the loss of free time, Hank says all time is free; there will still be plenty of time for other things, as long as you don't spend it all watching TV. — 00:01:10
  • ★★ For a social life on a budget Hank recommends fun, silly parties at home, like watching Harry Potter or writing fake wills, and never buying alcohol at bars. (playful) — 00:01:25 · Harry Potter
  • ★★★ On getting past insecurities, Hank says that if you fail he will like you more, so viewers should start failing now. (playful) — 00:01:46
  • ★★ Hank says time really does speed up as you get older; he doesn't know why and is not a fan of it. — 00:01:59
  • ★★★ Hank would not go back to being younger: he likes his deeper, more thoughtful understanding of the world; when told in his high-school junior year it was the best time of his life, he thought it better not be. — 00:02:06
  • ★★ Hank says married people can still hang out with friends of the opposite sex, but should stop if, alone together, they feel a mutual urge to kiss. (playful) — 00:02:24
  • ★★ Hank suggests adults keep their old friends and make new ones as always, through mutual acquaintances, shared interests and finding people who annoy them less, then cook dinner, bowl or do bad karaoke together. (hedged) — 00:02:37

00:02:56 — How do you know you're an adult? You don't: life stages have no hard edges; life is a journey; sign-off

  • ★★★ Asked how you know you are an adult, Hank says you don't: the hard lines between life stages are imaginary conveniences, and loving, growing up, raising a child or having a job are not destinations or achievements to unlock. — 00:02:54
  • ★★ Hank concludes that life is not a video game but a journey that we travel together, and he hopes viewers enjoy it. — 00:03:14

Humor (significant)

  • Hank's taxes skit: a top-hatted, bearded man asks for your fair share, you happily ask whom to make the cheque out to, and then: — 00:00:35 > «And then, he starts hitting you with a stick!»
  • Asked how to get past insecurities, Hank says he will like you more if you fail, then turns it into a command. — 00:01:51 > «Start failing now! I order you!»
  • Asked whether adults may still watch Disney movies and cry, Hank answers in tears. — 00:01:57 > «Rapunzel, the lanterns are for you!»
  • On married people's friendships with the opposite sex, Hank sets the limit. — 00:02:28 > «mutual urge to lick each others mouths,»

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