The Older I Get...

When I was a kid, doctors always seemed "old." I asked my mom recently about a doctor I had when I was 18 who is still practicing medicine in my town. "Wasn't he old back then?" I asked her.

She looked confused. "No...I'd say he was in his 30s."



As I got older, I started noticing something. Doctors, dentists, and hair stylists all suddenly were younger than I was. I'd go to the dentist and see this:



I always wanted to ask, "Are you old enough to have been through dental school?" But that would be rude. So I just trusted that these kid-medical professionals knew what was going on.

Then it hit me...they aren't old. I am.



Recently, while looking for a hair stylist, I spent a while researching local places. I even tried one out with an eyebrow wax appointment. This is about the age of the women who work in those places now:



The girl took me back to the eyebrow-waxing area and proceeded to talk like 20-year-olds talk. Lots of "likes" and "totes" and "awesomes." It was like listening to one of these talk:



An hour or so every six weeks in the chair, listening to that? I don't think so. Call me crazy, but I just want someone I can have a normal human conversation with. Although listening to vocal fry and this post-Millennial version of Valley Girl speak is good for my career. I just don't feel like I can have that stylist-customer bond with one of those girls. Plus...this:



So my search continues. But is it too much to want a stylist with some post-30s brains? And as we get older, isn't it a normal fact of life that our medical and beauty providers will be the same age as our children? Then grandchildren? After all, this could eventually be worse than Valley Girl speak from your doctor...



How do you find good doctors, dentists, and hair stylists? Does age or gender matter?