Age is a measure of how close we are to life milestones and death. People can and are absolutely allowed to feel sensitive about being gauged.

For example: my 25 year old colleague tries to guess my age when we first meet. I dance around the topic because she had 1) parents that paid for her college and living expenses 2) just bought a house because of this leg up on life. I dont need her comparing herself to me. My husband and I both had zero financial assistance after high school and spent the ages 18-26 working dead end jobs, and struggling to grow up and be responsible in the socioeconomic circles that often come along with working dead end jobs. We got our shit together by 26 and both decided to go back to school, working as much as possible to keep student loans down but we still needed them and working while going to school only delayed the whole process. We finished and basically got to the age of 32 where most people are at 21. We are now living as modestly as humanly possible trying to pay down student loan debt and save up for a home. It is slow and tedious, we dont take vacations or buy nice things. Our window to have children is almost shut, and we never get to take vacations.

All the backstory does not come along with saying "Im 36."

All she sees is "This loser 36 year old woman and her loser husband are still renting crappy small homes and she has the same job as me."

So yes, I dont answer the question.