Every Clod Has A Silver Lining

I'm a mature 21-year-old woman considering a relationship with a 30-year-old man, but I worry about our age difference. I've yet to graduate, and live the life of a student, but I don't want to miss out on the guy of my dreams.

--Unsure

Yippee, you can now be tried as an adult, but don't be on your high horse about how all growed-up you are. At 21, everyone thinks they're "mature." By 23, some catch a whiff of what blithering idiots they've been. At 30, many have nine years of proof. Making matters worse, you're from one of the most overmommied generations ever. While the original umbilical cord is still cut at birth, there are now aftermarket versions from Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon. One 20-something girl complained on a blog that her mother calls her every 30 minutes when she's out. Once, when she didn't reply right away, she logged 96 missed calls from Psychomommy. Even if your parents aren't all helicoptery, the last thing you need now is a guy you'll look up to as some elder statesman with all the answers, eliminating the need for you to flail around and find them for yourself. In fact, there's never been a better time for you to miss out on the guy of your dreams. Your dreams are likely to be rather different at 25, let alone 30, making your 20s, especially your early 20s, the ideal time to date all the wrong guys. Avoid locking onto Mr. Dreamy today and you might avoid waking up at 30 with the urge to date a garage band drummer with a part-time job shoplifting.