The 35 YO divorcee who pursued me when I was 25 was genuinely surprised, alarmed, and disturbed to learn I wasn't the same age as herself; I got a whole lecture on "I
never would have asked you out, if I had known how young you are; but you seem so kind, polite, and mature, I just assumed......And now I don't know what to do, I can't turn back, blah, blah, blah. (Double edged sword, there.....What I heard was) "You are admirably mature for your age......but ya' look 15 years older than you actually are"

And BTW, honey,
you are the one with crows-feet just starting to show up around your eyes; Seriously, they make you that much more attractive to me.
Now I'm roughly shalemail's age, and there is no question I have fallen from grace, I'm less mature than ever.

And some of that comes from the fact that I have learned the hard way that very few women want to be with someone who is
always so serious, always trying so bloody hard to worry about her feelings and do the right thing....it grinds on them after a while. (It's Friday night, shut up, drink this, and kiss me, you fool!!) So I look back, and think "if only I had embraced my "inner 18 year old" when I was 24...." And from there, I think "Why can't I now date that 24 year old girl"? By that age, most of us are who we are going to be in life, there's just a few minor changes that happen on the edges, with additional years.
Others have put their finger right on some of the key points....."Moderately well adjusted adults, no taking advantage, similar perspective and life experience....." But boy howdy, does it get
complicated in the details.
When I was 35 and dating the 25 YO, it was fairly clear that we weren't on the same page when it came to popular culture (for instance). Most of the music I enjoy, was just developing, or even 10 years old when I was in diapers; I mined all that gold years later, mostly because my parents were cool. Her parents were ten years younger than my parents, but she grew up in a household where they listened to "The Kingston Trio" or "Chad and Jeremy" albums, over and over again. No judgement, but c'mon......If we're gonna' not get along, shouldn't it be because your'e into Britney Spears, and I can't relate? She was and is a lovely girl, but arguably an older soul than I; She was a librarian when I met her, never owned a TV, cared not one whit about fashion or popular culture, never wore any makeup, and wore a dress on the single occasion of our first date. She preferred long walks and candle light dinners of pizza at home, over
any of the activities I (mistakenly assumed) I needed to offer, in order to keep the average 25 year old girl's attention. Sigh, live and learn.
I like the "half your age plus seven" rule in general, but it will come as no surprise that I think it's only a (very good) starting place for a problem as complex as this.
One or two of you enjoy programing, yes?
Who wants to write the formula that has a few hundred nested IF statements?
"Plus 7" could be modified to become a truly universal and foolproof rule............

Is this 1865, 1956, 0r 2023 A.D.?
Is this California, Alabama, or Czechoslovakia?
Is this a high school dropout, or a postgraduate student?
Is this the oldest, middle, or youngest sibling in the family?
How young and immature were
your parents, when they got together?
Get cracking, code monkeys........I'm not getting any younger, here!
