ARE you!!

I've realized something lately, and it's started to bug ever since I started paying attention to it. This may seem trivial, maybe I'm being overly critical, and it's likely that I need to up my morning caffeine dose... but it's starting to drive me nuts. And it all stems from what I would consider a pretty simple question:

"How old are you?"

To give a little bit of background, this is generally in the context of me filling pertinent information into a medical record. It usually follows shortly after a couple of questions like "how did you get hurt?" and "when did this happen?" So to be more specific, this is in a professional setting rather than casual/conversational (where I don't think it would really be that big a deal). But upon asking for this simple data, it really surprises me how often I get responses like:

"I turn 27 next year."
"I'll be 19 in February."
"In 4 months I'll be 22."

Ok... now I can appreciate if someone is anxiously awaiting a 16th, 18th, 21st, or 25th birthday. These are monumental occasions in the life of the young. (Ha ha, that sounded so condescending! I'm old.) I can remember being similarly excited about the advent of a driver's license, the ability to vote, being able to partake of the vine, and getting to rent a car. (Side note: probably wouldn't have been as excited if I'd realized it was also the beginning of paying for gas, draft eligibility, the 'burden of the beverage', and health insurance premiums that double every 6 months.) And I'd also understand if the person's birthday was in a week or two. But it never seems like these are the culprits -- it's always some random age that has nothing to do with anything except getting older, and it's never even within a month. Does FaceBook have some 23-year old promotion going on, or do you get a free FreezePop t-shirt courtesy of Diet RockStar when you turn 17? I will admit that there are things in current pop culture of which I am not aware. But not many -- I'm pretty hip. I just don't get it.

I need to write a number. That number needs to indicate how long you've been alive. I'd prefer not to have to do math, even though n-1 admittedly isn't very intellectually taxing. Maybe I'm just crabby, but next time someone tells me how old they're GOING to be... I might just drop a people's elbow.

ADDENDUM:
"Uhh... I forget -- 26?" is also not acceptable. This is information you need to have immediately available to you, unless you're senile. Old folks get a hall pass on this. When I'm that old I won't even care how old I am. "Older'n you are! Now go get me some candy!"