18 does not an adult make

My friends have started turning 18. I have another two months to go until I reach that age, but all of a sudden, according to the law, I have adult friends. It's quite weird to look at people I've known since year 7 and think 'that person is legally an adult!'

18 means many things. It means that you can drink, buy alcohol and cigarettes. You can get married, if you want, without parental permission. You can get a credit card, own property, buy plane tickets in your own name, you can even change your name!

But does this make you an adult? According to the law, yes, but I (being close to this age myself) have been thinking about this quite a lot lately, and I've decided that there are a few other factors that should be added to the definition of adult, apart from reaching the magic number.

1. The ability to say no. Kids say yes to everything appealing, even if it's not good for them. They'll lie to their parents about being sick so they can go to a friend's house after school and end up throwing up all over their backyard (it only happened once. A long time ago.). They'll eat and eat and eat junk food just because it's there, not stopping even when they're full. If you can say 'No', you are getting closer to being an adult.
2. Ability to get a job. You don't have to have a job, because some people are at school/studying/living off a massive inheritance, but you do have to have the ability to get one. So good personal hygiene, the ability to look someone in the eye and the ability to express yourself at least reasonably well should be there before you're classified an adult.
3. A general understanding of who gets told what. Yes, I'm talking about tact, secrets, oversharing and other wonderful things like that. Don't keep telling the same friend about your secrets if she just keeps telling others. Don't tell your mate that his acne is looking really bad lately. And DON'T tell me all about the surgery you just had when you know I'm squeamish. Mistakes are fine - but you can't be an adult until you have at least a small understanding of when to keep your mouth shut.

If you can do all these things when you turn 18 then congratulations - in my eyes, you are an adult. Of course, if you turn 18 and you can't do these things then in the eyes of the law you're still an adult, but I am pretty sure you're going to want to develop these things pretty quickly!