Why are people private about their ages?

Honestly, I find it ridiculous that anyone has any qualms about revealing his or her age. Granted, I am only 24, but I can say with a pretty high level of certainty that I will gladly reveal my age to anyone who inquires when I am 34, 44, 54, 64, 74, 84, and hopefully 94, as well. Unless you look significantly older than you actually are, I’m really missing what there is to be embarrassed about. Everyone ages…

I’d like to make a disclaimer that should quash some of the “Why should age matter anyway?” responses I feel I’m bound to hear. I don’t think that age does matter very much. I would never judge someone positively nor negatively as a result of his/her age. I do not believe that age should limit anyone in any context. I simply believe it is a part of who someone is and the time in which one grew up is an interesting potential contribution to personality and experience.

Let’s compare this to hometown. Just like age, hometown doesn’t ”matter” either. No one should ever be judged positively nor negatively on the basis of his or her hometown, and it doesn’t significantly affect or limit anyone. But in the same way as age, it is a part of who someone is, and where one grew up is also an interesting potential contribution to personality and experience.

But no one is private about his/her hometown. People ask others where they grew up all the time, and no one blinks an eye. Everyone freely displays hometowns in facebook profiles, but how many people on your facebook friends list have hidden their birth year?

This is so silly to me. Age should not be a private subject.