An Adult...sort of

Last month, I turned 18.
The big birthday that is supposed to separate you from being a juvenile to a full-fledged adult, 18 hit me like a slight breeze. I don't feel a month over 17 and yet I'm legally a totally different person. Theoretically, I am now a wise man who can make decisions about my country and my life without parental supervision. But when I called Mrs. C to let her know I'd be out with my family for a day, it didn't fly. My mother was called, the administration was notified and the whole debacle turned into a huge mess. I'll admit that I neglected to give Mrs. C a specific reason for my absence, but shouldn't my all-powerful 18 year old self be able to make those sort of calls about my own life? The first time I tried to flex my adult abilities, it blew up in my face. Sure I can buy porn and cigarettes and even vote, but I'm still bound by my childhood regulations. In the real world I can go to war and travel the globe. To the school though, I'm just a regular kid.
Mrs. C reminded me that freedom is not unversal. Rules will follow me everywhere I go. Frankly, being 18 doesn't give you more rights, it just gives harsher punishments for the rules already in place. I can still be tried for underage drinking, only now I could be thrown in jail and not recieve diversion. Is being able to buy nudie mags and butts really worth losing the barrier of childhood ignorance? If I make a bad desicion now, I'd be in a heap of trouble. 18 year olds aren't supposed to make bad desicions, but 17 year olds can do whatever they want. The only difference I've felt being 18 is that there's more pressure, more responsibility, and even then it's all passive. 18 should be fun and fancy free right? No one gave me a handbook telling me what being an adult should feel like, but authorities assume I know.
There was one triumphant day when I bought a cheap cigar for the hell of it, but afterwords, I didn't feel any sort of accomplishment. I don't smoke, and the guy at the register didn't even card me. I could have walked up and bought the cigar when I was 17. Either way, I still wouldn't have smoked it.