When I was your age

Meaning

The classic opening line for a lecture on how young people are spoiled or unprepared. It is used to contrast the speaker's industrious youth with the current listener's perceived laziness.

Pedantic, authoritative

Used in a sentence

• When I was your age, I was already working forty hours a week and supporting a family.
• He looked at his nephew and said, when I was your age, we did not have these fancy video games.
• When I was your age, we had to respect our elders without question.