I rarely get carded for anything anymore, and when I do I assume it's because of a policy to card everyone who isn't obviously middle aged or older, and not because they think I look that young. Still, people tend to assume I'm at least a bit younger than I am, maybe 30-ish rather than the 38 or reality.
The gray in my hair tends to confuse people. Once in my late 20s, by which time I had visible salt-and-pepper, I went to get it cut and when the stylist was asking for my life story, she kept trying to add more time in there as if she needed me to be older. "So you took a bunch of time off between college and grad school, right? Oh, so grad school was quite a while ago, then?" If I cover the gray, people have tended to think I'm a lot younger. Currently, I get most of the gray dyed over, but leave this one clump where the gray was coming in more thickly, so I've got a bit of a stripe going, and that seems to walk the right line between "old enough to be afforded respect" up-close, and looking young from a distance.
Re: Indirectly Inspired by #4
The gray in my hair tends to confuse people. Once in my late 20s, by which time I had visible salt-and-pepper, I went to get it cut and when the stylist was asking for my life story, she kept trying to add more time in there as if she needed me to be older. "So you took a bunch of time off between college and grad school, right? Oh, so grad school was quite a while ago, then?" If I cover the gray, people have tended to think I'm a lot younger. Currently, I get most of the gray dyed over, but leave this one clump where the gray was coming in more thickly, so I've got a bit of a stripe going, and that seems to walk the right line between "old enough to be afforded respect" up-close, and looking young from a distance.