"You know you're getting old when you hear your…

New Yorkers spend a lot of time in elevators. A list of “Top 25 signs that you’ve already grown up” was distributed on the Internet in 1999, and one sign is:

5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.

Sometimes “at work” is added after “elevator.” It’s not known who first came up with the line.

Shortarmguy
June 30, 2001 Emails
TOP 25 SIGNS THAT YOU’VE ALREADY GROWN UP
1. Your potted plants stay alive.
2. Having sex in a twin sized bed is absurd.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.
5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.

The Church of the Subgenius
25 signs you’ve “grown up”
Date: Thu, Jan 17, 2002 3:38 PM
From: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) (Modemac)

1. Your potted plants are alive. And you can’t smoke a one of them.
2. Having sex in a twin-sized bed is absurd.
3. You keep more food than beer in the fridge.
4. 6:00 AM is when you get up, not when you go to sleep.
5. You hear your favorite song on an elevator.

Google Books
The Mammoth Book of Comic Quotes
By Geoff Tibballs
London: Constable & Robinson
2004
Pg. ?:
You know you’ve reached adulthood when you hear your favorite song in an elevator.

Google Books
The Bigger the Hair, the Closer to God:
Unleashing the Cute, Witty, Delightful, Intelligent, Passionate, Authentic, Interesting, Life of the Party Person Inside You
By Sue Buchanan
Ventura, CA: Regal Books
2007
Pg. 147:
Old Is When You Hear Your Favorite Song on an Elevator

Twitter
Mathieu BUONOMO
‏@mbuonomo
how to know you have grow up:You hear your favorite song in an elevator.http://tinyurl.com/4xecux
11:11 AM - 30 Jun 2008

Google News Archive
3 December 2008, Sentinel Tribune (Westbrook, MN), “Are you a grownup?” by Al Batt, pg. 4, col. 4:
You’re a grownup if you hear your favorite song in an elevator or on a TV commercial.

Twitter
TedInJest
‏@TedInJest
You know you’re getting old when you hear your favorite song on the elevator at work.
8:53 AM - 10 Sep 2010

Twitter
TedInJest
‏@TedInJest
You know you’re getting old when u hear your favorite song playing on the elevator at Macy’s.
9:55 PM - 26 Nov 2012

“You know you’re getting old when you hear your favorite song in an elevator”