As I was sitting in the theater waiting for the showing of the indie drama comedy "Away We Go" I noticed a lot of familiar-looking folks finding their seats. I didn't know any of them personally, but I recognized the experimental facial hair, the rumpled clothing and faded hippy blouses. I was well tuned into the looks of those in their 30s on the fringes of the mainstream because, well, I'm one of them.

The film, now out on DVD, concerns Burt and Verona, an unmarried couple played by John Krasinski ("The Office") and Maya Rudolph ("Saturday Night Live") who discover they are having a baby. They live like college kids in a broken down shack in the woods with no heat and a cardboard window.

They are certainly in love, but shrouded in the doubt well known to folks having difficulty growing up.

It struck me while watching this funny, poignant film that Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and much of the Triangle is well populated with Burts and Veronas.

Well-meaning folks who are rebelling, either consciously or unconsciously, against society's set paths. Waiting longer to start families and assume real responsibility than their parents, these folks are lounging at Weaver Street during the day and hanging at bars like Orange County Social Club and Fuse well into the night.

In the film Burt and Verona discover Burt's parents (played by Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels) are moving to Belgium for the first two years of their grandchild's life. So, Burt and Verona decide to find a new home in which to start their new family -- one close to relations or healthy friendships.

Many folks I've known have stayed in this area because of strong ties to family and friends. Many have come to or stayed in the Triangle area for the promise of a bohemian community and liberal lifestyle.

The folks that Burt and Verona encounter on their quest may at first seem like quirky film stereotypes -- the New Agey anti-stroller earth mother nailed by Maggie Gyllenhall and the obnoxious half-assed bi-polar parenting of Allison Janey's character. But they are familiar archetypes, especially in this neck of the woods. I've eaten their tofu and barbecue respectively.

This is not to say that many of these folks don't have good jobs and purposeful lives; just that a sizable percentage are caught in transition.

Settling down and figuring out the basic stuff in life, as Verona puts it, isn't just harder than it looks, it feels harder than we thought it would feel.

When we're kids, we have a concept of what it means to be a grown-up. That concept changes as we get older but do we ever feel grownup?

At a recent Cat's Cradle concert I looked around noting that not one of the people in the crowd looked like idealized adults, they looked like me. These were my peers, even though I recently married and turn 40 in a few months.

No baby is in my future but that cloud of maturity that I've been trying to outrun my entire life, is now permanently hovering above.

The difference now? I'm cool with that.