Rapid responses in wells and streams following rainfall is often attributed to macropore or bypass flow through the unsaturated zone. Yet, paradoxically, these waters are often "old" in the sense that their subsurface residence time (or age) is on the order of months or years. An alternative explanation for this so-called "Old-water, New-water Paradox" is that pressure waves propagate rapidly through unsaturated media. Laboratory and field experiments are presented to illustrate this mechanism. We then show that observed responses are not appropriate for estimating flux and fluid travel times.