The Mid-Life Crisis Myth

According to a story on msnbc.com yesterday, the famous American mid-life crisis is a myth. Crankyjewishguy (CJG) was especially amused by this because just a few hours before stumbling upon this article he agreed to give his aging Volvo to his older son, who will be a junior next year at Harvard on St. Charles, otherwise known as Tulane University. Knowing he now needed to think about replacing his Volvo, CJG spent a pleasant half hour on the Mazda web site pricing Miata convertibles. No kidding.

Mid-life crisis symptom or practical family car?

Most psychologists peg mid-life as the desert between 40 and 65 (CJG is in there somewhere) and say there is no evidence that people in that age range experience life crises at a rate any different than people in other age groups and, in fact, most people's lives are very stable at mid-life. Reassured that his yearning for a Mazda Miata was not driven by some subconscious desire to return to his salad days, CJG now feels even more justified than ever about giving the Miata serious consideration. All he has to do is persuade Mrs. CJG of its practicality, like the fact that the trunk can hold one entire bag of groceries.

But CJG has a bone to pick with msnbc.com. The story debunking the mid-life crisis had photos of many people in mid-life who seem to be thriving -- Oprah, George Clooney, Jon Stewart, Jeff Bridges, Johnny Depp, Conan O'Brien, J-Lo, Colin Firth, Brad Pitt and Barack Obama among others -- and CJG spent the better part of Sunday trying to figure out what he has in common with these people other than age (and, in the case of Johnny Depp, looks) and came up empty. For one thing, not a single one of those people would seem to have to worry about money and that certainly can help keep you young. Second, they all have, with the exception of Barack Obama, job security. And, third, none of them needs to work as hard as CJG for attention, and when you dress like this it does seem you're trying to get people to look at you, don't you think?

CJG dressed as Capt. Jack Sparrow.