What Should I Do With My Life?
from the force-a-midlife-crisis dept
Last month we posted a link to an exceprt from Po Bronson’s new book, What Should I Do With My Life?, which looks at the stories of a number of people who have found that they are actually content with their lives – even though, it often took several false starts. Red Herring talks about the book and how Bronson is very serious in his belief that such a book can really help people have a clearer understanding of their lives. However, the thing that struck me about the article is that the author said he felt that the book pushed him to have a mid-life crisis. I kind of like the idea of a “mid-life crisis in a box” that can force people to rethink their lives under slightly more “controlled” circumstances than the randomness with which such a crisis usually occurs. Though, perhaps the book needs to come with a warning label…
Comments on “What Should I Do With My Life?”
hee hee hya hya
I’ve met countless techies who fantasized about lives in another careers, so I enjoyed merrily bashing their dreams. Some typical ones:
– “I want to become a chef” — Sure, if you enjoy 7-day work weeks, lost fingers, low pay, being around stupid people who can’t read.
– “I want to open a restaurant” — Sure, if you enjoy 7-day work weeks, having sewage unpredictably back up into your kitchen and destroying your business, not having the insider connections to rent desirable plots, high turnover rates, filling in for busboys, paying off the local mob so they won’t trash your store.
– “I want to become a teacher” — Sure, if you enjoy driving a used Hyundai with no hubcaps to work, being thrown into inner city schools because that’s where the new teachers go, making no difference in the lives of losers.
– “I want to become a massage therapist” — Sure, if you enjoy having sore hands, pervert customers who come on to you, other customers who dump their problems on you, the low social status and ridicule.
– “I want to become a doctor” — Sure, if you enjoy spending most of your time dealing with insurance matters, telling patients you cannot give them the treatment they need, 20-hour workdays, spending most of your career paying off tuition or malpractice insurance, waiting up to 10 years to get a desired internship, having the same slob patients come back over and over no matter how much advice you give them, telling parents their baby is deformed/retarded, or the real kicker: report a case of child abuse, go through countless paperwork and court appearances, get the kid into a foster home, then have the same kid show up next year with even more abuse problems.