Need help finding poignant AskMe answer regarding the road to lawyerdom

September 16, 2007 9:08 AM

Trying to find what I think was an AskMe (or possibly MeFi) comment from a while back, wherein the commenter outlines the fictional life story of someone whose aim is to make a lot of money so they can be happy, but ends up missing the mark along the way and turns into someone rather unhappy (but with the money).

I'm pretty sure the original question or post was along the lines of "how can I make gobs of cash by the time I'm 40 so I can have money to do the things I love?".

At the very least, the comment/reply in question was longish and showed how someone like the asker, who liked guitar (?) and had an artsy girlfriend in college, could go down that road, go to law school, enter a law firm, intending to just make good money for a few years and then retire or whatnot...but ends up sucking their soul out instead, having the girlfriend leave him, getting a trophy wife and a BMW, and turning into a grumpy middle-aged lawyer.

My search for this was sparked by this recent AskMe because I remembered the earlier reply being potentially topical. Now I no longer care whether or not it gets posted in that thread; I just want to find and bookmark it!

Finally, if anyone finds it via searching instead of having it bookmarked/favorited, please let me know what search terms you used - I tried a bunch of related words/phrases and it didn't turn up.

posted by cyrusdogstar to MetaFilter-Related at 9:08 AM (11 comments total)

There's this thread and this one. Not sure if either is the pertinent one.
posted by ericb at 9:21 AM on September 16, 2007

The first link fits the bill on "lawyerdom," but lacks some details you recall: "guitar," "artsy girlfriend," etc.
posted by ericb at 9:22 AM on September 16, 2007

I found that first one and it wasn't it, and unfortunately neither is the second one.

I should clarify that I remember the comment in the thread being very much like a narrative or story and less like a direct answer. Can't recall if it was first-person or third-person, though.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 9:27 AM on September 16, 2007

here
posted by AV at 9:38 AM on September 16, 2007

(I found it because I posted in the thread, and apparently your comments in deleted threads remain in your comment history)
posted by AV at 9:38 AM on September 16, 2007

Here's another one that might be of use - if not the actual one you're looking for.
posted by GrammarMoses at 9:55 AM on September 16, 2007

Perhaps also applicable is George Musser's New God.
posted by carsonb at 11:11 AM on September 16, 2007

Besides - at the rate we're going, in 20 years, 10 million will buy you a hot dog.
posted by loquacious at 11:20 AM on September 16, 2007

Thanks AV! That was it.
posted by cyrusdogstar at 1:12 PM on September 16, 2007

Loquacious, in 20 years, 10 million will buy you the finest in the top line wasteland-traversing caravans, with all the fur-wrapped post-apocalyptic honeys and makeshift weapons thrown in.
posted by tehloki at 1:05 AM on September 17, 2007

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar by Roald Dahl is similar... but he gives away the money IIRC.
posted by uncanny hengeman at 2:14 AM on September 17, 2007