Is it considered a (pre?) mid-life crisis if the man is 36, quit practicing law to host trivia at bars, and has mostly girl friends (all around 25 years old)?

Hi all. I am the OP's ex, the subject of this discussion. I came across this thread and was floored by what I read. If I were you and read what she posted, I would have said and felt almost everything contained in these comments. 100%. She and I have been broken up now since the end of March/beginning of April '15. It is now mid-June.

I don't know why I've decided to reply to this. You don't know me nor I you so the typical social pressures to do so don't exist. The only explanation I can come up with is that I have this compelling need to tell my side to someone, even if that someone is a stranger on the internet. This is my first ever post so forgive me if I run amiss of the proper etiquette.

Is it considered a (pre?) mid-life crisis if the man is 36, quit practicing law to host trivia at bars...

From the title, I was set up to look like a joke. Yes, I was 36 (now 37), and she was 25 (now 26) when were together. However, I did not quit practicing law to host bar trivia, nor do most of my female friendships involve 25 year olds.

I quit my big firm job in Chicago when I was 26. At the time I was unhappy with the practice of law (2200 billable hour reqs, the type of people I worked with, etc.). I moved to FL with my then gf of 4 years and decided to start a business. To sum up the three years that followed: she failed the bar exam, we broke up, she moved abroad, business failed, became disheartened and jaded, moved to Atlanta at the age of 30 to be closer to my family (and my new niece) and start anew. Not quite sure of what I wanted to do with the rest of my life at this point, but I need to make money. I took a job as a trivia host while I shopped my resume and figured out my next move. Trivia hosting turned into DJing weddings and sweet sixteens, and corporate events, and I eventually landed a position as an office manager with a small consulting company. I was now able to support myself while I decided what I wanted to do for my career. Two years later, I had decided that I would get into software development and enroll back in school. To sum up the next four years: enrolled at Georgia Tech as a CS major, held at various times THREE jobs while going to school full time (trivia host, tech assistant at a research hub on campus, and various internships with software development companies in Atlanta). After 2.5 years at GT, and my jobs in various areas of the CS field, I no longer felt that I could find satisfaction in a career in software development, IT, or any CS field. I then decided that I would give law a chance again. A month after I met OP, I quit school and made preparations to apply for and take the GA bar exam. This is where you find me now. I still host trivia because it requires a minimal time commitment from me as I dedicate the majority of my time to studying. And even as I'm typing this, I have a potential opportunity with a consulting firm that may lead me to make another career audible in the very near future. I probably shared too much, but I wanted to be clear that I most certainly did not quit law to be a trivia host.

/r/AskMen Thread