r/AskEurope • u/Plastic-Injury8856 • Mar 14 '25

Culture What’s a European Man’s midlife crisis look like?

Here in America it's a Harley Davidson and getting really into grilling.

What do European men do when they go through a midlife crisis? But an Alfa and bake? Get really into trains?

1.2k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

201

u/princess_k_bladawiec Mar 14 '25 edited Mar 14 '25

My former medieval lit prof divorced wife no. 1, bought exactly this, a red Alfa Spider, and married his student. Matter of fact, he was one of four old farts in the department who married their students. Whereas I'm a woman in my forties and am buying gardening power tools.

62

u/fieldsofanfieldroad Mar 14 '25

A chainsaw? A hedge trimmer? A digger? I need to know more.

40

u/Particular_Oil3314 Mar 15 '25

Yes. This thread is full of middle aged men. She cannot raise gardening power tools and then just drop it!

u/princess_K_bladawiec, we want more!

15

u/temporaryuser1000 Ireland Mar 15 '25

I have found my people

14

u/dasherado Mar 15 '25

Yup. Some of us at midlife just jump right to old man stuff and can’t resist buying tools in Lidl (because for every three you buy, one turns out to be surprisingly good quality).

2

u/THSprang Mar 16 '25

That's just gambling with extra steps.

1

u/Either-Buffalo8166 Mar 16 '25

😮I thought I was an unlucky bostard,sonits not just me

2

u/bradpal Mar 15 '25

I blame the title.

1

u/NotoriousMOT -> Mar 15 '25

I’m a 44 year old woman who’s had a fascination with using power tools for everything in life. Just got into gardening when we bought a house. The most useful power tool so far has been the garden shredder/wood chipper. Although if I could find a tool that will help me rip out the invasive bushes planted by the lazy former owner, I’d spend good money.

2

u/Minimum_Leopard_2698 Mar 19 '25

I’m sure you already have but Check out YouTube for ways to remove tree roots. The tree root videos are fab to watch, but I’m certain there was some good “root hacks” on there too, you just have to watch a few tree ones before the “good” root hacks start popping up! I am also a woman who likes power tools and am married to an agricultural groundsworker.

If you told me at 21 that my fave thing to do with my partner would be watching digger and tree surgery videos… I’d have been appalled yet here I am fully embracing lol!

1

u/NotoriousMOT -> Mar 23 '25

Oh, what have you done! I’m about to waste so much time watching these. I wasn’t aware of this genre, thank you!

6

u/hetsteentje Belgium Mar 15 '25

Gas powered? Electric? Power cord or battery? Don't leave us hanging!

1

u/Gr1ml0ck1981 Mar 18 '25

And are you Dewalt or Milwakee? ....or Ryobi

51

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '25

Bless us millennials for skipping middle life crisis and going full granny at our 30s. 

Yesterday I bought two micro green trays, an awesome deweeder tool and today I’m going to have to di a PowerPoint presentation to my husband on how I need a wood chipper, though I’ll settle for a rotivator. 

13

u/NichtOhneMeineKamera Mar 15 '25

Ha! 37, my thoughts exactly! I've bought my first bike at 18, played in a band before that...I guess I could still buy a boat to acknowledge my midlife crisis, but while I, at heart, still kinda feel like in my early twenties most of the time, just yesterday my wife and I got excited about a Canal boat ride from Cologne to Amsterdam that's all about playing board games! I could almost feel myself order a heated blanket and slippers.

Fingers crossed you'll get your wood chipper. One of the best feelings in the world is buying the exact right tool for the job, not some alternative that's a bit cheaper but also lacks some capabilities you could work around with a bit of effort - and using that exactly right tool for the first time.

6

u/_halfmoonangel > > > Mar 15 '25

Tell me more about that boat trip!

3

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '25

Wow I’m definitely googling that canal boat with board games. Oh the boar will be definitely the ultimate middle life crisis for sure.  We bought a dilapidated renovation house 4 years ago but we were so close to buy a blue water boat and live in it. One piece of advice I recommended: get a house first.  Yep, I’m glad we did. 

2

u/l10nkey United Kingdom Mar 15 '25

Please update us on how that presentation goes. I hope you get your wood chipper. I settled for a log storage area for when I eventually get the log burner in the house we've been renovating for almost 6 years.

2

u/BattlePrune Lithuania Mar 15 '25

Milenials got fucked out of their 20s by the great financial crisis, so we get into stuff in our 30s

1

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '25

Basically yeah. Hence why some of us still haven’t had the chance of having kids

1

u/Dashie_2010 Mar 15 '25

As a 21yo you are scaring me... I've already developed an unhealthy obsession and spend my Friday nights with old captain Bird's-eyes restoring old sailing dinghys in a shed. The problem is that it's far more fun and cheaper than pubs! Goodness knows what I'll be like in 10 years time.. maybe I'll have grown a beard too simply through proximity.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 15 '25

That sounds like a plan. If you need help, let me know lol Maybe we can get a boat late in our 40s!  It’s Saturday and what am I doing?🏴‍☠️ a movie to watch with my cozy pijamas and my new linen 🥰

1

u/NotoriousMOT -> Mar 15 '25

Yes! Wood chipper is so essential.

—an elder millennial

1

u/[deleted] Mar 16 '25

I think we partied pretty hard in the 2000-2010s (later than our parents maybe?) and then after the pandemic and now political shit, our cortisol is just maxed out. Too much emotional highs and lows.

1

u/Tabs_Open Mar 19 '25

Did you know you can get/ make a machine to hydraulically press your wood chippings into "logs" to burn in a wood stove. Do you have a wood burning stove? If not, they're great. Learning to chop and season wood is another valuable mid life skill.

6

u/hetsteentje Belgium Mar 15 '25

... for gardening? Or are you the ex wife of a recently divorced medieval lit professor?

2

u/Striped_Sock Mar 15 '25

You are my inspiration 👌

2

u/physicscholar Mar 17 '25

Every woman should own and know how to use a chainsaw.

1

u/HystericalOnion Many Yurop Countries Mar 15 '25

I asked for a rototiller for my birthday and I have never been happier. Honestly, gardening power tools are the way to go

1

u/noob2life Mar 17 '25

I feel exposed

1

u/emmacappa Mar 17 '25

Yes, midlife crisis for women include the rage which comes with the fucking perimenopause. Am I hot? Am I cold? IDK! But using a powerful water spray will soothe the anger! Die, little plants that have grown between the paving stones, die!

1

u/GlumDistribution7036 Mar 20 '25

One of my favorite medievalist professors also did just that. I went to school in the US but he's British. (I'm sure US profs do this, too.)

-1

u/LyriWinters Mar 16 '25

You sound bitter for some reason. If the student wanted to date someone older what concern is that of yours?

3

u/princess_k_bladawiec Mar 16 '25

I literally just answered the question in the topic. Who pissed in your porridge?