But surely, with the exception of long-standing happy couples and lovely continentals with their baggy bedroom eyes, most middle-aged people have been pressed too hard and too long.
At one point, Apple shareholders acknowledged Mr. Jobs's 54th birthday, which was Tuesday, by standing and singing "Happy Birthday".
And yet I keep her picture on my desk: 22-year-old Grandma standing sturdy and happy in a swimming costume and a pair of men's slacks (very liberated for those days) outside a Norfolk village pub in 1932.
Then again, as everybody knows, time is also money, and even the most "ordinary" personal-shopping clients are likely to be standing on the happy side of the national stratification.
A picture of this girl's brother was taped to the other inside flap -- a smiling young man, happy, standing in front of a building.
"As I thought what my life would be like and what the world would be like without her it made me sad, and I'm just standing here today happy that TMZ had it wrong," the actor said.
1 May 2015 | Last November, a group of Dutch businessmen found themselves far from their desks, standing damp but happy in the Peruvian rainforest, where they'd come to visit the forest they were paying to save.
So plan -- and show up for -- a standing after-work happy hour or weekend brunch that's just for you and the people who were there for you before Mr. or Ms. Wonderful came along.
"I'd be happiest standing at the back, strumming my little banjo where no one could see me".
"I'll be standing watching some happy-clappies on King's Cross platform and some old lady's standing there rolling her eyes, and then we get on the train together and that's it: life story comes out".
I hope my case for torture is wrong, as I would be much happier standing side by side with all the good people who oppose torture categorically.
