Hey, I realized after I made that last post: the Encyclopedia Mastandrea does not yet contain an entry for "Connecticut Malaise." I will take a stab at it here (but Steve may have additional commentary which he may add as follow-up).

We first identified the "Connecticut Malaise" in the year 2000, pretty much by accident, as we waited at the Stamford rail station so Steve and his pals could catch Amtrak back to Boston.

It was early in the morning (I'd woken everyone before daylight, using that reveille-playing alarm-clock from way-back-when). The train was to arrive soon, so people were driving up and popping their trunks to grab their luggage.

I had pulled up right next to the staircase to the platform so we were able to wait in the car, comfortably, with our music playing. Another car pulled up directly in front of us. That's when we saw her.

Groggy, and with nothing else to do, we watched.

"See that woman at her trunk?" I said, and we all did. "Does she look sad that her husband is making a trip? No. After the train takes him away she's going to sit alone in her big house, worried about her looks, comparing her finances to the people next door, wondering why she doesn't have fun anymore. She'll go to work tomorrow, but not because she has to make money. She never has anything interesting to talk about, but always wants to say something. Later today, she'll take some pills, sip some wine, and when the landscaper comes to clear the thatch in her backyard, she'll invite him in."

Everyone in the car observed her carefully. They saw it too.

"She's got the Connecticut Malaise."

I bet Simms saw that a lot at Harvard Law. Now he had a name for it.

Steve, what am I missing here?