Meme dump time!

I have zero social media on my phone. Like most people, I found myself a few years back spending entirely too much time on FB, IG, Twitter, and the like. I also found that getting involved in a discussion that was even remotely controversial that things would become toxic really fast and lifelong friends were now at ends with one another. I had a falling out with a couple of people that I was extremely good friends with and we had it out in public forum in a way that would never have happened in person. I feel like social media has made us all a lot more cruel, one-sided in our opines and thoughts, and probably significantly dumber.

So while I do still have messenger because some businesses refuse to communicate in any other capacity, I have dumped all other social media. The only thing I have on my phone that can even remotely be considered social media is 9Gag and I get a lot of laughs and probably better information about what is going on in the world than anyone that actually watches the news or gets information from "true" social media.

Mostly I look at the funnies or insightful things though and lately, it has been between sets at the gym. It's a little embarrassing sometimes because I'll be giggling away in the gym only to turn around and find out that I am not alone in there. Hopefully they find it funny as well... If not, they probably just think I am crazy.

Here are some of the gems that I found over the past few weeks.

This one isn't really a meme and it is missing a bit because the title isn't visible in the image that I saved. The title was "life goals" and honestly, this has become my life goal. I have no aspiration of riches and fame, I just want to have a bunch of dogs and enough money to take care of them. There is nothing quite like the love and trust of an animal and I hope to one day live somewhere that I can safely have a bunch of them.

Here in Da Nang these bar sports are very popular and without fail if someone new comes to the table or board, you are going to hear them talk about how long it has been since they last played. This is also very true at bowling. I don't understand why people undermine themselves before the game even starts. Most of the time when people announce how long it has been they end up being actually pretty good. There was a guy that came to our DUMBO bowling for the first time last week who told basically everyone that he hasn't bowled in years yet in his first game he got a higher score than 3/4 of the people who are regulars. He had us a bit worried at that point because we don't want people that are "too good" playing with us. Thankfully, his next two games were shite and I think he just got lucky on that first one.

I haven't written about my disdain for the American college scam in quite some time but this one hit me pretty close to home. We were actively recruited by colleges when I was in high school and looking back I think it was done so that our individual teachers could have a day off from doing their actual jobs. The recruiters were VERY convincing with their charts of future income and now I can see that it was mostly lies and probably cherry-picked data. I got myself into overwhelming debt with my college loans because they gave me, a 17-year old at the time, the option of choosing a range of how much money I wanted to have given to me. I had the option of taking the minimum amount where I would have to have a part time job as well or the maximum amount which would be more than enough to handle tuition, books, and living expenses. Which option do you think most teenagers are going to go for?

Recently I watched a short video about how doctors and lawyers, professions that we would normally assume just make buckets of money and live the high life, go so far into debt getting their certifications that it takes them nearly 20 years to get out from under that crushing debt. I believe that right about the time that the government got involved with making college something that "everyone can afford" is the same time that the cost of said education intentionally went through the roof.

Some of the most successful people I know didn't go to college and there is one guy I know that has more money than most Hollywood celebrities that dropped out of college after partying for one year. I don't think that college necessarily benefits anyone. If the job you want has a requirement for a degree just lie and say you have that degree. You aren't going to use any of the stuff you learned during the coursework in obtaining that degree anyway and will simply be taught on the job how to do their specific system. Obviously this doesn't apply to all professions but it applies to most of them.

This one is mildly political, sorry about that. The reason why it was funny isn't necessarily the meme itself but the reaction in the comments about how the one side was defending the 2nd amendment adamantly, while the other was supporting the message in the meme and calling for gun control. It was a laugh riot because people are so blinded by their political affiliation that they didn't even notice that it is a camera on a tripod and not a weapon at all.

Although frowned upon by the 9gag community, people will screencap Tweets and put them in there anyway. I appreciate it when this happens because I no longer have Twitter and not having Twitter has made my life a lot better.

To address what is in the meme I want everyone to know that I actually was a pizza delivery driver before GPS existed. Cell/mobile phones barely existed at the time and when we left the shop to deliver the pizza we had a grid map in the back that would give us a guideline as to where the house might be. If you forgot while you were on your way there, you were screwed. I'll say this though: After doing this job for several years I probably knew the city streets better than the police did.

This one hits close to home because it is basically me. I recall being rather indestructible in my childhood and even well into my 20's. These days, despite having a pillow-top mattress and 5 pillows all to myself in a king size bed, I wake up with lower back pain almost every day. I also have rogue injuries that I have no idea where they could have come from and every now and then I will stand up too fast and nearly pass out. I'm only in my 40's too so I bet I have a lot more of this to look forward to in the coming 30 years.

This one is stupid but if you know me you already know how much I love bowling and my doggo. Therefore it made me laugh.

Yet again something that directly applies to me. I don't really care what I look like when I leave the house. I'll make sure that my hair isn't disheveled and I dress so I look just a teensy bit above homeless. I have purchased maybe $50 worth of clothes in the past 3 years. I wear the same ironic t-shirts that I have had for a decade and I honestly do not care what other people think of me. I'm a nice person, I don't go out of my way to be a jerk or anything, but there is great liberty to be found in not being concerned about what other people think of you.

And that, my friends, is the coolest a person can possibly be.

I'll end this as I always do, with a picture of Nadi. This one was recently used by a local pub to promote their pool league nights and I've been told that they have actually gotten more new customers specifically because of it.

I hope you enjoyed some of those. I hope they made you laugh or made you think. If you ever find yourself in a social media spiral and feel as though it is negatively impacting your mental health I have a pro-tip for you: Just stop using it!