Work, work, work work work

Will Butler:

You're listening to Say My Meme, the podcast that describes the Internet's best memes for those of us who can't see them. I'm Will from Be My Eyes, and I'm joined today, as I am every Monday, by my cohost, Caroline from Scribely. Hello, Caroline.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Hello, hello.

Will Butler:

How's your Monday morning going?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh yeah, it's like every Monday morning. I'm just trying to get in the mood for work. It's a slow process.

Will Butler:

We are definitely recording this on a Monday morning.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes.

Will Butler:

It's really hard to fake Monday feelings on a Friday. That may be either a weakness or a strength for this podcast.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Right. No, you can hear the joy in our voices and that's a dead giveaway.

Will Butler:

Say My Meme, bringing that Friday joy to a Monday morning. TGIM.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Great. That's going to catch on.

Will Butler:

#TGIM, Say My Meme, @saymymemepod on Twitter. But segue, wait, I just created a segue and I didn't even jump on it, speaking of Mondays, how's work?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Work? Work work. I don't know, it's good, it's frustrating. We're in a pandemic. I found my groove with it, but I'm ready to get out in the world and actually meet people. That would be nice.

Will Butler:

Now inextricable from home, work and home, one and the same.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean it's like what we all fantasized about, I feel like, at work. Like oh, if I could just be at home, get so much done, it'd be so great. And now we're over it.

Will Butler:

Yeah, we're over it. But if I'm not mistaken, we've taken that frustration and channeled it into our memes for the week.

Caroline Desrosiers:

That's right. Yep, this week is all about the work memes. I guess these are the ones that we navigate to when we are trying to get through our week or when we're trying to describe how awful our week is. I mean it could be anything.

Will Butler:

We've had one work meme on the pod already, I believe, the Jurassic Park dinosaur and the Toy Story dinosaur about how you feel ready to be a good person, and then you're ready to rip someone's head off.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I love that one.

Will Butler:

But I'm assuming this week you've gone deep into the archives of work meme history to find us the spiciest, juiciest work memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh yes. These are really good. And usually we go with five, I couldn't decide, so we have six.

Will Butler:

Oh, you outdo yourself.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I know.

Will Butler:

Oh my gosh. And as a reminder to folks, as always, I have never seen any of these memes and I'm legally blind myself, so I probably wouldn't even see them unless Caroline were describing them. So maybe let's just dive in, work memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Let's do it. All right, small, bald baby lounges in a comfy chair, brushing up on their HTML coding. Tagline, "When employers want 10 years of experience before you turn 20." So true.

Will Butler:

Oh my God.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Better get started.

Will Butler:

For some reason that reminds me of when you look at someone's LinkedIn profile and under skills it just says one person endorsed this person for Microsoft Word.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I know, those endorsements are a little awkward. And I love when I get randomly endorsed for things. It always makes me giggle.

Will Butler:

Yeah. Tell me about this baby.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, so I think he's about one years old. He's settled into the corner of an armchair and next to him on the seat is a stack of baby books. And his little hands are clutching this large book, it's resting on their lap, just barely holding this thing up. And they're gazing in curiosity at the book's contents with one eyebrow raised, and their face resembles what an adult looks like when they're completely absorbed in what they're reading, like oh, this is interesting. And then the title of the book is very prominent and in the center of the photo and it's <title> HTML for Babies <title>. I looked it up. This is an actual book.

Will Butler:

That's actually a book?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes, it is. This is real. And I found the book description quite entertaining. It says, "It's never too early to be standards compliant. This beautiful book is a fun and colorful introduction to the world of web design for babies."

Will Butler:

Oh my God. you're going to have to forgive me for not laughing because when you were explaining it, I was queuing up my snarky comment. And I was like, "You guys have to understand, we're from California where they literally do teach coding to babies," but you just came in with the harsh reality that this is literally a real book.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, it's a real book. It's a little frightening. I know that programming is popular for kids. I did not know that there was a baby book for it.

Will Butler:

Oh, okay. I don't even want to know. Wow, start them early.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Maybe these babies, when they grow up, are just going to solve all our problems. Hopefully they don't ruin everything.

Will Butler:

They 100% are. Have you met a 17-year-old? They're so much smarter than us.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I think that's a good thing. Let's work with that. As long as they're not evil. As long as they're doing it for good.

Will Butler:

That's true. Let's teach babies not to be evil too. Oh, wow. Okay, great. Wow, so starting them young. That's what we'll call that one.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. All right, next one?

Will Butler:

Sure.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Okay. A man squats down to hammer in the next nail into a sandy beach outlining the oceans retreat. Tagline, "When the boss is coming and you need to pretend you're doing something."

Will Butler:

Hammering nails into the beach?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes. Okay, this one's one of my favorites for this week.

Will Butler:

Whoa.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Because okay, let me give you a little more detail. He's crouching down and his feet are just outside the water line that was created by the last wave that washed onto shore. So he's just right on the edge. And he's wearing a brown hoodie, dark cargo pants, hiking boots. And he's really concentrating on outlining the water's edge. And he's hammering in or tapping in halfway these long metal framing nails. And he's just lining up to put the next one in. And I just love these because it is a completely useless task, but we've all been there. It's like oh yeah, I was doing nothing. Maybe I was looking at memes or something. I got to get back to my work.

Will Butler:

Oh my God. I love that he's just gingerly standing where the water can't touch him too.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes. It's so funny. And I also love that you definitely don't need a hammer for this task.

Will Butler:

No.

Caroline Desrosiers:

So good.

Will Butler:

That's really good. I love that. Wow. Okay, meme number three. I can see why you picked six. These are incredible.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I know, right. They're strong so far. Okay, Jason Sudeikis resting head on hand, enjoying sweet, sweet victory. Tagline, "Watching my coworker who was mean to me once bomb their presentation."

Will Butler:

Yeah, and for those who don't know what Jason Sudeikis looks like, what do we have in the way of an alt tag here?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Well, to describe Jason Sudeikis, he's a white man, I would say maybe he's got to be in his 40s now, he has brown hair or light brown hair, that's brushed up very casually in this photo at least. And he has a painter's brush mustache, a very thick mustache.

Will Butler:

Oh.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. And he's wearing this faded tie-dye hoodie, and maybe he's in his living room next to his fireplace. And his chin is just settling on his open palm, and it's all in his facial expression. He's a funny guy, so he's communicating something here. He's smiling and his eyebrows are slightly raised, and he looks a little bit insincere or inattentive. And I think that's what pairs with this tagline, because he's just like oh, I'm enjoying this. This presentation sucks. You're getting a hard time and I love it.

Will Butler:

Yeah, chin on palm is almost sinister in its niceness, right?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Actually, now that I look at it, he's kind of got the condescending Wonka look.

Will Butler:

Ah, callback.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. I mean this might be an homage to that in a way. That's just my interpretation, but he does have that same sarcastic look.

Will Butler:

Wow.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Maybe one day we'll have Jason Sudeikis on the pod.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. Jason, if you're listening, we got a spot for you. But yeah, this hoodie actually has been talked about a lot because it's actually what he wore to the virtual Golden Globes this year.

Will Butler:

Oh really?

Caroline Desrosiers:

He won a Golden Globe for Ted Lasso, so this hoodie played a prominent role and everyone was like wow, bold move wearing a hoodie to the Globes. And I looked it up and the hoodie is actually in support of his sister's dance and workout space in New York. So he's wearing it in support of her, but also achieving those pandemic vibes.

Will Butler:

Well, those of us who are from California, this might not come as a surprise that he's wearing tie-dye, but I'm not much of a fashion person, but from what I understand, they just found out about tie-dye in New York.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Right, this is not new. California, it's already accepted or we're past it.

Will Butler:

We've been hanging out in the woods with the Baha on and the tie-dye. This is old news for us. But hey, the world deserves tie-dye. That's totally fair.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Whatever brightens your day.

Will Butler:

Yeah. Wow, amazing. Meme number four.

Caroline Desrosiers:

All right, now this is a work meme for The Office, the actual show.

Will Butler:

Love it.

Caroline Desrosiers:

A young Michael Scott with a bad '80s haircut looks a bit stiff shaking the hand of his proud boss. Tagline, "When the job you would leave if you could congratulates you on the anniversary of your employment."

Will Butler:

Yeah.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, rough. This one, all too real. Like oh yeah, thanks. Really great. Glad to be here.

Will Butler:

That's what I would maybe call a misery meme.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes. It's definitely striking that tone. The photo is funny and reminds people of this moment and this episode that was very funny, but the tagline is like oh yeah, that resonates with me.

Will Butler:

Yeah. Have you got an alt text for it that's more detailed?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. So this is young employee Michael Scott all dressed up for a day at the office in the '80s, and he's wearing this cheesy, bright blue tie with, it's either yellow or green stripes, very tacky, matching bright blue fanny pack, and a short-sleeve white button-up shirt. And his hair is great. He has these side swept bangs, it's shoulder length with long layers brushed back behind his ears. And his boss is Ed Truck, and he's shaking Michael's hand and patting his back, and they're in the Dunder Mifflin office. So it's all in Michael's look for these memes, and this photo is used over and over again with taglines, but he looks like a deer in the headlights, and this is a forced office picture.

Will Butler:

That's magical. The Office memes are a big thing, huh?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Huge, yeah. And people love The Office. The fans, I mean I'm included, I'm a fan of The Office, but they just keep it alive with these memes.

Will Butler:

It's like chicken soup or something. It's the comfort food of television.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, there are a lot of memes about that, actually. They're like deal with my emotional problems or watch The Office again and forget about them. This is a thing for people. It's a comfort.

Will Butler:

We almost did a whole episode just about The Office. You can do a whole podcast about The Office memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, exactly.

Will Butler:

Side note, did you know that Kevin from The Office went and created a podcast about how The Office was made?

Caroline Desrosiers:

I didn't. That's really cool.

Will Butler:

It's about as convoluted and insidery as it sounds, but if you like The Office, I mean if you're just soaking up as much office as you can get, check it out. I don't know what it's called. Meme five.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Moving on. Okay, so picture, for anybody who's seen it, this is from Arrested Development and it's Buster Bluth. So try to imagine him, if you can. So quick description, Buster Bluth in a red sweater looks up to tell you something unsettling all to casually. Tagline, "Friend, "My job has pretty good benefits, 401k, vacation, and catered lunches. What about yours?" Me, "They do allow some nervous crying.""

Will Butler:

Oh, Buster.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Buster. Just a funny meme on its own, but yeah, Buster may be my favorite character from Arrested Development.

Will Butler:

Oh my gosh, he's a walking meme. He's just an amazing character.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, he is. And the structure of this meme, I want to talk about, because we see this all the time. It's when they've taken a screenshot of the subtitles from the show. So that line, "They do allow some nervous crying," is an actual line from one of the episodes, and they've paired that with a tagline.

Will Butler:

Oh, interesting. It's a hybrid.

Caroline Desrosiers:

It is, yeah. So they've repurposed that moment and added to it. So it's a perfect meme. We're recreating these moments all the time, and copying, and imitating, and this one really embodies that. And we see this a lot. It's a great format for people who are generating memes.

Will Butler:

Wow, cool.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. So maybe a little more context on this one, or actually first I'll give you the alt text. So Buster is sitting in front of a mirror in a room and looking up at a person just outside the shot, and he's rocking his classic dorky look with gold frame glasses and this red turtleneck sweater. And he's got that innocent expression on his face, but he is definitely about to tell you something that's really uncomfortable. I love it. And this particular moment is from the episode where Buster is trying to get George Michael to take his place in the Orange County Living Classics Pageant. And what that is is an OC tradition with living representation of works of art. And in this case, it's Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. And I mean it's an uncomfortable role to begin with because it's a nude one.

Will Butler:

The frontispiece. Yeah, I'll never forget. That's one of the best Arrested Development episodes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, that one's so good. And it's also near and dear ... I mean Arrested Development's near and dear to my heart, being from Orange County.

Will Butler:

Right, I forgot. You're from Orange County. Yeah. Oh my gosh. We should do a whole Arrested Development memes episode or something.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh my gosh, we should. And there are so many of them. All right, ready for the next one?

Will Butler:

Let's do it. The bonus meme of the day.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Bonus meme. Had to throw it in there because it's a work from home meme, for sure. All right, quick description, Tom Hanks, the grizzled castaway, looks at you like you just slapped him and Wilson. Tagline, "Accidentally turning on the webcam during a conference call." It's all in his face.

Will Butler:

Too real. If you've seen Castaway, you're just like we all feel like that right now.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, I mean when I saw this meme, I was yeah, maybe we are all a little castaway right now.

Will Butler:

I was just talking to the CEO of Be My Eyes the other day, and he was like, "Oh, I just watched Castaway the other night. I had never seen it. And it's incredible how relevant it is for the pandemic." And so it's funny that you bring in this meme because I think there's a zeitgeist going on right now.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Oh yeah, I think it's perfect, just feeling like oh, I'm alone on my island, left to my own devices, trying to survive over here. It's super relevant so I'm glad that someone made a meme out of this.

Will Butler:

You're like do I hate it? Do I love it? Why am I friends with this inanimate object?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Exactly, yeah.

Will Butler:

So for those who haven't seen Castaway, which is maybe some of our listeners, what have we got in terms of a description?

Caroline Desrosiers:

So this is a closeup screenshot from the movie, and in this scene, Tom Hanks, he's outside and there's an island landscape behind him. And it looks like he hasn't had a haircut or a shave in years. His brown hair is completely sun bleached, and his face is dirty and leathery from the elements. And he's crouching down shirtless next to his volleyball friend, Wilson, who's actually just off the frame, but you can see Wilson's hair that's made of sticks poking up next to Tom Hanks' face. And Tom Hanks' face is strained and his brows furrowed, and he's got these wide eyes looking up in anticipation. I think this is the moment when he's actually maybe trying to make an attempt to leave the island. And his mouth is just hanging open. And it's a very emotionally charged moment. So it's funny to pair this with the turning on the webcam during a conference call, because it's just this moment of intensity, and desperation, and so many things at the same time.

Will Butler:

That meme is everything.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah. It's real life right now. And the relationship with Wilson, I mean maybe that's what we were all missing. Or maybe some people went this direction. In the movie, Wilson, this volleyball, is his only friend on the island, and they become very close and he talks to Wilson all the time. So I guess that's what we need. We all need a Wilson.

Will Butler:

If I could turn back time, I would start an e-commerce pop-up business that just sold custom volleyballs with faces.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Okay, I'm going to disappoint you right now because that already exists.

Will Butler:

Oh my God. Caroline does her research.

Caroline Desrosiers:

I discovered this in my research that on Amazon, you can buy a volleyball that looks like Wilson.

Will Butler:

Of course.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yes, of course it's being done. And also, the company Wilson is behind this as well.

Will Butler:

No. Oh, well that's smart. I commend them for that.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, bravo.

Will Butler:

Well folks, that's the moral of Say My Meme, as always, is there's no original idea.

Caroline Desrosiers:

That's right.

Will Butler:

Hey, Caroline, we've had some amazing listener submissions. People are sending their voice memos in. Can you tell folks a little bit about how to describe a meme for those who might be a little nervous, waiting in the wings? They want to pick the perfect meme. They don't want to sound stupid on the podcast. Can we give people some encouragement?

Caroline Desrosiers:

Yeah, these are fun. And I think that we can be real casual and down to earth about this. And really, it's just something that you find funny. And I think the best memes are just ones that they really just resonate with whoever created them. They clearly just put some thought into the image and the tagline, and it's funny for that reason. So there are no rules here. If you think it's funny, send it our way, because I'm sure that it is. And yeah, all you need to do is describe the image, set the scene for people, and then read the tagline. And keep it easy and fun.

Will Butler:

Yeah, you don't need to write a script, folks.

Caroline Desrosiers:

No.

Will Butler:

All the info is at saymymeme.com. We now have a Twitter account, @saymymemepod. Follow Scribely, because Caroline's describing all the images on the internet, not just memes, @scribelytribe, and follow Be My Eyes if you want. Our other Be My Eyes podcasts are up and running now. 13 letters is back, the accessibility podcast. The Be My Eyes podcast is back. We are busy over here and this isn't even our day job. So Caroline, I'm going to let you get back to your week. And thank you so much. You are doing a public service for the world right now.

Caroline Desrosiers:

This is so much fun. Yeah, I'm loving it.

Will Butler:

Okay, everybody. Until next week. We'll look out for your memes.

Caroline Desrosiers:

Thanks everyone.

Will Butler:

Do you want to describe your favorite memes for our community? Send a voice memo to hello@saymymeme.com. That's hello@saymymeme.com.

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