I'll begin this in a similar way that I always do and tell you about how my life became a lot better and more productive after I abandoned traditional social media about 5 years ago. Now, the only thing that I participate in that could even be considered social media is 9gag, which is a site that focuses primarily on memes and most of the people that are in the comments are still toxic, but they do not know one another. There are no "friends" or "close friends" or whatever the hell FB is doing these days. Nobody uses their real age and their profile isn't a depository of identity theft served up on a plate. There also isn't any chance that you are going to piss off an old friend or family member because you think differently than they do about some social or political stance. In that regard I think it is a lot better and it also leads to a lot more laughs rather than hard feelings.
Politics do invade 9gag, but it isn't as all encompassing like it is on other social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. So now whenever I am stuck in line at the bank or waiting for a flight I waste my time on 9gag instead, while rarely making any comments at all. While it is still a waste of time, I think it is considerably better than getting involved with what consumed a lot of my life in the past, just like it does for other people. Here are a few of the gems that made me laugh or think in the past month or so.
There is a lot of Apple bashing that takes place on 9gag and I think most of it is just to get a rise out of people. I have always kind of felt like the Apple crowd is a bit too much like a cult in my mind. The people that I know that are devoted Apple fans are SERIOUS Apple fans as in they wont buy anything that isn't manufactured by them. When certain things such as the fact that Apple products are overpriced when you compare the actual technology contained inside is brought up, Apple users become extremely defensive. When you do the same to someone using Android such as saying "Samsung is inferior to Redmi!" or "Samsung is overpriced because of their marketing budget!" I don't know any such owner that is going to take it personally. Apple users though, they act as though you just slapped their mama when you say things like that.
My personal experience with Apple phones were a one-off. I was given a phone by an employer for free and it was Apple. After a week of really struggling to do anything that I wanted to do with it I asked if I could have a cheaper Android phone instead. When he refused, I bought my own Android phone and swapped the simcard without telling them. Again, the employer acted personally hurt when I didn't like the Apple phone and it created animosity between us.... over a phone!
This one made me laugh because I have a good friend here in Da Nang that has a reputation for ordering food blackout drunk and then forgetting that he did so and then passing out only to have the driver call him and he acts all surprised that someone is bringing him food. Other times the driver cannot rouse him and they have no choice but to throw the food over the fence at his house. He had his account restricted in the past and is now no longer able to pay by cash-on-delivery and has to pre-pay with a card.
There are not that many Irish people in the world but they do seem to get around. The same goes with anyone else from the UK. By the way, Irish people seriously do not like it if you try to suggest that the UK and Ireland are the same thing... so don't do that unless you know them really well. One aspect of the Irish that I have met is that they tend to be a jolly people but they are no stranger to the drink. They handle it pretty well and despite the fact that they get more trashed than most other nationalities that I have become familiar with over the years, they tend to be happy drunks and this is a good thing.
I do find it very amusing that a ping-pong ball in a can of stout was considered a better invention than the technological development that revolutionized the transfer of data around the world and forever completely changed nearly every aspect of all people's lives from that point forward.
If you don't know about the Hauk Tua girl and who she is well, I'm not going to tell you. Your life will not be changed a great deal by finding out about her. However, the meme community does appreciate a laugh and when 9gag and 4chan decide to latch onto something it goes viral very quickly. This girl has become an overnight sensation and quickly figured out a way to monetize it.. Good for her I say.
This is in relation to the European Cup that recently ended. While I am hopeful that the above post was just some high-level trolling, there is always a good chance that someone in America honestly doesn't know that Georgia is a country in Europe as well as a state north of Florida. I don't know where the original post is but I am sure that the dude got ripped to shreds in the comments
This is technically not a meme and it is frowned upon by many in the 9gag community to repost Tweets. As someone that doesn't use Twitter at all though, I appreciate this sort of thing. This obviously isn't humor but it was something that made me think. I know a woman here in Da Nang whose entire existence seems to revolved around trauma. People avoid her because it is the only thing she ever talks about. She will weave the bad things that happen to her into every conversation to the point that there are people that get upset with her over it and this becomes her new trauma that she can talk about. These sorts of people do exist and I feel bad for them because their cycle of trauma and perhaps depression is perpetuated because it becomes their entire identity. They don't do anything to rid themselves of said trauma because just like the Tweet says, it has become their entire personality.
This made me laugh because I have fallen victim to this many times in my travels. When I go on vacation I tend to have a bit more of the liquor than I would if I was just living my regular life. Therefore, getting up at 4am for some free food isn't something that I am going to do. It does irritate me when I go down there at what I consider to be a REASONABLE wake-up time of 9 or 930 to be told that breakfast is no longer being served. Who are these people on vacation that get up at 530? I am nearly 50 and I don't do that.
This is probably a lot older than 10 years by now but imaging being disappointed when you came in 5th thinking that you "almost won some of the money?" I would like to believe that at least one of the people who came in 5th to 8th thought it was so irrelevant that they opened a wallet and then forgot about it for a decade only to find the wallet address later in life to realize that they were now millionaires.
So I guess very little of that is knee-slapping funny but especially right now the meme sections are basically dominated by Trump stuff so there isn't much to choose from. I will end this as I always do
Nadi is getting older and gets tired a lot faster than she once did. When I go to the gym in my building she likes to come up with me and I will throw her little rope toy around for her to get a bit of exercise as well. It saddens me a bit because she loses interest a lot faster than she used to... to the point where I can rest the toy on her tired little head and she just continues sleeping. Sleep little baby, you get to do whatever you want.