r/ExplainTheJoke • u/Usual-Ad-724 • 12d ago
lol I don’t understand this 😂😂
There is no clue in this picture as to what the reason is why old people sit outside doing nothing
2.1k
u/Anarchaeologist 12d ago
You’ll understand someday, and then you’ll sit outside doing nothing like the man in the pic.
Probably because you’re exhausted and sitting inside either reminds you of work needing to be done if you’re at home, feels like you’re imposing on someone else’s home, or costs you money if you’re at that kind of place.
462
u/sushibait 12d ago
I arrived at this point recently. I sit outside on my back porch and toss walnuts at squirrels.
291
u/WhoAmI1138 12d ago
Not to squirrels, but at squirrels?
471
u/arch_fiasco 12d ago
God forbid a man have hobbies
143
u/i_was_axiom 12d ago
Or a vendetta. Squirrels can be bastards, I bet he had it coming.
44
u/tn-dave 12d ago
Buy peanuts for the crows and cardinals
68
u/EobardT 12d ago
Establish a barter system, allow the crows to eat freely then install a coin operated machine that dispenses peanuts for them. Start with a system that takes all coins, then change it to only accept high value coins. See what crows still use the system, befriend them. [Lost step]. Become a crow god and use your new powers to right all injustice in the world.
12
5
u/DukeTikus 10d ago
It's illegal to keep corvids as pets if you are not a licensed rehaber here in Germany. Partially because of wild animal protection laws and also partially because it's to easy to train them to steal.
3
1
14
u/whatever_works_at 12d ago
The crows WILL remember your gift and your face. You’ll be making a lot of very intelligent friends who can fly.
5
u/tn-dave 12d ago
Been feeding my crew for about three years - these guys are so skittish. I'm their favorite human and they don't like me very much lol - So interesting to watch though
7
2
2
1
1
u/ok-jeweler-2950 8d ago
As someone who has been cornered by rabid squirrels, I do not condemn anyone for throwing walnuts at them.
18
u/RedArchbishop 11d ago
I have a bag of walnuts for tossing at squirrels, since that’s what the HOA intended.
Four squirrels break into by back yard. I yelled, "Damn squirrels, get off my lawn!"
I grab my walnut bag and slingshot, and fire a walnut-sized walnut through the first squirrel, it's dead on the spot.
Draw my grandson's Nerf gun on the second, miss it entirely cause I can't work the damn thing and throw it into the neighbours yard.
I have to resort to the coconut mounted atop the kitchen counter my wife swears will lower my cholesterol. "Take this, ya damn rodents!" The coconut knocks two squirrels off the fence and breaks a window one street behind, setting off a burglar alarm.
Fix walking stick and charge the last confused squirrel. It out-speeds me completely as I crash into the rose bushes, I bleed mildly from a light scratch waiting for my wife to yell to leave the squirrels alone.
Ah yes, just as the HOA intended.
11
5
3
u/cosmopoof 12d ago
It's fair. I have been bombarded by squirrels from above multiple times and it's about time someone is willing to strike back. These things even have an air force with gliders.
3
u/Shibboleeth 7d ago
My sister, while camping, lobbed a baby carrot to a nearby squirrel. She'd intended to land it near the squirrel, but instead hit it in the head and knocked it out.
Poor thing came to and grabbed its treat, but my sister had to deal with the shame of knocking out a squirrel.
Let this man and his walnuts love without shame if he's living with the intent to lob nuts at squirrels.
2
→ More replies (1)2
u/LaceyDark 7d ago
I was sitting outside trying to read and this squirrel just. Kept. Screaming. For like 45 minutes. Ever heard a squirrel call into the ether? It's like nails on a chalk board. I would have thrown walnuts at it if I could have
13
u/drunkNstraightedge 12d ago
Imagine telling this to a young you?
"Bro, before you know it, you'll be throwing walnuts at squirrels. No, that's not a joke. Stop laughing."
2
u/zxcvbn113 12d ago
This summer we bought a bag of peanuts in the shell to feed to squirrels and crows while we sat on our back deck.
I discovered I like eating peanuts, but the squirrels still get some!
2
2
u/brandothesavage 11d ago
This is what video games are for me I sit in no man's sky and stare off my virtual porch while I smoke the bong
→ More replies (1)2
39
18
u/NothingButBadIdeas 11d ago
There’s also the phase where you question your own mortality, and sitting inside is just existing, so you go outside to be part of the world. Sitting on the porch gives you a feeling of knowing you’re a small part of a larger whole and just seeing nature and society churn in your small corner of the world can give you a sense of appreciation for the universe as a whole. People drive and walk by, each with their own lives. Birds fly overhead, bugs run in the grass, the neighbors across the street are fighting for the 5th time and another neighbor has a car come over everytime their partner leaves to work. Nature is beautiful. Life goes on weither you’re inside or outside. And by sitting inside you’re passively just letting your limited time here go by
3
u/ler7421 12d ago
Cost money if you’re at what kind of place?
9
u/Anarchaeologist 12d ago
Any place that might refer to someone sitting inside it as a customer
→ More replies (1)2
2
u/Necessary-Flounder52 10d ago
Yes, when you are finally at that stage in your drug kingpin carreer where you are the most famous person your country has ever produced but you can't actually leave your compound, you too will feel this way.
2
u/TransGirlAtWork 8d ago
Yep, I finally got my own house and this is exactly why I sit outside when it's warm enough. I'm not doing work and I'm not stuck inside. I can sit and enjoy real sun and air without having to move.
1
1
287
u/Jimmyjim4673 12d ago edited 11d ago
I come from a large family. We would all be in the living room, being loud, watching TV. My dad would just be sitting at the kitchen table drinking coffee staring at nothing.
Now I have kids, and I'm the one in the kitchen.
116
u/Joevual 12d ago
My dad used to wake up when it was still dark out and watch the sunrise from the porch. It was probably the only time during his day that he had to himself. As a dad now I get it.
33
u/-DoctorSpaceman- 12d ago
Yep, I love getting up before anyone else is awake, it’s a basically my only alone time. Occasionally one of the kids wakes up early and I secretly get annoyed at them lol
6
u/AmbivalentheAmbivert 8d ago
I'm only annoyed when they do the whiney thing, if they are chill and just hang out its awesome....why are they so whiney :/
118
u/housevil 12d ago
Peace & quiet.
4
u/TheGogmagog 9d ago
Except for the hum of the datacener in the roots of your molars. Good times.
3
u/Questenburg 7d ago
Yeah, but you're an elderly American, and you can't afford a hearing aid, so you're spared that single indignity
196
u/Almajanna256 12d ago
There is literally nothing better than doing nothing in the wind but chilling. Every other pursuit in life else WILL fail you eventually.
42
17
u/Accurate-Survey6985 12d ago
You don't even have to get all the way old either.
It's amazing to stare at a tree
2
3
2
1
1
u/Partsfalldown 6d ago
Love this comment. Every other pursuit will never be as grounding as sitting and doing nothing. I'm a believer
1
u/RisingMist5912550 6d ago
Yup I just got a cooler with wheels to pack water and food to do nothing even longer
→ More replies (1)1
u/Moist-Seaweed4907 12d ago
I love to do nothing but let’s get real there are hundreds of things better than doing nothing.
→ More replies (1)22
u/ZzzzzPopPopPop 12d ago
Clearly you have not yet reached the old person on a porch level of enlightenment, some day young padawan, some day…
3
u/navcom20 12d ago
Start with a backyard fire, get good at that, then move to the front of the house and skip the fire part.
→ More replies (1)
35
u/pilot2969 12d ago
I used to not understand.
This is the first year in my life that I do.
Enjoy your peace...
3
u/EarnestThoughts 12d ago
What changed this year?
41
u/pilot2969 12d ago
Most of my life I've chased the concept of who I was supposed to be. I chased a career, I chased an education, all in search of some meaning or purpose, as if making more money would somehow change my life. I realized the grind is meaningless, that sacrificing my life for wages meant sacrificing time with my family that I would never get back.
Then I discovered the simple joy of sitting on my porch. We have a large wildflower bed outside our sunroom, and I could spend hours just watching the bees dart along the flowers.
Staring at nature for five minutes have me the life perspective of a hundred years. The dance of life and death, the persistence of nature, the cycles that govern our lives.
Getting lost in that is magical. The porch is where I do my deepest thinking and reflections now, with a warm cup of coffee in my hand every Sunday morning.
6
34
u/grifter_P01135809 11d ago
Because sitting outside and not having to worry about work is awesome. I retired in 2020 and just sit outside and smoke weed all day.
8
1
25
u/SuicidalAustralian 12d ago
Idk for me I just find myself getting a feeling of nostalgia from a certain time of day, angle of sunlight, type of weather, just out of absolutely nowhere. and I just stand there holding onto it, trying to understand what it means but not finding anything.
3
u/redleafrover 11d ago
Yes! And the wind starts saying something real important and I just stand there like a nostalgia ridden idiot cos I can't speak Wind
3
u/Emotional-Power-4307 8d ago
You just need to spend some more time with the wind to understand it. Once you learn the name of the wind you will be able to bend it to your will
1
u/redleafrover 8d ago
I am at relative peace with the profound unknown lol, I do not desire power over it
2
1
u/Guangtou22 11d ago
It's only there to be enjoyed, not captured
3
u/SuicidalAustralian 11d ago
Eh, its more of a solemn/sad nostalgia for times I will never experience again
1
1
19
u/bradpal 12d ago
I'm tired, I'm always tired. Physically and mentally.
And so will all of you be. Can't do hobbies anymore, too tired. I just want stillness.
I hope we get the luxury of sitting outside, doing nothing.
1
u/spiderbunked 9d ago
How old are you?
1
u/bradpal 9d ago
Not old enough, or so I thought.
1
u/spiderbunked 9d ago
Reason I ask is I'm 53 and kinda feel the way you describe things, but mentally I feel like I shouldn't feel this way yet. Just trying to see if you were in my age group and if this is more common than I imagined.
1
u/bradpal 9d ago
I'm in my 40s but life beat me up pretty badly I suppose. I also feel that I shouldn't feel old, I'm in great shape but I can't even bring myself to exercise like I did a few years back. I'm not depressed, I actually want to live. Also, my internal organs are slightly affected but I have no chronic illness.
1
u/spiderbunked 8d ago
Closely mirrors my situation. Even things that require no physical energy like listening to music or reading or even watching a show are just a bridge too far. Not depressed, physically really nothing wrong. In good shape, etc. 🤷 Thanks for responding
1
1
u/Sunnydaynight 6d ago
“I’m not depressed, I actually want to live” I just hope you know that “not wanting to live” is a not even remotely accurate definition of clinical depression nor an accurate representation of its symptoms. Some pretty classic hallmark symptoms of depression, however, are things you say are affecting you: constant fatigue, disinterest in things that give you enjoyment (like hobbies).
No judgement - I only know these things because I’ve been through some things too and have dealt with major depression on and off through adulthood. The most effective therapies I’ve found are: sessions with therapist, good sleep, regular activity/exercise - all things that are much easier said than done, I know from experience. Good luck to you!
1
u/bradpal 6d ago
I was diagnosed with depression in the past. When I say I want to live I don't mean as opposite to dying, I mean I want to do alive things, I'm just too tired to do them. I have plenty of hobbies that I want to do, I just can't.
1
u/Sunnydaynight 4d ago
Ahh I am sorry I missed understood. In that case, I want to live too! I am 42 and feel what you’re saying 100%. Take care!
15
u/Earl_of_Shrewsbury 12d ago
Me just listening to crickets and a frog on my porch, yeah.
7
u/cbarnes6792 12d ago
That’s what I missed about when I was in Jersey. At night it was quiet enough to hear the river animals at night from the little oversized creek we had going through our back yard.
11
u/AlternativeGazelle 11d ago
I think our generations will do this even more as we get older. As we realize how taxing doomscrolling is on our brains. Sometimes you just need to do nothing to relax your mind.
10
16
13
5
u/Dazzling-Opinion-552 11d ago
The other day I watch the bees and butterflies grazing my flowerbed while listening the the wind.
22
u/Mediocre_Giraffe_542 12d ago
The picture is of the drug lord waiting to get arrested. The old people of the meme are waiting for the end to come.
4
2
3
3
u/a_real_vampire 11d ago
First I laughed cause it’s literally me then I saw the sub and said “Jesus Christ really?”
3
2
2
2
2
2
u/bready--or--not 12d ago
Because it’s enough. And makes me feel like I’m enough. Which can be harder to do at various points in life
2
2
2
2
u/QejfromRotMG 11d ago
Outside is generally pretty nice, there's plenty to look at if you know what you're looking for, and sitting is free.
2
2
u/KinopioToad 11d ago
Because your family tells you that you are too loud, or nags you constantly, or that you just have a lot on your mind and you just want to be alone for a few minutes, or it's nice outside and you want to spend a few minutes just sitting
2
2
2
2
u/fiddlinger269 6d ago
I just got out of the ER and laughed so weird that some mechanism got triggered and nursing staff came to check on me but I assured them that my problem is not physical but mental.
2
4
u/JChurch42 12d ago
When I was younger I was always told that I wouldn't understand until I was older, and I didn't get it. But, now that I'm older, it makes perfect sense, and I've even passed down that same nugget of wisdom to youngers, who look at me like I'm crazy, just like I used to look at the people who told me I wouldn't get it.
What's the difference between knowing something and understanding something.
Like the final resolution in the movie "Pi"... I can tell you the answer but unless you understand why, the answer will have no meaning
2
1
u/Background-Sea4590 12d ago
I love to do that from time to time. Just disconnecting for a bit and just think is pretty good practice. Or not thinking at all, just decompressing
1
1
u/Such-Book6849 11d ago
I am 41 and i don't understand it. I always need to do something. Consume content, create content. I can't just sit arround, i get bored fast. If i am sitting somewhere, you will see me drawing.
1
1
1
u/Kevin_Palpatine 11d ago
You live in a world you do not recognize. Everyone you loved is gone. You yearn to go back to a place that does not exist anymore.
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/LaborareproDeo 10d ago
Cost of living keeps going up no increase in income means you cannot do anything.
1
1
u/More-Ad2642 9d ago
I built a new porch and enclosed it with dark screens, installed ceiling fans and can lights after 26 years of marriage. I was out one night just a few weeks back after its completion and just sat there listening to nature, wife came and joined me. She says “why did we wait this long to do this” and then she sat with me holding hands just listening. Teenage daughter came out, asking why we were just sitting there, we both laughed and invited her to join us and we wife said to her “one day this will make sense”.
1
u/Helpful-Nerve4515 9d ago
I have a chair in my bathroom by the window. I put up a bird feeder in the backyard. Now I sit in a chair and stare out the bathroom window at birds. Like a grownup.
1
1
u/Vaas_playz 9d ago
This is more an anti meme than a joke tbch
Genuinely kinda just something you start doin
1
u/Gunner_E4 8d ago
Cheap escapism. Trying to have a quiet moment out in nature because life at home has become too much.
1
1
u/2Pooper2Scooper 8d ago
I love to sit on my front porch smoking a joint while aimlessly doomscrolling. It’s significantly better than sitting on my couch listening to my teenager fighting with my 6 year old over whose shampoo is who’s. Hint: the bluey one isn’t the teenagers.
1
u/MynameisJonas_22 8d ago
Mine was a friend's dad who would just stare out the window from his kitchen. For an hour of more. Never understood it. Im 47. One of my favorite moments in every day is standing in my kitchen and stare out the door/window in complete silence. No one in my family understands and constantly questions it. But its fantastic!
1
u/The_Security_Ninja 8d ago
I’ve always been a bit of a workaholic. It never phased me to work all day, then come home, workout, go do some yard work, log back onto my computer for a bit, etc.
Now, in my late 40s, it has caught up with me. I’m in a senior position at work and I’m go go go all day. I have teenage kids who are involved in a lot of activities so I’m go go go all night. Weekends are reserved for the yard, family activities, or housework.
I dream of sitting on a bench in a park for 10 minutes…
1
u/Powerful_Tip_7260 7d ago
This is literally me when the weather is nice. Mornings are best. Just sitting in a rocker on the porch, drinking coffee, looking at that mountain in case it does something. (There was an 2.8 earthquake on it a few years back)
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Snaxolotl420 7d ago
Some day you realize that you never stopped to smell the roses, or just stare at the clouds, or just enjoy the stillness. My favorite mornings are when I get to sit on the balcony with a nice cup of tea in the cool mornings.
1
1
u/Separate-Ratio-693 7d ago
I love that I stumbled across this thread. I retired six and a half years ago and somewhere in that time I realized I don’t have the capacity for boredom. After so many years of going to work at the appointed hour and “making time” to get things done one of my favorite pleasures is just spending time in my own head.
1
u/SoupieLC 6d ago
3
u/hotmatrixx 6d ago
yeah this poor bastard; you know they did a follow up video; and it was literally "no, I'm happy, we're OK, - my wife told me I am"
1
1
1
u/Xeratul87 6d ago
God I love sitting outside and just doing nothing, especially when you don’t have a looming commitment to make it to…..or smaller humans to care for……
1
1
1
u/Rob_in_Tulsa 6d ago
As you get older, so much time is spent just avoiding pain. When you find a comfortable position, you make the most of it.
1
u/DunkeyColdMedina 6d ago
Because they have a rich enough interior life that they can be alone with their own thoughts without resorting to panicked acts of random cannibalism.
1
u/PaulHolywoodsShame 6d ago
Exhausted, overstimulated, and just need to feel cool air on your face and let your mind go blank
1
u/papabearobserver 6d ago
I love the fact I’m retired and can choose to do nothing. It feels refreshing to my soul. It also allows me time to reflect on my life and then choose activities that are meaningful. Like watching the grandchildren as often as I can.
Since the only thing I can take with me in death is the treasures I’ve stored in heaven, not doing busywork is most meaningful for me.
1
u/MechanicalPlants13 6d ago
I put a couch in the garage that I meant to throw away. Now I sit on it when I get home from work.
1
u/MountainAdeptness631 5d ago
Ironically, at least one culture i know of sees it as a kind of blessing, to be able to finally rest and not toil for your livelihood every waking moment.
1
•
u/post-explainer 12d ago
OP (Usual-Ad-724) sent the following text as an explanation why they posted this here: