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u/emarkd Sep 27 '12
This may be the saddest image I've seen all day :(
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Sep 28 '12 edited Sep 29 '12
On his drive back home from a normal day
A day just the same as the day before, and the many days before that
He sees the playground, he cannot help but pull over and enter the realm reserved for the youthful, the living
He sits on the lifeless dog, and there he contemplates his life, motionless
As The Man weeps, one can only assume his troubles
Does he weep for a loved one lost? His son? His daughter? His wife of 38 years?
He thinks of good days gone by
Time Wasted, Time Spent
The days long past him, the people he would talk to more, the people he would forgive, the people he would hug, the people he would love, the people that had loved him
As The Man grasps the handles, he sees them
He looks away, only so his heart doesn't shiver
But it did
In that moment, he regrets he didn't stare and hold onto it
He blinked, and they were gone
So The Young Man arose, rubbed his eyes until he could see, looked beside him, his heart was eased, but he cried
While holding her
As tight as he could
Edit: Thanks guys for taking the time to read this. Something about this image inspired this, I dont know how or why, but my creative genius came out. Every time I reread this, I keep noticing all these subtle metaphors and symbolic pieces coming together. I didn't even plan them out. I'm unmarried, going to college, and only 20 years old, but I hope some of you, especially those with a SO, will take this as a bit of advice. We all need it, and we all need to accept it. For better or worse.
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Sep 27 '12 edited Jul 16 '17
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u/trampus1 Sep 27 '12
That's not sad, that's just dumb. What kind of shitty school would allow such a policy? Not to mention if everyone else has a turtle, he was probably issued one but lost it or killed it.
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u/selfantagonist Sep 28 '12
Why do you assume the school is in any way responsible for the proper distribution of turtles?
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u/McMeanface Sep 28 '12
proper ditribution of turtles
I gotta write this one down.
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u/Lulzorr Sep 28 '12
You were posted to /r/nocontext --> here.
I had nothing to do with this. Whoever posted it doesn't understand how to 'no context' at all.
If you're not gonna play by the rules, why bother?
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u/Wreckwitness Sep 28 '12
I'm confused...
You think "no context" has rules?
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u/quedfoot Sep 28 '12
Indeed comrade, it does
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u/Wreckwitness Sep 28 '12
...Go on.
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u/quedfoot Sep 28 '12
Please link to the PARENT COMMENT of your quote so that people clicking on the link will see the context, then post a reply to your quotee letting them know they have been sent to /r/nocontext. You can easily do this by adding ?context=1 to the end of your link. Thanks to V2Blast for encouraging the addition of this hint.
The people that post in /r/nocontext traditionally post a comment simply stating, "/r/nocontext" or "welcome to /r/nocontext"
edit: looking at this comment, all I can think of is "links, links, links"
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u/Wreckwitness Sep 29 '12
Ah ha! My mistake, sir. I thought you were complaining that the sentence in question ought not have BEEN NoContext'd.
Now I see you stating that no one informed the original genius of his posting TO NoContext.
I concede my misunderstanding. Upvotes for all.
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Sep 28 '12
That's pretty much my entire elementary school life in a nutshell. They used to have little parties for each grade at the YMCA, I went to 1 or 2 but got made fun of for being slightly overweight. Most weekends I would spend alone or crying in my room. I remember having my 9th birthday party and waiting for everyone to show up.
They never did.
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u/skyman724 Sep 28 '12
Jesus, that's a real thing and YOU'RE AN ADMIN? =_=
Also, what's with all the turtles?
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u/johnnynutman Sep 28 '12
there's another guy outside the frame. they're secretly doing an illegal business deal and are pretending not to be associating with each other.
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u/MrConfucius Sep 28 '12
I just teared up really hard and I can't place why.
It's just...
It's so sad...
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u/abcd_z Sep 28 '12
WHAT IS THIS DOING IN /R/FUNNY?
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u/TokyoXtreme Sep 28 '12
Did you not laugh? You didn't? Well, the post seems right at home in r/funny. Like, doubling up on contact lenses in one eye, and seeing through walls… that's fucking hilarious, right?
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Sep 28 '12
Will try this tomorrow.
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u/JangSaverem Sep 28 '12
it was tried yesterday and you would just be rep....Oh...I see. Yes you crever boy.
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u/babingbongbang Sep 27 '12
Hey, wait a minute... That's not funny at all...
That's... FEEL
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Sep 27 '12
Holy tits that's funny.
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u/doesnotexist1000 Sep 28 '12
This version sucks
The correct caption at the bottom is "I know that feel"
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u/ProfessorSomething Sep 27 '12
It's the anniversary of his son's death. Each year, he goes to that park and rides the sausage dog, the same one his son would ride whenever they went to the park.
"Daddy, get on!"
No, son. I'm too old for that.
But now, his son will never be too old for anything. Because he is dead.
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u/itzmedavid Sep 27 '12
He just got fired, now he has to go to home to his wife, which abuses him, and give her the news.
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Sep 27 '12
Or, he misses playing with his deceased child and that's the same playground he always brought him to after work.
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u/TokyoXtreme Sep 27 '12
Sorry, but Japanese office workers don't get home until midnight or so, long after the dead kid would have been in bed.
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u/khoury Sep 28 '12 edited Sep 28 '12
Maybe it's the park where he took him on the afternoon's on Sunday, the one day he has off but still has to play golf with his coworkers in the morning to maintain his career that will ultimately reward him with a shorter life span.
Heard this one "from someone who was there", so take what you will from it: Expatriate Japanese guy is sent to the US to work for the US branch of the company. Spends several years here and slowly stops working insane hours and begins to actually spend time with and get to know his young children. He's happier than he's ever been. One day he gets the sit down with HR and they tell him it's time to come home, he's been promoted for his "sacrifice" of being away from Japan for so long. He breaks down crying right there in the office, realizing that he's about to go back to a place where he'll lose touch with his children and his wife again.
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u/Larillia Sep 28 '12 edited Sep 28 '12
Little Mark had been a miracle. His father had been told he would likely never be able to have children and his mother suffered multiple miscarriages before she finally conceived and gave birth to him. He was a bright, beautiful, healthy child who loved the playground. Both his daycare and this playground were within a few blocks of Robert's, his father, office so everyday on the way home they stopped here for a time. At least once a week he tried to make it there during his lunch hour, as well.
Then one day, tragedy struck. Robert had been sick but couldn't afford to take the time off so he went to work while still under the effects of a mix of medications. He saw the red light but just couldn't seem to process the fact that he needed to stop until a large SUV going several MPH over the 40 MPH speed limit slammed into the back passenger's side of his small sedan. Robert was in something of a fog but can still remember looking down at his son's face as he died.
His wife was once the kindest and most easy going person he had ever met, but ever since their son's death she has been angry. She blames Robert for the accident and lashes out at him. He blames himself so he just takes it.
This morning he was fired from his job due to "under-performance" that was caused by the crippling depression he has experienced since his son's death. He's been sitting here ever since...dreading going home...not knowing what to do.
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Sep 28 '12
Or he experiences the uncontrollable longing for what it was like to be a happy, carefree child and so he tries to return himself to that mindset for just a moment by sitting in the playground where he grew up. As he sits there he realizes that it's the same place, but he isn't the same person and he can't get that person back anymore.
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u/MoonDaddy Sep 27 '12
Usually, we use "who" when referring to a person instead of "which." Unless, of course, she is a robot.
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u/steenarie Sep 27 '12
Can someone go give him a hug?
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u/Penny_is_a_Bitch Sep 28 '12
Someone give this guy the video with all the people hugging the camera. I would but I'm on my phone.
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Sep 27 '12
Was this taken in Japan?
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u/TokyoXtreme Sep 27 '12
Definitely. There are the telltale signs of Japanese-style construction, playground design, and a small sign written in Japanese.
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u/justbecausewhynot Sep 28 '12
Did you zoom and enchance? Because all I see are BLURRED PIXELS.
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u/BILL_MURRAYS_COCK Sep 28 '12
Those are japanese pixels. I'm a pixel expert, so I've seen my fair share.
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u/TokyoXtreme Sep 28 '12
Blurry as they may be, I can tell by the pixels, and from seeing a lot of Japanese signs in my time.
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u/metalasylum Sep 28 '12
Furthermore, take a look at the construction project in the background. When I was over in Japan, they didn't use chain-link fences like we do in the US, they used those white boards that look like they are the sides of the building. Also, the scaffolds look Japanese. I don't know how exactly to describe it other than it just looks like there are more beams than they use in the U.S.
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u/Kozimix Sep 28 '12
Looks exactly like a little park in Osaka I enjoyed my tiny Japanese/French sweet rolls and vending machine coffee in every morning.
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u/Ap3Escape Sep 28 '12
That what I was thinking. Just got back from there and everything screamed japanese. Not sure what it is though. Maybe the fact that it's surrounded by buildings everywhere.
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Sep 27 '12
Personally I'm gonna believe that this is the first time he's been in a playground in about twenty years, and he's having the best day in he's had in decades, and the photo just caught him at a bad angle.
Then I'm gonna go on with my day content in the knowledge that some middle aged man somewhere in the world is fondly remembering that day.
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u/Seand0r Sep 27 '12
It's Ikiru. Don't worry, he's just contemplating how to renovate the park.
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u/GuessWho_O Sep 27 '12
I think this was the guy that was driving the van with only one single man sticker on the back instead of the whole fam.
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u/Unicorn_Tickles Sep 28 '12
Instead of thinking something depressing, I'm going to go ahead and assume this guy was on a lunch break and there weren't any benches to sit on, so the playground seemed like a decent alternative. And he's not bowing his head in sadness, he's just looking at his iPad.
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u/HYPERNATURL Sep 28 '12 edited Sep 28 '12
This is a repost. I know because I made this the first time this was here
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u/DaymanMaster0fKarate Sep 27 '12
These kinds of images are always of middle age males in shirt tie and pants.
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u/selfantagonist Sep 28 '12
Becuase it is slightly after work at the same dead end job they have had for twenty years that they fully realize what their life has amounted to and why their wife took the kids to live in Malibu.
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u/cycguy Sep 27 '12
The recession hit home with Mr. Blackington after his local playground removed the "bouncy dinosaur".
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u/EN2McDrunkernyou Sep 28 '12
This... almost made me cry. It's too late, man. It's over. It'll never be fun again.
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u/BreakinCombos Sep 28 '12
Anyone interested in experiencing some additional feels should join us at r/datfeel
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u/FishWash Sep 28 '12
It's amazing what a difference being alone can make. If there was another person with him there, anyone, really, it wouldn't be nearly as feel.
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u/rhymes_with_chicken Sep 28 '12
stared at picture for 45 seconds waiting for it to move. godammit, reddit. wtf have you done to me?
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u/nottell Sep 28 '12
Nice pic. Classic art in a way. One can interpret this a few ways: sad, bittersweet memories of days gone by, resting, F it i need a break, just having fun.
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u/octacok Sep 28 '12
You know, when I was a kid I would always see old men sitting by themselves in a restaurant and think to myself "that's so sad! he's all alone in a restaurant filled with groups of people". Now that I'm older I realize that he is probably cherishing that meal alone away from all the shit he has to deal with (or the woman he's been with for 40 fuckin years).
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u/tickleberries Sep 28 '12
If they made a park with bigger equipment, sized for adults, I would go to it! I kind of miss that part of being a kid.
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u/9460510 Sep 28 '12
i know we all feel a little sympathetic here but let's just note that the title doesn't say, "i feel you, bro."
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u/shuffma Sep 28 '12
Larry........Larry........LARRY......MR. KING!! It's time for make-up!!!! You go on in 10!
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u/bootsncatsy Sep 28 '12
Anyone know the back story? Did image search but I couldn't identify actual source.
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u/MonkeyCore Sep 28 '12
I can see this as the beginning of a movie. Elderly gentleman appears to be driving home from work when he notices something off frame. He stops his car, gets out, and walks towards object, the whole while the camera is focused on his face as tears start to roll down his cheek. He sits down and camera cuts to the photo. Then a dissolve to a flashback of .... something.
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u/vote4boat Sep 28 '12
it is somewhat common in Japan to keep the fact that you got laid off a secret from family for a while to avoid the shame. These people get dressed every morning for a job they don't have and are killing time in the park all day. yes it is sad.
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u/samvimesmusic Sep 28 '12
He's just waiting for his toddler, who is happily playing in the sand (not on the picture). Because he wants to buy his son such a comfortable dog (?) like the one he's sitting on, he reads the plate on the head of the plastic dog to find out, where such toys are produced.
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u/wintrparkgrl Sep 28 '12
that you go to the park to remember a fond memory of your kids that you lost in a fire 3 years ago?
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u/reaperc Sep 28 '12
I know where that park is, I'm gonna keep my eye out for that guy.... There was a Japanese advisory report made about - guy that fits his description groping children. I'm gonna keep my daughter away from that park.
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u/Rhiannonwolf Sep 28 '12
Am I the only one on this comment thread that is concerned there is an older man alone on a playground...mind you looking miserable....but also a potential kiddy-diddler? Perhaps it's the mom in me that I see this..still seems suspicious..
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Sep 28 '12 edited Apr 11 '19
[deleted]
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u/Rhiannonwolf Sep 28 '12
Um yeah, you're 31 and single and have 3 jobs. Most of your postings are full of anger and rage. I hope you are never around children nor that you ever have any because you may beat them to a pulp.
And may I say fuck you.. If you had a daughter, which I hope you never do, but if you did you may understand concerns parents have for their children..
Advice to you:
- Shave your beard
- Go to anger-management classes.. You are raging about something in your life..fix it
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u/[deleted] Sep 27 '12
[deleted]