In an era when most of us can't walk past a trash can without looking at it and saying "Same," it is rare that we find a hero so truly iconic that it transcends the concept of "same" altogether. We have certainly had some contenders; in October, there was that horrific image of a snake screaming as it got swallowed by a frog (same), and just this past Friday there was that raccoon that ate too much and got stuck in a sewer grate (also, same). Today, though, we are all of us truly united by this poor dog who got stuck on a stairway ledge that leads to nowhere, which has become a metaphor for our collective human existence that perhaps it doesn't even need words.
It all started with a tweet from user @ralphthemoviemaker, appropriately captioned, "Look what this idiot got himself into this morning." If those words sound familiar to you, then maybe you, too, have the same internal narrator that makes snide remarks at you every time you do things like attempt to carry ten bottles of two buck chuck for a party on the subway, or prepare a dish with more than three ingredients in it that doesn't start with the word "cheese".
This particular situation, though, seems to be unique to this poor labradoodle. Unique, but also universal, because ... well, just take a look.
Technically, that dog is on a stairway ledge. But less technically, that dog is trying to figure out how to put money in an IRA. That dog is trying to book a dentist's appointment before their health insurance rolls over. That dog just spent eight glorious years frolicking in the Obama era and found itself up against a wall.
That dog is you. That dog is me. And according to Twitter, we must protect it by all means necessary, no matter the cost.
For instance — perhaps this dog found the gateway back to 2015.
And perhaps he just had other plans, of which we are too simple to understand the brilliance.
In fact, we all need to leave him alone.
Stronger than the defense for this poor adventurous pup is the labradoodle roundup that started happening in the mentions; honestly, there are more than a human being could possibly count. The replies to this are the emotional equivalent of jumping into a ball pit of cute labradoodle pictures. I'm rounding up a few of the top ones here, but if you need a pick-me-up today, I highly recommend giving the other five bajillion a peruse.
The internet works in mysterious ways, so somehow all the twinning naturally progressed into my favorite Twitter meme of yore, which is "Dogs Or [Ridiculous Food Item Here]?"
And who could ever forget the iconic "Pug or Croissant"?
Honestly, the replies to this poor dog spiraled so quickly into nonsense memes but it is truly just a gift that keeps on giving.
Memes aside, our heroic labradoodle is already inspiring his fair share of fan art as well.
As well as dogs that can QUITE LITERALLY relate.
In fact, I'm honestly impressed by this second dog's ledge prowess. Overtly horrified, but also impressed.
As far as our OG ledge-crawling pupperooni who inspired all of today's memes goes, I assume all ended well, because @ralphthemoviemaker has not posted any updates about the situation since November 5 (which I assume is now a national holiday decided to this dog). Hopefully we all learned a lesson from this — which is clearly that it ain't about how fast you get there, ain't about what's waiting on the other side; it's the climb.
