this post was submitted on 07 Jun 2025
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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment

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[–] RizzoTheSmall@lemm.ee 147 points 15 hours ago (4 children)

The expectation that you could get an apartment that size in central NYC without being a billionaire is also a lie

[–] faintwhenfree@lemmus.org 73 points 14 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (8 children)

I think they explained it, the reason they could afford it was because Monica's grandmother lived there, and they've been paying 1950s rent because of rent control or something. Something similar for phoebe as well. Anyway show never explains how joey/chandler/Ross can afford those big houses.

[–] utnapishtim@sh.itjust.works 42 points 13 hours ago

Hi, Chandler and joey'flat is not that big, it was actually the joke between characters often and Chandler had a good job anyway. Ross was good with money and his parents favourite so I think he got more money from them.

Also worth remembering that except for Phoebe. All the characters on the show grew up upper class. Like top 5% upper class.

Also Phoebe lived with her grandmother in a small apartment until her grandmother died and she got roomamates.

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[–] Flamekebab@piefed.social 44 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

I quite like the way How I Met Your Mother handles this - the size of the apartments is the narrator misremembering. There's an episode where the characters have been viewing a house in New Jersey - they return to the apartment and it's portrayed as the size it realistically would be.

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[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 25 points 10 hours ago (7 children)

Some of that is due to the realities of filming in a stage made to look like an apartment as you need the space for the camera crew to fit. This everyone lives in massive places.

[–] Diurnambule@jlai.lu 7 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 9 hours ago) (1 children)

Never thought about this, that a really good input, thanks

[–] QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works 8 points 9 hours ago

NP,I was told the same thing by a camera guy back in the late 1990s about this exact show.

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[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 89 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (2 children)

To be fair they lived 5ft away, it may as well have been one big apartment. And one of them was a chef.

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 27 points 13 hours ago (11 children)
[–] Demdaru@lemmy.world 29 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Older gens I'd say. My mother had afriend who always came in without knockin and just...vibed. Like they suddenly materialised in kitchen and talked while eating or materialised near table and drank coffee.

My partner's mother had someone like that too.

Meanwhile I am having a meltdown if someone tries the door before knocking (they are always locked anyway)

[–] Duranie@leminal.space 8 points 9 hours ago

Was your mom always goofing things up and was her friend's name Ethel?

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 14 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago) (1 children)

Before the internet was widespread, it was extremely common for people to actually hang out in person. The show is set in an era where the internet was something you went out of your way to connect to, not something that was already integrated into every single device you used.

Especially since they all lived so close together, it’s 100% believable that they’d hang out together regularly. People also forget that the show takes place over multiple years, and we only see 20’ish episodes per year. Assuming each episode takes place across two’ish days, they’re still only seeing each other two or three times per week. If I lived across the hallway from my best friends, I’d probably hang out with them a few times per week too.

This is especially true from Chandler and Joey’s perspectives, where Monica’s kitchen is only like eight steps away from their own kitchen. Why bother cooking yourself breakfast, when there’s a professional chef willing to do it for you, and all you have to do is open two extra doors?

[–] victorz@lemmy.world 6 points 4 hours ago

It's believable if you imagine yourselves living their lives. But the lie for me was that I could have the same thing when I grew older. That is impossible for me, and a lot of people.

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[–] whostosay@lemmy.world 14 points 11 hours ago

Lol plot twist, it was 4 overtly large apartments right next to each other.

[–] kurikai@lemmy.world 63 points 15 hours ago (2 children)

What time do they start work? 11am?

[–] aeronmelon@lemmy.world 40 points 14 hours ago (2 children)
[–] OpenStars@piefed.social 19 points 14 hours ago (1 children)
[–] victorz@lemmy.world 17 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

More time to watch Ugly Naked Guy!

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[–] raltoid@lemmy.world 11 points 12 hours ago (1 children)
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[–] volvoxvsmarla@lemm.ee 33 points 10 hours ago

That was part of a joke at the start of an episode. Everyone complained that their boss didn't like them and Joey (working at the Central Perk at that time iirc) pointed out "yeah I wonder why none of your bosses like you. Maybe it's because it's Wednesday 12 pm and you are hanging out at a cafe".

[–] 1984@lemmy.today 57 points 11 hours ago (3 children)

Capitalism is amazing. We can all just chill and have coffee and have amazing lives.

[–] ivanafterall@lemmy.world 23 points 10 hours ago

Now let us buy some American blue jeans and have hamburger sandwiches from McDonald's.

[–] plyth@feddit.org 6 points 10 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) (1 children)

True if you narrow down the in-group enough and are part of it.

[–] pinball_wizard@lemmy.zip 11 points 9 hours ago

As a temporarily embarrassed future billionaire, I understood that reference.

[–] thatradomguy@lemmy.world 57 points 10 hours ago (3 children)

Chandler being able to afford paying for rent AND providing for Joey is also incredibly unrealistic.

[–] markovs_gun@lemmy.world 74 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Canonically Chandler is actually super rich from his mysterious nerd job and just lives frugally, and Monica's giant-ass apartment is rent controlled and inherited from her grandmother.

[–] Genius@lemmy.zip 28 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

He works in data analytics, his friends just don't care enough to learn what that means.

He probably analyses consumer and advertising trends to guide investments and product launches.

[–] pyre@lemmy.world 13 points 9 hours ago
[–] lobut@lemmy.ca 9 points 9 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

You will care about the W.E.N.U.S because I care about the W.E.N.U.S!

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I don’t think Chandler is super rich, but he’s definitely comfortable. He doesn’t have the money to outright replace their furniture when it is all stolen, for instance. They end up using lawn chairs (and a canoe) as their living room furniture for a while. But yeah, he definitely lives below his means, because he always has money to pass off to Joey whenever he needs it.

[–] ansiz@lemmy.world 12 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

Chandler's job was just made to be some generic finance sector job, right? It's definitely possible even today, but he'd be working a lot more hours. You'd never see him on the show.

Ross being stable even as a PhD grad student seems a lot more unrealistic to me. He even loved on his own. But maybe it was family money.

[–] LeroyJenkins@lemmy.world 13 points 6 hours ago (2 children)

Ross wasn't a grad student though. he was a PhD researcher + professor. back in the 90s, that would've been a decent gig.

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Chandler was more some bureaucratic data guy. The way they describe him is inputting numbers into speeadsheets at a megacorp. But he eventually becomes a manager.

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago) (1 children)

Ross wasn’t a grad student; He had his doctorate. Initially he worked at a museum of natural history, then eventually got fired (for screaming at his boss) and went to work at the university as a professor. Either way, in the mid-90’s, he would have been comfortable.

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[–] daddycool@lemmy.world 46 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

So no one told you life was gonna be this way.

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[–] FrostbittenDuck@lemmy.zip 30 points 3 hours ago

King of the Hill showing a group of childhood friends living next to each other, having time almost every day to just hang out near their homes and drink, went from just being a quaint little detail from when I watched it when I was younger to being an almost dreamlike aspiration as I move further into adulthood.

[–] Confused_Emus@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Never really looked and just realized how cluttered that apartment is.

[–] isolatedscotch@discuss.tchncs.de 13 points 4 hours ago

there's nothing on the floor, that's peak organization

[–] theedqueen@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago (2 children)

That and having time to hang out at the coffee shop all the time. And also Monica who supposedly works in a high end restaurant having as much time as she does to socialize and whatnot. Still love the show tho.

Also in HIMYM how they have time to hang out at a bar every single night.

[–] Tangent5280@lemmy.world 8 points 4 hours ago

I thought the show was like a weekend and holidays only view into their lives with a few work stuff sprinkled in, so I discounted all the regular work related loopholes.

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

In the 90s what else were people doing if they weren’t hanging out? If I had no kids it’s perfectly plausible I could meet at the bar every day after work. How is a coffee shop any different? Just for clarity plenty of people drink coffee at night.

[–] Lumisal@lemmy.world 7 points 3 hours ago (3 children)

It's true. Try hanging out somewhere outside your house with no modern technology for two hours.

First you'll realize how long time feels without a smartphone or instant entertainment.

The second thing you'll realize is how hard it is to keep track of time without a wristwatch.

People socialized more in person because there wasn't much else to do and it was the best way to do so.

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[–] sowitzer@lemm.ee 6 points 11 hours ago

Post like this are more cliched than the tv shows they try to make fun of. The meme needs to have an annoying kid brought in to save it, because it’s “jumped the shark”.

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 6 points 3 hours ago (1 children)

I think what most people find unrealistic is having more than 1 person you want to spend more than 30 minutes with. In the 90s, nothing about their lifestyle is super unrealistic for New York. The only thing is the money.

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[–] Proprietary_Blend@lemmy.world 6 points 7 hours ago

Where breakfast

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