this post was submitted on 01 Jul 2025
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A collection of some classic Lemmy memes for your enjoyment

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[–] spankmonkey@lemmy.world 196 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] cRazi_man@europe.pub 88 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The most important office skill was taught by George Costanza: look angry and people will think you're busy working hard.

[–] stinerman@midwest.social 41 points 3 days ago (3 children)

I found out at a previous position that the best way to get my work done was to be short with people. In that case they wouldn't bother me, and I had more time to do my work.

[–] A_Union_of_Kobolds@lemmy.world 10 points 3 days ago

100%

Unfortunately, looking angry makes us more stressed over time. Still, worth it if I don't have to talk to anyone

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[–] Armand1@lemmy.world 80 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

This one hits a little too close to home...

Also, the word you're looking for might be "abusive" rather than "strict".

[–] agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 days ago

Extreme strictness is a form of abuse. These symptoms are particular, though not individually exclusive, to strictness. As long as you "behave" you avoid the material effects of the abuse. Other forms of abuse typically have fewer "rules" that can be used as safeguards.

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[–] WhiteOakBayou@lemmy.world 74 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)
  • How to be attentive to one's surrounds
  • How To project effort
  • conflict resolution
  • Extemporaneous creative modeling
[–] SoupBrick@pawb.social 24 points 3 days ago (8 children)
[–] TheBat@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago (3 children)

Ahh

Self-censoring is cringe

[–] spamfajitas@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 3 days ago

Every time I read it, I just see it like the momentary pauses that President Obama made in his speeches. Makes it a little more interesting.

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[–] peteyestee@feddit.org 49 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (6 children)

My parents were strict about things that didn't matter. They taught swear words and being gay was bad but never taught me anything about surviving life or making money or managing hobbies or anything having to do with self growth or independence.

They limited my ability to grow. Along with society at the time and then blamed me when for it when I became an adult and was socially dysfunctional.

It's weird... If you're not teaching your kids no one really is. They'll end up learning from entertainment or people taking advantage of them. But still people have kids like it's a set it and forget it process and then blame the kid/person for not knowing x thing.

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[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 41 points 3 days ago (2 children)

As the other person said, it really depends on what people mean by "strict".

My parents were "strict" in that they enforced a bed time. Now I have better than average sleeping habits. So that worked out.

But I've also read about "strict" parents that, like, take doors off their kids rooms, or read the kids private messages, or other nightmares

[–] compostgoblin@lemmy.blahaj.zone 32 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

Yeah, my parents made us leave our cell phones on the kitchen counter so they could read our texts every night, and they installed software on our computers that took screenshots every 5 seconds.

I wonder why I have issues with authority figures and privacy?

[–] ZombiFrancis@sh.itjust.works 9 points 3 days ago (2 children)

My folks were technology skeptics and limited access to screens. We had strict allotments of time to access electronics.

This taught us how to game the rules and make up arguments to justify our discretions.

They were also lawyers, so we walked into the first trap.

[–] jjjalljs@ttrpg.network 8 points 3 days ago

The video games in my house were downstairs, and one time I did a "Can I go downstairs?" instead of "Can I play video games?" when I knew they didn't want me playing more games. Thought it was a clever loophole. Only worked the one time, but got jokingly referenced for the next ten years.

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[–] shyguyblue@lemmy.world 6 points 3 days ago

Had my door taken off for playing my music too loud... Translation: We can't yell across the house for you to "come here".

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 41 points 3 days ago (13 children)

There's a difference between strict and abusive.

[–] LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world 44 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

I once cut a small artery above my left elbow right before I left work (We were young and just fucking around) Cant remember my exact age, probably late 16 early 17. I took my undershirt off and tied it around my arm to try to slow the bleeding while I drove home. The blood goes threw the shirt, and is all over the inside car door, seatbelt and created a puddle on my pants in the creases because they were those Dickies work pants that are water resistant. When I got out of the car I heard the blood splat on the ground so I figured it was to much. Went inside tied yarn tightly above it and wrapped an old shirt again around it to replace that one as I didn't have any superglue. I spent the hours of 330am-630am crawling in circles around the house with 2 bottles of resolve, paper towels and wet rags in a bucket trying to clean blood drops off the carpets and floors from when I walked in. The entire time dropping more blood in a near endless cleanup chain with only one thought on my mind. My mother is going to fucking kill me for getting blood on her carpets. At 630 (they open at 7), dizzy as all get out from lack of sleep and blood loss I got back in my car to drive to the clinic just hoping no one pulled me over or I passed out driving. I got there with a blood soaked rag wrapped around my arm and the lady handed me a 2 page clipboard to fill out and I remember staring at her with an expression that clearly said, can't I fill this out while he stitches my arm? Of course not, so 5 minutes later I hand her a clip board mostly free of blood and paperwork that says I have no insurance.

The clinic doctor was great. Told him I had no insurance and couldn't afford anesthetic and asked if he could just do it without. He cleaned it a bit, poked me with a needle of some kind and put in 7 or so stitches. Then marked it down as a consult or something, so I wasn't charged with any of the items he needed/used. (Like $40 for the visit)

I'll always remember that guy. Moral/point of the story though... If you are less afraid of bleeding to death than you are to ask your parents for help, your parents might be abusive as opposed to strict.

[–] southsamurai@sh.itjust.works 11 points 2 days ago (1 children)

That's a perfect example of where it isn't strict, it's abuse. Or at least right on the border.

Also, damn. I'm sorry you went through that. I'm just glad you found a doc that handled things right.

[–] trxxruraxvr@lemmy.world 16 points 2 days ago

That is nowhere near the border. If your kid rather bleeds out than facing you because they got some blood on the carpet you're far in abusive territory

[–] elephantium@lemmy.world 31 points 3 days ago (2 children)

This post is starting to make me think people say "strict" strictly as a euphemism.

What I think it means: The parents never bend the rules for their kids.

What it apparently means: The parents have anger problems.

[–] captainlezbian@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago (3 children)

The problem is it's often difficult to admit you had abusive parents, and abusive parents love to describe themselves as just strict. So yeah it's kinda a euphemism

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[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 41 points 3 days ago (5 children)

These are all invaluable survival skills, NGL.

It's the resulting FFF hairtrigger readiness that's fucking hell on the psyche, though.

[–] BrundleFly2077@sh.itjust.works 16 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 30 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Fight/Flight/Freeze (though, some even add Fawn to that)

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[–] bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 37 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 20 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

My parents weren't abusive but I still learned all of these except 'manipulate to calm down'...

[–] MotoAsh@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

The difference can often be negligible to a child's eyes depending on how 'strict' lessons are worded or otherwise expressed. If it is always with scolding after a lack of instruction turned in to idle entertainment that went awry, it sometimes doesn't really matter how relevant the information was.

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[–] andros_rex@lemmy.world 36 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I had a wonderful combination of “strict” but also “there aren’t actually rules.”

I could have handled even unreasonable expectations if they had been communicated. But there was no structure at all.

I could ask permission to do something, do it, and then have that permission retroactively revoked. I could have an entirely normal day without anything seeming off, then be grounded for a week because there were dishes in the sink or something.

It never made any sense.

[–] Pacattack57@lemmy.world 29 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Ok but tbf those are all great skills to have

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[–] AFKBRBChocolate@lemmy.ca 21 points 3 days ago (4 children)

Anecdotal observation from college: Lots of people got hammered on a weekend, at least sometimes, but the people who couldn't draw a line and keep it from destroying their grades were mostly the ones whose parents kept them rigidly controlled at home. It seemed like those folks had no practice in drawing their own lines because their parents always drew the lines for them, so when they were on their own they went nuts. The preacher's daughter is a cliche with a lot of truth.

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[–] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Btw, is there any laws against pissing on a grave, just wanna prepare for when my parents die.

[–] MotoAsh@lemmy.world 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)
[–] DancingBear@midwest.social 6 points 3 days ago

If it is your own parents grave I’m fairly certain you can claim you were mourning and had to go

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[–] hungryphrog@lemmy.blahaj.zone 14 points 3 days ago

That's not strict, that's abusive.

[–] ArbitraryValue@sh.itjust.works 13 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

Depends on what you mean by "strict". I think the meme is about the parents who get angry over little things but don't actually pay attention to their kids much - the ones who just assume that their kids would not dare to misbehave. However when I was in high school, I also saw plenty of kids (often immigrants) who had successfully been taught to work pretty much non-stop. I think their parents watched them (or at least their grades) closely enough that they couldn't have gotten away with anything. It seemed to work well - they got straight A's, never got in trouble, and went to prestigious universities. I can't think of a single one I knew who burned out or rebelled (while in high school - I don't know what happened to them afterwards). However, the ones I got to meet were already filtered, with the low- and medium-achievers not admitted to that school.

[–] Honytawk@lemmy.zip 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

No, it is about the ones that keep an eye on their kids at all time.

The kids are unable to do anything unless they find way to circumvent all that bigbrothering.

And if they need to lie constantly, they will gain experience in it.

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[–] NigelFrobisher@aussie.zone 13 points 3 days ago

Perfect training for a lifetime of unfulfilling work for insecure bosses!

[–] walktheplank@lemmy.world 11 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (5 children)

What is strict? When I was a kid that was a wooden spoon or a belt. Across the backside or hands. As well as a long list of chores. The strap still hung on the wall of the principal's office at school as a warning but didn't get used anymore. Mostly suspensions and expulsions were the flavor of the day.

I got called a strict parent on Lemmy not so long ago because we limit screen time in our house to an hour a day with some exceptions. Our kids walk to town alone at 10 years old though (2 km one way) and have the knowledge and awareness to manage on their own. We trust them and they in turn make mostly good choices. They are kids after all.

Also, strict doesn't necessarily equal bad in the first place

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[–] the_riviera_kid@lemmy.world 9 points 3 days ago

I've become so used to it that now I lie to any sort of authority figure or any authority adjacent figure out of habit.

[–] ZeffSyde@lemmy.world 8 points 2 days ago

My mom was barely there on medication and my father just wasn't. It was cool to be able to do whatever I wanted, but I had to make sure Mom fell asleep on her side.

[–] rumba@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 days ago

So basically how to operate in most of the jobs I've ever had

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