It wasn’t that long ago that I was writing about the birth and miserable death of “OK Boomer”, a pleasant little retort against entitled dumb-dumbs, which was quickly meme-ified and wrung of all enjoyment on national television. Well, you can forget that shit, because we are currently experiencing a new meme life-cycle, right now, before our very tired eyes.
[jwplayer ruy1J3jD]
The “Flight Attendant” meme, as I have so artlessly christened it, has grabbed Twitter by the throat over the past few hours. Its origin appears to be a tweet from Twitter product manager and comic artist Laura Gao, who imagined her dad roasting her during an airborne medical emergency:
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor onboard?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a Product Manager to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “let’s have a follow-up meeting” helps
— Laura Gao ✌️ (@heylauragao) November 26, 2019
What a fine nugget of content. Inoffensive, fun, and referential of a unique jobs market and familial pressures – two concepts which are all too familiar to the tweet’s young audience. Fortunately (or not) for Gao, the joke presents itself as an easily-edited template, allowing other jokesters to ad-lib their way into the viral discourse. In the hours since Gao’s post, legions of social media users have presented their own versions with new judgmental dads, ushering the joke into meme status:
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a cinematographer to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “moody lighting” helps
— jackson hayes (@jacksonhvisuals) November 26, 2019
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a journalist to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “finding a second source” helps
— Lil Uzi Hurt 🥺 (@lostblackboy) November 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/adamjk/status/1199461735960383490
https://twitter.com/tehlorkay/status/1199459258565136385
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a dancer to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “plié relevé” helps
— Martina 🦋 (@CryBabyDancer) November 26, 2019
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a graphic designer to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “proper kerning” helps
— Felix Schlater (@felixschlater) November 26, 2019
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a UPS driver to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go see if throwing a box into a garage door helps
— sweatpants cher🔸 (@House_Feminist) November 26, 2019
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a sports marketer to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if throwing them a t-shirt helps
— 𝘾𝙝𝙧𝙞𝙨 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙚 (@Chris_Grosse) November 26, 2019
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a twitter lame joke account to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “what’s BOFA” helps
— Dr. Bucky Isotope, temporarily retired (@BuckyIsotope) November 26, 2019
An official New York Times account has also picked up on the trend. That’s an ominous portent for the natural lifespan of any meme, and suggests the format is not long for this world:
Flight attendant: Is there a doctor on this flight?
Dad: *nudging me* that should’ve been you
Me: Not now Dad
Dad: Not asking for a crossword columnist to help, are they?
Me: Dad, there’s a medical emergency happening right now
Dad: Go and see if “witty commentary” helps
— New York Times Games (@NYTGames) November 26, 2019
Gao herself has also spoken on the matter, addressing the unique dread which comes from spawning a viral tweet:
*makes self-deprecating PM joke during Thanksgiving week thinking coworkers won’t see it*
*Tweet goes viral* pic.twitter.com/C7DNLUxFa5
— Laura Gao ✌️ (@heylauragao) November 26, 2019
By the time you finish reading this sentence, the joke will have been well and truly pummelled into the dirt. No point in calling the doctor.
