Culture

The Internet Turned A Very Wholesome Cartoon About “Choosing Happiness” Into A Silly Little Meme

People are now sharing the simple, but bonkers, ways they find their own joy in life.

by Michelle Rennex  26 November 2021
Two Guys On A Bus Meme

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Thanks to the “Two Guys On A Bus” meme, we finally have a better way to judge whether someone is a pessimist or an optimist beyond the age-old question of whether a glass filled halfway is half empty or half full.

You’ve probably seen the cartoon knocking about online over the last week. The picture is easy to understand and clearly pushes the message that we are in charge of our own happiness.

In the artwork, two men sit on the same bus but have entirely different experiences and emotions based solely on where they choose to put themselves. The depressed man makes the choice to continue to be sad by facing the wall, while the happy, positive guy opts for the bright side of the bus that’s filled with views and sunshine.

The message is pretty clear: You choose your own happiness and sometimes it is as easy as where you sit on a bus. You can continue to make yourself more gloomy by engaging in activities that worsen your mood, or you can be like our happy bus rider who chooses good views and better times. Of course, it’s a pretty black and white way to view happiness and depression, nor does it take into account the factors that affect their situations and moods.

But this simple, uplifting cartoon has been hijacked and turned into a meme to demonstrate the silly little ways people find happiness in life.

According to Know Your Meme, the original cartoon was actually created by Brazilian illustrator Genildo Ronchi back in 2013, but was turned into an easy meme template earlier this month on Reddit. In the original Two Guys On A Bus cartoon, Ronchi captioned the image “as vezes só depende de nós… escolha o lado da viva”  which roughly translates to “sometimes it just depends on you, choose the happy side of life”.

Further expanding on the meaning behind his art, Ronchi explained that “happiness is an inner manifestation that assumes our being and shines out, infecting the human environment and establishing new behaviour”.

“Life is made up of choices, including being happy, but we need to look for it!”

Eventually, Ronchi’s cartoon was translated for global audiences, and in 2019 the image was turned into a meme in Brazilian circles. But it wasn’t until Reddit user Elk_Strict uploaded an English version on November 16 that read “didn’t take a shit before leaving the house / took a shit before leaving the house” that the meme really blew up.

Now Twitter has been flooded with different variations of the cartoon with people choosing happiness for themselves — even if that goes against all logic, rhyme and reason. However, as Ronchi says, we are responsible for our own happiness, so who’s to say we can’t totally make up what that happiness means to us?

Of course, there will always be some situations where no matter how hard you try to pick happiness, it always ends up being horrendous vibes. But that’s just life, hey?