Ancient Excuses to Skip Work

Text on the meme

What Were Ancient People's Excuses to Skip Work? 💀 Babylon (Iraq), 850 BC "Today is an evil day." (legally mandated rest day) Korea, 15th century "I am being haunted by my dead aunt." Japan, 900 AD "I was at a lady's house last night." China, ~1600 AD "I am dying." (He died after having been rejected 16 times..)

What it means

A woman in a pink sweater introduces a series of historical excuses for skipping work, illustrated with ancient Babylonian reliefs and East Asian historical paintings. The punchline is that people thousands of years ago used surprisingly familiar, absurd, and sometimes romantic excuses to avoid work. Bronski Beat’s synth-pop song “Smalltown Boy” plays underneath, adding a dramatic, melancholic, nostalgic mood that makes the increasingly ridiculous excuses feel hilariously serious.

Sound

♪ Bronski Beat — Smalltown Boy

music / музыка

Objects

woman in pink sweater / женщина в розовом свитере long dark hair / длинные тёмные волосы earrings / серьги ancient stone relief / древний каменный рельеф Babylonian inscription / вавилонская надпись seated Korean official / сидящий корейский чиновник traditional Korean robe / традиционная корейская одежда black ceremonial hat / чёрная церемониальная шапка Japanese couple / японская пара traditional Japanese room / традиционная японская комната Chinese official / китайский чиновник red ceremonial robe / красная церемониальная одежда historical paintings / исторические картины black caption box / чёрный блок с подписью skull emoji / эмодзи черепа framed wall art / картина в рамке на стене