Remember those pre-Google amazing problem pages in teen mags where girls would pour their hearts out about periods or him 'not seeming interested' (he's not)? Reddit's /relationships thread is basically a 21st century version of this, but for guys. In case you're not a redditor (i.e. someone who reads reddit) - the thread is totally anonymous, and a place for people to post their problems and have others give straight talking advice. Or sometimes they laugh, which is mean. But mainly the advice thing.
It also makes for incredibly entertaining reading - one particular post that's been doing the rounds and garnering a fair bit of attention, is the plight of a young fellow whose girlfriend is a bit too into memes. But, like, way too into them.
I understand they make her laugh and that it's not too concerning, but she brings up memes ALL the time. And I mean all the time. Even when we first started talking and flirting she'd bring up socially awkward penguin. At first it was cute, but then it got annoying fast when I realized she did this constantly,' he writes. So far, so fairly normal. 'Whenever we spend this time together, she starts moaning doge memes like "such sex, wow" and it really kills the moment for me.'
READ MORE: One Reddit User's Story Of Labiaplasty Might Make You Think Twice Before Getting It Done
Er, YEAH. And it's not just hilarious sex memechat either, but when his father died she wasn't exactly anchored in the real world either.
'I tried bringing up her inappropriate usage of memes after my father died and she literally sends me advice animal memes that say 'don't be sad' but my dad just fucking died could you be more sensitive and not send me memes?'
It's a fair question, and even though you can't imagine this could possibly be true, reads like a real experience. There are people out there who are so into memes that, at the point of climax, they say 'such sex, wow'.
What's interesting, is that the commentors genuinely offer help despite it being difficult not to laugh - and moderators are on hand to make sure there are no abusive comments that don't contain advice: 'This sub is about helping people in need - whether through abuse, meta arguments, or pointless tangents, if you are not providing such help, your comments may be removed,' reads the /relationships rules.
From 'I'm going to give you the obvious advice and say there are a million fish in the sea. If you don't want to date a girl who speaks in memes then don't' to 'Sounds like she's not the girl of your memes', it actually becomes quite touching as strangers engage with the problem and try to come up with good ways he can work out whether to stay with her or not.
In fact, it sort of shows the more human side to reddit - which only seems to be in the mainstream media when leaking nudes or being generally morally questionable - and can genuinely be of help if people are struggling with similar issues. And they're not all meme-related. From worrying that significant others are cheating, to questions about sex in LTRs, the /relationships subreddit is basically Mizz in 1998 but for grownups. Ish.
Anyway, I've definitely set up an account just to get involved so come join me. We can save the world one meme-obsessed girlfriend at a time.
Like this? You might also be interested in...
Awful Pro Rape Reddit Threat Is, Thankfully, Heavily Criticised By Reddit Users
What Happened When We Went On Tinder And Only Used Quotes From The World's Greatest Love Letters
Follow Stevie on Twitter: @5tevieM
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.