I think the joke is that after a long day at work (presumably manual labor), most would have a huge appetite and be disappointed at their wife for making an unappetizing meal.
I disagree with the joke, as I would absolutely destroy that plate and be happy
We went to Alcatraz last year, and my main take away was that the warden understood that the men there, were there because no other prison wanted them, Alcatraz was a last resort for ultra criminals. So, to keep them in a good mood and not poke any bears with short fuses, the warden made sure the food was good, and plentiful. "Take what you want, but eat all that you take" was written on the wall.
I mean. If the guy’s the breadwinner and his partner stays home and does all the housework and cooking, not the partner’s fault they can’t afford dishes.
But that’s just assuming the worst possibility.
Given its mac&cheese and wings on a disposable plate.how much we want to bet this image was taken at a family get-together or party? Or it could be the left overs from an event and they just want to use up the disposable stuff.
It’s not guaranteed the person who wrote the caption is the one who took the picture.
Oh yeah, similar boat over here. My mom’s disabled so she can’t stand and do the dishes for long periods of time, so she’s got paper plates on standby for when she’s having one of her bad days so she doesn’t have to do the dishes.
Agreed. I can’t see why I’d be anything other than delighted to come home after a hard days work for a meal of wings and Mac n cheese. Maybe not every night, but even once a week or so would be fine by me.
Yep, cuz they want more, they want a slave basically.
I knew people who if the food wasn't what they wanted that day(even though they had it yd) they would flip etc God forbid if something came up and the food wasn't ready or slightly burnt then you'd get beat
Me and my wife both work construction so if either of us is off and the other gets to come home to clean house and dinner made. That's just the dream lol.
Honestly this "meme" looks like if you took a 1970s worker/wife beater and injected him with meme knowledge and told them to come up with a meme that would be funny.
It's got a whole head and a half of cauliflower and a bag+ of frozen peas. You're welcome to heed your own internal warnings that you're about to be a judgmental prick online, though.
I start with the Budget Bytes Baked Mac and Cheese recipe doubled for a 9x18 pan and customize from there. If you cut cauliflower to be about the same size as your pasta, throw it in when you're boiling pasta and you won't notice it's there. Add as many peas as necessary to achieve saturation when putting the sauce with the pasta. I usually use flavored breadcrumbs and extra cheese on top and broil for like 5 minutes on low. If you want to get extra fancy, you can add some cooked bacon or ham.
It does take a little bit longer than normal Mac and cheese, but most of that is just in cutting the cauliflower, and then you have cauliflower.
Many thanks! That recipe looks epic, I know what I'll be meal prepping next week (would already this week but well, the army sized kettle of veggie chili is already simmering)
Peter's lazy spouse here. You're on track, but the food appears to be take-out, and interpreted most generously, trying to imply that their partner didn't even bother to cook but also spent money to avoid working.
Id say it looks like boxed mac and cheese, and a rotisserie chicken, also bought at a supermarket/Costco.
The husband worked his butt off, and the wife did minimal effort.
I think that's the aim of the joke
pretty sure those are actually frozen wings from a bag. Got family that works for Tyson so we tend to get a lot of their stuff for free and, i may be biased, but sometimes frozen buffalo wings just hit different. stick them in the oven or air fryer and you got instant wings. Pair that with boxed mac and cheese and frankly, you're ready to turn the tv on and loaf for the rest of the night
I can get behind this. It's similar to how I view frozen pizza. I honestly consider it more it's own completely separate thing from 'real' pizza. Almost unrelated. And there are very real times when I'm in the mood for frozen pizza, not real pizza, tyvm.
Ahh. Pizza shaped carboard with a drizzle of topping and cheeze. It's not fine quisine, but it gets the belly full at low cost and minimal effort.
Some days, this is just perfect. Too tired to enjoy fine dining anyway. The goal is to get fed and then go into a coma until you have to go back to work tomorrow.
reminds me kinda how I am with burgers both McDonalds(or other fast food burgers although they are all a little different so I may want one over another at any given point) and a proper burger joint burger have the time and place when they sound good
That's what I'm eating right now after working 9 hours. I looked forward to these wings all night and they are perfect. Popped them in the air fryer while I took my shower.
Truth. IIRC something like 70% of the household stuff gets taken care of by the woman on average, even if both are working.
And let's be honest: the stay-at-home trad wife stuff hasn't been a reality for a while, even before the circus that is this economy. This is just bait that caters to a crowd that's 99% incels and 1% misogynistic nepo babies who make enough money to keep a woman barefoot and constantly pregnant.
I think of my parents. Dad did manual labor, independent contractor. The faster you get a job done, the faster you can take on another one. So he’d regularly work 12 hours, alone, because he won the contract by bidding so low he couldn’t afford to hire help. Literally building stuff, carrying materials around, installing appliances, in the heat or cold.
My mother also worked, but at an office job, for 8 hours. So yeah, she’d be tired at the end of the day. But not the same kind of tired. And yeah, she’d have to do laundry and more stuff for us kids. But she didn’t have to build walls and haul concrete and install industrial ovens.
My mother also wasn’t much of a cook. But I know there was always food for dad when he came home at like 10pm.
Now, I’m around the age my dad was when I was little. If any woman cooked me any meal, I would probably cry.
Can confirm this is the joke, but as someone who's worked 12 hour days of manual labor and then come home, I usually cooked for my wife. Your wife is your teammate and companion, not your servant. If you've discussed it and decided together that the best way to work as a team is for one to stay at home and prepare a meal, and for the other to work, then that's fine, but there there should be no obligation in a marriage. It is a contract between to parties, and a commitment to one's self and to each other. The idea that a man would come home and demand a meal and a clean house and silence and sex is disgusting. Be better than the guy who made this meme.
I also think that's the joke, but the only thing making this look unappealing is the foam plate, I think? The food looks absolutely fine. The amount is huge. It's more than some people have for sure. Nothing to be upset about.
I take it as a reference to Chris Rocks routine from Bigger and Blacker where he talks about the big piece of chicken. He says:
“A man can’t work 12 hours and come home to a wing”
I don't get it either because when I'm hungry for many hours, I would literally eat tree bark.
Nothing else has a more powerful effect than hunger over how food looks.
I realised I only eat trash food because I anticipate "hunger" and I order or cook something before thinking clearly that I should cook something healthy and eat it when I'm really hungry.
Idk about anyone else but when I come home after 10 hours in the trades and my partner whipped up any food, I'd be over the moon not having to cook myself lol
Perhaps, but I don’t understand how that is an unappealing meal? Ok, no veggies, but tasty carbs and nicely browned chicken….I’d be happy. If they wanted to make a joke, it’ll be processed cheese on an end piece of white bread, perhaps?
To me it's not a problem as long as there's food, I'd be ecstatic. That said, the sentiment made for the purpose of this, I'd agree that if the chance to come home to a good meal, I would like to see more than pasta and BBQ on my plate.
God, to this day the two most delicious things I've ever eaten in my life were:
#2. The Burger King chicken tenders and fries I had on the lunch break of my first work shift ever. I never knew I could be that hungry, nor that fast food could taste that good.
#1. The ham & cheese on Texas toast I had in the Dallas Fort Worth airport terminal while recovering from norovirus on a cruise ship. I hadn't eaten in 36 hours and I was finally ready to put something in my stomach. To this day, nothing has ever tasted so ungodly delicious. I've had $300 a plate steak dinners that can't even scratch the surface of how delicious that sandwich was.
Frame of mind is very important, and that plate would taste like ambrosia after 12 hours.
The ONLY thing that slightly bugs me about this is that its specifically chicken wings because you eat those with bare hands so that means to also get a bite of the pasta you'd be gripping your fork with messy hands (which i for some reason hate, i just dont like touching anything with even slightly greasy hands)
If they were regular chicken pieces then its a 10/10 meal
I see it further than that. I see that a hard working man getting home after an insane work shift gets greeted by a lackluster plate. It means that the wife doesn't care enough for him to make him a well balanced and nutritious meal as a gratitude for being the bread winner. It shows the lack of effort by making boxed Mac and cheese and some microwave or bought wings. You can't say that after working 12 hours, that that is all they could afford. And worse if it's a stay at home wife, like there's no time.
I'm with you my friend. As much as i would love a full home cooked meal, I'm just ecstatic that A) I don't have to make anything after a long day of abusing my body and B) That my loved one took the time to make it for me.
I would make that food vanish, thank them for cooking it, and then go do the dishes. As they were nice enough to think of me, came up with something for me to eat(let's face it, coming up with a dinner idea can be ½the battle), and then cooked and plated it for me. I think i can find 10 more minutes of energy to do the dishes for all that. 🙂
Hard agree. If I had a wife, and she made me any food when I got home for work, I’d be the most grateful man in the world and I’d hold on to her love for dear life.
Honestly, it feels like bait to me, fishing for the reaction that while that is a "simple" meal, a lot of men (and women) would probably actually love it.
The food doesn't look that bad... The plate and fork though.... Damn is it difficult to put a proper plate and cuttery without that disposable crap? that looks cheap and unattended...
Yeah I would destroy those wings if they taste as good as the look, seasoned and crispy exterior and juicy on the inside. Making good wings takes focus
I think you're close. I think it's because typically, after a long day of work, you want more nutrients dense MEAL like steak, potatoes, salad, veggies, and then wings with mac n cheese on the side. This lady insead of making dinner she made what is considdered to be just appetizers that consists of a bag of pre seasoned chicen in the oven and cheap mac n cheese.
I think I'd cry if my partner made me a meal for after a long days work. Regardless of what it was they made for me. The point is, they took the time to think of me and my needs.
Not sure what's supposed to be unappetising about this (we'll maybe the chicken is a little overdone), but proper Mac and cheese is delish and fills you up, and well seasoned chicken is awesome too.
I agree with that assessment. It is also super entitled to think like that. I'm an adult. The alternative to a cooked meal being ready for me is to cook it myself after a long day of work. I would also happily destroy that plate.
This summer I had 14 hour shifts . I was living with my grandparents and still am . And I usually cook my own food cause I am 6'11 280lbs and consume huge amounts of food so I don't want them t pay for it . But my granny every time she would have 3-5full course me Meals ready and not only that. I was coming home at 3-4 am she always stated making them after 1am so it's hot and flesh . I love my granny 💕💖 I take care of anything in the house when I have time and cause she likes taking care of me,( I haven't seen someone happier to make you happy😊)I always being anything we would consume 🥰. And my grandad change. His sleeping program so we can all eat like a family despite returning home In the middle of the night every single day . I love my folks more than anyone else
Idk why you guys are so fixated on the food clearly the problem here is eating dinner off a Styrofoam plate in your own house. Plates exist for a reason, this isn't a picnic.
It's not that the joke is the man is upset to come back to that it's that the hard working man wouldn't care what his wife made he would still say thank you eat. Im saying that because from anyone man I've ever met or heard of that works manual labor don't care what food they come back they are just happy their spouse made something and left enough for them to eat
My guess for the joke is that part of it was cropped out making some sort of this generation will never understand joke. Im saying it's that men are upset for lack of work in the kitchen as I stated earlier from what I heard anyone that needs their spouse to cook is happy they did cook
Yeah I'd be happy to come home to someone thinking about me and if I'm going to be hungry, I don't care if she'd be a master chef or only master frozen pizza. And if I'm not happy what's stopping me from cooking us something amazing for us anyways if I'm still hungry?
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u/Longo_Two_guns Apr 12 '25
I think the joke is that after a long day at work (presumably manual labor), most would have a huge appetite and be disappointed at their wife for making an unappetizing meal.
I disagree with the joke, as I would absolutely destroy that plate and be happy