The United States has a long history of satire, and it shows no sign of stopping. A new collection of images, titled “89 Things About Modern Life In America That Would’ve Seemed Absurd Not That Long Ago,” rounds up everyday American absurdities from the past few years. The list is satirical, but it is also a snapshot of what ordinary people find worthy of mockery.
McDonald’s Play Place Becomes A Screen Room
The collection includes images of a McDonald’s play area now equipped with two screens and two chairs. The caption reads: “Sad That This Is What The Mcdonald’s Play Place Is Now. I Miss The 80s.” Another image, titled “Mcdonald’s New ‘Play Place’ For Children. Two Screens/Two Chairs,” offers a similar complaint about the franchise’s playground being repurposed as a viewing booth.
The contrast is striking. The caption implies that the 80s play area was open space for kids to run around, while the new version is a small room with screens attached to the walls. The images suggest that a once-beloved feature of the restaurant has been transformed into something less welcoming — a place where children sit and watch rather than run and play.
Grocery Prices Rise 33% In Six Years
The collection leans heavily on real economic data. According to an AP News report from June, food prices have risen 33% in the last six years. That figure comes with a specific anchor: the report covered the period in question, and the 33% figure reflects the total increase across that span.
The list also cites more alarming data on beef prices. Texas has been the country’s top beef producer. As of June, the price of ground beef reached $6.82 per pound. That figure is 79% higher than it was at the beginning of 2019, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The collection presents these figures alongside satirical captions, pairing real statistics with jokes about the state of modern life. The contrast between the two is part of the point.
Inflation Hits 3.4%
Inflation is a recurring theme. Mild inflation is largely an indicator of a healthy, growing economy, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). A stable inflation rate is 2%. Higher inflation rates in recent months have become a burden for most working-class Americans.
An AP report from the beginning of this month put consumer prices at a rise of as much as 3.4% as of August. The collection treats this figure as another absurdity in a long list of them.
Unemployment Climbs As Mortgages Rise
The picture gets worse. As inflation rises, unemployment is climbing too. To add insult to injury, mortgage prices are rising too.
For context, the average long-term mortgage rate is currently 7.28%, up from 6.34% last year. Federal, state, and local governments eliminated 17,000 jobs in September, pushing the unemployment rate to 4.2%, up slightly from 4.1% in August.
The collection pairs these grim numbers with captions that treat them as jokes. The contrast between the official data and the casual tone of the captions is central to how the list works.
Health Costs Bite Hard
Healthcare costs round out the economic picture. One caption reads: “3rd Bill For My 3rd Rabies Shot Out Of 4. This Is The Discounted Rate. Btw, Untreated Rabies Is Fatal.” Another notes that a credit score is audacity, and a third describes a bill for an ambulance ride after the bill was paid.
One contributor wrote that their birthday present to themselves was using an extra July paycheck to make a big final push on their loans. In the time it took the payment to process, the loans accrued $0.37. The collection includes several examples of medical bills that are presented as absurdities — one caption describes a rabies shot that is the discounted rate, another describes an ambulance bill that arrives after the bill has already been paid.
Satire And Real Data
The collection mixes satire with real figures. The images are clearly meant to provoke a laugh, but the data behind them is sobering. A caption reading “Anti-Homeless Benches Designed To Prevent People From Laying Down Makes It Hard To Sit” is a joke, but it points to a genuine design choice. The same goes for “Ad Advertising That Companies Should Stop Employing Human Workers.”
The collection is a reminder that satire often works best when it is tethered to reality. A cartoon that is too far from the truth is simply a cartoon. A cartoon that touches the edge of reality is a lampoon. The list draws its power from the gap between what is funny and what is true.
The Full List
The collection runs 89 items long. Some highlights:
- “A/C For Robots But Not For Humans”
- “If You See Someone Stealing Food… No You Didn’t”
- “Bmw Showing Ads In Your $100k+ Vehicle”
- “Anybody Else Not Allowed To Poop At Work?”
- “Your Sunset Is Brought To You By Pepsi”
- “They’re doing fantastic things with defence drones nowadays. Just saying….”
- “Smiling Through The Dystopian Nightmare”
Each item in the list stands on its own, and each is paired with a caption that frames it as something absurd. Together, they form a portrait of a country whose ordinary moments feel increasingly strange.
A Warning About The Future
The collection ends with a warning. “As bleak as things may seem, here’s hoping a thriving country like the United States doesn’t turn fully dystopian, as some may fear.” The title of the collection itself, “89 Things About Modern Life In America That Would’ve Seemed Absurd Not That Long Ago,” suggests that the country has already crossed a line.
The list is a snapshot of a moment. It captures what ordinary people find worthy of mockery, and it does so with a mix of humor and horror. The images are satirical, but the data behind them is real.
The collection is a reminder that satire often works best when it is tethered to reality. A cartoon that is too far from the truth is simply a cartoon. A cartoon that touches the edge of reality is a lampoon.
The collection is a warning. It is a warning about the direction the country is heading. It is a warning about the cost of living. It is a warning about the future.
Source material: “89 Things About Modern Life In America That Would’ve Seemed Absurd Not That Long Ago,” Bored Panda.
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