The Brief: A story of a New York City man falling through a sinkhole into a pit filled with rats has led to numerous "rat sinkhole" and "rat pit" memes.
DEEP DIVE
Get out your 2020 Bingo card, because a man in the Bronx fell through a sinkhole in the sidewalk into a hole filled with rats on Saturday. Truly the stuff of nightmares, this news story has been circulating as a symbol of the rough year 2020 has been. Rat sinkhole memes and rat pit memes have been spreading online since the story broke as people imagine how horrifying this experience would be.
The New York Daily News reported that the man who fell, Leonard Shoulders, was stuck in the hole for half an hour with a broken leg and rats crawling on him. His brother told The News “He couldn’t move, and the rats were crawling all over him. He didn’t scream, because he didn’t want the rats going into his mouth.”
Many memes note how falling into a pit of rats is a uniquely New York City experience, comparing it to other infamous downsides of living in the city.
https://twitter.com/FancyJenkins/status/1322218548266086400
GET THE RATS TO OPEN UP A SINKHOLE UNDER THE BILLIONAIRES
— Geoffrey (@geofflapid) October 29, 2020
Why I’m Leaving the Rat Sinkhole
— peter hess (@PeterNHess) October 29, 2020
Hope the rat sinkhole doesn’t milkshake duck!
uh-oh Rat Sinkhole is deleting a lot of old tweets
— blaaaaaaaaaines (@blainecapatch) October 29, 2020
Are we not, in a sense, all the man who fell through a sinkhole into a rat chasm pic.twitter.com/TPag3srBzX
— Hannah Rose Woods (@hannahrosewoods) October 30, 2020
🎶 If I can make it there (rat sinkhole), I’ll make it anywhere 🎶 https://t.co/VGdFLxN26m
— kat (@obviousmezzo) October 29, 2020
what if I, too, am about to fall into a sinkhole of rats
— Skelly Belle 🔮🕸🦇 (@literElly) October 30, 2020
Nature is healing…we are the virus.
Nature is healing. https://t.co/xdhOYcTXbS
— Doug French (@mrdougfrench) October 29, 2020
Standard NYC apartment:
🔷 ~$1,500 for a 1br
🔷 Plus utilities
🔷 Doesn't allow petsRat sinkhole:
🔷 Lots of friends
🔷 Rent is $0
🔷 Roomier than your current apartment
🔷 Rats are easily trainable and will fetch you valuables
🔷 Convenient to public transit— Son of Sam Greszes (@SamGreszes) October 29, 2020
everyone is sharing the story about the guy that fell into the rat sinkhole. sure. but what's really important about it is that the guy is named Leonard Shoulders. do. not. lose. sight. of. this. our democracy depends on it
— matt (@Lubchansky) October 29, 2020