"Daily Struggle" Man Sues Button Company
It was with difficulty that Mr. Struggle decided to let us use this. (Image made with imgflip)
If you are someone who can relate to the stress of making difficult decisions, then you probably recognize the “Daily Struggle” meme. In the image, a man sweats as he tries to choose between two labeled buttons to press. That man has recently come forward and reached out to us at Meme Magazine. He claims that the image is the surface of a darker truth for him.
“Mr. Struggle” (he could not decide whether to tell us his real name) spent five years working at the “Buttons-a-Plenty” corporation. The company manufactures and tests physical press-buttons of varying uses for market. Some of their products have seen great commercial success due to their novelty and use in memes. One example is the famous “Nut Button,” which itself became a meme in 2015.
During the testing phase of the buttons, they are delivered to testers in pairs. The tester then has to press each one and decide which should be packaged. When Struggle put in his resume to the company early in 2014, he applied for a position in packaging and specifically asked to be kept away from testing.
The reason? Struggle suffers from “Aboulomania,” a mental disorder which causes an individual to be pathologically indecisive. Struggle explained further in an interview with Meme Magazine:
“I asked not to be given a testing position because my disorder makes choosing very stressful for me. It may seem funny, but it’s not for the person who has it.”
Despite his request being accompanied by a medical note explaining his condition, Struggle was hired to the role of testing.
“I asked to be transferred right away,” he explained. “But they told me I need to learn to ‘press my own buttons,’ if I’m to succeed in life and work. They wouldn’t even change the testing method. They just kept sending me two and expected me to choose between them. It was too hard trying to choose another job, so I stayed and I’ve been suffering since.”
Things only got worse when a pair of photos was taken of a sweaty Struggle trying to choose between two buttons. “BE A DICK” and “DON’T BE A DICK” were labeled over the buttons, and the photos were uploaded to the internet. “Daily Struggle” has since become a choice meme of varying tones—from cute, to political to self-detrimental.
For Struggle however, the constant jokes about not being able to decide have only added salt to the wound. Tired of the torment, he left Buttons-a-Plenty last month and is now suing the company for $100,000,000 for “psychological damages and emotional distress.” He hopes that the settlement will provide a fresh start in his life with little choice and little stress.
Buttons-a-Plenty are no less confident, however. While it is yet to be seen how they will handle the lawsuit, Burton Presley, the CEO of the company shared this statement with our team:
“Mr. Struggle will soon learn that life is full of decisions you cannot hide from. A life of tough but rewarding work or a life of cowardice and shame—That is the choice he now faces.”
Brandi-Anne Hibbs
Brandi-Anne Hibbs has been quietly stalking and observing memes for over a decade, but still doesn’t quite understand their nature. Nevertheless, she’s dedicated to making sense of them through writing!