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As you're growing up, politicians, teachers, and pretty much everyone around you keep repeating that you are the future of this world. The person who will shape the way it looks tomorrow. But before you can take it all in, it's already the day after, the echo of those words has faded, and the only thing you're left with is that annoying back pain that doesn't go away no matter what mobility exercise you're doing.

But don't worry, this realization is part of maturity. To make it easier to accept, the subreddit 'Heck I'm Old' shares posts from people who are in the same position and choose to reminisce with smiles and giggles. So let's scroll through what they have to offer and maybe, just maybe, knowing that the past is still alive in our collective memory is exactly what we need to feel better about our wrinkles and graying hair.

#1

Who Is Old Enough To Remember All Of These?

Who Is Old Enough To Remember All Of These?

HeO2Diver1101 Report

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Savahax
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If you've got kids, get them this. It's one of the things that got me fascinated about shapes and patterns

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#2

I Feel Personally Attacked

I Feel Personally Attacked

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Mike F
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If I hear about someone doing those things it's while reading their obit.

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While the inevitable passage of time certainly takes a lot of things away from us, it does provide quite a few as well. One of its most important contributions is to the way we feel.

Positive and negative affects (mood) seem to operate independently of each other: you can have a lot or a little of either or both.

"High affect" people score above average on both positive and negative mood levels, while "low affect" people score less on both.

No matter which type you start out with, you can expect your affect levels to change in a favorable trajectory over the course of your life.


#3

Nuff Said

Nuff Said

JimRussellMusic Report

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Shelli Aderman
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Billy Jean is not my lover and the CHAIR is not my son!” This lived in my brain for far too long! 🤣

mria alternativa
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I just died in your arms tonight, must have been some kind of cheese"... 🙄

featherytoad
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Lol, mine was, "Take your pants down, and make it happen." Flashdance, What a feeling.

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Schmebulock
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sometimes the lyrics you make up are better than the actual lyrics.

Anna N.
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And there's a bathroom on the right! are not lyrics to And there's a Bad Moon Out Tonight!

The Doom Song
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Cheap wine and a three legged goat" has always been my fave. I still sing this today!

Funhog
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I really felt lucky whenever a cassette tape came with a small booklet that had all of the lyrics included.

Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My!
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There's a series of books that show the true lyrics and the most common mangling of those lyrics. One of them is called "He's Got The Whole World In His Pants".

Min
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"You get your money for nothing and your checks for free" In my defense, I was 9 when the song came out and you paid for things with checks back in those days. I was probably in my late 20s when I found out it was "chicks for free"

The Phantom Stranger
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

To be fair, back then the bank probably did give you your checks for free. Nowadays they charge you about$30 a box, for those few freaks who still write checks. (And you can tell I'm old enough to know this firsthand because I just used the word "nowadays".)

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Savahax
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why we taped it from CD's, and when your cassette player was low on batteries it would play it in slow motion. Honestly learned lyrics this way

Songbirdcaon
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"She's got electric boobs! I saw those boobs!" Yep, Elton...that's what I thought you said growing up.

smugdruggler
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Beelzebub has a devil for a sideboard ". I still laugh at my brother about that one 😂.

Caroline Nagel
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

'It's been a year since I broke my nose', Message in a Bottle ,The Police. One of my classmates at the time.

Id row
Community Member
1 month ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"I'm not talking 'bout the linen. And the napkins will change your life."

Subaru645
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then pretend that we sang it correctly on purpose, making up our own versions like WeirdAl

Empresslockness
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

When we were young, my younger sister would sing "Sweet jeans are made of these."

Melbo Baggins
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Save the whale, save the whale, save the whale." Enya - Sail Away

René Sauer
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even better when you hear words of your own language in english song lyrics. One radio station in Germany has/had a section where listeners could send in their own misheard lyrics. they called it the Agathe Bauer section, named after the song "I got the Power" from snap. A listener called them to request the song with that name.

ArcanaPanda
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

🎵 "Michelle, mah belle, someday monkeys gonna play piano songs, play piano songs..." 🎵

Bob Brooce
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's a great theory, but I think a lot of lyrics websites just list the first set of lyrics that some random user comes along and posts. I've seen plenty where the wrong word(s) gets repeated multiple websites while other websites get it wrong. And even liner notes aren't always correct. Bruce Springsteen tells a story about liner notes that say "Mary's dress waves", saying that he's been singing "Mary's dress sways" for almost 50 years and the printed lyrics are wrong. [Google Fu] https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E3RtqtyDbcQ

LavenderHippoInAJar
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay a lot of teens also sang "Starbucks lovers" for far too long before realizing...

Funhog
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wasn't surprising to get the lyrics wrong though... I had a tape player that had one really poor-quality speaker. Now when I listen to those same songs on a CD played on awesome speakers, I can hear how the song was intended.

any rei
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Hold me closer Tony Danza 🎶🎵🎶 look, it made sense to me cuz I watched "who is the boss" as a kid and who wouldn't have wanted to dance with Tony Danza

Kat
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

David Bowies starman; I thought it was "there's a snowman"... I did hear this song for the first time at Christmas. 🤦‍♀️

Awkward Momma Panda
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

In your defense, I don’t think anyone knows the *true* lyrics to Even Flow…not even Eddie Vedder 🤷🏻‍♀️

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Zaach
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cisco mKid was a friend of mine - had the softest penis in the land (eats peanuts from the can)

Greg Gates
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For years I sung, "Cause every girl crazy 'bout a shy best man".... instead of....Sharp dressed man 😆

Jay Rainey
Community Member
3 weeks ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You picked a fine time to leave me Lucille. Four hundred children and a crop in the field.

Scott J
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The beginning of Wild LIfe by The Talking Heads sounds like "I'm ready now, for vaginas."

Chewie Baron
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“Last night I dreamt of potatoes” is what I thought the line was in Las Isla Bonita. It’s not. It’s “last night I dreamt of San Pedro”.

chickpea me
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually quite cringe what we used to think we heard and sang out loud in those days.

Lori Gibbs
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Inna Gadda Da Vida, even the singer didn't know what the words were.

Tonyah Mcanelly
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Rock the Cat box... Rock the cat box. ( Rock the Casbaugh) this is how my kids would sing this song

ynyrhydref56
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cassettes and CDs used to have album notes with the lyrics inside.

_-DungeonKeeper-_
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a person who gets confident in their ears sometimes and doesn't Google lyrics, it's like I'm looking in a mirror but it's being erased was my biggest thing, the lyrics were "like I'm looking in a mirror, but it's rearranged" and I still sing my version

Zaach
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Cisco Kid was a friend of mine - had the softest penis in the land (ate salted peanuts from the can)

Remi (He/Him)
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The casette sleeves were there for a reason and you were supposed to run them through the copier. Not getting to the are these legible argument when people did casette copies to the 4th generation

The Phantom Stranger
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Well since she put me down there's been owls pukin' in my bed." Not my original thought, but I read this in "Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs" which was basically about this very topic. Almost 30 years later, every time I hear "Help Me Rhonda ", thinking of this line still makes me laugh hysterically.

David Bois
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i SWEAR: [and yeah, i'm not young...] i thought that Milk Chocolate were telling me that: "I believe in Milk Duds" [tangential Simpsons reference: Mr. Teeny doing "the full monkey" to this song hahahaha see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUY9Y9RFiHY%5D

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#4

Let's Start Telling It Without Telling Your Age LOL Let's Who Will Win

Let's Start Telling It Without Telling Your Age LOL Let's Who Will Win

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According to research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, both men and women see an increase in positive affect as they get older (women, in particular, see a greater and accelerating increase).

On average, negative affect does not change for women predictably with age, but it decreases for aging men (with the caveat that the decrease is more pronounced for married men; for unmarried men, negative affect is elevated at every stage of life).

#8

If You Can Tell What This Is, You Might Be Old

If You Can Tell What This Is, You Might Be Old

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Many theories have been proposed for why this happens. But a 2013 review of research indicates that older people develop at least three distinct emotional skills: 1) they react less to negative situations, 2) they are better at ignoring irrelevant negative stimuli than they were when younger, and 3) they remember more positive than negative information.

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Basically, it's like knowing your negative emotions won’t last so you disregard them when they do arise and get a head start on the good feelings.

#9

You May Be Old, But Are You This Old?

You May Be Old, But Are You This Old?

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Scott Rackley
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Someone's fancy with their wall phone. Mamaw had a desk telephone you could use as a weapon.

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#10

You’re Old, But Are You This Old?

You’re Old, But Are You This Old?

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#12

Some Of You Can “Feel” This Door In Your Mind

Some Of You Can “Feel” This Door In Your Mind

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Jeff Gabrisl
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pfft, please, that belongs to a 4 door. Only us real ones know the weight of a 2 door, the door was taller than you and weighed more than the engine....

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Arthur Brooks, who is a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School and the Harvard Business School, where he teaches courses on leadership and happiness, thinks that when we're talking about growing old, we also have to mention changes in personality.

"Personality is generally separated by psychologists into five parts: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extroversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism," Brooks writes, discussing a paper by two researchers in which they summarized ... a voluminous literature on how these dimensions of personality change as we move from childhood to old age.

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#15

How Many Of You ‘70s Kids Can Feel This Picture?

How Many Of You ‘70s Kids Can Feel This Picture?

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Lost Panda
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not a 70s kid, but yes... Just because it wasn't red did not mean it wasn't hot

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"Some of the changes are not necessarily either good or bad. For example, people tend to become less gregarious after their mid-50s; they become more assertive from adolescence through their mid-30s and stay at this higher level; their openness to experience rises into early adulthood, stabilizes, and falls after their mid-50s."

But other changes are unambiguously positive. "Agreeableness tends to rise throughout adulthood, probably as we see its benefits and establish more emotional equanimity," Brooks adds. "Neuroticism usually falls, at least until one’s late 60s. And conscientiousness rises continuously. If you follow the typical development, you can expect to be nicer and kinder, and less depressed and anxious, when you are old."

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#19

This Always Seemed To Appear On My Parents Coffee Table Between Thanksgiving & Christmas

This Always Seemed To Appear On My Parents Coffee Table Between Thanksgiving & Christmas

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#20

Who Remembers Changing A Channel By Turning The Knob

Who Remembers Changing A Channel By Turning The Knob

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Our self-esteem also tends to rise as we move through adulthood, all the way to age 60.

It usually stays at a high level until about 70, then slightly declines. This last downward section could be connected to the accumulating death toll of elderly friends and spouses, but even so, we can expect it to be better at age 80 than 30.

#21

I Loved These And Used To Read Them At The Dentist's Office. It Was Standard Waiting Room Stuff For Kids

I Loved These And Used To Read Them At The Dentist's Office. It Was Standard Waiting Room Stuff For Kids

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#22

If You Remember Seeing This Machine You're Pretty Old

If You Remember Seeing This Machine You're Pretty Old

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Midwest Mike
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And getting them as a kid for your parents/grandparents and NO ONE CARED!!!

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#24

Who Dares To Admit That They Liked These Guys?

Who Dares To Admit That They Liked These Guys?

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So now that you know things are likely to get better as you age, we invite you to dive deeper into 'Heck I'm Old' and fire up our earlier publications on the subreddit 50 Painfully Funny Pics Of People Who Are Getting Old Faster Than They Expected and 40 Funny Posts Of People Grasping The Reality That They’re Old Now.

#25

Anyone Else Grow Up With These?

Anyone Else Grow Up With These?

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Savahax
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mother had a rotan fetish for a while. The whole house was so damn noisy

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#26

I Bet Future Generations Won't Understand This Immensely Frustrating Experience At All

I Bet Future Generations Won't Understand This Immensely Frustrating Experience At All

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#28

Did Anyone Else Sleep In One Of These? I Think I Would Have To Be Helped Out Of It Today

Did Anyone Else Sleep In One Of These? I Think I Would Have To Be Helped Out Of It Today

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Mike F
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Had sex on one a handful of times. Odd experience, you just had to get started and the tide took care of the rest, lol.

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#30

Really I'm Old Enough ,who's With Me

Really I'm Old Enough ,who's With Me

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Flopsy
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I even remember how mind blown I was when I saw my first cd and realised you can just skip songs easily.

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#33

These Guys Were The Best -

These Guys Were The Best -

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Bill Swallow
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah, but how many of you remember 'Spy vs Spy vs Spy', with the lady Grey Spy playing Black and White off against each othet?

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#34

Dont Even Try To Tell Me You Dont Know These

Dont Even Try To Tell Me You Dont Know These

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JimSteve
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

*Gasps in recognition* *Pulls out those exact pots out of kitchen drawer*

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#35

Who Had One Of These?

Who Had One Of These?

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Mike F
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Only handy for parking meter change. It didn't matter if it took you 5 or so minutes to dig that damned quarter out.

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#37

I See Your "Tales From The Crypt," And Raise You Elvira

I See Your "Tales From The Crypt," And Raise You Elvira

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#38

I’ll See Your Paddle Ball And Raise You A Cheap Airplane

I’ll See Your Paddle Ball And Raise You A Cheap Airplane

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#39

Could This Movie Be Made Today?

Could This Movie Be Made Today?

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#40

Who Was Around When These Two Became Famous And Then Infamous?

Who Was Around When These Two Became Famous And Then Infamous?

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#41

This Is What 30 Year Olds Looked Like In The 80s

This Is What 30 Year Olds Looked Like In The 80s

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#43

If This Was Your First Live Action Joker, You're Old

If This Was Your First Live Action Joker, You're Old

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#45

If You Remember This Boat

If You Remember This Boat

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#46

Did You Ever Win Anything Other Than A Free Pop?

Did You Ever Win Anything Other Than A Free Pop?

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Carl Roberts
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Today: Please enter your email, phone number, Facebook, Twitter, social security number and name of first born child, and you might win a free Pepsi.

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#47

Are You Old Enough To Remember When Wendys Had Cool Old Fashion Tables?

Are You Old Enough To Remember When Wendys Had Cool Old Fashion Tables?

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Mike F
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reading material so you didn't have to listen to MIL blathering on.

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#48

The Golden Age Of Education

The Golden Age Of Education

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#50

It Really Wasn't Difficult

It Really Wasn't Difficult

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Maggz Bennett
Community Member
1 month ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Have young people really never heard of maps?? What do they do in geography classes, it can't all be oxbow lakes and types of rock.

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Note: this post originally had 112 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.