Overheard a kid call brick patterns 'building memes' and it stuck with me

I was grabbing lunch near a job site and some teenager pointed at a running bond wall and said that. Now I can't look at a herringbone without thinking about which brick pattern would go viral.

2 comments

2 Comments

roseb4725d agoTop Commenter

See it differently. Memes are about timing, irony, shared jokes. Brick patterns are timeless, functional, and local - not ironic at all. A Flemish bond wall doesn't "go viral" because it's doing its job. Holding up a building, looking solid for a hundred years. That's the opposite of internet culture. Kids call everything a meme these days. Running bond has been around since the Romans. It's not a joke - it's a basic structural decision that millions of buildings rely on.

carter.julia24d ago

I walked past a construction site off 4th street last week and heard a kid call a basket weave pattern "old-school building memes with good shareability" and I nearly choked on my coffee. It's like they see everything through this internet lens now, where even something as boring as brick bonding gets turned into a punchline. But you're right, a Flemish bond isn't trying to be funny or ironic, it's just been around since people figured out how to stack rocks without them falling over. I guess the real meme is how fast language changes, but the brick wall just stays there doing its thing for a hundred years regardless. It's almost funny in a sad way how little connection there is between what something actually is and what kids call it these days.