GagBase Logo Explore

As Easy as 1-2-3: Bankruptcy, Divorce, Liquor

The image depicts a single-story building with three consecutive storefronts. From left to right, the signs read 'BANKRUPTCY', 'DIVORCE', and 'LIQUOR' in bold, capital letters. Above the image, there is a text overlay that says 'As easy as 1-2-3'. The humor lies in the sarcastic juxtaposition of the phrase 'as easy as 1-2-3' (typically used to denote simplicity) with the sequence of misfortunes implied by the businesses: bankruptcy (financial ruin), divorce (relationship breakdown), and liquor (often associated with coping through alcohol). Two cars are parked in front of the building, and trees are visible in the background, suggesting a suburban or small-town setting.
Make

Text content

BANKRUPTCY, DIVORCE, LIQUOR

Overview

The image depicts a single-story building with three consecutive storefronts. From left to right, the signs read 'BANKRUPTCY', 'DIVORCE', and 'LIQUOR' in bold, capital letters. Above the image, there is a text overlay that says 'As easy as 1-2-3'. The humor lies in the sarcastic juxtaposition of the phrase 'as easy as 1-2-3' (typically used to denote simplicity) with the sequence of misfortunes implied by the businesses: bankruptcy (financial ruin), divorce (relationship breakdown), and liquor (often associated with coping through alcohol). Two cars are parked in front of the building, and trees are visible in the background, suggesting a suburban or small-town setting.

Origin notes

The meme originates from X.com (formerly Twitter) user @meme_basement, as indicated by the source information. It appears to be a user-created meme consisting of a photograph of a real storefront with three consecutive businesses, overlaid with the text 'As easy as 1-2-3' to create a sarcastic joke about life misfortunes. The image likely circulated on X as a humorous take on sequential hardships, leveraging the visual coincidence of the three businesses being adjacent.

Similar memes

The meme displays a photograph of a low-rise strip mall with three adjacent commercial storefronts. From left to right, the signs above the stores read 'BANKRUPTCY', 'DIVORCE', and 'LIQUOR'. Two cars, a black SUV and a white sedan, are parked in front of the stores. A large white text caption is overlaid at the bottom of the image that reads 'works in either direction'. The dark humor joke relies on the fact that the sequence of the stores works logically in both directions: experiencing bankruptcy or divorce first can lead a person to drink liquor as a coping mechanism, while excess liquor consumption can lead to divorce and then subsequent bankruptcy.

Choose Your Path: Bankruptcy, Divorce, or Liquor

The meme displays a photograp…

A two-panel comparison meme featuring a person in a red jacket with Homer Simpson's animated face edited onto their head. The left panel displays the text '3 kids and no money' alongside Homer's distressed, frowning expression, while the right panel shows 'no kids and 3 money' with Homer smiling happily. The meme humorously contrasts the perceived trade-off between having children and having financial wealth.

Homer's Choice: Kids or Money?

A two-panel comparison meme f…

This meme uses a fisheye peephole door camera perspective to show a man with thick black glasses and dark clothing standing on a 'WELCOME' doormat outside a residence, staring intensely directly at the camera with an impatient, deadpan expression. White overlaid text across his chest reads 'me at the liquor store 1 minute before open', creating a humorous comparison between the eagerness and desperation of someone waiting for a liquor store to open and the unsettling, insistent look of a visitor waiting outside a front door for the resident to let them in. The fisheye lens distortion exaggerates the man's facial features, amplifying the comedic intensity of his expression.

Me at the liquor store 1 minute before open

This meme uses a fisheye peep…

A 2x2 comic panel meme. Top-left: A blonde woman in a pink sweater with wide eyes and an open mouth, arms outstretched, saying 'I came in 2 minutes!' in a speech bubble. Top-right: A group of people celebrating with autumn leaves in the background, hugging, clapping, and appearing joyful. Bottom-left: A man with short hair, wide-eyed and open-mouthed, saying 'I came in 2 minutes!' in a speech bubble. Bottom-right: A group of people with bare trees (suggesting winter) in the background, looking embarrassed or shocked, some covering their mouths. The meme contrasts reactions to the same phrase, likely playing on the double meaning of 'came' (arrival vs. sexual connotation), with the woman's announcement met with celebration and the man's met with discomfort.

Different Reactions to 'I Came in 2 Minutes'

A 2x2 comic panel meme. Top-l…

This minimalist graphic meme uses a map navigation analogy to humorously depict a common relatable behavior. Three map location pins are placed on a dark background: the top pin marks 'me', the middle pin marks 'asking for help', and the bottom pin marks 'trying to do everything on my own and then having a breakdown'. Instead of taking the short, direct vertical path from the user's current position to 'asking for help', the route shown takes a long, unnecessary detour, extending far right before dropping down to the bottom pin, illustrating that many people will choose to struggle alone and burn out rather than ask others for assistance even when it is far more convenient.

Meme of choosing to struggle alone over asking for help

This minimalist graphic meme …

This is a reaction meme consisting of two parts: white text on a black background at the top describes an absurd convoluted family arrangement: 'My friend married my mother and I also married his mother, now as the father of my father I am my own child'. Below the text is a low-resolution photograph of former US President Barack Obama tilting his head back and looking upward with a bewildered, overwhelmed expression, as if he cannot fathom the confusing, logically sound but socially unacceptable family dynamic described in the text. The humor comes from the absurdity of the premise, which technically results in the narrator being both their own grandfather and descendant, paired with the relatable confused reaction to nonsensical overly complex information.

Makes sense convoluted family relation meme

This is a reaction meme consi…

A meme featuring two lines of text and a photograph. The top text reads 'Alcohol won’t make you happy' followed by 'Me with alcohol:'. Below is a candid photo of a woman with long blonde hair, wearing a blue denim jacket and jeans, laughing loudly while carrying a blue Budweiser case filled with alcohol bottles. She is outdoors in an urban setting with parked cars and buildings in the background. The meme uses irony to humorously contradict the initial statement by showing the woman's obvious joy from having alcohol.

Alcohol Won't Make You Happy? Me With Alcohol

A meme featuring two lines of…

A meme image featuring the title 'How to protect your home in a zombie apocalypse' above a photograph of a small wooden house surrounded by an excessive number of treadmills. The treadmills are densely arranged around the house's perimeter, including the yard and porch, creating a humorous visual joke that suggests using unused treadmills as a physical barrier to protect against zombies. The absurdity lies in the impractical yet relatable idea of repurposing common household exercise equipment (often left unused) for survival in a fictional apocalypse scenario.

How to protect your home in a zombie apocalypse

A meme image featuring the ti…

This is a remixed stick figure meme parodying the popular 'are ya winning son' template. A stick figure father wearing a hat, smoking a cigarette and holding a mug stands in a doorway asking 'ARE YA hired SON??'. The second stick figure, representing a job seeker, lies on the floor crying, surrounded by scattered job application documents, next to an open laptop marked with the LinkedIn logo, and replies 'NO.'. The meme humorously depicts the common frustration of unsuccessful job hunting after submitting large numbers of applications via professional platforms like LinkedIn.

Are Ya Hired Son Job Search Relatable Meme

This is a remixed stick figur…

This is a screenshot of a public tweet from X (formerly Twitter) user youngmi mayer, handle @ymmayer. The text of the tweet reads 'me at a threesome: are you guys mad at me at me'. The joke is self-deprecating and relatable, playing on common social anxiety tropes: the speaker is so accustomed to worrying they have upset others that they would assume they angered their partners even during a consensual casual sexual encounter. A partial view of the poster's face is visible in the profile photo at the top left of the tweet interface.

Anxious Person Threesome Joke Tweet

This is a screenshot of a pub…

This is a comedy meme built around a forced perspective optical illusion. The top text reads 'me when she comes home drunk at 3am after girls night out', which sets up a suggestive expectation. At first glance, the photo appears to show a woman in a sexually suggestive position, but the illusion is actually a woman hugging a brown horse standing sideways in a stable — the horse's large body creates the misleading visual. The humor comes from the bait-and-switch: the suggestive implication from the text and misleading perspective is revealed to just be an innocent photo with a horse.

Me When She Comes Home Drunk After Girls Night Out (Willie Stroker)

This is a comedy meme built a…

A three-panel meme featuring Winnie the Pooh. The top panel shows Pooh with a neutral expression, accompanied by the text '... 9am 10am 11am'. The middle panel displays Pooh grimacing with visible teeth, next to the prominently sized text '12pm'. The bottom panel returns to Pooh with a neutral expression, with the text '1pm 2pm 3pm ...'. The humor lies in highlighting the confusion caused by '12pm' (noon) in the 12-hour clock format, implicitly arguing that the 24-hour clock is superior by avoiding such ambiguity.

24-hour clock is superior

A three-panel meme featuring …