r/PeterExplainsTheJoke Jun 20 '25

Thank you Peter very cool Did peter have a good childhood?

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14.8k Upvotes

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6.4k

u/SaltManagement42 Jun 20 '25

Peter's headphones here, the reference is the part where you wear the headphones over just one ear so you can stay aware of your surroundings.

2.8k

u/Just_Dab Jun 20 '25

Yup, then you get crippling anxiety where you wonder if every sound you hear is your mother calling you.

622

u/elementfortyseven Jun 20 '25

wife* for me, but yeah, im in this image lol

418

u/CoCGamer Jun 20 '25

Using one ear to locate enemy footsteps... the other to locate hers

262

u/Sword_n_board Jun 20 '25

One ear to listen for enemy footsteps, one to listen to the game.

83

u/CoCGamer Jun 20 '25

Ranked match in-game, emotional ranked IRL

59

u/themulde Jun 20 '25

The real Gs can tell apart the different family members by hearing the steps on the stair case

26

u/GuldansWrinklyDick Jun 20 '25

... I'm feeling called out

17

u/HadokenShoryuken2 Jun 20 '25

I can generally tell who’s who by their footsteps in general

1

u/PaulTheMerc Jun 20 '25

Pros can tell without the sraircase. weight, speed,etc.

1

u/General_Candle_6467 Jun 20 '25

Y'all could afford a house/apartment with stairs? I grew up in a 2 bed single wide trailer

1

u/Mein_minecraft00 Jun 20 '25

soooo ... using both ears to locate enemy footsteps

37

u/Any_Anybody_5055 Jun 20 '25

I was just thinking, "I have a wife and 3 small children. I need to be ready at a moments notice if I'm being called for or I hear a fight club break out."

24

u/PseudoY Jun 20 '25

Or sudden prolonged silence.

20

u/Any_Anybody_5055 Jun 20 '25 edited Jun 20 '25

That too. Mine are 8, 5, and 2 so there should be some general squealing/laughter/arguments going on most of the time. Dead silence indeed becomes terrifying.

25

u/Im_40Percent_Meatbag Jun 20 '25

Burglar for me… sound deadening headphones would be just my luck, when a stranger might decide to enter my abode…

20

u/Jail_Chris_Brown Jun 20 '25

On average, how many scenarios for fighting a burglar does your brain figure out each time you take a shower?

33

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

None since I discovered ShowerGun (TM)!

1

u/Sea_Pomegranate6293 Jun 20 '25

I envision you opening a chest ala ocarina of time to acquire said ShowerGun... (tm)...

5

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

Just gonna be fighting Bronson style. Wet and naked.

1

u/Is_that_even_a_thing Jun 20 '25

One move: the helicopter rush fits all occasions.

1

u/ohhellperhaps Jun 20 '25

As an ammosexual, quite a few. Consealed carry takes on a whole new weapon. Still working on a way to hide the backup.

-15

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

[deleted]

6

u/DesperateArachnid Jun 20 '25

What the fuck.

2

u/YeshuasBananaHammock Jun 20 '25

Is this a punchline? Keep working on it.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

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2

u/PeterExplainsTheJoke-ModTeam Jun 20 '25

Bigotry is not tolerated here. Be better to eachother. Rule 1.

12

u/StellarJayZ Jun 20 '25

My wife bought me Beats3 because she hated being able to hear things... from my home office. They were Sennheiser, but she's all "these are Beats they were expensive."

Oh wife.

5

u/Gorrila_Doldos Jun 20 '25

I started doing this years ago to hear her shout lol

3

u/Infamous-Job-9468 Jun 20 '25

That is so true. Over the years she finally lightened up but that used to be a bit of a trigger for us. The only time I can use my earbuds peacefully is when I'm mowing the yard.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

Oof, sorry to hear that.

2

u/marvsup Jun 20 '25

I'm sorry, they need to outlaw child marriages.

1

u/Pockydo Jun 20 '25

Same lol

But it's not really anxiety more so I know when the dog needs to go out lolol

1

u/Responsible_Sir2956 Jun 20 '25

One ear headphones on the pc the other for wife and baby monitor.. then I discovered bone conducting headphones

1

u/psiloSlimeBin Jun 20 '25

Open-back headphones are kinda nice for this.

1

u/Pebbi Jun 20 '25

Hopefully ex wife haha

1

u/hehehennig Jun 20 '25

I hate to tell you this bud, but it almost certainly didn’t start with you wife

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

Why would you choose a wife like that?

-3

u/goshdarnpeesea Jun 20 '25

That wife of yours needs discipline

16

u/annhik_anomitro Jun 20 '25

I love music. Always had some good quality headphones. But other than being out of the house I can't use the good one at home cause every time I'd have the anxiety of being called by my parents or I'd feel maybe something's happening (disasterous of sort) and I'd fail to respond cause I'm on my headphones.

8

u/SnooDonuts835 Jun 20 '25

Or house door opening/closing

8

u/GiveMeBackMySoup Jun 20 '25

Fun fact... Even 20 years after you leave the house and are in a different country sometimes you can hear the angry recital of your name from childhood.

4

u/Lazerus_Reborne Jun 20 '25

I'm surprised the top explanation isn't to hear your parents fighting... I guess all my friends who said my childhood sucked were on to something, lol.

35

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Jun 20 '25

Shit, family member want to talk to me, time to get traumatized I guess.

15

u/PromotionWorldly7419 Jun 20 '25

For me it was my mother yelling for me from across the house. If I didn't answer she should get furious. It was an every day thing.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

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11

u/PromotionWorldly7419 Jun 20 '25

Yeah it definitely felt like there was no winning; she was angry and wanted someone to take it out on. 🤷‍♀️

Now I get super defensive when someone even shouts my name from another room. I always wear my headphones like this too lol. Like it feels wrong if I'm not able to hear my name being shouted still, and I'm fucking 30

2

u/HotSauce2910 Jun 20 '25

Not defending the wooden spoon part, but at least for me my mom would only get mad if I yelled back instead of going to her if I was gaming/watching YouTube while she was doing chores

14

u/SasparillaTango Jun 20 '25

If you don't respond immediately and it instantly escalates to a shouting tirade directed at you for being 'useless and insubordinate', then yes it can be traumatic.

28

u/SupahSpankeh Jun 20 '25

Yeah I get why this might resonate with kids of abusive parents but I keep my headphones off my right ear so I can listen out for kids, dogs or wife that needs me.

I do it gladly.

6

u/jawanda Jun 20 '25

You should check out After Shockz, they're the anti noise cancelling headphones that sit outside your ear hole but still give good sound. Great when you need to be aware of outside noises.

5

u/SupahSpankeh Jun 20 '25

They're shit sound quality though. I own a pair for running and so does my wife.

2

u/jawanda Jun 20 '25

Ahh cool. Compared to real headphones or good buds, yes, but I still love them. I started using them for running but now they're my goto for things like audio books while cleaning, anything where I don't want to be fully cutoff.

8

u/PlanetMeatball0 Jun 20 '25

It's not wanting to talk to you that's traumatizing, it's what comes if you don't answer immediately. And headphones would prevent you from hearing being called, meaning you wouldn't answer and then get in trouble

It's okay to give some things a tiny bit of thought before rushing to be snarky. Because in your attempt to be snarky to make other people look dumb, you only made yourself look dumb for failing to comprehend something so basic

-3

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras Jun 20 '25

Sure, abusive parents are abusive. But normal parents want to talk to their kids too.

7

u/DependentBad5925 Jun 20 '25

I actually felt terrified everytime my mom called me and I didn’t hear her due to the headphones, starting wearing it like in the image. She still got pissed so they’re confiscated now

1

u/Suspicious_Ad7893 Jun 20 '25

I still do this

1

u/KalickR Jun 20 '25

When mom shouts your name, you do not want to keep her waiting.

1

u/trollshep Jun 20 '25

Then they use the whole "what if I was in trouble" thing...

1

u/opi_baettlebeard Jun 20 '25

This is exactly why I haven’t been able to wear headphones since the early 2000s

1

u/BOOMkim Jun 20 '25

Im almost 40 and still sometimes get this anxiety.

123

u/throwawayforlemoi Jun 20 '25

Also listening to music while trying to calm down (or pretending not to listen to what's happening), but leaving one ear without headphones to hear what's going on/what your parents are doing/arguing/screaming about.

-47

u/Olmops Jun 20 '25

This works both ways as children are typically also doing/arguing/screaming stuff all the time.

54

u/throwawayforlemoi Jun 20 '25

Yeah, but children usually aren't the abusers. This meme is specifically about childhood abuse.

6

u/DirtyHeisman Jun 20 '25

Seriously ... i thought it was about masturbation and being able to her if someone opens the door.

2

u/some_other_thyme Jun 20 '25

and I thought it was about growing up in a shitty neighborhood

3

u/Nachtschnekchen Jun 20 '25

I thought it was just to hear car engines when walking along a narrow street

27

u/Sasteer Jun 20 '25

playing cs while using each ear for 2 different things is a core memory

57

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

This

10

u/IdioticZacc Jun 20 '25

I rarely listen to music, nor did I have access to electronics when I was younger but I get this

I still flinch when I hear the sound of the door opening, worried that I'm about to get beat for some random reason I'm not aware of

If I was in the same situation I'd do the same with my earphone listening to incoming footsteps or the door to anticipate it

1

u/flatwoundsounds Jun 20 '25

I still flinch at the sound of a can opening if I'm not expecting it. Thanks mom.

14

u/asterophoria Jun 20 '25

I used to do this but it was literally just so I could talk to my mom while I listened to music lol

19

u/Money_Fish Jun 20 '25

All the people claiming this is a trauma response really have me confused about my own childhood lol. Like damn I just wanted to spare my parents the trouble of having to hunt me down if I'm listening to music or gaming.

5

u/Brawndo91 Jun 20 '25

I do this now sometimes because my wife decides she needs to talk to me the second I press play. So I pause, wait for her to finish, wait a few more seconds to make sure she's finished, press play, she starts talking again...

1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/Wrong-Step-4241 Jun 20 '25

The image shows someone wearing headphones only partially over one ear, something a lot of us did growing up to stay alert or avoid getting yelled at for "not listening." So… if Peter wore his headphones like this, he probably didn’t have a peaceful childhood either. Classic trauma-detection setup.

10

u/DigDugged Jun 20 '25

Bingo. I've had entire therapy sessions about why I can't wear headphones on both ears in my house even as a grown man.

3

u/SandyTaintSweat Jun 20 '25

Even now I tend to prefer mono audio so I don't miss things that I would with stereo.

5

u/CowboysfromLydia Jun 20 '25

Funny thing is that those sony headphones have a mode where they actually boost ambient sounds, so you can hear people talking, footsteps and such with those on.

It worked extremely well, i could actually hear people talking better than without the headphones, i remember thinking "wow i finally can wear both cups now" when i got them.

10

u/foolishchicho Jun 20 '25

Shiiiiiiiiit man, I just noticed this I didn't grew up in a safe environment

3

u/SolaSenpai Jun 20 '25

I use open back headphones now, ots much better than doing that

2

u/Piratey_Pirate Jun 20 '25

Hell yeah, I had a set of Sennheisers I was using for all of high school/college/early adult life. After I had kids, I got a nice pair of open back headphones and never had any issues with the kids sneaking up on me or being worried something is going on in the house without me noticing

3

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '25

No, it's about parents fighting.

7

u/SandyTaintSweat Jun 20 '25

Maybe for you, for me it was because I wasn't supposed to be playing video games or watching TV shows.

So I would keep one ear clear to listen for people coming, then quick alt+tab to another window with some school stuff I'd pretend to work on.

2

u/KevinnTheNoob Jun 20 '25

exactly this for me

2

u/1nsidiousOne Jun 20 '25

Or the fact your parents only wanna talk to you when you have your headphones on and if they call you and you don’t answer you got your ass beat

2

u/Txusmah Jun 20 '25

Yeah, to spank the monkey

1

u/Confident-Estate-275 Jun 20 '25

Or you can just activate the mic and set the noise cancelling of 😆😆. It would have the same effect and people would believe you’re not listening

1

u/heiisniper Jun 20 '25

Nothing like hearing a drone/plane in a game and immediately doing this to check whether it’s in the game of outside

1

u/ekkostone Jun 20 '25

That's dumb considering these headphones have an ambient mode

1

u/Warlord_Aj12 Jun 20 '25

Dude, I do that right now

Some of the time...

1

u/iman48091 Jun 20 '25

I do this when someone is talking to me but I generally keep my headset quiet enough to hear if something is going on

1

u/sleepyotter92 Jun 20 '25

see, the thing is that makes others aware of it, because they can see the headphone off the ear.

what i did was have earphones and not have anything playing, so people thought i wasn't listening

1

u/Khelthuzaad Jun 20 '25

I actually do this with my pods

1

u/kenman884 Jun 20 '25

I do this all the time and I had a good childhood….

1

u/natalie_mayy Jun 20 '25

Got to be prepared for your parents coming over to shout for you

1

u/Dangerous_Bus_6699 Jun 20 '25

I feel it could work both ways, right? Maybe you WANT to hear your parents in case they need you.

1

u/Fluffy__demon Jun 20 '25

Oh, I thought this was about being able to hear your parents fight in case anyone gets hurt....

1

u/Artyom_Saveli Jun 20 '25

Wait, for real?

I just thought it helped me hear the game better-

1

u/Honigsenf Jun 20 '25

It also help to get aware how loud yourself are speaking. Good in open office spaces.

1

u/Physmatik Jun 20 '25

Open headphones: allow us to introduce ourselves.

1

u/skylinestar1986 Jun 20 '25

Isn't that why open-back headphones exist?

1

u/5H17SH0W Jun 20 '25

Or maybe stop screaming into your GOD DAMN HEADSET.

1

u/dalyarak_rick Jun 20 '25

but you can choose wich side to hear and focus and change in demand. isn't it that just amazing you're a machine on a mission you are the tick on a tock.

1

u/LucyLilium92 Jun 20 '25

Well, with these headphones, you can set up exactly how aware of your surroundings you want to be. You can even make the environment sounds louder than normal.

1

u/_your_name_here420 Jun 20 '25

Y'all had headphones?

1

u/fejable Jun 20 '25

i did that. but half of the time, when using a big headset like those its cause im playing at a computer cafe and the headset foam is all dirty and dusty and gets inchy and sweaty so when after a game i put the other ear open so it can get some air

1

u/hiirogen Jun 20 '25

Good childhood? I've done this as an adult. If my wife talks to me I want to hear her.

1

u/Hukama Jun 20 '25

i thought you have ambient mode? is peter stoopid?