Every friend group has at least one. You know the kind of guy. You have been up since 6:00 AM, busting your balls for your minimum wage job or apprenticeship. Yet this guy was up earlier, hiking up Carrauntoohil for the second time that day or getting ready to go go-karting in Tralee. This is all to make it back to Dublin to suggest ‘pints @ 5?’ in the lads WhatsApp group. As a student on ERASMUS, I believe my say on this topic is stronger than many. I am quite literally THE stereotypical unemployed friend on a Tuesday.
They have the most infuriating outlook on life because for them, money doesn’t exist. Their concept of being rich is being at one with nature, noting what the world around them has to offer and seeing the bigger picture than what’s given to them at face value. They will give you an unwanted lecture on how you are becoming a slave to capitalism or how you are being brainwashed by corporate propaganda. All the while, this guy has had two jobs his entire life and left both after two weeks.
‘‘You have been added to ‘Lads Holiday Marrakesh 2026’’, yet another hopeless group chat that everyone blankly agreed to. In reality, you have to book two weeks off work, take out a second mortgage for flights, scrounge around the gaff for clothes and not to mention the price of drinks. They couldn’t have chosen somewhere normal for a lads holiday like Santa Ponsa, no? Though all of this is going on in your head, the unemployed friend has already booked the flights, reserved the hostel and is leaving to interrail Europe in 5 days. This guy does not have a care in the world.
From bungee jumping to skydiving, he has done it all. While you sit through boring meetings in an itchy suit and pointy leather shoes, he’s out trekking the forests of Fiji, posting the perfect Machu Picchu shot in Peru, or socialising over a stein of San Miguel with a stranger in Spain.
The worst part is that, deep down, you know exactly how this story ends. Not with him discovering responsibility or settling into a steady 9–5, but with you liking his photo, muting the group chat, and setting your alarm for 6:00 AM. again.
Photo Credit: Shane Meleady
