How many times have you not been doing anything at work or school because you've been scrolling through 'Hide Your Pain Harold' memes? Don't worry, we're in a safe place here. I've spent many hours avoiding work doing the exact same thing.
For a long time I thought his face wasn't real. After 'Hide Your Pain Harold', I saw it in other memes; I saw it in /r/youdontsurf; I saw it above comments lifted from Pornhub; I saw it everywhere, in every meme. That face. A bit like Santa on a come-down, filled with regret about going out on the night of the 23rd December, knowing he's got the real big one on the 24th.
Obviously, Harold is real, but we've only ever known him as a model in a stock photo. Until now. Harold is an actual living, breathing meme with a back story which has been beautifully illustrated by Imgur user lolskilled.
Advert
Harold, a lighting engineer living in Hungary, recently appeared on vkontakte (Russia's version of Facebook) with a sign reading "I am alive!" - thank God, Harold. Thank God.
With Harold's true identity now revealed, more and more pictures emerged of him in his natural, non-stock image form.
He was later interviewed about his life. He revealed he had been contacted by a stock photo agency on iwiw, a Hungarian social media site, and he agreed to a photoshoot.
Advert
Whoever chose Harold to be the basis of a million and one memes, I salute you. Although my mother said I was wasting my life with memes, I don't think a second was thrown away. Not a single second.
Here's Harold when he was young...
Following the 'success' of the stock photos, Harold did actually make a TV appearance in Hungary but no one noticed it was him.
Advert
He enjoyed his newfound fame and even posted a video to his YouTube channel, Hideyourpain, but after an extensive search, I have been unable to find the video. Sorry guys.
In the TV interview, Harold said:
"It feels strange that something like a simple photoshoot, that started out as an interesting game, got such an afterlife. It is even more strange to experience that weird mimics mean more in the world of media than decades of work experience. I will always see myself as a lighting engineer, not a photo model. At this point though, I can't do anything but abide by the old saying: when you can't change something, get right to the front of it."
Advert
Did he mean mimics, or does he just not know what a meme is?
Either way, this should be the story to break the internet. It is the internet.
Featured Image Credit: