How long do you think The Dude and Walter have been friends? And where did they meet?

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FromBZH-French@reddit

20 ans ils ont des rituels et des disputes qui démontrent une amitié de longue date !

Jeff Dowd le vrai Duke

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Think_Seaweed_7314@reddit

My head cannon is they met in Catholic school, first grade.

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BolivianDancer@reddit

It's all part of that sick Cynthia thing.

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Jake-Old-Trail-88@reddit

She could’ve introduced them for all we know.

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I interpret Walter as being a little unapproachable and intense and the Dude is really easy to talk to (The Stranger and the Chauffeur) thus the Dude got to talking to Walter at the bowling alley and the rest is um ya know history or whatever

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mandalore237@reddit

Yea seems like they're friends by circumstance

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KC_Jedi@reddit

The City of Angles

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silversurf1234567890@reddit

Near the Pentagon

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Unusual_Compote4909@reddit

Never in Nam, of course

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Apprehensive-Lion366@reddit

What the fuck does anything have to do with Vietnam?

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TaekDePlej@reddit

Well there’s not a literal connection

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ahoypolloi_@reddit

Face it Walter this isn’t any connection man

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Hotpasta1985@reddit

Everything’s a fucking travesty with you man!

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KiefBull@reddit

gif

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Designer_Emu_6518@reddit

Bowling alley

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Rambooctpuss@reddit

The bowling alley obviously duh

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TeaTimeTelevision@reddit

Doesn’t Walter own a pawn shop? I can see the Dude pawning some things, especially around the 10th

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Jake-Old-Trail-88@reddit

Walter does remind me of the type of guy to look for deals at a pawn shop. Hence, the uzi.

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Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

No he owns his own Security Company

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VictorBlimpmuscle@reddit

Donny introduced them.

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BukowskiWasRightt@reddit

Donny is Walter’s hallucination—no one interacts with him but Walter except when the phone’s ringing

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LawrenceSellers@reddit (OP)

Not entirely true. In the first bowling alley scene:

Dude: Yeah, it really tied the room together.

Donny: What tied the room together, Dude?

Dude: My rug.

Walter: Were you listening to The Dude’s story, Donny?

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BukowskiWasRightt@reddit

It’s all an act to keep Walter’s PTSD in check

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ailyara@reddit

no, the narrator said he didn’t like seeing Donny go. He wouldn’t have said that if Donny was just a figment of Walter‘s imagination. Your theory holds no water and you’re doing a bunch of mental gymnastics to try to make it work, but it just doesn’t.

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BukowskiWasRightt@reddit

Calmer than you are.

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LawrenceSellers@reddit (OP)

Also, Dude, it makes no sense to just dismiss the “phone’s ringing” scene like it doesn’t count

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BukowskiWasRightt@reddit

No, I get that. It was something that I’d heard a while back that stuck with me

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sharkzone@reddit

Hallucinations don’t produce ashes. You’re out of your element.

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BukowskiWasRightt@reddit

It’s linked to PTSD, man. The Dude is aware of Walter’s condition and simply abides by humoring the delusion to keep his friend stable. He was never really there.

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terminal_nervoso@reddit

I always assumed it was through bowling

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DanBarLinMar@reddit

I actually don’t know that they would have been friends were it not for bowling.

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Jake-Old-Trail-88@reddit

Walter dabbled in pacifism for a time. Not in Nam of course. Maybe Walter protested the war after getting out of the military. He met The Dude at a war protest.

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Xenoman5@reddit

Maybe the teams were assigned randomly and they ended up on the same team and became close friends?

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Objective_Watch3097@reddit

Isn't that a movie all to itself????

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Zarniwoooop@reddit

Not at an Eagles concert

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VisitAbject4090@reddit

What if it was and their shared dislike led them to walk out and run into each other

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Inosethatguy@reddit

That’s interesting, that’s fucking interesting

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BarodaBulldog@reddit

The Eagles were too capitalist. They were the first band to charge $100 a ticket. They were sellouts the ideals of 60s to make money. No way the Dude saw them in concert, unless he got a ticket for free.

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VisitAbject4090@reddit

Ahhh man your are just writing the lore as you go. Realizing his anti capitalist views at the eagles cementing his deep seeded hate

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Fubardir@reddit

Also not in Vietnam

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Krispykid54@reddit

Maybe the in and out burger on

Camos near Radford.

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Jake-Old-Trail-88@reddit

I assume post Nam. Dude got out of the war. Donny and Walter served together. Donny outranked Walter. Donny was a lieutenant and Walter was a staff sergeant and was Donny’s platoon sergeant. Walter met the Dude because they’re fellow brother Seamus’s.

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johnonymous1973@reddit

They’ve been friends since childhood. Walter went to ‘Nam and The Dude went to Port Huron.

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Unlucky-Network-4159@reddit

Obviously bowling- how else would they have encountered each other? Beyond bowling, they really dont share much in common, which I think is on purpose.

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PPLavagna@reddit

At a protest. Walter came back from Nam and chucked his medals over the capital fence, Dude was there. The both got arrested even though the Supreme Court had roundly rejected prior restraint.

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BOBdigi0023@reddit

Bowling dude

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Competitive_Toe2544@reddit

I always assumed they were old high school buddies. After School The Dude went to college briefly, then did "Cool" jobs like being a roadie, while Walter went to Nam. After Walter came back he ran into The Dude and they both were into bowling so they joined a league. This explains who someone as right wing as Walter would be friends with someone as chill as lebowski. Donnie could have been a friend from school as well.

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sloshuaa@reddit

Maybe it was during the break in of ROTC building and Walter was cadre.

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Z_e_e_e_G@reddit

Walter was in ROTC. Dude and his friends came in to occupy various administration buildings, uh, and, you know, maybe they get to talking, and they discover they’re both into bowling. I mean it’s not just, it might not be just such a simple, uh, you know? I mean, uh, hasn’t that ever occurred to you, man? Sir?

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Estproph@reddit

They met bowling. Where else could it be?

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One_Use_1347@reddit

I always assumed through the bowling alley. That is the main focus of their friendship. Fuck it Dude let’s go bowling.

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ddiknosaj@reddit

I suspect they’ve been freeing a while, probably more than 10 years. It seems highly likely that they met at the bowling alley. Dude.

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KeefsCornerShop@reddit

I think the Dude used to be in Smokey's team. Sticks up for him with the toe slip over the line. Him and smokey go back longer I reckon. They've definitely smoked a lot of Thai stick together.

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fergehtabodit@reddit

I like this one. The Dude knew smokey all the way back in college or maybe even high school, that he was a pacifist and a conscientious objector...but Walter did not know that. They maybe have even occupied various administration buildings together but I doubt Smokey was one of the 6 other guys.

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mattchuckyost@reddit

Yeah but he wuddnt over

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MrBark@reddit

Has the whole world GONE CRAZY?!

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KoA07@reddit

arf arf arf

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naturalmanofgolf@reddit

Shut the fuck up, Thurston

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wds1@reddit

You’re like a child who wanders into the middle of a movie and wants to know

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Z_e_e_e_G@reddit

I was bowlin’

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NotYerBoyBlue@reddit

I spent most of my time occupying various administration buildings, smoking a lot of Thai stick, breaking into the ROTC and bowling.

He got pinched by Walter at the ROTC, and they hit it off over bowling.

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Jasion128@reddit

They are newer friends , based on bowling 🎳

The dude isnt aware of Walter’s strict religious observances , surprised he cant roll on sabbath

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TRDOffRoadGuy@reddit

They did Performing Arts together at Community College. That is where they met Marty.

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LawrenceSellers@reddit (OP)

Who…who the fuck is Marty?

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TRDOffRoadGuy@reddit

You need to go rewatch the movie.

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TRDOffRoadGuy@reddit

Well dude we just may never know.

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Blueberry_Mancakes@reddit

At the bowling alley. Donnie and Walter were on a team, The Dude and Smokey were on another team. They both needed a couple of players so they joined forces.
I'm guessing The Stranger introduced them.

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2nd2lastdragon@reddit

longer than 5 years as that was how long Walter had been divorced from Cynthia, whom the Dude was on a first name basis with.

less than 20 years as Walter was on tour in 'Nam, late 60s to early 70s around the same time the Dude was participating in the Seattle 7 antiwar protests (based on the real life Seattle 7 Liberation front 70-71 + a 3 month prison sentence in 72 for conspiracy)

Met as regulars at the same bowling alley bar and became closer friends when they joined the same bowling team.

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Slickno6@reddit

My thought was that it is still a relatively new friendship going back 5 years at most. They met through a mutual love of bowling and league play. I have similar friends I know through similar circumstances. Unhinged lunatics that I would probably not associate with outside of the bowling, pool, darts leagues I know them through.

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funked1@reddit

Bowling

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Top-Use4277@reddit

Well dude we just don’t know. Walter did dabble in pacifism at one point. Obviously, not in nam of course. I’d day sometime between 1975-1985. Speed of sound tour. Bunch of assholes, and Walter is most certainly that. Possibly the biggest asshole in Los Angeles County, which would place him high in the running for biggest asshole world wide.

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Gotts21@reddit

They met twelve years prior at Pismo Beach watching surfers wipeout as the sunset into the bosom of the Pacific Ocean.

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ForceMedical1640@reddit

In your wisdom, Lord, you took him, as you took so many bright flowering young men at Khe Sanh, at Langdok, at Hill 364!!. ...

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Aggravating_Bat3618@reddit

Lets take that hill

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Background_Swim_5954@reddit

I always assumed they’ve been friends since childhood, perhaps because of their shared Polish heritage. Like maybe they were classmates in Catholic school, or their parents knew each other.

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uttyrc@reddit

Perhaps Walter Sobchak got his start in the security business by being a bodyguard for Metallica on their Speed of Sound tour.

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therealtwomartinis@reddit

too many concert dates on shabbos, your roll

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uttyrc@reddit

Maybe this was before Walter met Cynthia.

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therealtwomartinis@reddit

Walter’s getting divorced when MoP comes out. presumably he managed ti hold it together with Cynthia for a few years… so my money’s placing Walter’s conversion around the time of Mustaine’s departure

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uttyrc@reddit

Pacifism Sells ... but Who's Buying?

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therealtwomartinis@reddit

Some uhh, brown uhh or, Rust in Peace, coloration 🤣

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Mountain_Foot@reddit

*Your roll *

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ForceMedical1640@reddit

Bunch of assholes!!..

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PleaseDontHoller@reddit

That's fuckin interesting, man

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uttyrc@reddit

Maybe Donnie was selling T-shirts.

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OvoidPovoid@reddit

He'd still be out of his element

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imstevieshield@reddit

Probably when Walter was still married to Cynthia. She couldn’t stand his PTSD and I suspect she cheated on him with Marty Ackerman. He wanted her back badly but she wasn’t having it. Why else would he take care of her fucking Pomeranian as well as change religions? The Dude helped him relieve some stress through bowling and they’ve been friends since then.

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Puzzleheaded_Gene909@reddit

During league play

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DeuceOfDiamonds@reddit

My headcanon is that the League teamed all three of them (including the Walrus) randomly for a tournament, and it went well enough that they just kept playing together. I also don't think they actually know each other all that well, judging by Donnie's eulogy. Duder and Donnie probably know more about Walter than vice-versa, mostly due to Walter's ironic inability to shut the fuck up.

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