Strange things are afoot at the Circle K
Posted by Kristylane@reddit | GenX | View on Reddit | 174 comments
I was just at Circle K. I asked the lady behind the counter if anyone ever said “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K” and she looked at me like I have three heads. Odd, because I’d guess she was about 60, so it should have been part of her youth. Whatever, maybe she was a Molly Ringwald fan.
BUT THEN! Her little coworker dude (I’m guessing about 30) comes running up and starts explaining to me that “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K” is a quote from the movie Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.
Uhmmmm…. I know. I lived it.
So what’s the term for when someone from a younger generation explains what we already know? It’s like mansplaining, but from a child?
(I also had a 20 year old at work explain to me what a busy signal is. I thought I should bring in a cassette tape and a pencil and blow her mind)
techparadox@reddit
I'd call that "Z-splaining". I saw someone comment on a post on X the other day that Gen Z is the "the most Christopher Columbus-ass generation, because they keep 'discovering' stuff that has been around for years and acting like it's new info". It was in response to the posting of a heat map of earthquake activity, where the dots on the map basically drew out the shape of the tectonic plates, and the Z was like "wow, it's all connected".
Papasamabhanga@reddit
I was just discussing this phenomenon with my wife. I chose ' 'Youth-splaining'.
vulgrin@reddit
I’d prefer a hard T. Yout-Training. Because of all the youts.
GroveGuy33133@reddit
RoadOwn7439@reddit
The defense is wrong
CitizenChatt@reddit
I like to say that but insert my company's name when things go off the rails at work
davster99@reddit
Hmm… Strange things are afoot at the Wells Fargo branch… at the Phillip Morris factory…
Yeah it works anywhere.
imtoowhiteandnerdy@reddit
Hah, it's funny that I lived in Tempe Arizona when this movie came out, which was filmed in Tempe. The Circle K (long gone) was at Hardy Dr and Southern in Tempe.
amatchmadeinregex@reddit
I lived in Deer Valley, but my friends and I practically lived at MetroCenter Mall every summer, so once in a blue moon I have to rewatch that movie to see the "San Dimas" mall.
I was back in my hometown for a visit and I tried to check it out, but apparently it was torn down fairly recently. The Golf 'N Stuff (okay, Castles and Coasters) is still there though, so I played a round.
SeismicFrog@reddit
As I recall when I did the same in my younger days, Smart Ass did the trick.
New-Geezer@reddit
Better a smart ass than a dumb ass!
AZPeakBagger@reddit
I used to work down the street from that particular Circle K. Last year when they closed that location, they let a local movie chain set up a screen to show the movie.
Well after the movie came out I had a job at the "San Dimas Mall" aka MetroCenter in Phoenix.
zenunseen@reddit
Wait I'm confused. So they showed B&T the movie in, what, the parking lot of the Circle K that was featured in the movie?
AZPeakBagger@reddit
Yep. They showed the movie in that particular Circle K's parking lot the last night it was open.
tears_of_fat_thor@reddit
Yes, that’s what it sounds like! Pretty nice!
imtoowhiteandnerdy@reddit
Yeah, I also lived in Tempe back when this was first released. My sister was an extra in one of their scenes too (though not the Circle K scene). Good times.
pantstoaknifefight2@reddit
San Dimas High School football rules!!!
RedHarleyQuinn@reddit
Gensplaining?
RhodeReddit@reddit
This is nice. As a universal term for a younger gen person splainin to an older gen person an older gen thing 😳
Snaka1@reddit
X Splaining!!
Ok_Industry3016@reddit
Dude while getting my MBA later in life referenced an 80's song, Crickets.
TripMaster478@reddit
Z-splaining.
W0nderingMe@reddit
So when we do it to older generations, it's just ...
x- plaining!
Weird-one0926@reddit
I'll go with you
101violations@reddit
Well done.
Mumchkin@reddit
I like what you did there friend, well done. 🤘
meatwads_sweetie@reddit
That reminds me of a woman about twenty was at my apartment’s outdoor smoking area. She had Docs that were painted really cool. I said I like your boots. Then she had to explain to me they were called Doc Martens. Of course I knew what they were, I wore them in the 90s. I let her have her moment though.
CartographicFeline@reddit
It’s crazy when you wore them in the 80s and then again in the 90s and then again… well I don’t have any now
shiny1988@reddit
You don’t have them now because we finally figured out how bad they are for our feet…
Weird-one0926@reddit
But you still would
iwonandimstillhere@reddit
GenXplaining
Fudloe@reddit
Hey- at least they know! And they seemed stoked about it!
You should ABSOLUTELY show them how to fix a cassette!
TheUnbelieverThomC@reddit
I heard a young coworker speaking to his wife about some upcoming event, and stone temple pilots was overheard by me, so I said What's going on? And he looked me dead in the eye and said They're a band. Dude. I saw STP in like 92
OddSignificance9742@reddit
I’m 56 and had my 20 yo employee ask me one day if I had ever heard of Alice Cooper. I just told him to be quiet and go back to work.
Impressive-Shame-525@reddit
I had a dude named Wes working for me for a bit.
When he came in to work (he was part time) I say, "Wild Wild Wes"
And he didn't get it.
I had to play him the song (I made him listen to Kool Moe Dee and Will Smith's)
Sumchap@reddit
What, you didn't follow up saying "no more Mr niceguy"?
johnonymous1973@reddit
Not exactly this, but when I worked on a cruise ship we’d port in San Pedro and catch a bus to Torrance to go to the Del Amo Mall from Jackie Brown.
ConsuelaShlepkiss@reddit
It would have been better if you'd asked that woman if she knew when the Mongols ruled China.
QueenRotidder@reddit
All we are, is dust in the wind, dude
pepsi-perfect@reddit
Rufus!!!
RoRuRee@reddit
My dog is named Rufus. Damn cool name.
Waffuru@reddit
I STILL, to this day, will say that whenever I drive by a Circle K. I mean, I'm usually alone, so no one hears it, but occasionally I have a passenger. XD
WaspWeather@reddit
I say it whenever strange things are afoot. Location irrelevant
RoRuRee@reddit
Bahahahaha! Me too! Location irrelevant, this is my go to line when strange things are afoot! 😝
Squibit314@reddit
Hubs and I went to the Rock Hall in Cleveland. We’re in one area where they had a display case about Lynard Skynard. We’re on the opposite side of the case from a mom & dad who are about my age and their 11/12 year old son. Kid says “did you know there was this plane accident…”
I watched their faces and they kind of smirked and let him explain it to them. They humored him…it was funny. I just looked at my husband and we just walked away to laugh. 😆
ZebraBorgata@reddit
San Dimas High School football rules!
Consistent-Tie-4394@reddit
I say this line powerfully every time we drive through San Dimas (which is about monthly). My family does not appreciate it, the cretins.
twiggyrox@reddit
I didn't know San Dimas was a real place until I was on a train that went through it
zackipong@reddit
Gensplaining
poul0004@reddit
If you know so much about Bill & Ted, how come you’re here at the Circle K on a Wednesday night completely alone, drinking beers, with no women in sight?
twiggyrox@reddit
Gas'n'Sip not Circle K (or are you joking, I don't know)
AlfaNovember@reddit
By choice!
moleyrussell@reddit
Conscious choice, man.
twiggyrox@reddit
Bratsplaining
Top-Scarcity5937@reddit
Like sand through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.
Prestigious-Lead6396@reddit
Dust. Wind. Dude. 👉
cometshoney@reddit
I think my kids are the only ones who know why I pronounce Socrates the way I sometimes do. Unfortunately, we don't have many Circle Ks left around here, so I can't really say that one very often.
karatekate@reddit
And that Freud dude
hippiechick725@reddit
Don’t forget Miss Of Arc
karatekate@reddit
Ahh, yes. Noah's wife.
ErinRedWolf@reddit
And Beeth-oven!
Chance-Night3198@reddit
I'm incapable of pronouncing Socrates the correct way. Even reading your reply I read it in my head as Sow-crates.
snarf_the_brave@reddit
"Do not cite the deep magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written."
ErinRedWolf@reddit
I read that in Liam Neeson’s voice!
Monkeynutz_Johnson@reddit
I use this when some youngling tries to tell me about basic computer networking.
karatekate@reddit
I just said this to someone childsplaining to me today -ha!
ReturnOfNogginboink@reddit
I understood that reference.
spidermans_mom@reddit
Z-splaining it?
cuzwhat@reddit
I’m not even supposed to be here today!
Catskillschick@reddit
"I don't appreciate your ruse ma'am."
Academic_Blood2235@reddit
I beg your pardon?
Ok-Team9737@reddit
Your cunning attempt to trick me
Fullonski@reddit
"I lived it" You mean you saw the film? Congrats
ehok3@reddit
I watched the film and I lived it. I lived across the street from a circle K. Strange things usually were afoot at the circle K.
Fullonski@reddit
This is the kind of confirmation I'm looking for!
GhostFour@reddit
I thought they time traveled in a phone booth.
TimelyExternal5769@reddit
Nah, if she was about 60, Bill and Ted would definitely not be a part of her youth. She would have been 29 and would have seen it as something her younger siblings would have been into.
Source: I'm a bit younger than that and definitely wasn't into Bill and Ted in my late 20's. Came out about 5 or 6 years too late for me. Had no idea what your quote was about.
BrettNoe@reddit
I saw it with my future first wife. I was 21, and I’m 57 now. For GenX, youth is just like a state of mind, man.
Chad_Hooper@reddit
Totally nailed it, dude! My nephew, who was 12 years old at the time, and exactly half my age, was a big fan of the movie. I wasn’t even interested in seeing it, because movies like Romancing the Stone, The Three Musketeers and Ice Pirates were more my thing at the time.
I’m “about 60” like the lady at Circle K above.
SixAndNine75@reddit
I'm 51 and it was a huge part of my 16yo life.
pinkbev71@reddit
I'm 55 and had no idea either. Never watched it lol
Individual_Note_8756@reddit
I agree. I’m 59 and I never saw the movie and I’ve never heard that quote before. Of course we only got Circle Ks here, in Michigan, in the last 5 years.
Larc42@reddit
I am literally 60, and it's one of my favorite movies.
Astronaut6735@reddit
I remember when my niece got a Nintendo DS back in the 2010s, and was playing The Legend of Zelda, explaining to me how to get the white sword. Yea, I know. I got that back in 1987.
killerwithasharpie@reddit
Wherever you go… there you are.
Also:
“Laugh while you can, monkey-boy.”
dreamtigerz@reddit
Sealed with a kiss sharp as a knife. Doomed is your soul and damned is your life!
ophymirage@reddit
Where are we going?
Gryzelda_Gesualdo@reddit
Planet 10!
ophymirage@reddit
When?
Gryzelda_Gesualdo@reddit
Real Soon!
Prairie_Crab@reddit
My favorite lines from Buckaroo Banzai!!!
Meal_Next@reddit
Grew up near where that was filmed. That was our Circle K.
crematoryfire@reddit
Unfortunately not Circle K any more :(
Fullonski@reddit
Well, were strange things afoot?
TripMaster478@reddit
lol classic line. I knew it instantly I've said it hundreds of times in my life I'm sure.
Jeffricus_1969@reddit
Dude, man, I just had a conversation kinda like this today! I work at a supermarket part-time, was tasked with doing ‘returns’ pushing a fully loaded shopping cart and putting stuff back on the shelves. I come a ross the asst. mgr. who is like 23 years old, and joke “Man, I am putting stuff away like it’s a Law & Order marathon! Dun-duuunnn!”
She pauses. I pause.
I ask (genuine question) “Do you know what I’m talking about?” She says (far off look) “No, but I like the sound of it.” I told another Gen X co-worker the joke, they loved it; told her the rest and she cracked up with a big old Bwa-ha-ha!
SignificantRun2345@reddit
Teach your grandmother to suck eggs
DeKeeg@reddit
I would, but she got ran over by a reindeer years ago 😢
xjeanie@reddit
You have sunk my battleship!
disco008a@reddit
Best 2 out of 3?
QuirkyForever@reddit
Youngsplaining?
Flat_6_Theory@reddit
Nah. That’s just about the time hookers and blow get introduced to the conversation.
Dotsmom@reddit
When I was a middle school teacher I used say “Be excellent to each other” and wouldn’t get a response. Then one year these twin brothers in my home room responded “and party on dude”. It made my day!
mmpjd@reddit
Man, it’s made my day just reading about it haha
LordOfKittehs@reddit
I'm a paramedic. I say that every time I go on a call at a Circle K. The kids I work with all give me funny looks....
Top-Scarcity5937@reddit
Funny how ?
LordOfKittehs@reddit
Funny like they have no idea what I'm talking about?
Top-Scarcity5937@reddit
Like I'm a clown ? I amuse you ?
LordOfKittehs@reddit
And they wouldn't get that one either
LordOfKittehs@reddit
Exactly
automator3000@reddit
What’s strange here is that you’re expecting someone working at a gas station to engage you in friendly banter when all they want to do is make it to their next smoke break.
Get your socializing from your friends.
johninfla52@reddit
It's nice to be able to make small talk with people.
automator3000@reddit
You seem to misunderstand what small talk is
Top-Scarcity5937@reddit
It's looking like you determine what is acceptable.
ElJefe0218@reddit
Some of us are too outgoing for some people. I get blank stares every time I talk.
automator3000@reddit
This isn’t being outgoing. Op is just being socially awkward.
Just think back to your teen years working some shitty service job and some middle aged dude tries to be friendly with his chosen pop culture reference. All you want is for your shift to end. You know you would tell your coworkers “yeah; that creepy old dude was trying to chat me up today”
ElJefe0218@reddit
But Op is genx and she is 60, not some teenager.
automator3000@reddit
… and she’s still not being paid to be his friend.
Anyone who has worked in customer service/SIN understands this.
OP is just acting like (choose either/or/both) an entitled customer or a lonely loser.
LumpyheadCarini2001@reddit
I like having single-serving friends
xczechr@reddit
Miaj_Pensoj@reddit
Did you know George Washington was born on President’s Day?
Kristylane@reddit (OP)
Is that the guy on a dollar bill?
Corpsey_Clownshoes@reddit
Had wooden teeth. Chased Moby Dick!
la_winky@reddit
I think it means their parents are raisin’ ‘em up right.
Silvaria928@reddit
I once said, "Calgon, take me away!" at work and my Gen Z coworker was like, "Who is Calgon?"
My other Millennial coworker explained it to her.
I think "gensplaining" is definitely a thing.
DevolvingSpud@reddit
Calgon is the alien god the Scientologists worship, right? Or is it Zardoz?
chrisgee@reddit
was the calgon that takes you away a different product from the calgon which cleans so well you call it an 'ancient chinese secret'?
Brilliant-Bus-3862@reddit
No one cares.
karatekate@reddit
... ... ... SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!
builderjer@reddit
I say that randomly often!!
karatekate@reddit
Me, too. It's a problem.
builderjer@reddit
My wife is the only one that laughs, but she thinks I'm weird
karatekate@reddit
You have found your person. I love that for you!
TrapLuvah@reddit
I don't know I just work here.
cyvaquero@reddit
Zsplaining.
lylemcd@reddit
EXCELLENT!!!!!
(Guitar noises)
Clembert-Hamlamp@reddit
Entertainment!
silent3@reddit
"Awesome. Are you going to tell me that Vader is Luke's father next?"
Free-oppossums@reddit
Ugh! #Spoilers!
Diela1968@reddit
Should we call it Gensplaining?
Roy_Coulee@reddit
GenXplaining
Diela1968@reddit
If we called it that, it would just get forgotten tho.
MassCasualty@reddit
Ooh I like this.
But only if they are naive to the "well duh, I already know that"
Now tell me how a rotary phone works
Kristylane@reddit (OP)
I like that.
oldfogey12345@reddit
You respond by bowing repeatedly and yelling "We're not worthy! We're not worhty!" even if it's just you.
clementynemurphy@reddit
Drives me nuts... I had a good term a while ago but now I can't remember lol. Some kid earlier was talking about George Carlin. I swear he said the world is messed up because we didn't listen to George and only NOW they are trying to bring his words of wisdom to the masses. He would have a great term for it!
skraptastic@reddit
I was thinking this as I drove into a Circle K to grab a diet pepsi on my break!
agravain@reddit
I got a question. If you guys know so much about women, how come you're here at like the Gas 'n' Sip on a Saturday night completely alone drinking beers with no women anywhere?
daywreckr@reddit
By choice!
mjh8212@reddit
I had no idea about circle K then I moved and they were everywhere. I moved back to a different part of my original state and all our holiday gas stations are now circle k. Good coffee. No one gets the movie quote I got looked at like I had two heads.
Kristylane@reddit (OP)
There were no Circle Ks around me in Chicago. 8 years ago I moved (kinda like running away from home but for grownups) and there are Circle Ks here. It was pretty exciting.
IDunnoNuthinMr@reddit
Zeesplaining
fosterhamster@reddit
aw that's so cute the coworker dude wanted to impress you with his knowledge of the old folks pop culture
Kristylane@reddit (OP)
I think I’m going to go back and tell him about phones that were attached to the house.
thomasbeagle@reddit
Teaching your grandmother how to suck eggs.
Of course, then you'll have to explain that old fashioned expression to them.
MaximumJones@reddit
I don't care what we call it, someone just decide on the word and let's coin it. 😁
LevelPerception4@reddit
Gransplaining?
Punkrawk78@reddit
I’m more disappointed you didn’t ask her when the Mongols ruled China.
kek23k@reddit
Aww, they are just so proud to know something about history!
mrsristretto@reddit
Ah man ... I miss the two we had. Now they're just Conoco stations.
rbrumble@reddit
Anachronistic may be the word you're looking for.
As a side gig, I teach Brazilian jiujitsu, and there's a position known as the guard. When I'm in someone else's guard my defensive position is gripping both sides of their kimono just above their belt, fingers in, and I rotate my hands so the thumbs are facing up and slightly out. My professor, from Rio, called this the "Fonzie" position, and for 25 years I've called it and taught it as that. Until the last few years that is, because none of my new students have a clue who The Fonz is. Le sigh.
dafuqizzis@reddit
You get an upvote just for the “le sigh”. I thought I was the only one who still said that!
DoookieMaxx@reddit
Yung’Splaining
DoookieMaxx@reddit
Yung
Yung’splaining
I see what I did there.
No-Reputation-7843@reddit
You see Yung is a slang way of spelling young, and 'splaining is just a short way to say explain. So when they say yung'splaining you should read it as young explaining. I hope that cleared things up for you.
EnoughEstate7483@reddit
When I saw the movie I thought Circle K was just a made up 7-11 knockoff.
Imagine my surprise when I was doing some interstate travel as an adult and realized it was an actual thing.
CheesecakeEither8220@reddit
Youngin'splaining
Happy-Bluejay-3849@reddit
We do need a word for that. One of the IT people at work does this all the time. It takes all my self control to not say, “I was doing that when it was new and you weren’t even born yet.”
Cold-Body-2867@reddit
Maybe "Upsplaining"?
Hesasadpanda@reddit
I work in IT and I can say that we typically do have to oversimplify.. to the point of basically drawing it out in crayon.. so I can understand their automatic desire to explain everything.
On the other hand nothing makes me cringe and twist inside more than listening to someone explain something I already know or they have already said once. For the love of God do not repeat yourself ...so I get that too lol
fuhnetically@reddit
Gransplainig?
Robb_Dinero@reddit
I still say this…
Opak03@reddit
I think of that line every time I go past a Circle K
NelsonMuntz3@reddit