Single guy's romantic holiday photo is actually a hilarious goof

"The holidays are better with you ..."
 By 
Sophie Hirsh
 on 

Being #ForeverAlone can be even harder around the holidays – couples are constantly kissing under mistletoe, holding hands while ice skating, and worst of all, sharing their romantic holiday cards all over the internet.

So, John Olmstead, 22, from Mattoon, Illinois, decided to poke fun at a certain holiday card trope in a pretty genius way.

Firstly, here's the thumbnail of Olmstead's photo, which seems to be a partial shot of a man and a woman in a casual embrace in front of Christmas presents.

Original image replaced with Mashable logo
Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

Then, we zoom out to the surprising full shot.

"I was just sitting at home bored and remembered that I had seen a picture of a girl doing it," Olmstead wrote to Mashable. In the photo he saw, the girl had her legs dressed to look like a woman's, and she put her hands in men's attire.

Olmstead decided to mix up the gender roles in his version of the photo by wearing the women's outfit and putting his arms in men's clothing. However, his brain blast to do so was born out of practicality.

"I thought it was hilarious, so I wanted to do it, but my arms are too skinny to look like legs. So, I had to improvise and shove my feet into those tiny boots," he told Mashable. "I thought it would be funny to wear the girl shoes just to throw people off."

And in true #ForeverAlone fashion, Olmstead took the photo himself.

"I actually had to use the self timer on my phone and I had it propped on a laundry basket ... I was home alone so I had to improvise," he said.

The people of Twitter naturally love Olmstead's tweet.

"The reaction has been overall a positive thing, lots of people saying it made their day, which makes my day even more," Olmstead told Mashable. "I really, really enjoy making people laugh and smile and I thought this would be a good way to do so."

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Sophie Hirsh

Sophie was a Viral Content Intern for the Watercooler channel. More writing and other stuff by Sophie can be found at www.sophiehirsh.com.

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