The story behind the viral 'what if, umiyak po ako?' delivery rider meme
A viral screenshot from a delivery rider scared of a shopper's dog has been making waves in the local meme world, but its origins may not be what you expect.
The viral meme was shared by a netizen with the screen name Edrix Peñaflor, and shows a delivery rider panicked over a recipient's giant dog. He starts off with worrisome chats in all capitalized letters such as "PAKIBILISAN PO and "NATAHOL SAKIN."
The rider finally laments "tagal nyo po so much" before delivering the kicking last message that adds to its hopeless relatability.
"what if, umiyak na po ako."
Since its posting, the screenshot has garnered over 270,000 reactions and 135,000 shares.
Despite its uncanny story, we may have to burst your bubble, as Peñaflor clarified that the screenshot wasn't actually for public consumption, as it's actually just a reference to his favorite online story.
"I post about a certain Wattpad book 'Ang Mutya Ng Section E', Peñaflor shared with PhilSTAR L!fe. "I thought some of the readers of that story will like it since they know the characters, I only post for that book. The readers of the book were my original target audience."
Peñaflor added that he took inspiration from a Twitter thread with the same idea, and wanted to make a few screenshots he could share with the Wattpad fandom he was a part of.
True enough, the viral single screenshot is a part of a 15-photo series that he edited himself featuring riders in varying hilarious situations or "Ulupongs as your shopee rider. (Ang Mutya Ng Section E)," as Peñaflor wrote in the caption.
The "what if, umiyak na po ako" screenshot also aims to represent one character in the story named Ci-N Peralta, with other entries designated for the other characters.
The Wattpad story itself follows a group of students in one class section. The tale has over 112 million reads on the social reading platform.
"Those screenshots were for pure content. I didn't have a particularly deep motive but to cheer up my friends and mutuals who enjoyed the same book I did, maybe crack a few laughs too," the creator added.
"I never expected it to reach a bigger and a different audience, it was all unexpected."
Nevertheless, the meme has spawned different iterations over social media, with graphic designer and illustrator @lazirvision sharing his own artsy rendition on Instagram and receiving hundreds of comments and shares.