By Siegrid Massie | LTVN Reporter/Anchor
“Sorry, I just can’t. It’s a no bones day.”
You might have heard this phrase or some variation of it tossed around in conversation over the last few weeks. It comes from the far reaches of the internet (more specifically, the social media site TikTok), where a 13-year-old pug named Noodle predicts the fate of everyone’s day based on its ability to stand up or not.
The days when the pug is unable to stand at its owner’s promptings have been dubbed “no bones days.” On these types of days, the internet has decided that Noodle’s inability to stand is a bad omen and that people should strongly consider taking it easy. When the pug does stand, it’s been deemed a “bones day,” and everyone takes it as a good sign.
The attention this oracle pug has gotten over the last few weeks has got me thinking about how, as people, we sometimes need someone, something or some animal to permit us to feel the way we want to. External validation and confirmation of emotions is something that we don’t always get enough of as adults. So, now a dog on the internet is here to do just that.
What started as an inside joke with only a couple thousand followers on the owner’s account has gained national attention, reaching 3.4 million followers and 33.9 million likes on the videos. In response to the daily videos of Noodle, thousands of parody responses have popped up, showing people fake calling into work saying they aren’t coming in because it’s a “no bones day.” There are also more in-depth evaluations of “the bones report” that take other factors into account and give you recommendations on how to proceed with your day.
For thousands of years, humans have looked to the clouds, the stars and even fruit for predictions to explain why people act and feel the way they do. Can any of those things actually control or explain our emotions? I don’t know. Is this a funny trend that has given us an excuse to blame a weird day on an adorable pug? Yes. Sometimes we just need an arbitrary external source telling us it’s OK to do what we actually want to do. So, if you need a horoscope, a cloudy day or a pug named Noodle to give you permission to feel the way you want to feel, then by all means chalk it up to being a “bones day” or a “no bones day.”
