My Wife Just Finished a Shift

Submission 19,219

Part of a series on Twitter / X. [View Related Entries]

About

My Wife Just Finished a Shift refers to a series of memes that parody a viral tweet by Canadian politician Jon Reyes in which he praises his wife for finding the energy to shovel snow in their driveway after a 12-hour night shift. Parodies using the original tweet as a phrasal template became popularized on Twitter in mid-January 2022.

Origin

On January 8th, 2022, Canadian politician Jon Reyes (@jonreyes204) tweeted^[1] a photograph of his wife shoveling snow in the driveway after finishing a 12-hour night shift at the hospital, praising her and promising to make her breakfast. The photograph was taken from inside the house looking downward. The tweet gained over 5,800 retweets, 21,500 quote tweets and 44,900 likes in three days (shown below).

Even after a 12 hour night shift at the hospital last night, my wife still has the energy to shovel the driveway. God bless her and all our frontliners. Time to make her some breakfast. 🙏🏽

Starting on January 8th, users on Twitter^[2] criticized @jonreyes over him not shoveling the snow himself or assisting his wife in the task, instead appearing to stay in the comfort of his home. For example, on that day, Twitter user @jtylerconway replied with a My Hands Look Like This meme that gained over 2,600 retweets and 56,400 likes in three days (shown below).

Spread

Starting on January 9th, 2022, the tweet became a subject of parodies across Twitter. For example, on that day Twitter^[3] user @manurespreader made a tweet that received over 730 retweets and 23,800 likes in two days (shown below, left). Later on the same day, Twitter^[4] user @Real_bear_horse posted a Neon Genesis Evangelion meme that gained over 250 retweets and 5,300 likes in two days (shown below, right).

In the following days, more viral tweets parodying @jonreyes204's post were submitted.

Cynthia Reyes' Response

On January 9th, 2022, Cynthia Reyes, the wife of Jon Reyes, quote tweeted^[5] the post, writing, "All I wanted to do was shovel! 🤦‍♀️" (tweet shown below, left). On January 11th, 2022, Reyes made a Facebook^[6] post in which she clarified the situation, refuting allegations that her husband wronged her (post shown below, right).