Social Media Fascinated By Boyfriend Whose Singular Passion Is Digging A Tunnel

You've heard of a boyfriend digging a hole for himself, but the phrase has rarely been as literal as it is in a recent viral story from Reddit's /r/Advice titled, "How can I get my boyfriend to stop digging his tunnel?"

"My boyfriend likes to spend a lot of his free time digging a tunnel on some property that he inherited," Redditor Specialist-Ad4561 wrote. "He's spent roughly a year on it, and it's evident. The front of the thing is deep, wide, well put together. At the front, which is the only part that I've seen, he's got cement beams, electric lights, even chairs and a small table. I haven't gone into it, but it looked like the quality severely dropped as the tunnel went further, mostly becoming open dirt with some wood beams holding it up."

Specialist-Ad4561 went on to mention that she fears for her boyfriend's safety and that his social life has evaporated because he devotes all of his time to the mysterious tunnel.

"He's always really happy when he comes back from digging, which is why I haven't seriously tried to stop him before, but I was talking to a friend about him, and she told me he might be going crazy," she concluded.

The story, posted last Thursday, drew modest interest on Reddit but began going viral last night after Twitter user @kwhitaker_ tweeted about it.

what on earth is going on with men?? pic.twitter.com/jEVlhj0W3J

— Kate Whitaker 🌷☕️ (@kwhitaker_) April 19, 2022

Reactions to the story on Twitter have been split between memers deciding to apply it to the dudes rock meme or the instead of going to therapy meme.

pic.twitter.com/LcP32RcLzy

— Return Of The Copybook Headings (@the_headings) April 20, 2022

Getting Into It A Bit defending a fellow tunneler pic.twitter.com/s1f6hm08nD

— Cohen is a ghost (@skullmandible) April 20, 2022

Men will literally dig a completely pointless tunnel instead of going to therapy

— father john cumstain (@LuxuryTweeting) April 20, 2022

women will complain you spend too much time digging tunnels and then a week later be like “babe ur tunnel isn’t making much progress tho” 🙄

— the banks are out of money (@mrgracemugabe) April 20, 2022

When a man digs a tunnel, he's not digging away from you. He's digging towards himself https://t.co/snSFEelkMP

— ben "gritty arthur" flores (@limitlessjest) April 20, 2022

Luckily, we now have an update regarding this tunneling fellow. According to an archived update, the OP sat her boyfriend down and had a chat about the tunnel.

"He hadn’t realized how big of an effect this had been having on me in regards to our relationship, and he immediately said that he was going to cut the time he spent out there in half … I also talked to him about my concerns regarding gasses that y’all made me realize I should be conscious of, and he said that he’d work to get some sort of ventilation system installed ASAP, and that he’d even dig with his dad’s old gas mask if it’d make me feel better."

As for why the man took up such devotion towards tunneling, he said, "It’s just pleasant. When I’m down there, I feel safe and calm, and I’m always happier when I leave than when I went in."