We've all seen it. Steve Buscemi, looking every bit of his fifty-something years, walks down a high school hallway wearing a red hoodie, a backward baseball cap, and a "Music Band" t-shirt. He’s carrying two skateboards. He looks like a guy trying very hard to blend in and failing spectacularly. Then he drops the line: "How do you do, fellow kids?"
It’s perfect.
Honestly, the how do you do meme is more than just a funny screengrab from a 2012 episode of 30 Rock. It’s a cultural shorthand. It’s what we post when a multi-billion dollar corporation tries to use "rizz" in a marketing tweet. It’s the visual personification of "cringe." If you’ve ever felt out of place or watched someone try too hard to be hip, you’ve lived this meme.
Where did the how do you do meme actually come from?
The clip is from a 30 Rock episode titled "The Tuxedo Begins." Buscemi plays Lenny Wosniak, a private investigator hired to help Jack Donaghy. In a brief flashback, Wosniak describes his time infiltrating a high school. The joke is immediate. There is no world where Buscemi looks like a teenager, yet he’s fully committed to the bit.
The brilliance lies in the costume design. The "Music Band" shirt—written in a font that looks suspiciously like the AC/DC logo—is a masterstroke of satire. It captures the essence of an outsider who knows what young people like but doesn't understand why they like it.
The internet grabbed hold of this almost immediately. By the mid-2010s, it was a staple on Reddit and Twitter. It didn't just stay a joke about a TV show; it became a tool for calling out "fellow kids" energy in the wild. When a brand uses a meme format that died three years ago, the replies are inevitably flooded with Lenny Wosniak.
The psychology of the "Fellow Kids" phenomenon
Why does it resonate so much? Because authenticity is the primary currency of the internet. We can smell a facade from a mile away. The how do you do meme works because it identifies a specific type of social failure: the failure to acknowledge one’s own age or status.
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There’s a term for this in marketing circles: "cringe-bait." Sometimes brands do it on purpose now. They want the "How do you do, fellow kids?" response because engagement is engagement, even if it’s mocking. But back when the meme first peaked, the cringey attempts were usually sincere.
Think about the time the Department of Education tried to use a "Doge" meme in 2014. Or when Hillary Clinton asked followers to "describe your student loan debt in three emojis." These were the moments the how do you do meme was born to address. It’s a defense mechanism for the youth who feel their culture is being harvested by people who don't live it.
It's about the skateboards
Why two skateboards? It’s such a small, nonsensical detail. One over the shoulder, one in the hand. It adds to the surrealism. It signals that the person trying to fit in hasn't even done the basic research on how the hobby works.
This happens in the professional world all the time. You see a CEO mention "the metaverse" or "NFTs" (back when those were the buzzwords) without being able to define them. They are Lenny Wosniak. They have the skateboards, but they aren't skating.
How the meme evolved in the 2020s
Memes usually have a shelf life of about two weeks. This one has lasted over a decade. That’s rare.
It has survived because it’s modular. You don't even need the original image anymore. You can just type the words "How do you do, fellow kids?" and everyone knows exactly what you mean. It has transitioned from a "reaction image" to a "linguistic meme."
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We see variations now. Sometimes it’s used ironically by young people who feel old. If a 25-year-old doesn't understand a new TikTok trend involving "Skibidi Toilet," they might post the how do you do meme to mock their own aging. It’s a way of saying, "I’m out of the loop, and I’m okay with it."
The Steve Buscemi factor
We can't ignore the actor himself. Steve Buscemi is a "cool" actor. He’s been in Reservoir Dogs, The Big Lebowski, and Boardwalk Empire. He’s a guy with immense indie cred.
Because he is actually cool, seeing him play someone so profoundly uncool creates a delightful cognitive dissonance. He’s in on the joke. He actually leaned into it years later, dressing up as the character for Halloween in 2021. He handed out candy in Brooklyn wearing the red hoodie and the "Music Band" shirt.
The internet lost its mind.
When the subject of a meme embraces the meme, it usually kills the joke. Think about how many memes died because a brand tried to buy them. But with Buscemi, it felt like a victory lap. It solidified the how do you do meme as a permanent fixture of pop culture history.
Why brands still fail at this
You’d think after ten years of being mocked, companies would stop trying to "act young." They don't.
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They can't help it.
Marketing departments are terrified of being irrelevant. They see a trend and feel they have to jump on it to capture "Gen Z" or "Gen Alpha" attention. But the nature of a trend is that by the time it reaches a corporate meeting, it’s already over.
The how do you do meme is the ultimate check and balance. It’s a reminder that you can’t buy cool. You can’t wear it like a costume.
If you want to avoid being the subject of this meme, the advice is simple: be yourself. If you’re a 50-year-old insurance company, talk like a 50-year-old insurance company. People actually respect that more than a brand trying to "slay."
Making the meme work for you
If you're a creator or a writer, you can use the how do you do meme to build rapport. Use it as a way to acknowledge your own limitations.
- Use it when you’re entering a new community where you’re clearly the "newbie."
- Use it to mock "industry speak" that sounds like it was written by an AI trying to be human.
- Use it to celebrate the hilarity of aging in a digital world that moves too fast.
The meme isn't just an insult. It’s a confession. We’ve all been Lenny Wosniak at some point. Whether it’s starting a new job, joining a new discord server, or just trying to understand what your younger cousins are talking about at Thanksgiving, the "fellow kids" energy is universal.
Actionable steps for meme literacy
If you want to stay ahead of the curve and avoid becoming a Lenny Wosniak yourself, keep these things in mind:
- Observe before participating. Don’t jump into a trend the second you see it. Watch how people use it. Understand the "vibe."
- Context is everything. The how do you do meme works because the context (a middle-aged man in a high school) is absurd. If your use of a meme lacks that self-awareness, it will fail.
- Audit your "cool." If you find yourself asking "Is this what the kids are doing?" you’ve already lost. Use the meme to poke fun at yourself instead of trying to blend in.
- Learn the history. Knowing that this meme comes from 30 Rock gives you an edge. It allows you to use it more effectively because you understand the satire behind it.
Stop trying to carry two skateboards. Just ride one, or better yet, just walk. The more you try to look like you belong, the more you stand out. That is the lasting lesson of Steve Buscemi and his red hoodie.