A FAMILIAR MEME. A NEW CONTEXT.

There Are Two Chairs

What this meme means

Prison riddle that became a meme about choosing between two bad options; the crude answers are usually left unsaid. In April 2024 users linked it to two chairs behind Pavel Durov during an interview.

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The gist of the riddle

"There are two chairs" is a logic puzzle traditionally linked, on the Russian-speaking internet, to prison culture. Its gist is that the other person is offered two options, neither of which can be called good. One chair is described as having a sharpened point, the other as unfit to sit on. The question is set up so the player has to choose between two evils.

The answer options given in publications about the riddle are crude in nature and built around violence and humiliation, so they are not retold in the article. What matters more is that the riddle functions as a choice trap, and it's this principle that later became the basis of the meme.

Prison origin

According to publications on prison customs, puzzles like this were posed to newcomers in a cell for entertainment, and a wrong answer could lead to punishment. Some materials include the view that such riddles were posed in Soviet prisons, with a wrong answer leading to a beating. There is no reliable confirmation specific to this riddle.

When the riddle appeared, who invented it, and where it was first recorded are not known. A Soviet origin is not claimed; the prison setting is presented only as context for the tradition. The exact date and authorship remain unestablished.

How the riddle became a meme

The riddle's transition into a meme happened through generalization. From a prison test, it turned into an image of a situation where any choice turns out badly. This format is convenient to apply to everyday and work-related dilemmas: a difficult conversation, a choice between two bad pricing plans, or a decision that won't help either side. The catalog describes the meme precisely as a template for a difficult choice.

The meme works well because it's short. The riddle's text can be used as a caption, and the picture chosen to emphasize the hopelessness of the situation. For this reason the template is used both in chats and in comments, where a quick bit of irony about a situation is needed without a long explanation.

Two chairs behind Durov

In April 2024, during an interview with Tucker Carlson, Telegram founder Pavel Durov answered questions while sitting with two chairs behind him. Outlets took note of this backdrop, and users quickly connected it to the riddle and started making memes. According to press reports, chairs resembling the ones behind Durov even went on sale in Moscow.

This episode shows how an old template found a new use. The connection between the chairs and the riddle arose in online discussion, not during the interview itself. The materials record the coincidence of the image and the memes' popularity, but they don't confirm any intention on Durov's own part, so the article describes this connection only as an audience reaction.

Image

In the attached photo, a young man in a white T-shirt and patterned shorts sits on a white table next to a chair on which several dark, pointed objects are laid out. The background is white, the floor is wooden, and the photo looks like a studio shot. It shows exactly the pointed objects that match one of the details of the riddle.

The second chair from the riddle, described as unfit to sit on, isn't clearly identifiable in the photo, so the image illustrates the story only partially. The photo also carries the watermark of a Russian-language site, indicating it circulated before being used as a meme. The exact origin of the photo has not been established.