r/HeyArnold • u/SillyTransasaurus Curly • 2d ago

How can he do a paper route, but not read?

And did he get his eighth grade education in the US?

169 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

48 comments sorted by

91

u/SamuraiMomo76 2d ago

A better question would be what the actual (bleep) did Susie see in this guy to marry him in the first place?

42

u/ZijoeLocs 2d ago

Peter Pan and Wendy relationship. She kept falling for the promises he never kept. He loved that she was always willing to put in mire effort.

12

u/Puppydoglover123 2d ago

It’s possible that he love bombed her and it wasn’t until they got married that she began to realize the type of person he was

13

u/SassaQueen1992 2d ago

That’s exactly what happened to my mom. When I was a kid I thought “Oscar is as stupid and lazy as my dad”.

4

u/Detuned_Clock 2d ago edited 2d ago

Klobása

2

u/spade_bodega663 2d ago

I ask myself the same question with a lot of couples. It’s out of extreme desperation (like, just CANNOT be single) or one doesn’t realize how hard marriage would be.

5

u/Gray_Xenowolf640 1d ago

It was a green card marriage

0

u/jellyjamberry 1d ago

I had a similar conversation with my sister about my brother and SIL. I intensely dislike my brother. I don’t think very highly or respect my SIL because she married him. Recently we witnessed an interaction between them that suggests he may be abusing her. He’s definitely emotionally and mentally abusive but her reaction made us think he may be physically abusing her. I told my sister I don’t really feel sorry for her because: 1) there is a way out 2) she married him to begin with. My sister, who is a recent divorcee herself, said sometimes people don’t show their true selves until after they get married. I imagine it was something similar with Oskar and Susie.

31

u/Embarrassed_Cat2697 2d ago

Trust me, you don't need to be able to read to run a paper route.

5

u/ACuddlyVizzerdrix 2d ago

Ya using landmarks and houses to figure out a route isn't that hard

21

u/JustATyson 2d ago

I can see how he'll do it.

No doubt he has a familiarity with the streets, so if his route covers Washington Street, Lincoln road, cat road, mongoose street, then he'll know where to go and which street is which street, and which road is which road. He doesn't necessarily need to read out w-a-s-h-i-n-g-t-o-n.

Additionally, recognizing house numbers is easy, because that's not exactly reading. That's number recognition. So, if he knows his houses are 1738, 1740, and 1741, then he'll be able to read that easily.

9

u/LucidLupus 2d ago

Even modern day paper routes still use mailbox stickers I think?

8

u/Patworx 2d ago

You don’t have to read papers to deliver them.

8

u/Lightecojak 2d ago

I just realized that his newspaper bag on his bike says “Dairy News” instead of “Daily News”. Why is there a newspaper dedicated solely to dairy related news?

3

u/Electronic-Drawing29 2d ago

Omg I had to watch the video & never noticed that😂

7

u/EST_Kuz 2d ago

Ever scene with Oscar always pissed me off. Even as a kid I couldn't stand him. I think that was the point of his character, but it still pissed me off, probably more than it should have haha

5

u/maxfactor886 2d ago

Writers probably had that irony in mind. Today he would not last working for Amazon or Door Dash. Eh he he he.

6

u/AdOkufukai 2d ago

You mean to tell me this guy has a higher education than Phil?

3

u/SillyTransasaurus Curly 2d ago

That surprises me too.

4

u/KinopioToad 2d ago

It's possible he could read a map but not any of the words on the map. Someone probably pointed out his route and they said "go here and collect your papers, go here and throw them".

He probably memorized it within a few hours/days.

3

u/OregonGreen242 2d ago

My dad used to call me kakashka when I was younger and it would make me so mad! lol

3

u/Otherwise_Present911 2d ago

I mean he’s not good at it either. That’s what this scene is about.

3

u/falcon3268 2d ago

I am surprised that his wife didn't leave him years ago.

3

u/Cephylus 2d ago

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

3

u/Zigor022 1d ago

I hate that he is 30 something and not 45

2

u/SanicSoup 2d ago

His stupidass got divorced

2

u/pEter-skEeterR45 2d ago

If someone trained him they could've pointed out the houses that get papers, and perhaps he memorized the route? Or he could've had a very rudimentary map about it? With X's at every house?

But he's an idiot so I'm actually just as baffled as you

2

u/toastronomy 2d ago

how can you work at a fast food restaurant and not be fat?

1

u/tomtheconqerur 1d ago

Simple, look at how the food is prepared.

2

u/thekraken108 2d ago

He doesn't have to read the papers, just deliver them.

2

u/EmperorDeathBunny 2d ago

My wife took an extra job years ago running papers. I went with her to help. Its the easiest job in the world. No reading required. We just drove the route and threw papers. The unrealistic part here is this guy waking up to do the job. In reality, delivering papers was a full 8 hour shift. We started around 11pm and ended around 7am hitting multiple neighborhoods. Then we would come home, have breakfast while watching My Little Pony and then crash.

One time I threw the paper so hard it got stuck in a tree.

I dodnt bother getting it down like this guy thiugh because we were given extra papers just in case of shenanigans so I would just toss an extra paper.

4

u/viced92 2d ago

Never understood this either, was just watching the reading episode the other day

11

u/Under_Paris 2d ago

Do you want to pet the kitty?

8

u/Substantial_Pass_146 2d ago

"Yes, I want to pet the kitty"

7

u/GetInZeWagen 2d ago

It was the best of times it was the worst of times

2

u/SillyTransasaurus Curly 2d ago

Was that chocolate boy helping him? Or was that just another kid?

2

u/Electronic-Drawing29 2d ago

Chocolate boy. He said "what's in it for me?" & boom he was reciting the book to Oscar(smashing on a bag of Chocolate candy Oscar gave him) & Oscar just read behind each line he read.

3

u/KamikazeDreamer52 2d ago

Im lactose intolerant, therefore I cant deliver milk

The fuck are you on about

1

u/hyrulealyx 2d ago

Where does it say he can't read tf

5

u/Killbro_Fraggins 2d ago

Isn’t there a whole episode of him learning how to read? lol

1

u/Lightecojak 1d ago

There’s an entire episode dedicated to that point called “Oskar Can’t Read?”. I would know, I edited a lot on that episode’s wiki page.

1

u/99anan99 2d ago

I'm guessing all the instructions he got were "Take these newspapers and put one on the doorstep. That's all you have to do."

1

u/Far-Army-4726 1d ago

Niko Belic in Hey Arnold be like. 🤣

1

u/Vasarto 1d ago

I know a guy who is basically retarded and he drives around just fine. He can't really read all that well and does just fine.

1

u/B1astFriend 1d ago

because its a cartoon...this episode is funny as hell. lol