What’s a man to do when the streets are flooded? Apparently, head outside — with beer in hand. When Boston-area resident Chad Blackman was snapped sipping on a casual Bud Light while chest-deep in floodwaters on a street in the Brant Rock neighborhood, the image became a viral meme thanks to a Facebook page.
An intense nor’easter storm submerged the streets of coastal town Marshfield in up to 3.5 feet of water last week, leaving Blackman and his friend Eric Murphy without power or much way to entertain themselves, the Boston Globe reports. So they decided to venture out into the murky depths and take some photos, equipped as they were with chest-high waders to keep them protected from the storm waters. In the image, Blackman is crouching down a bit, giving the photo even more drama.
“Chad looks like he’s cracking up laughing, because, you know, it’s kind of nutty,” Murphy told the Globe. His good humor and access to an adult beverage is certainly one way to cope with this year’s wild weather.
If the duo want to repeat their viral image, they’ll have another chance this week: the northeast is once more gearing up for a major storm, which is potentially expected to dump up to a foot of snow across parts of New York and Massachusetts.
Unfortunately, there was one casualty of the now-iconic photo shoot: Blackman’s phone. He had left it in his pocket.
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Write to Raisa Bruner at raisa.bruner@time.com