People claim praise for meeting an obligation that was never optional, and expect it to be granted.
Rock's routine lists things a person announces having done that are simply the terms of being an adult, and the laugh comes from recognising the expectation of credit. The mechanism is a mismatch between the effort felt and the standard met: fulfilling a duty is costly to the person fulfilling it and invisible to everyone else, because it is the baseline.
In practice
- A supplier that delivers on the agreed date sends an email expecting to be thanked for it.
- A department that met its statutory obligations puts them in the annual report as achievements.