Whether we want to admit to it or not, we've all suddenly felt older when we realized a song or a movie was, out of nowhere, ten years old. We've all been there.
But sometimes, a person will surprise us with a fact we weren't ready to receive.
At the end of last month, Brendan Kergin, a Vancouver news reporter, broke the news to the rest of Twitter that July 31 was a very important birthday in the cartoon universe.
For anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons, like Looney Tunes and Smurfs, there's a great chance they also enjoyed The Jetsons, which featured the Jetson family in a futuristic world of 2062 with flying cars, robot servants and moving sidewalks.
For anyone who may have missed it, the show followed the Jetson family after they moved into Skypad Apartments in Orbit City. Beyond having fancy gadgets constantly at their disposal, the family was otherwise an average depiction of a family, complete with social angst, arguments, love and general hijinks—just with more robots.
Though most of us grew up thinking the world of the Jetsons was far off in the distant future, so far we probably wouldn't even be alive to see it, Kergin pointed out it wasn't so far away after all.
In fact, he tweeted:
"I don't mean to alarm anyone, but someone is about to give birth to George Jetson."
In an infographic about George Jetson, his birthday was circled:
"31 July 2022."
\u201cI don't mean to alarm anyone, but someone is about to give birth to George Jetson.\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
This announcement was nothing short of jarring for Twitter and the rest of the internet.
Some gave off serious "I want my money back" vibes.
\u201c@BKergin @NJCathi Where are the flying cars?\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin The crazy thing is I don't think we will ever have flying cars in the future because if you think you about it they have to make laws and make a official flying license for the officer or anybody to recognize you when they pull over or anywhere else that ask for a license\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin FINALLY The Jetsons are catching up to reality!!!\n\nWHERE\u2019S MY FLYING CAR?!?!?!?!\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin But now I am alarmed. Does that mean the future starts this weekend??\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
But some didn't think the cartoon timeline was that different from our own.
\u201c@TSlagel999 @BKergin Remember how back to the future thought we'd be having flying cars by 2015 ? People 100 years ago had really high expectations of these things being possible during the time\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin Apart from the flying cars, we're pretty close. We have robots vacuuming, and flat TVs, and smart watches, and video calls, and other stuff. And I don't think we're that far off on the flying cars.\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@RunMizzou11 @BKergin @SirRantAndRave And the people who can\u2019t afford to live above the clouds will revert back to the Stone Age\u2026\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin @Maggie_McNeill I wonder how accurate that vision of the future will be when George hits middle-age?\n\n(But, I always saw the Jetson family as being quite dysfunctional, tbh.)\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
A few joked about who the real-life George Jetson could be.
\u201c@BKergin it has to be one of these people\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@macksoda @BKergin Appliance store in my town, owned by the Jetson family. They\u2019re concentrated here.\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin @Wholewheatjams So about that. https://t.co/DECv9TVo5Q\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
\u201c@BKergin Did some digging and while we do not know George Jetson\u2019s father\u2019s name, we do know his grandfather\u2019s name, Montague Jetson. Well guess what.\u201d— Brendan Kergin (@Brendan Kergin) 1659041824
The last time the internet hurt its own feelings like this was October 21, 2015, the date Marty McFly and Doc Brown flew back to the future.
Now that we've celebrated George Jetson's birthday, the next big date is 2029, the year Kyle Reese came back to save John Connor from the Terminator.
That's only 7 years away. We'd better go start preparing for the hurt feelings now.
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