Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Guy Stunned To Find Out That A Picture Of Him As A Kid Has Been A Popular Meme For Years

Guy Stunned To Find Out That A Picture Of Him As A Kid Has Been A Popular Meme For Years
@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter

A man was surprised to discover a photo of his younger self was floating around the internet as a popular meme since 2017.

It must have been a surreal experience for Adrian Smith, a research scientist, who scrolled through Instagram and came face to face with a third-grade version of himself in front of a background of laser beams.


But instead of 8-year-old Adrian, he was affectionately known as "Grayson" – an awkward stepson – on the Teenage Stepdad Instagram account.

On Twitter, Smith posted two photos – one of which was an image of his adult self holding up the infamous photo of him as a schoolboy.

"Here's a very 2020 thing I just learned about myself," he wrote in the caption.

"This picture of the 8-year-old, 3rd grade version of me has been a meme FOR YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"Like, there's merch and everything. Internet is weird. thread [below]."



@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter




@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter



Smith – who is an insect-obsessed biologist with a YouTube channel called Ant Lab – admitted to Slate that the internet running wild with his laser photo was his "own doing."
"Back when Tumblr blogs existed, there was one specifically dedicated to posting your grade and middle school laser background school portraits called We Have Lasers."
"And I had a pretty incredible one, so I submitted it. And it's lived its own life ever since. I don't think that blog exists anymore, but the picture was still floating around, disconnected from me. It had been for a long time."

Smith wrote in a follow-up tweet:

"As far as I can tell, past me has been living an internet-meme-life as Grayson, a creation of @TeenageStepdad, since at least 2017."


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter




@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


Smith explained he found his childhood photo online when he started following the Teenage Stepdad Instagram because he liked a music video that used his favorite Jeff Rosenstock song.
"So I've been like following it because I liked what he did. And then I'm scrolling through my Instagram stories and my picture pops up, and I'm like, what? That's my picture!"
"At first I was like, 'Oh, maybe he just found it on the internet. It is a funny picture.' But then the text below referred to me as Grayson."
"So I went through this back catalog of memes, and there it was all the way back to like 2017. And then the rabbit hole just kept on getting deeper and deeper."
"There's merch. There's an entry-level Patreon thing that was like 'Join team Grayson,' which, I guess, I'm Grayson in the meme."


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


He continued:

"It's bonkers to bump into yourself in the wild on the internet. It didn't say like, 'Oh, look at this funny picture of Adrian as an 8-year-old.'"
"Nothing was attached to me at all. It's living its own life and had weirdly reentered my own life on its own through the internet. It was weird."

He shared some of his favorite Grayson memes and tweeted:

"Here are some of my favorite versions of me. Smoking atheist rebel. Grayson Von Chevrolet. Hot dogs and Carmen San Diego."


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter


Smith was impressed with Grayson's accomplishments, adding:

"I mean, Grayson-me is even available as a t-shirt and works as a poster child for a Patreon tier. He's living quite the life."



@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter



@DrAdrianSmith/Twitter



People admired Smith for being a good sport.







People also believed Smith was owed royalties for the use of his photo.




When asked how 8-year-old Adrian would feel about his internet fame, Smith said it took him a few days to process his thoughts.

"Obviously a little kid would feel ashamed or embarrassed, but it's so disconnected from me that I don't feel any anger or shame or regret or anything like that."
"Obviously I'm cool with it, like I think it's funny. But it's weird to see people's reactions to it."
"Some people think it's bad for making fun of a kid. Other people were like, 'You should sue them and get money.'"
"I think it's funny. It wasn't generated with a mean spirit. This image is just living its own character life in its own meme universe. That's not me, even though it is me, you know?"

For those looking to discover a meme of their younger selves on the internet, Smith offered this bit of advice:

"Let the meme come to you. That's the best way. If it was meant to be, the meme will find you."
"If your thing is glorious and the people are gonna do stuff with it, you'll find it some way. I wasn't looking for this at all. It just popped into my life."

More from Trending

Brad Pitt
Karwai Tang/WireImage/Getty Images

Brad Pitt Opens Up About Going To Alcoholics Anonymous Amid 'Difficult' Split From Angelina Jolie

In 2016, actors Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt officially separated after 12 years together, with two of those years spent as husband and wife.

The split came after an inflight incident that forced the private plane Pitt, Jolie, and their children were traveling on to make an unscheduled landing and prompted an FBI investigation. Pitt later shared that he was struggling with an alcohol addiction.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sir Rod Stewart; Donald Trump
Ethan Miller/Getty Images; Carlos Barria - Pool/Getty Images

Rod Stewart Explains Why He's No Longer Friends With Trump In Blistering Interview

Singer Sir Rod Stewart and MAGA Republican President Donald Trump might seem like an odd pairing, but the two were once good friends, according to the Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.

And they actually have several things in common.

Keep ReadingShow less
Thomas Massie; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Suzanne Plunkett/Pool/Getty Images

GOP Rep. Offers Snarky Clapback After Trump Kicks Him Out Of MAGA For Criticizing Iran Attack

Kentucky Republican Representative Massie offered a snarky response after President Donald Trump said "MAGA doesn't want him" following Massie's criticism of Trump's unilateral decision to bomb Iran and the spending package presented in the "Big Beautiful Bill."

Massie spoke out following Trump's decision to authorize a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program. The threat of a wider conflict in the Middle East is on everyone's minds as tensions between Iran and Israel—now openly aided by the U.S.—intensify.

Keep ReadingShow less
Las Vegas sign
welcome to fabulous las vegas nevada signage

People Reveal The Times 'What Happens In Vegas' Did Not Stay In Vegas

"What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"...

The age-old slogan encourages visitors to put their fears and inhibitions to the side while indulging in all that "Sin City" has to offer.

Keep ReadingShow less
Marjorie Taylor Greene; Donald Trump
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

MTG Goes Off On Trump Over Iran Attack—And Warns Of What Could Happen Next

Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene criticized President Donald Trump in a lengthy post on X following his unilateral decision to bomb Iran over the weekend.

Greene is one of the most devout MAGA adherents in Congress, so her policy split is rare but shows just how deeply Trump has angered his own base since he authorized a series of intense U.S. air and submarine strikes targeting three Iranian nuclear facilities, amid ongoing uncertainty about the status of Tehran’s nuclear program

Keep ReadingShow less