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

Vivian Wilson
@vivllainous/Instagram

Elon Musk's Trans Daughter Just Made Her Drag Debut At An Anti-ICE Fundraiser—And Fans Are Obsessed

Elon Musk's disowned trans daughter Vivian Jenna Wilson has made a name for herself online for mercilessly dragging the father who once said she was "dead" to him because she was "killed by the woke mind virus."

But recently she took it to a new level, leveraging her fame in her first drag performance at a Los Angeles anti-ICE fundraiser.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Trump Administration Fast-Tracks Eliminating National Suicide Hotline's LGBTQ+ Youth Support

On Wednesday morning, news broke that the administration of MAGA Republican President Donald Trump was eliminating certain suicide and self harm resources provided through the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.

The lifeline offered callers options to speak to people who specialize in meeting their needs. But the Trump administration decided this was a service that LGBTQ+ young people don't deserve.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Trump Blasted For Announcing New Additions To The White House Lawn As Global Tensions Escalate

President Donald Trump was criticized after announcing that two new flagpoles would be added to the North and South Lawns of the White House—not the greatest look amid heightened global unease as tensions between Israel and Iran ramp up.

According to the Associated Press, Trump watched as a crane installed the newest flagpole on the South Lawn, remarking, “It’s such a beautiful pole.” He later returned to the site to salute as the American flag was raised for the first time.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Donald Trump from CNN supercut
CNN

Trump Mocked For 'Two Weeks' Iran Deadline With Supercut Of All His 'Two Weeks' Promises

President Donald Trump has a history of promising to resolve problems within "two weeks," and a new viral supercut mocks him for all the times he's said as much—including right now with tensions in the Middle East higher than ever.

Trump said Thursday he will decide within two weeks whether to involve U.S. forces directly in the escalating conflict between Israel and Iran, citing what he called a “substantial chance” for renewed nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

Keep ReadingShow less
red flag with pole on seashore
Seoyeon Choi on Unsplash

People Break Down The 'Silent Red Flags' Folks Tend To Ignore In Relationships

A red flag has come to mean any warning sign in life, in addition to the literal red flags that are placed on beaches or industrial sites to warn people of danger.

People will respond to situations by saying, "That’s a red flag." But before that language evolved, they'd just call them "warning signs."

Keep ReadingShow less