What is Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events?

A 2020 catchphrase from an @aardvarsk tweet that became a Squidward's Badge reaction image about being worn out by back-to-back global crises.

What does Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events mean?

It is a deadpan complaint that too many world-shaking events are happening in one lifetime, from pandemics to coup attempts to wars.

How do you use Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events?

Caption a Squidward's Badge edit with the line, or quote @aardvarsk's tweet next to a news screenshot of whatever just happened.

Is Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events still popular?

The catchphrase surged again in February 2022 after Russia's invasion of Ukraine and returns with each major news cycle.

Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events

Q: Where did Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events come from?

Twitter user @aardvarsk tweeted the line on March 21, 2020, during the opening days of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

2020catchphrasesemi-active

Published November 10, 2026

Tired of Living Through Major Historical Events, also called I Really Wish I Weren't Living Through a Major Historical Event Right Now, began as a March 21, 2020 tweet from @aardvarsk during the first week of U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns. The line gave exhausted users a slogan for the decade's pileup of crises and quickly turned into a Squidward's Badge reaction image on Tumblr. By late February 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine sent the catchphrase back into viral rotation on Twitter and Reddit.

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Overview

The format works two ways: as a straight text repost of @aardvarsk's original tweet and as a Squidward's Badge reaction image where the caption reads "I really wish I weren't living through a major historical event right now!"3. Posters pair either version with whatever news just broke, from pandemic milestones to election chaos to foreign wars, so the joke lands as a deadpan group sigh instead of a punchline5.

TikTok

The Squidward's Badge edit became the widely reblogged image variant, while plain screenshots of @aardvarsk's tweet also circulate on their own1 2. TikTokers have sung the line as a short jingle over breaking news clips, giving the catchphrase an audio form that rides along with each new crisis cycle8.

Gallery

Origin & Background

Platform

Twitter (text origin) / Tumblr (viral image spread)

Creator

@aardvarsk; darlingfreddie

Date

2020

Twitter user @aardvarsk posted "I am tired of being a part of a major historical event" on March 21, 2020, days after U.S. states began issuing mass stay-at-home orders for the COVID-19 pandemic1. The tweet drew over 61,100 retweets and 268,000 likes across the following two years, and screenshots hit r/2meirl4meirl within the week2.

A Squidward's Badge edit arrived on March 29, 2020, when Tumblr user darlingfreddie swapped the original cartoon line for "I really wish I weren't living through a major historical event right now!"3. Redditor EtherealDoughnut cross-posted the image to r/me_irl the same day, where it picked up more than 78,200 upvotes in six months4.

How It Spread

A second surge hit in November 2020 when an unknown user made a new reaction image reusing the catchphrase. Tumblr account dankmemeuniversity and iFunny user RedrumDude reposted that image on November 5, picking up over 22,000 likes and reblogs and around 6,900 iFunny notes between them6 7.

After the January 6, 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol, TikToker @seanghedi turned the sentiment into a short jingle on January 10, 2021, that passed 94,200 likes within a year8. On September 6, 2021, Redditor Francis_Faffywaffles paired the Squidward edit with a J.R.R. Tolkien quote in r/lotrmemes, where it cleared 11,200 upvotes and spread again in the following weeks9.

In late February 2022, Russia's invasion of Ukraine brought the catchphrase back across social media as fresh reaction images reusing the same line and formats5.

Timeline

2020-03-21

Twitter user @aardvarsk posts "I am tired of being a part of a major historical event" during the first week of U.S. COVID-19 lockdowns[1].

2020-03-29

Tumblr user darlingfreddie posts the Squidward's Badge edit; Redditor EtherealDoughnut cross-posts it to r/me_irl the same day[3][4].

2020-11-05

Tumblr account dankmemeuniversity and iFunny user RedrumDude repost a new reaction image built around the catchphrase[6][7].

2021-01-10

TikToker @seanghedi posts a jingle version after the January 6 Capitol storming[8].

2021-09-06

Redditor Francis_Faffywaffles posts a Squidward edit paired with a J.R.R. Tolkien quote to r/lotrmemes[9].

2022-02

Russia's invasion of Ukraine sends the catchphrase back into heavy circulation on Twitter and Reddit[5].

How to Use This Meme

Typical posts caption a Squidward's Badge edit with the "I really wish I weren't living through a major historical event right now!" line, or quote the @aardvarsk tweet alongside a news screenshot. A common move is to pair the catchphrase with a Tolkien quote or a cartoon still that matches the mood of whatever headline just hit.