# What a Time to Be Alive "What a Time to Be Alive" is a sarcastic catchphrase lifted from a 1998 Simpsons scene where Abe Simpson's friend Jasper mistakes a grocery store freezer for a cryogenic chamber and declares the line after finding a moon pie. YouTube uploads of the clip in 2011 kicked off years of ironic image-macro usage, with the phrase slapped onto trivial product innovations and screenshots of absurd internet behavior. ## Origin The line comes from The Simpsons Season 9 Episode 17, "Lisa the Simpson," which originally aired on March 8th, 1998[5]. In a subplot, Abe Simpson's friend Jasper climbs into a grocery store freezer in a confused attempt at cryogenic hibernation. He gets thawed out almost immediately, spots a moon pie snack on a shelf, assumes decades have passed, and marvels, "Moon pie. What a time to be alive"[5]. The scene stayed a cult favorite for over a decade before migrating online. On April 21st, 2011, YouTuber ichibanjin uploaded a clip of the moment, which racked up more than 245,000 views and 320 comments within its first three years[1]. - **Platform:** The Simpsons (TV) / YouTube and Reddit (viral spread) - **Creator:** The Simpsons writers (quote); meme spread anonymous - **Date:** 1998 ## Overview "What a Time to Be Alive" is a sarcastic reaction line that gets stapled to screenshots and photos of underwhelming product launches, minor technological updates, or baffling human behavior[1]. The joke rides on Jasper's wide-eyed sincerity in the original scene, so the phrase hits hardest when the thing being celebrated is actually dumb, pointless, or dystopian. Think Triple Double Oreos, child safety doorknob covers, or Facebook statuses about using phone cases while skipping condoms[4][6]. The format is loose. Sometimes people pair the line with a still of Jasper himself, sometimes they just drop it as a caption under a photograph with no Simpsons imagery at all[2]. The second usage mode flips the sarcasm into mild awe at how absurd the modern world is, closer in tone to "I don't want to live on this planet anymore" than to pure mockery[5]. ## How It Spread The quote jumped off YouTube into dedicated fan spaces starting late 2011, when a Facebook page named "Moon Pie, What a Time to Be Alive" was launched on December 6th[5]. A year later, on December 19th, 2012, Redditor Pointland32 posted a photograph of a grocery store freezer with a Jasper decal to r/TheSimpsons, where it pulled in over 2,000 upvotes before being archived[2]. In 2013 the phrase broke containment. On June 16th, Tumblr user the-pietriarchy posted a set of internet meme tattoo photos captioned "what a time to be alive," which picked up over 32,600 notes in the following nine months[3]. Just over a month later, on July 24th, 9gag featured a Triple Double Oreo cookie package under the same caption, pulling upwards of 17,800 upvotes[4]. By fall, aggregator sites were using it as a reusable headline. Cheezburger's FAILBlog ran a "What a Time to be Alive" post on September 9th, 2013, mocking a Facebook status about smartphone cases and unprotected sex[6]. On November 1st, Redditor horneymonkey123 submitted an ad for a child safety doorknob cover to r/tumblr with the same tag, which gained over 1,600 upvotes and 20 comments in four months[7]. ## How to Use The typical setup pairs a photo of something trivial, dystopian, or ridiculous with the caption "What a time to be alive." Common conventions include screenshots of oblivious social media posts, pictures of excessive product packaging or snack-food innovations, and shots of mundane modern conveniences treated as miracles[4][6]. The joke lands when the reader can tell you are not actually impressed. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is What a Time to Be Alive? It is a sarcastic catchphrase from The Simpsons that online users apply to photos of trivial product innovations or absurd modern behavior[5]. ### Where did What a Time to Be Alive come from? The line was spoken by Jasper in Season 9 Episode 17 of The Simpsons, which aired March 8th, 1998, after he mistakes a grocery freezer for a cryogenic chamber and finds a moon pie[5]. YouTuber ichibanjin uploaded the clip in April 2011, which seeded its online spread[1]. ### What does What a Time to Be Alive mean? It is used ironically to mock minor technological or cultural "advances," similar in tone to "I don't want to live on this planet anymore"[5]. Example captions have included Triple Double Oreos and child safety doorknob covers[4][7]. ### How do you use What a Time to Be Alive? People typically pair the phrase with a photo of something ridiculous or dystopian, sometimes with Jasper's face attached and sometimes as a standalone caption[2][6]. ### Is What a Time to Be Alive still popular? It is a classic Simpsons catchphrase that saw its biggest viral push between 2011 and 2013 across Reddit, Tumblr, 9gag, and Cheezburger[3][4]. Its usage as an ironic reaction tag is still recognized by Simpsons fans[5]. ## References 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qu32fBkiHFE]() 2. [https://www.reddit.com/r/TheSimpsons/comments/1546ri/moon_pie_what_a_time_to_be_alive/]() 3. [https://the-pietriarchy.tumblr.com/post/53149040484/what-a-time-to-be-alive]() 4. [https://9gag.com/gag/ay5noOy/what-a-time-to-be-alive-triple-double-oreo]() 5. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/what-a-time-to-be-alive]() 6. [https://cheezburger.com/6773641472]() 7. [https://www.reddit.com/r/tumblr/comments/1pogw0/what_a_time_to_be_alive/]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/what-a-time-to-be-alive Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library