--- title: Everyone Has Their Own Funny My Plans 2020 Meme description: The new my plans 2020 meme is helping people laugh at their best laid plans. canonical: https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2020-05-19T15:04:50.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:27.858Z og:title: Everyone Has Jokes About Their Plans Going Up Against 2020 og:description: A new meme is helping people laugh through their tears in the middle of a pandemic og:url: https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Everyone Has Jokes About Their Plans Going Up Against 2020 twitter:description: A new meme is helping people laugh through their tears in the middle of a pandemic twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Everyone Has Jokes About How They Made Big Plans But 2020 Had Other Plans by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 19, 2020 3:04 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker May 19, 2020 3:04 PM UTC Abraham Lincoln once said, “I laugh because I must not cry, that is all.” They are wise words that are extremely applicable in the year 2020, when an unprecedented [global pandemic](https://time.com/tag/covid-19/) has lead to lost lives, lost jobs, and scuttled plans. Now, a new meme is helping people laugh through their tears by pairing images of [naiveté](https://newsfeed.time.com/2012/03/29/survey-people-arent-happiest-until-they-reach-age-33/) with the impending reality. The meme, which is spreading on Instagram and Twitter, pits “my plans” versus 2020, frequently using images snagged from pop culture. Take for instance this version with a happy office visitor, laughing at the wacky hijinks about to ensue thanks to an in-office lawn mower. As anyone who watched the first season of [_Mad Men_](https://time.com/mad-men-history/) knows, that did not end well: > [](https://twitter.com/madmenpics/status/1262448792202366977) The other examples of the meme follow a similar format with someone happily envisioning their future, whether an adorable child, an illogically optimistic character in [_Succession_](https://time.com/5646634/succession-season-2-finale-recap/), a [_RuPaul’s Drag Race_](https://time.com/4746895/rupaul-time-100-video/) contestant with big plans for a butterfly-filled runway walk, or a smiling character in _Game of Thrones_, only for the plans to be [completely derailed by future events](https://twitter.com/AndyAMD%5F/status/1262312836094713856). See a sampling of the my plans vs. 2020 memes below. > [](https://twitter.com/breannimator/status/1262481125315719174) > [](https://twitter.com/KealanBurke/status/1262516469180612609) > [](https://twitter.com/robdelaney/status/1262709556729319432) > [](https://twitter.com/FANGORIA/status/1262582264350814210) > [](https://twitter.com/zachsilberberg/status/1262533898669604870) > [](https://twitter.com/karenyhan/status/1262488202637725699) > [](https://twitter.com/horrorflickss/status/1262466727146926080) > [](https://twitter.com/la%5Floulu/status/1262229951610343425) > [](https://twitter.com/Balegde%5F/status/1262142988400177155) > [](https://twitter.com/throughfilms/status/1261300955544293376) > [](https://twitter.com/BilgeEbiri/status/1262630427526868993) > [](https://twitter.com/TomZohar/status/1262181168520159232) > [](https://twitter.com/keithcarian/status/1261935634714734592) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/"},"headline":"Everyone Has Jokes About How They Made Big Plans But 2020 Had Other Plans","datePublished":"2020-05-19T15:04:50.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:27.858Z","description":"A new meme is helping people laugh through their tears in the middle of a pandemic","url":"https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Brief","clickmonsters","COVID-19","News Desk"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5838287/my-plans-2020-meme/","name":"Everyone Has Jokes About How They Made Big Plans But 2020 Had Other Plans"}}]}] ```