It may seem incomprehensible to the terminally online among us, but it is possible to become a meme and not know it until years later.

This seems to be the case for software engineer Peter Godofsky, who recently went viral for discovering that he is the kid in the Buff Guys Help Out Nerdy Kid meme.

Didn't believe it at first, but pic.twitter.com/sU4091q4CT

— Daniel (@growing_daniel) December 5, 2021

According to Godofsky's tweet, he was unaware of his life as a meme until he stumbled across the now-iconic picture of himself on Twitter recently. He recognized his dad's laptop and deduced that the picture was of himself in 2004 playing Lego League.

Peter has since locked himself on Twitter, seemingly due to the influx of attention, but his brother Steven has been fielding the sudden surge of interest in the Godofsky family. It seems he has not appreciated it very much since publicly confirming his presence in the meme.

because peter is locked I have gained something like 60 or 70 followers in the last 24 hours, I suppose as the nearest substitute

— Steven Godofsky (@sgodofsk) December 5, 2021

I've decided I never want 15 minutes of fame.

— Steven Godofsky (@sgodofsk) December 6, 2021

While the image of Godofsky became well known for its use in the Buff Guys meme, it's been circulating on the internet for over a decade. For example, it appeared in an August 2011 Buzzfeed listicle about hypochondria (it appears Buzzfeed was going for "edgier" content back then).