It is the year 2022, and I aspire to be Jane Jetson 40 years in advance. I say 40 years in advance because The Jetsons portrayed society in the year 2062. My aspirations to be Jane Jetson most likely stem from laziness or exhaustion (not sure which), but I can tell you that my robot vacuum lacks the personality of Rosie Jetson and my wardrobe has far fewer digital options than Jane’s.

I can only imagine what it would be like to press a button and a fully fresh face and hair style would materialize. Forget the frustration of not having anything to wear, I could just step into my holographic closet apparatus and create my perfect look by swiping through the digital designs. My dishes would wash themselves, food prepare itself, and the laundry would wash, dry, and fold all on its own. It would be magical.

Maybe it’s her cool triangle-shaped collar, or her ability to juggle all the galactic challenges of being a woman of the future, but I know that I would love to put myself in her spacetastic shoes. Clearly, Jane is a woman who knows how to handle her bumbling husband, reign in her teenage daughter, keep her brilliant son from getting too big for his britches, and maintain a social life and philanthropic endeavors through her work with the Skypad Apartments’ recycling company and Galaxy Women Historical Society. Who wouldn’t want to be like Jane Jetson?

Here’s the tricky part. I’m already a lot more like Jane Jetson that I was just 10 years ago, and thanks to COVID, much of our society has become way closer to being Jetson-esque in the last two years than we ever imagined.

With services like GrubHub, Stitch Fix, Webex, Zoom, and Netflix, everything we need is available at the click of a button. Uber provides us transportation in minutes. Amazon and Walmart deliver our groceries in hours. Rumba vacuums clean our rugs and hardwoods, while Whirlpool and LG make our ice, wash and dry our laundry and dishes, and DirecTV and AT&T keep our tv programs in queue for our binging pleasure. I know there are many more companies that have added to our Jetson Ju-Ju, but that doesn’t keep a lot of us from wishing we were more like Jane.

Fortunately, wishing isn’t always getting. I probably won’t ever get a chance to live in any kind of dwelling like the Spacepad Apartments. I’m ok with that because I like grass, trees, and being able to go outside without a space helmet.

I most likely will not have a flying car in the next 40 years, because they are way out of my price range and comfort level, but I guess you never know what we’ll drive next.

With our livelihood centered around our family farm, it is highly unlikely that I will ever have a dial to turn and instantly prepare our meals. For that I’m grateful, because I don’t know where that dial gets its food and I know exactly where my food comes from.

As for the holographic closet option, Jane shopped at Mooning Dales, so I’m going to guess her closet options came from there. I don’t even like to order my clothes from Amazon, so my closet will just have to remain a manual operation of fashion selection.

I am certain her animated life wasn’t always perfect, but the best thing about Jane Jetson was that she always had a smile on her face and a willingness to find a solution to any problem. She was particularly talented at finding just the right gadget for the situation at hand. If we really aspire to be like Jane, we need to strive to find the best way to solve our modern problems with a positive outlook. We can’t all do it in an anti-gravity situation or with a robot assistant, but we’ve got plenty of terrific resources at our disposal if we are willing to take on the day in a optimistic way and with appreciation for the options available to us. While I will continue to wish for the some of the comforts enjoyed by Jane Jetson, I hope you will join me in appreciating the technology, discoveries, and opportunities we do have today.

By: Melanie A. Peters

P.S. I bet my robot vacuum wishes I was more like Jane Jetson too.