I Am Normal and Can Be Trusted With X

About

I'm Normal and Can Be Trusted With X is a phrasal template in which a user states that they are mentally stable and can be trusted with dangerous tools and substances, with the awkwardly menacing phrasing of the request contradicting their claim. The phrase is usually combined in image macros with imagery of unstable characters and individuals, such as Suicide Squidward or Psycho Wojak, for additional effect.

Origin

On September 6th, 2021, Facebook^[1] user Jimmy Senju posted an image macro of Suicide Squidward captioned, "Please recruit me into the military, I'm normal and can be trusted with weapons," writing that they've been banned from the official Air Force Facebook page after they replied with the macro to all of their posts. The post gained over 1,100 reactions and 2,100 shares in one year (image shown below, left; post shown below, right).

Spread

In the following weeks, both the image and the screenshot of Jimmy Senju's post were circulated online on Instagram,^[2][3] Facebook,^[4] Reddit^[5] and other platforms. In mid-September 2021, the macro achieved virality as a reply to social media posts by the U.S. army and personal messages from the U.S. Army recruiters (examples shown below).

On October 10th, 2021, Redditor Oreo28_ posted the earliest found derivative meme based on the format, with the post gaining over 13,700 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard^[6] in 10 months (shown below, left). On October 17th, an unknown Redditor^[7] posted a version that gained over 1,400 upvotes in the subreddit prior to deletion. On October 26th, 2021, Instagram^[8] page psycho.meme.dealer made a post that gained over 3,700 likes in 10 years (shown below, center). On November 9th, Redditor YoungThug798 posted an American Psycho version that received over 6,000 upvotes in /r/okbuddyretard^[9] (shown below, right).

Prior to March 17th, 2022, an unknown user posted a Wojak version of the meme captioned, "Please let me into the planetarium, I am normal and can be trusted with knowledge of the stars" (shown below). On March 17th and 19th, Instagram^[10] page toby_kief and Facebook^[11] page Regurgitated, Unoriginal Memes That Only The Page Owner Thinks Are Funny made the earliest found reposts of the image which gained over 4,700 likes and 200 reactions and 320 shares, respectively.

Following the viral spread of the Wojak version, it gained prevalence in recaptions. For example, on April 27th, iFunny^[12] user OG_blacktemplar posted a recaptioned version that gained over 350 smiles in four months (shown below, center). On July 7th, 2022, Twitter^[13] user @Spinachbrah posted a CERN Portal to Another Dimension meme that received over 1,200 retweets and 11,100 likes in one month (shown below, right). On August 21st, entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk reposted^[14] the CERN version, with the post gaining over 12,000 retweets and 141,800 likes in one day.

In August 2022, the American Psycho macro gained prominence in recaptions in the /r/okbuddyretard subreddit.^[15][16]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References