Me When X Tell Me to Do Something / Si Patrona

Submission 44,797

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About

Me When X Tell Me to Do Something or Si Patrona, sometimes written Me When X Tells Me to Do Something, refers to a series of image macros using a photo of a young Hispanic man in a Navy JROTC uniform saluting in front of a display cabinet. The meme became popularized among Spanish-speaking internet users in 2020 as "Si Patrona," meaning "yes boss," alongside jokes about doing what your significant other tells you. In late 2022, the meme gained virality with English speakers as a phrasal template format using variations on the phrase "Me when X tell me to do something" by recaptioning the original.

Origin

It is unclear where the photo of the Hispanic person saluting in the Navy JROTC uniform (as indicated by the left-arm patch and left-collar device) comes from. In early 2020, memes showing young people saluting under captions about listening to their girlfriend or significant other, captioned "si patrona," started to become popularized on Twitter.^[1]^[2] On June 27th, 2020, Twitter^[3] user @fallingfrmhvn posted a photo of a young Hispanic man saluting in front of a display cabinet while wearing a military uniform, writing, "'block or remove her then' si patrona 😂😂." This is the earliest known use of the image as a meme, although it gained no likes or retweets and is likely not the first use. On August 9th, Twitter^[4] user @palace_gio used the same photo with a similar caption, garnering over 90 likes and 30 retweets in three years (shown below).

Spread

On August 20th, 2021, Twitter^[5] user @Dr_Nut_ posted a closer-cropped version of the photo, writing, "This how you supposed to act when your girlfriend ask you to get them some water," garnering over 107,000 likes and 16,000 retweets in two years (shown below). On September 23rd, Twitter^[6] user @1amezz made a similar meme, garnering over 64,000 likes in a similar span of time.

On September 16th, 2022, Twitter^[7] user @_underwaterboi commented a version of the meme under one of @matthwatson's posts with the caption "me when Matt Watson tells me to do something," garnering over 1,700 likes in four months. The meme is altered, with an unknown word covered up by "Matt Watson." On November 6th, Instagram^[8] user average_cia_officer posted another edit of the image with "X" being "the voices," garnering around 20 likes in two months (shown below). It was then reposted by Instagram^[9] user autistic.browniez on November 14th, garnering over 8,000 likes in two months, and by Twitter^[10] user @whotfisjovana later that month, garnering over 46,000 likes in roughly the same span of time.

On November 19th, Instagram^[11] user cheebsitz edited the photo to make "X" "bad bitches," garnering over 42,000 likes in two months (shown below, left). On December 1st, Tumblr^[12] user cetitan posted a version replacing "X" with "butch lesbian," garnering over 17,600 notes in a month.

On December 17th, Instagram^[13] user crazylipzig posted a version of the meme where "X" reads "a chick with tattoos and piercings," garnering over 127,000 likes in a month (shown below, left). On January 6th, 2023, Instagram^[14] user owen_kung posted a version about a cursed amulet, garnering over 18,000 likes in five days (shown below, right).