Overview

The Patrick with Glasses meme features the character Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants, humorously depicted as overly focused on trivial tasks.

Background

The meme originates from a scene in Spongebob Squarepants where Patrick Star observes an object through a sand microscope. It often appears alongside an image of Patrick nailing a board to his head, illustrating how individuals might disproportionately focus on less significant tasks.

How It Began

The original image is from the episode 'Patrick SmartPants,' which aired on October 21, 2005. In this episode, Patrick loses the top of his head, which is replaced by a piece of brain coral, making him smarter. He then humorously examines the character Plankton through a sand microscope.

In the late 2010s, another image of Patrick, from the episode 'My Pretty Seahorse' (aired on July 12, 2002), featuring him with a hammer and a board nailed to his head, became associated with the meme.

Internet Reaction

The earliest known example of the meme appeared on /r/bikinibottomtwitter, posted by user u/Lil_boi_patrick on May 14, 2019, comparing focus on a Minecraft project to a school project. This post received over 1.5K notes. The meme's popularity grew throughout that summer, with a notable post by user u/SurvivorNovak on July 31, which garnered over 3,500 points.