Roll Safe

Can't have problems if you don't think about them. *taps forehead*

On June 1, 2016, BBC Three uploaded an episode of Hood Documentary, a web series following the misadventures of Reece Simpson—a character so confidently wrong about everything that he became aspirational. Actor Kayode Ewumi played Reece with a knowing smirk, and in one scene, he tapped his temple while dispensing dubious wisdom about attraction.

On November 15, 2016, @FootyHumor tweeted a screenshot with a caption about gaming priorities. The format was born: present obviously flawed logic as if it were genius insight, accompanied by Reece's self-satisfied temple tap.

"Can't be broke if you don't check your bank account." "Can't fail the test if you don't take it." "Can't get rejected if you never ask anyone out." The meme was a celebration of willful ignorance, of choosing delusion over confronting reality. It was life advice from the guy who definitely shouldn't be giving advice.

In late January 2017, Roll Safe exploded. Tweets accumulated tens of thousands of retweets within hours. News outlets covered it. r/MemeEconomy declared it a solid investment. For about six weeks, you couldn't scroll anywhere without seeing Reece tapping his temple.

The format burned fast and bright, as memes do. By mid-2017, using it unironically felt dated. But the wisdom lives on: you can't solve problems you refuse to acknowledge.

That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works.

But for a beautiful moment, we pretended it was.