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Hey Pandas, What’s The Craziest ‘Karen’ Encounter You’ve Ever Had? (Closed)
Hey! I love hearing about strange encounters, and wanted to ask if anyone knew about one. It’s interesting, really. So, without further ado, let’s get into it!
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#1
Worked at a National Park centre. Shore, tides, gulls, snails and stuff. Karen stomped in and complained that she paid to swim in the sea (which is gone during low tide, you know...). After we explained, Karen complained about the "unreasonably complicated" tidal calendar, and demanded we reschedule high tide for her. Yeah, no.
Final score:
43points
#2
I worked returns and we had a 90 day exchange policy on mattresses.
This woman came in and demanded I take the items out of her car and bring them in for her. I am currently with a customer which I pointed out and (pettily) tells her she needs to take a ticket and wait (admittedly before calling the next number i usually check on new people and could have called someone from the bank however he immediate expectation that I should drop everything irked me.
Between every customer she would demand that I help her and I would tell her to sit back down. She decided to demonstratively lay down on the entire bench causing a little elderly man with mobility issues to stand. I yelled to her that she needed to move to which she flipped me off... great.
It's finally her turn, she tries to hand me her keys to go to her car and get the item for her (yes she wasn't even wanting to go out), I call someone from the back and warn them that she's a fun one.
They come back in with a double mattress and she's berating the employee because they put the item on the cart top side up when she told them not to... now... she didn't want it top side up because I assume she thought that I would be so bad at my job that if it were tilted downward, I could not possibly notice the massive (truely massive) yellow urine stain across it. She comes up to my counter, no receipt ready because how dare I assume after 30minutes of complaining about being in a rush she would have something she needed. So she begins looking on her phone. Her phone rings and she answers it, telling the caller about how awful we are so I decide I would at least make her somewhat uncomfortable so, I, quite loudly say "so Ma'am the amount of urine staining on this mattress makes it inelligible for exchange or return. I have never seen a mattress with quite so much pee on it. There is no way we could possibly clean this and because it is a health risk you'll need to take it home or to the dump yourself. I would be more than happy to help you purchase a new one and may I suggest a mattress protector?" I just heard this sudden burst of laughter from the other side of the phone. She's utterltly mortified and hands up abruptly. She started to get quite aggressive, demanding my manager. My manager was on the floor (a rare sight indeed) and came over. With a marker he drew a small circle on the mattress to show the amount of damage we will take back(about 5% of the bed), then he outlined the entire yellow mass-- literally 60% of the whole bed. The woman tried everything, finally she says she'll be back the next day with her lawyer-husband who allegedly plays golf with the CFO... if this multinational company. Fine see you tomorrow. She wanted to leave it overnight, absolutely not, it was a health risk, no can do. She was furious. Just turned and walked away. She knocked over a display as she left. I assume she thought leaving just made her not responsible for taking it, but that's not how it works. I ran outside and yelled to her "you forgot this!" And sat the leaned the matress against her car. When i left about an hour later she was so there shooting daggers at me while telling to her husband about how horribly we treated her.
Final score:
34points
#3
I work at a recreation center. We have a fantastic pool. It has a 300 person capacity due to the fact that the life guards cannot safely watch the whole thing with more people in it. A woman came in with her little girl, and marched up to the counter. I said, "I'm terribly sorry, but our pool is at capacity right now. We can take your name and put you on our waitlist, and as people leave, you can get in." The Karen did that thing that Karens do when they receive bad news, kind of a "Well, *pshaw* I NEVER have had to wait *pshaw* before. My tax dollars paid to *pshaw* build this place!" I reiterated my apology and included the information that too many people would make the pool unsafe. She turned to her kiddo and said, "Okay, sweetie! We have to go because the mean man won't let us in! Our swim day is ruined because of him!" A real charmer!
Final score:
25points
#4
In warm water physiotherapy pool, relearning to walk. I am being escorted at a precise depth for a reason, by the therapist.
Fast forward two seconds: Woman barges into me, knocking me off my feet and into deeper water, snarling, "I WALK HERE EVERY DAY AT THIS TIME!"
After she stomped to the side of the pool? She got out. It was like two seconds of her life to cross that pool, and eight minutes of mine. I still marvel that anyone is that.... Well, THAT.
Final score:
24points
Penguin Panda Pop 1 year ago
That's horrible. Sorry this happened to you and hope your recovery is going well. When reading your story I was struck by how territorial some people are - which is particularly irksome in a public space. I hope that soceity can foster a 'we more than me' attitiude someday. Not holding my breath.
#5
( i saw it happen even though she wasnt mad at me) once me and my brother ( we were around seven at the time) were waiting in line when we look down and see a angry woman pushing past everyone to get to the front. once she gets infront of us, she screams louder than ever at the man infront of us. the woman screams so many swares at this 17 year old man for getting water in her hair. me and my brother were not even the target and we were scared. she also got mad at us when told I told her that there were kids nearby ( we werent the only ones). she then screamed at us because she didnt care. the weirdest poart of this whole interaction was that it happened at a waterpark. this girl was mad at a man for getting wet eventhough she was at a waterpark. its not as bad as some others and iom not sure this is a karen encounter so i wanna hear if it is.
Final score:
21points
#6
I was about 15, working in a fun little restaurant in my home city. We had a little drive-through (??? is that the word) delivery and drop off situation, and one night it was my turn to manage it. I loved being on deliveries because we got very few people through there, AND i could sit and be on my phone or book until we got a delivery. So, it’s about 21:00 and there’s this woman who pulls through the drive. She speaks to me and asks if her order is ready, and i see it was only sent in like four minutes ago, so it’ll be about another ten or fifteen and she can go wait in the lot in the front of the building. She gives a tsk and says that “if this were a professional business, they would have my food ready by now”. So she goes to wait, parks in two spots, and as i run out to give her her bags, i give her the usual “have a nice day!!” and then she BLOWS UP AT ME. She starts screaming about how it’s been 8 whole minutes (even short for us!!) and how she’ll never come again and tell all her friends about the s****y customer service (???). I slowly start to retreat, and then this woman SNAPS AT ME, LIKE IM A DOG. This really sent me over the edge, and as a 15 year old boy, i naturally start to cry. My working comrade (lovely woman. still friends to this day) rushes to my aid and berates the Karen saying that i’m 15 years old and i don’t deserve her s**t.
The last thing i heard was “HE IS INCOMPETENT AND SHOULD BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY!!! BOYS, ESPECIALLY WORKING BOYS, SHOULD NOT CRY!!!” before i ran inside and called off the rest of my work night.
Still bitter abt this to this day lmao.
Final score:
20points
Penguin Panda Pop 1 year ago
That sucks. People, especially boys, should cry more often and more openly. I worked in customer services for over 15 years - I'm sorry to tell you that these experiences stay with you for a long time, but at least the gut-wrenchy feelings subside over time.
#7
I speak Spanish with my friends. I live in a conservative area. I don’t think I need to go further with this, you already know.
Final score:
19points
MezzoPiano 1 year ago
Same, but it's French. It's so satisfying when I get to tell people, in my Southern American accent, that just because we *aren't* speaking English doesn't mean we *can't* speak English.
#8
We once had a broken cooling system in our supermarket and had to remove ALL the dairy and meat products from the shelves. To inform our customers I wrote, printed and placed 4 bright yellow signs with big letters strategically from the entrance towards said shelves. Impossible to overlook you would assume - which wasn't the case given how many people were surprised that everything was gone.
One woman strolled right towards our self-serving baked goods section and took around 10 bread rolls. Apparently her plan was to also get stuff to put on them, too bad she missed the 3 signs including the one directly taped in full view infront of her on.
Pissed about the whole situation she walks to the first employee to be around - the lady responsible for cleaning - throws the bag with the rolls with force on the ground infront of her and starts the whole Karen outrage routine.
With me being the closest guy around I had to deal with that. So I approach "Karen", put a smile on and ask her politely what's the matter, how I can help etc. and take her focus towards me since my colleague was close to crying already. She insisted not to buy the goods she already touched (without gloves or tongs) and we have the policy of not taking baked goods back if a customer took them out of the drawers. It took some back and forth with me staying polite (I was a trainee) and her getting angrier every second till she demanded to see our manager.
This happened infront of our office's door and he already listened in. "Big mistake" I think by myself, but if she insists. Door bursts open, boss listens to her story again and well... the major bollocking Karen got for her little outrage was pretty effective in calming her down quick. I rather not repeat any of the things my boss said out of politeness.
So Karen paid for everything she touched, apologised to us and went out without a word. Got a compliment for staying calm in handling the situation
Final score:
19points
The Void Overlord 1 year ago
…wow. I’m a bit confused on this, what would ypu put on bread that’s either meat or milk? Could someone explain?
#9
I was shopping at Whole Foods one day when I saw a woman who was wearing an absolutely beautiful dress. High-class peacock design. Probably silk. Peacocks are my favorite animal :). As I passed her, I said "That is an absolutely stunning dress." Not flirting, just complimenting her. She thanked me and I continued to shop when a woman called behind me and said "EXCUSE me!" I turned. "Did you just objectify her?" Even the woman in the dress chimed in and said "He was just paying me a damn compliment." I just walked away. As I was checking out, she was talking to the manager, pointing at me and said "That's the man right there. You need to ban him for how he speaks to women." Just so happened the woman in the peacock dress was in the check out next to me and said "Are you f*cking kidding me!?" She explained what happened and the manager burst into laughter walking away with Karen having egg on her face.
Final score:
17points
The Void Overlord 1 year ago
… what just happened? Karen must have hit her head when vacuuming under the table, because WHATWASSHETHINKING
#10
My sister’s named Karen. She’s 73 but still a Karen. Recently she took a tour of Egypt. One of the side trips was a ride on the Nile on a recreated sail boat that looked and felt like the real thing from thousands of years ago. There were forty or so tourists onboard.
Being Karen, she claims she wrestled control of the boat away from the pros and claims and sailed the Nile herself for ten minutes.
I wouldn’t ordinarily believe a story like this but as the former commodore (big kahuna) of her sailing club in Detroit I can see it happening.
Because Karen.
Final score:
16points
#11
We had an accident on holiday abroad, and my husband had a bad break in his leg as a result. He had to be stretchered out (thanks holiday insurance), and to do this, they flatten 9 seats -3 x 3 rows- and add a shelf for the stretcher.
He was lying there, I was in a seat across the aisle, and a woman went up and down past us 3 times.
The steward asked her if she needed help,and she told him she wanted to be up where my husband was!
At the end of a very stressful week, and still being very worried about my husband, I was happy that the staff dealt with her.
Final score:
11points
#12
This one is honestly a little sad and I actually felt a little bad for the Karen. This Karen was an elderly woman, reminded me of my gran a little. I had just left sales and logged into returns (the joys of retail double shifts). I had just seen her pay and as she's walking towards the door, she looks quite upset looking at her receipt. I asked if she needed help and she comes over and says "the little tart overcharged her." Before explaining that the jam should have been 3.69 not 3.99. I know for a fact it is 3.99 so I ask her to show me where the tag was. She shows me and I show her that it's the price for a different jam and says (in quite bold letters may I add) Blueberry on it and not Lingonberry which is what she picked up. Well she starts pitching an absolute fit about how unclear it is to consumers and I give my usual smoothing over response "honestly, no one has ever brought this to my attention before so I appreciate it, I'll be sure to bring it up to my manager, thank you." Voice absolutely dripping with honey and for a moment she looked vindicated before saying "can i get the difference back then?"
Going through my head are 3 things: 1. We don't allow returns or adjustments on food items so I will get flagged. 2. If she wants to go through the process over $0.30... maybe money is very tight for her and that 0.30 would mean alot to her. 3. I can definitely say she never tampered with it and they literally can't afford to fire me.
Okay fine. I explain to her it'll take time and be about 5-10mimutes. Sure, great. Okay. I bring her over, open the programme and scan the receipt and the jam. I write all my notes, all the explanations. I then ask her for her name.
"Why do you need that"
"Just to finalise the return. It won't let me procede without basic information."
"Well I'm not giving you my name. "
...technically i can get by without a name though it will be another flag... great.
"Fine, how about just your postal code then."
"Why would i trust you with my postal code, you'll just sell it to the highest bidder. "
"Ma'am that's not it at all. We need it for fraud purposes. I am giving you a more expensive product for less than we sell it. By default this programme, which I did not make, forces me to fill this info out. Essentially if they find this happens frequently then it may be a fraud scheme and so this would allow them to see if a single person is committing fraud. That isn't what would happen with you but even still I need the information to reimberse you.
She then started to complain about how i said i would help her and all I'm doing is trying to scam her and take her personal info. I assure her I'm not, even inviting her to see my screen where it literally won't let me proceed and then explained that her postal code is not even unique-- it's shared by everyone in her area.
She then says she doesn't want other people to overhear her saying it so I ask if it would be easier if she just hands me some sort of ID to write ot down from. This seemed to almost enrage her... she started demanding I just refund the whole amount... to which I unfortunately had to explain that I would need her information to do that too...
So she picked up the jar and threw it at my face before screaming "you're abusing me. You abuse the elderly." And leaving.
...i then got in trouble for even attempting to return a food product... and had to clean jam off the wall... was... not a great shift.
Final score:
7points
The Void Overlord 1 year ago (edited)
HOW ARE YOU SORRY FOR THAT BRAT?? She is really one of the most disrespectful ladies on this post. And throwing the jam at your face? Jam containers are glass, she could have seriously injured you! Like, ER injure you!
Hales M (Submission author) 1 year ago
Honestly-- because I have been in a position of waiting hours to return something for a few dollars before... even if you seem on the outsude to be doing okay sometimes you aren't. She also had severe arthritis in her hands which in combination with her age made me assume she probably was on a fixed income. While waiting on the computer she also was pretty grateful-- seemed relieved. While I would never get angry at someone trying to help me, I could understand how the process could seem a little daunting, especially over such little cash back. I know my great-gran would be iffy about sales people asking for her phone number, to me if isn't unusual but an older gen sometimes it seems weird. There is no excuse for violence but I did wonder if there may have been something more causing her to act that way. I didn't appreciate a jar at my face nor did i like being accused of being abusive but when people act do irrationally, I have to assume there's stuff I can't see.
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Monoxide 1 year ago
Worked at KFC in high school. Older lady came in and ordered -I cant remember what-. She wanted something special and I said it would be cheaper to get each item individually and rang it up that way. You would have thought I had just kicked her dog the way she responded. Shouting things like "I ordered a meal!" and "This isnt what I asked for!" I tried to calmly repeat that it would be cheaper this way than buying it as a meal, but she was having none of it. I eventually said some NSFW works (audibly to make sure she could hear) and told a coworker to ring her up. Coworker had heard everything, so knew what was going on, so it wasnt really pawning her off on someone. Just a new face to do exactly what was asked calmed her down.
I just say hehehehehe hehehehe 1 year ago
OMFG YOU COULD HAVE GONE TO THE ER AND YOU FEEL SORRY FOR HER!!
Hales M (Submission author) 1 year ago
Yeah so my manager was useless as tits on a bull. I called him to ask him to talk to her and her berated me for interrupting his meeting and was like "you mean to tell me you need me to leave what I'm doing because you can't handle a customer issue... the most basic component of your job" and then hung up. I actively despised him.
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#13
My mom is a bipolar narcissist and in 2007 the mother of my twins passed away and my own dear mother told me the twins would be better off if I killed myself. Haven’t spoken to her in over a decade and my kids have nothing to do with her.
Final score:
7points
#14
I just got on the train. I wasn't settled. It was early. I had music blasting in my ears still. Out of the corner of my eye I see someone leaning over and yelling at me. I took out my ear plugs (yes, they were plugs) and asked what? At that point this person starts screaming at me. She paid for a ticket too. (I'm in a 3 seater) I'm a terrible person. I'm refusing to move my bags. I said I'm sorry, I didn't see or hear you. (NOTE: this is NYC) At this point she starts cursing at me. She hopes I'm FCKING handicapped and lead this miserable life. She's now moved to the seat in front of me (completely clear) and now I'm mad. The F bombs are flying. Finally, her friend comes over and moves her away from me. I'll never forget that face. And forgive my bestie for being out that day!
Final score:
6points
The Void Overlord 1 year ago (edited)
Mannnn, people are really bad sometimes! I feel bad for OC.
#15
Ok so this happened to me last month at the airport in Atlanta, Georgia.
So I was in a serious hurry because I just got off of one plane and had to catch my connecting flight to Amsterdam within 50 minutes. I ran through the airport and had to go down on an escalator and for some reason people don't seem to get that you STAND on the right and WALK on the left. Anyway, I had to excuse myself like a thousands of times to pass people who blocked the damn thing with their luggage. And then there was male Karen. He stood there on the escalator also blocking everything with his carry on and very much on purpose. So I asked him 'excuse me sir can I pass you' and he was ignoring me, again on purpose. So I went 'please sir, I'm in a hurry' and he just mumbled that he didn't care and that I could wait. So I reacted an when we finally came down I passed him, running and yelled something at him out of pure frustration and started having an anxiety attack and started crying and hyperventilating while waiting for a train I had to catch and guess who went on the wrong train because I was so out of it. Do I need to say I’m a grown a*s woman, 34 years old but I have atypical autism which causes me to react on my emotions.
But thank god these two lovely ladies saw my struggle and took their time to help me calm down and find the right train. Thanks to those nice ladies I made it to my gate and flight, although I did drop all my things in my purse by accident in the middle of everything while running to my gate.
Anyway, I wish that 'gentleman' knew what damage he caused to me. I still have not processed this s**t.
Final score:
4points
Ash Conner 1 year ago
Old dudes like that need to Realize that people have disabilities even if you can't see them. Old and patty gained no wisdom. If somebody is in a hurry it's usually for a reason. Don't be an a*****e. Let them through. You never know somebody's story. I'm glad those ladies helped you. God sent those angels to you
#16
I exceptionally organised for a cleaning service for my rented flat. As precised and agreed when booking, point was for her to close the door behind after cleaning as I was working that day. I precised when booking that whatever happened to the flat during the 30 min when she left was under my responsibility.
In the afternoon I get a hysterical call at work asking me where I was. Cleaning lady told me she was done I urged me to come. I told her she could just leave by shutting the door but she went on a massive rant telling that she would call the police If I was not there right away. Hopefully I lived 10 min by foot from the office so I arrived quickly.
The met police was actually on their way so she called them back in front of me to let them know I had arrived.
She then went on a massive rant accusing of racism (?) saying that if I was not here by the end of her shift I could be accusing her of stealing because she was black (??), literally yelling at me for 20 min that I had to be there sooner. To give you more insight she was a massive strong fierce woman with a very aggressive tone speaking in high volume, while as shy person I tried my best to ease her and appologise, although I did not do anything wrong. As she was starting to be intimidating, I just wanted her out. She told me her sons were angry that she was late because of me.
That's not the end. I was not satisfied by the interaction so left an average grade on the booking website. Was called by an agent of the website and explained that I did not appreciate the interaction we had and accusations of anything, when the terms of the service were clear. Precised that there might have been some miscomunication between us, so as to not get her banned from the platform, and that the work was properly done (while it was absolutely not, it was lost money).
And that's where it became tricky... I was left uneasy as I almost never argue with anyone and went on a short trip. Coming back from my trip, I received a text: the 3-flats building where I lived suffered from an intentional fire two days ago. Smoke caught until the 3rd floor and neighbors had to jump from their windows to another building's terrace to escape. It was intentional fire, papers were lit and put in our mailbox, and the entrance's floor of the building caught fire. We were the only building targeted in the long street. Discussing with the neighbors, everyone was shocked and nobody had any issues with anyone so could not understand. Asked me if I had any difficult relationships. That's when it hit me that I had a conflict a week ago.
Went to the police with the neighbors, and they never followed up on any deposition and didn't seem to care. Because of the intentionality of the act, I mentioned, without accusing anyone, that I had been recently in a conflict with a cleaning lady, but they borderline accused me of racism (?). We were never able to obtain any footage as you need police authorisation to do that.
That's the Karenest woman I have never met. Was equally impressed by the capacity of the met police to send a patrol to 'guard' a flat for 10 min (?!) but legit were not interested in investigating arson.
Final score:
4points
Wendy Mitchell 1 year ago
If you had a pitbull, the Met police would have been more than happy to shoot it for you.
#17
Two Karens. Both happened to be Hispanic. Demanded I look up their previous purchase by their phone number to see if they had brake pads under warranty. At the time my store did not collect phone numbers. They insisted I look their phone number up because the buy everything at (name of competing auto parts store). Told them they were in a different store. Repeated their demand for me to look up their phone number. Hispanic co-worker comes over and tells then the same thing I just did only in Spanish. They said "oh" and then left.
Final score:
2points
#18
So a little while ago my family got a new tv remote and told me to stop using the game controller remote, but didn’t tell me why. It worked just fine so I kept using the controller. Then one day, after my parents went out, the tv wouldn’t turn on properly, so I just switched to watching stuff on my phone. By the time they came back home I’d forgotten about it and so I forgot to tell them.
Next morning the tell me to come downstairs and started interrogating me on why the tv wasn’t working. I then remembered that it wasn’t working yesterday, but I didn’t wanna admit I’d forgotten because I’d probably just get told I was “Too smart to forget things” like my mom did once before, so I said that they got home pretty late and I didn’t wanna make them spend time on it or something like that. Cue my mom yelling at me and then when she couldn’t find the remote I was supposed to be using she literally accused me of hiding it.
Point is my mom is a fat Karen bįtch who has black out rages when things don’t go her away and then has the audacity to wonder why she’s not the favourite parent and why I’m uncomfortable around her.
But as for a stereotypical Karen thing, my mom once told a McDonald’s manager that the teenager working the drive through was being DiSrEsPeCtFuL.
Final score:
0points
What do you think ?
Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago
I've met a lot of beautiful people named Karen and I get kind of offended by this when people use a person's name as a derogatory response. I mean I do remember having to listen to we've only just begun on TV commercial ads over and over and over again but that doesn't make Karen Carpenter a bad person
talliloo 1 year ago
have yet to meet a karen/darren in the wild. but, i am ready for it should it happen. one concern is that since sarcasm is my mother tongue that anything i say will not be understood. the second concern is that i may witness a karen abusing someone as i can't tolerate that and would have to intervene - especially if it was an older person or a child.
Karen Bryan 1 year ago
I've had this name for over 70 years, so I'm too old to mind that it's become a perjorative.
Heather Rhoades 1 year ago
Hey Pandas! Using a term that indicates both age and race in a negative manner is called a "derogatory word". Maybe if you don't like when people use derogatory term for black people, gay men or women, or just about anyone else, you shouldn't use them for... Well... Anyone. Maybe we should change the the title to at least "entitled woman". But even that doesn't seem like quite enough. Because I am willing to bet if I took a look, there are not nearly as many derogatory references to "entitled men" in your articles. Maybe just consider being less misogynic in your fluff coverage. ;)
Cerridwn d'Wyse 1 year ago
I've met a lot of beautiful people named Karen and I get kind of offended by this when people use a person's name as a derogatory response. I mean I do remember having to listen to we've only just begun on TV commercial ads over and over and over again but that doesn't make Karen Carpenter a bad person
talliloo 1 year ago
have yet to meet a karen/darren in the wild. but, i am ready for it should it happen. one concern is that since sarcasm is my mother tongue that anything i say will not be understood. the second concern is that i may witness a karen abusing someone as i can't tolerate that and would have to intervene - especially if it was an older person or a child.
Karen Bryan 1 year ago
I've had this name for over 70 years, so I'm too old to mind that it's become a perjorative.
Heather Rhoades 1 year ago
Hey Pandas! Using a term that indicates both age and race in a negative manner is called a "derogatory word". Maybe if you don't like when people use derogatory term for black people, gay men or women, or just about anyone else, you shouldn't use them for... Well... Anyone. Maybe we should change the the title to at least "entitled woman". But even that doesn't seem like quite enough. Because I am willing to bet if I took a look, there are not nearly as many derogatory references to "entitled men" in your articles. Maybe just consider being less misogynic in your fluff coverage. ;)
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