This Redditor that goes by u/Zulera301 recently took to one of the platform’s communities to recount a story of a similar character (and with a side of revenge) that happened to her almost a decade ago. 

Passenger hogs space on a packed overnight train by putting her bag on someone else’s seat

When asked to move her purse, she tells on her seatmate but gets instructed to remove the belongings

“No Karen, I didn’t buy a seat for your bag” – this internet user took to one of Reddit’s communities dedicated to good old ‘Karen’ slander to tell its members a tale of how she handled an entitled train passenger who refused to take her purse off of her paid seat. The post managed to garner over 5.5K upvotes as well as 191 comments discussing the situation. 

Now, it’s likely that many of you have at least once or twice come into contact with a let-me-speak-to-the-manager sort of individual who is really obnoxious and not averse to taking a self-centered approach when engaging with others. The World Wide Web, or its users, to be exact, have spared others the long description and came up with the name “Karen” to sum these folks up. Of course, this slang term is directed towards women; however, “Ken,” the male equivalent, also exists, but it is not as widely used. 

It’s also worth mentioning that a fair share of people are not in awe of this kind of representation as they find that the term feeds into dangerous stereotypes where: A) women who speak out against unfair behavior are crazy, or B) they’re just inherently toxic. 

While, for the most part, things that involve “Karens” only tend to cover stories on self-absorbed people without carrying any pejorative undertones, it doesn’t change the fact that some people do indeed use the slang word to degrade women. 

But regardless of your take on the term, the meme has been a thing for what seems like forever, and the stories keep flooding in. Some choose to keep it within their inner circle, while others decide to resort to popular online forums to share their rather interesting experiences – and is there a better platform than Reddit? 

Today’s story was published on the r/F*ckYouKaren subreddit, one of several communities on Reddit devoted to “Karens.” This group was founded in 2017 and already has over 1.5M members. So, without further ado – let’s jump in and discuss what kind of malarkey happened this time! 

Shortly after, she gets a taste of petty revenge as the author decides to play SimCity on her laptop

The story is not all too unusual, as I bet a fair share of you have faced tactless passengers at some point in your lives; however, let’s do a quick recap. 

The author was scheduled for a 14-hour train ride across Utah and Nevada to see family for the holidays. Due to the busyness of the period, the train was full, and every traveler had a seat assigned. Well, upon boarding, u/Zulera301 discovered an older woman was her seatmate, but the catch was that her purse was taking up two seats. Most would think that a little “excuse me” would’ve worked out just fine, but, surprise, surprise, the culprit didn’t get dubbed “Karen” for nothing. 

Long story short, the “Karen” in question caused a scene. She demanded to see the woman’s ticket, told her to get lost, and eventually involved an attendant who obviously backed the author and instead ordered the passenger to move her bag. But that’s not the end! 

As a little revenge, the original poster decided to whip out her laptop and play SimCity on mute. Naturally, “Karen” couldn’t contain herself and told on the author yet again, but the universe, and the attendant, really weren’t on her side that day. 

Many commenters didn’t sympathize with u/Zulera301. Perhaps it was the delivery that did it, as the Redditor used a couple of strong statements like “decrepit old woman” and “old hag” and even said that she hoped her ex-seatmate had an “unhappy holiday” literally eight years after the incident took place. 

However, there were also those who praised the woman for the way she handled things. If we think about it, as long as everything said was indeed true, the netizen didn’t disrespect her fellow passenger (not to her face, at least), kept her composure despite being in a fairly uncomfortable situation, and even managed to get back at her in a harmless manner. 

What is your take on this situation? Do you have a “Karen” story to share? 

Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions