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To our parents, ‘Karen’ is probably just a name. But on the Internet, the word stands for so, so much more. According to a popular meme, Karen is a middle-aged white woman with an asymmetrical bob who is always asking to speak to the manager. She’s entitled, she’s ignorant, and she’s often a racist, too.
As the meme has become more and more popular, however, its meaning has become muddled. Hopefully, these Karen stories will help clarify things.
Some time ago, Redditor ghostofgenerayburn asked people to share the most ‘Karen’ things someone has ever done to them. Over time, their post received over 1,5K comments packed with crazy Karen stories, many of which detail what actions make you a ‘Karen.’
With that in mind, we’ve handpicked 49 standout stories that perfectly capture those unmistakable Karen moments. From the absurd to the infuriating, these real-life encounters showcase Karens being Karens in their natural habitat, giving us a clearer picture of what it truly means to meet one.
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#1
When I worked at the Home Depot a Karen told me that she didn't want any black men to install her flooring. I was in charge of arranging her order and told her that we don't select which individuals exactly will install her floor and that she'll get who she gets. She proceeds to have a fit about it, demands white installers, asks to speak to my manager.
I'm so glad she did, because my manager's name was Dwayne and he was a real big black dude.
Turns out she didn't want to speak to the manager
#2
It's been long enough that I think anyone involved has long since forgotten. Now, I should say that this didn't happen to me personally, but it occurred in real time while I was (indirectly) present. I was working for A Phone Company in a call center. We were in training for a new scope of service, and part of that training involved listening to some of those calls that 'may be recorded for training purposes'. Normally, the recordings are selected semi-randomly, but this one was specifically selected because it had happened to a supervisor in our center ten minutes prior. Karen called us in a fury. It seems that she had discovered that her son had replaced her number on his 'five favorite numbers' list with the contact information of an unknown female. She wanted us to change it back. We legally could not do that. It's not her phone, after all, and he made the change intentionally. When the agent on the call tells her this, Karen flips her [crap] in the way only a true 'Karen' can. It's the full package: screaming, shouting, accusing us of being crooked, unfair, 'the customer is always right', etc, etc. At this point, I should mention that Karen was calling from the store in her local mall. After about five minutes of Karen Rage, we hear the following exchange: *Serious 'Authority Voice'* 'Ma'am, if you can't calm down, you're gonna have to leave the store.' *Mostly incoherant K-Raging* (sounds like 'I will not calm down!', 'they're cheating me', and so forth). *SAV* Okay -- ma'am? -- you're under arrest.' *Shocked, disbelieving pause in K-Raging* 'I'm what?' *SAV* 'You're under arrest, ma'am, for [something muffled and unintelligible]. This final declaration is followed by the sound of a mobile phone clattering to the floor/countertop, from where the sales person retrieves it: 'Uh...yeah, sorry about that. I don't think you have to worry about this any more, she just got arrested.'
#3
I deliver appliances for Best Buy. We had a woman call and complain that her fridge was not pre-cooled before it was delivered and that she had to wait for it to come down to temp. No one in the office was prepared for that one.
According to Know Your Meme, a Wiki-style site and one of the cornerstones of internet history, it’s unclear where exactly ‘Karen’ began being used as a pejorative character. It argues that “Karen” the meme might’ve started with the ‘Oh My God, Karen, You Can’t Just Ask Someone Why They’re White’ meme from Mean Girls. Others believe that the popularity of the name may come from the character Karen from the 1989 gangster film Goodfellas.
#4
When I was working retail, this one women had a big bag of coupons. Most of them were unusable because either they were expired or they were duplicates. She berated me because the system was rejecting most of the coupons. She called me stupid amongst other names, telling me I just wasn't doing it right. Then as a typical Karen would, she asked to speak with my manager. My manager came and asked what the problem was. The women ranted about how incompetent I was because I didn't know how to scan a coupon. My manager looked at the coupons and the coupons were the problem, not me. My manager [called] out the customer for being disrespectful for me and told the customer to leave the store. I hated working there but I'm so grateful that I had managers that totally didn't go by the "customer is always right" rule and weren't afraid to stand up for their employees. That was just one of many incidents.
#5
In medical school, we had a Karen. She was...not a very nice person. She was notorious for losing her temper on just about everyone and being an overall bully. One day, she picked me as a target, apparently I was sitting in "her seat". I asked her to point out to me where it was posted or embroidered on the seat that this was "Karen's seat". I refused to budge. Prof. entered lecture theatre, Karen protested to prof. Prof. proceeded to give her a verbal beatdown on entitlement and how these types of people make horrible doctors. Karen felt wronged and left. The whole class applauded as she was leaving, she mostly kept to herself afterwards. I felt it was long overdue justice being served.
#6
The mother of a girl I went to school with, comes into the shop I work at at 5.58pm (we close at 6), lights are half off, front door is closed, roller door is half down, and goes "Hi *my name*! I'm just running in to grab a few things!" Before I can tell her not to, she's gone into the aisles. My manager comes over and goes "what are you doing? We have to be done by six!" He went to find her, she's already got a basket full of things going "where are the capsicums? Can I just grab...?" keep in mind this is a fruit shop - half the items come off the shelves and into the cool room. My manager is literally the nicest guy ever and agrees to ring up her items as long as she pays card, as the cash is all packed into the safe. "No that's ridiculous, I only have cash! *My name* Hun can you tell him I only have cash?" So I tell her the exact same thing, that we literally can't access the cash once the safe is closed for the day. "Oh. Well can you just pay for it on your card and I'll get *daughter* to pay you back?" I tell her that I can't do that, she starts shouting about how unprofessional we are, that the shop is awful because half the items are gone (WE WERE CLOSED), and that she's "never coming back!" (thank god). She avoids me at school events now, and I honestly feel sorry for her daughter, the stories I hear about this cow are shocking. Icing on the cake? Her name is actually Karen.
Regardless of where it came from, ‘Karen’ is now a slang term for an antagonistic female character. BBQ Becky is a Karen. Permit Patty is a Karen. Amy Cooper is a Karen.
But not everyone is behind the meme. For example, David Dennis Jr., a journalist who has written about the pitfalls of assigning nicknames to women who do nefarious things, told Insider that calling women like the aforementioned trope by a false name grants them a level of “anonymity” and belittles what they’ve done.
#7
Told me I couldn't work on my car in my own garage at noon because she didn't want my fast looking car to influence her son's to "be hooligans like you"
#8
Blew up at me for ignoring her son, who was trying to hit on me by saying ~konnichiwa~ and calling me ~kawaii~. I had never met him before and I am not Japanese. She called me a stuck-up racist and insinuated that I should be glad he was worldly enough to "speak Asian" to me.
I just responded "Sorry, no English" (they had previously heard me speaking English with my friend, I'm pretty sure) and walked away.
#9
Working retail one afternoon and here comes Karen with a return. At first glance it’s no big deal, just coming in to return a shirt. She walks up to the register, hands me the receipt to start processing and we exchange a pleasant greeting.
I take the shirt out of the bag to examine it and it is beyond disgusting. There were brown sweat stains all over it, from the pits to the stomach to the shoulder. It looked like whoever wore it rolled in mud or some nonsense.
I proceed to tell Karen that I cannot return the product because it had clearly been used and that only unused and resellable items could be returned.
Karen through a fit, started screaming at me and accusing me of calling her a liar and what not. I hold up the shirt and point to the brown pit stains and say ‘Karen, can’t you see this stain?’ Oh man did that make it worse. She continues making a huge scene and demands to see the manager.
News flash Karen, I am the manager and I’m not budging. After 20 or so minutes of complaining she finally leaves saying she’ll be complaining to corporate and getting me fired and blah blah blah.
Fast forward a few days. A guy walks into the store, finds the first store associate he can and immediately asks for me by name. Uh-oh, here we go again. Anyway, my associate bring the guy over to where I’m standing and I politely greet him.
The guy spends the next 10 minutes apologizing for his crazy wife Karen verbally abusing my staff and I a few days prior. Apparently, the guy went to the beach and did some type of CrossFit / HIIT training class IN THE SAND. Karen knows all of this; she was at the class with him! The guy ended up not liking the shirt for some reason and Karen thought she could pull a fast one on us by making a scene.
Think again Karen.
Not to mention the real-life Karens caught in the crosshairs. “I spend a lot of time on Twitter, so I find it rather annoying,” Karen Geier, a writer and podcaster from Toronto, told The Guardian. “Anything you say, people can be like, ‘OK, well, whatever, KAREN’ – but that’s not even how the meme is supposed to be used. It’s supposed to be about people who want to speak to the manager.”
#10
One time, Karen put her own hair in her half-eaten plate of food and then threw a royal fit, demanding that her meal be comped and that she speak to the manager. I went into the back of the restaurant, pulled out the orange hair with 3 inches of regrowth and asked the Mexican guys in the kitchen “HEY, DID ANY OF YOU BRING A WIG TO WORK TODAY?” They told me to f**k off. Went back out, told Karen that nobody on staff has red hair with blonde roots (while staring directly at her disastrous dye-job) but the manager said we would be HAPPY to buy desert for the whole table to make up for this strange phenomenon. The 4 other people at the table were clearly mortified and declined desert. She ordered cheesecake and they all sat there and glared at her while she devoured it. [Friggin] Karen.
#11
My grandparents live on a lake, and the first 20 feet from the lake is communal property. I was about ten years old and feeding the geese corn on the lake across from my grandparents' house, and Karen walked halfway around the lake just to tell me that I wasn't allowed to "encourage" them to poop on her lawn and that I had to stop feeding them immediately. When I told her that my grandfather said I was allowed she marched me up to his house, rang the doorbell, and only deflated when she realized my grandfather was the president of the HOA and pissed at her for grabbing his granddaughter. From that point on I made it a point to scatter corn on the 20 feet directly in front of her lawn.
#12
When I worked at a bakery, Karen bought a chocolate cupcake and ate half of it. Karen then asked if she could return her half-eaten chocolate cupcake...not because she didn't like it, but because she wanted to exchange it for half of a vanilla cupcake, "something less decadent."
Like most bakeries, we did not sell cupcakes "by the half." She became offended when I asked if she wanted to purchase a vanilla cupcake.
What is a Male Karen Called?
Is there really a Ken to every Barbie—or every Karen, in this case? The internet thinks so, and a few names are in the mix.
The contenders? ‘Ken’ himself, ‘Greg,’ ‘Keith,’ and intriguingly, ‘Terry.’ The name ‘Terry’ has mirrored ‘Karen’ in its rise and fall in popularity since the 1950s, which makes it a strong candidate for the male equivalent. But it’s not just about the name. It’s the behavior—demanding, entitled, and often complaint-driven.
Speaking of complaints, a study by Trustpilot threw a curveball. The name ‘John’ came up as a frequent complainer in their records for the US, with ‘David’ taking the first place in the UK. So, while ‘Karen’ has become a catchphrase for a certain type of behavior, ‘John’ and ‘David’ might be her male counterparts—at least in online reviews.
#13
That I needed to leave the gym because I made her son feel like only fat people go to the gym
#14
Was at the park with my daughter(she was 3 at the time). Her and a couple other kids started to play together. Then she attempted to use the monkey bars(she’s a very adventurous child). About mid way through, she fell. I didn’t do anything because she’s fallen before and I want her to learn to get back up on her own and not be scared to try again. Anyway, one of the boys was about to get on the monkey bars too, until I heard a woman run toward him screaming to stop. She picked him up and looked at my daughter. Told her it wasn’t “smart” of her to go on the monkey bars if she wasn’t fully ready because then others might get that same idea. That’s when I got up and went to my daughter’s defense. Sternly told the woman to not speak to her that way and it’s no fault of hers that she wasn’t scared to try something new. She took her kid and left.
#15
I was working a backdrive at a fast food joint years ago, and older Karen comes driving in to give her order. Now, this location doesn't have a speaker due to a neighborhood ordnance, so all the orders in drive thru are taken face to face. She orders a double cheeseburger without onions, and I ring it in, complete her order, and send her on her way. About five minutes after she's picked up her food she comes back through drive-thru and says "they put onions on my burger". I apologize, print her up a duplicate recipt to confirm to her and myself that I rang it in without onions. I then tell her that if she goes up to the front window and tells the manager who's working up front that they'll replace the burger for free made correctly, but that I can't do anything about it back here. She does so and they give her a brand new burger and an apology. I thought that was the end of the situation, but boy was I wrong. Karen called the state government on me, by name, demanding I be fired. If I recall correctly I was told that she called the food safety department, the Chamber of Commerce and the governor's office. The franchise owner called to say that it turned out that Karen is allergic to onions, and she straight up accused me of deliberately ringing her sandwich in wrong and trying to poison her, then printing up a false duplicate receipt of her order to make her look like a liar (keep in mind that I read the receipt back to her and she confirmed it was her order). I didn't get along with the manager who was working at the time, but even he was like "that's complete [crap],, it wasn't even his mistake it was the kitchens and we fixed it for her". The franchise owner was told by whichever branch of the state government called them that Karen had demanded that I be fired. I wasn't, I wasn't even written up, but I did stop wearing my name tag at work when I could get away with it. TL;DR - got the state government called on me by Karen because the kitchen messed up an order, which got replaced free of charge. Could've been fired for a mistake that wasn't even mine.
For more Karen moments, check this: 33 Moments ‘Karens’ Were Nothing But Typical ‘Karens,’ As Told By Retail Employees In This Viral Online Thread
#16
I used to work retail, so I have come across my fair share of Karens. They were a huge reason why I went back to school and no longer work as a cashier.
Anyways, one day while I was manning the registers with a few other coworkers of mine, I had a massive nosebleed right as I was finishing a transaction. I grabbed a tissue and quickly excused myself to run to the restroom so I could try to get it to stop bleeding; this meant that I couldn't say goodbye to Karen and give the little spiel about how I was oh so grateful for her shopping with us.
Anyways, after about 10 minutes, I was finally able to get my nose back under control and headed back to the registers. I saw her waiting to the side with a scowl on her face, arms crossed over her chest, the whole nine yards. She proceeded to scold me about how rude I was for not saying goodbye. After I apologized and explained that I had an unexpected nosebleed, she told me I should have tried holding it in and that the customer comes first.
#17
Doctor here.
I used to work in a public night shift service, kinda like an emergency room but for non-emergencies, to keep the hospitals clear of white codes (so anything from a fever to a sore throat, to prescriptions for urgent treatments), and a Karen walks in at 3am asking for a prescription for hypertension drugs, which isn’t unusual, as people (old people, more often than not, but she looked 55~) sometimes don’t notice they’re running low. Anyway, the law (not a rule, not my decision, the law) states that this service can only write prescriptions for potentially life threatening conditions’ drugs for a maximum of 72 hours coverage (so if you take one pill a day, I can only prescribe you a single blister. Here we don’t have bottles, but blisters), and while I’m writing the prescription Karen casually mention that she was insomniac, and while cleaning the medicine cabinet she realise she was down to her last full blister. My pen stops, I ask her to repeat, “full blister?” “Yeah”, so I take the prescription, tear it in half, then again, then I throw it in the bin, explaining her the law. She gets mad, starts yelling and threaten to call the cops. “Go ahead.” Cops came, and she triumphally announce that I’m refusing to treat her. I explain the situation, and they ask her if it’s true that she has a full blister, and she of course (being a Karen who is always right no matter what) confirms it. The cops look at her (still with a look of triumph, waiting for them to arrest me), then at me, then ask her politely to leave, as I’m in the right. She’s livid.
The day after my boss called me and cracked up cause she went there during the day to talk to “the manager”, and she (my boss) told her the exact same thing. Never saw her again in there, weirdly enough...
#18
My manager Karen sat me down for an hour after my shift had ended preaching to me why it was my fault I was physically assaulted by a customer.
#19
So glad I finally get to post something. Buckle up, it's story time.
For my grade 2 end-of-the-year school party, we went over to a community pool. It was designed for kids, with a lazy river, slide, etc. There were a few kids that had gotten hold of inner tubes, like the style you find at water parks all the time. I wanted one too and found one sitting on the edge of the pool. I grabbed it and started to play with it, as kids do. Some lady comes over and tells me that she had rented it, and that I couldn't play with it. Ogre lady takes the tube and leaves it on the edge of the pool, not even using it, smirks back at me with this crappy face like she beat me in some major contest of wills. Me being raised to respect people that were (at least technically) adults, I say fine, whatever, weird flex to prove your adulthood by bullying a seven-year-old but w/e, moved on with my play. Some swim instructor that had another tube noticed and let me play with one that her class was done using. I say thank you, happy me has a tube now.
Another kid in my class immediately bobs over and asks if he can use my newfound tube. I tell him no, I just got it. he shrugs and goes over and takes ogre lady's tube, which she is not using and has left on the edge of the pool. I keep playing for probably another two minutes when ogre lady comes splashing back. The conversation goes like this:
OL: "I told you to stop playing with that tube. Give it back."
Me: "This isn't your tube, that swim instructor gave it to me and another kid in my class took yours down the lazy-"
OL (interrupting and now shouting): "I don't believe you! Give it here!" *proceeds to yank the tube off my head*
Me: "Hey!"
OL: *puts tube back on the edge of the pool right where the last one was and comes over to me* "you're a little thief and your mother ought to be ashamed of raising a liar. If I see you going near that tube again, I'll have you kicked out of the pool." *goes back to gossiping with the other stereotypical suburban moms*
I obviously am terrified and feel awful cause I got yelled at and insulted by a stranger. I don't remember the rest of the day, other than it was pretty miserable after that. The injustice of the whole thing, especially that the other kid who took the tube got off with the whole thing (he often wasn't very nice to me), still makes me grit my teeth. I am now a full-grown adult.
TL;DR Karen called seven-year-old me a thief and a liar at a public pool because I was the closest punching bag when she lost track of a pool tube.
#20
I met plenty of Karens while working retail but there's one who stands out. Karen was Indian and had the most entitled attitude of anyone I've ever met. She was also a regular customer so we had to deal with her [crap] at least twice a week. Karen's favourite pastime would be to literally fill a trolley with clearance items. These are a nightmare as you have to reduce the price on the till manually. Management were worried about scanning fraud and so had disabled the multiplication button on the till. This meant that each item has to be scanned and discounted individually. Once all of her items had been scanned and discounted, Karen would always kick up a fuss over the price, accusing us of overcharging her and demanding to see a manager. Some managers would give in to Karen, which meant voiding the transaction and starting over. If they told Karen to get lost, she'd complain about "never shopping here again" and storm out, leaving a full trolley of goods to put back. Thanks b****. Either way, the entire [crap]show would take at least an hour. There was a nice moment of karma for Karen however. One winter, we had an especially heavy snow storm. Our policy in this case is to clear the car park access to the spaces closest to the door. We do this as very few people come out when it's snowing and it lets people park as close as possible. Not Karen though. Oh no. She pulls into the car park, drives into the uncleared section and tries to drive through a snow drift, hitting a covered bollard in the process. She then clomps into the store, demands to see the manager and proceeds to yell at him point blank. Apparently she was going to sue us and get every employee fired for "not clearing her usual parking space of snow". Our manager responded by banning her from our store for being abusive towards staff.
#21
Came up to my register and asked for the price of a protein bar. Every item in the store had a physical price tag, because we didn't have scanners at the register. I took it from her, flipped it over, and let her know it was $2.49 before tax. She asked me how much the case would be. Normally we did discounts for cases, but they had to be ordered ahead of time, so I started explaining we couldn't do a discount unless - she cut me off aggressively and hissed "I didn't ask for a discount." So I typed in $2.49 x 12, added tax, and told her the final price. She stared me down for a few minutes before asking me to get my manager. Once my manager arrived she spent literally 10 minutes tearing into me, describing me as the least helpful person ever, talking about my bad attitude, complaining about how awful and rude I was, etc. etc. etc. I was working nearly full time (35.5 hours per week) and commuting to a school over an hour away four days a week. This lady took the time out of her day to break me down to the point I started crying. Thanks Karen, I still remember you - hope you enjoyed your [friggin] protein bar.
#22
Cut more holes in her daughters swiss cheese because her daughter wouldn't eat the sandwich because it didn't have enough holes.
This was my first month of restaurant ownership and still the most Karen request thirteen years later.
#23
In tech support, this Karen had started a Powerpoint presentation, saved it, gave it a name, worked on it for 8 hours, closed it, and when the program said "Do you want to save changes" said 'No'. So the program did what it was told and dumped them, and 'surprisingly' when she reopened it it was blank. I explained that she told it not to -- Interrupt'd!
"No, that is not acceptable. You will fix it."
"No, there is no --" Interrupt'd! (go around this circle several times)
I finally call the on call support for her company and explain what was going on. Have you ever had someone roll their eyes so hard you could hear them over a phone? Then conferenced Karen, who started right in before either of us could say anything with how incompetent I was etc etc... He let her burble for a minute then cut her off. She started squawking and he cut her off again, and again, and again until she finally shut up out of sheer surprise, I think. "Screeching like a harpy didn't work? What world is this?"
He explained to her the same thing that I had, and she started yowling again and he chopped her off. "No. You've wasted my time on my day off, working as a favor to people with ACTUAL PROBLEMS, and you've wasted tech support's time. You were abusive to both of us and I'm going to report you to HR in the morning. Good bye." (click) He hangs up, and I'm laughing my ass off as she spits and sputters like an engine that just got a good solid swig of water.
Note: In this particular version of Powerpoint from decades ago, early 1990s, while it did have auto save, the auto saves were both unreliable and automatically deleted when you closed the program. Microsoft wouldn't support anything over 25 slides, and hers was over 250.
#24
Left her card in the eftpos machine at the McDonalds I was managing as a teenager, rang me to say I needed to drive it out to her, that I ruined her night, ruined her family's night, owed her free food and that she'll be laying a formal complaint when I refused all of the above. She showed up 3/4 of an hour later with steam blowing out her ears asking for her card back. Last we heard from her.
RELATED: 50 Entitled ‘Karens’ Who Thought They Deserved More Than Everybody Else But Got Shamed Instead
#25
I was a supervisor at Cost Plus World Market, a Karen comes in one night pushing a cart full of obviously used throw pillows and asks to return them. Of course she has no receipt, and instead wants us to just "look her up in the system". Except she refuses to provide her information for us to try to look her up. She starts yelling at my cashier and that's when I stepped in to tell her very politely and calmly that she either needs a receipt or needs to provide us her name and phone number. She starts screeching and screaming about how we're [idiots] and she'll get us fired and blah blah blah, then she demands an apology from the president of the world. I'm certain she meant the president of World Market, but in her bleached hair fury she said "the president of the world" and I barely held it together as I calmly offered her the corporate feedback number. She wouldn't take it and instead walked out of the store still yelling and without her cart of dirty pillows. She returned about 20 minutes later, quietly apologized, and took her pillows with her, we never heard from her again.
#26
Once I told a Karen I didn't know where something was because I didn't work there and she said "Well, you're just useless"
#27
My sister in law is the biggest Karen I've ever met, complains in almost every restaurant we have gone to, but this one time they were moving house and my bro asked me to help, I was staying at their place for the delivery truck that was to arrive early in the morning, we were having drinks and my bed / mattress was on the living room floor, at around 1:15 I said I think I'm going to go to bed.
She replied are you kicking me out of my own living room, not realising she is crazy I joke I guess I am. She said no one does that and even though she had finished her last drink made herself two cups of tea. She didn’t go to bed till after two thirty she told me the next morning she stayed up to show no one tells her what to do
#28
I was working at my job as a cashier at my local supermarket. We were swamped with people I had at least 7 people waiting in my line. One of my good friends from high school was in my line and I talked to him as I was ringing up his stuff. After he left I welcomed the next lady in line and asked the usual stuff “did you find everything okay?” “How are you doing?” Etc. Before I could get a word out she asked to speak to my manager. Apparently I was rude to her for not including her in my conversation with my high school friend. She didn’t even chime in or anything and I never seen her in my life [friggin] karen man
#29
Worked at a grocery store and a coworker put a 99¢ sticker on my shirt. We were 2 of maybe 5 employees so we were all good friends and everything is funny when you gotta pass time on a shift so I just left it there. Some woman came through my line and asked me why I had a sticker on my shirt and I just kinda laughed it off. She asked if I thought it was funny and I was like "not really but sorta". she asked if my coworker put it there to which I responded yes. She told me she was going to speak to the store owner cos it was "disrespectful" to behave that way at work. She told me to call my manager and I did but he was a super cool guy and knew this lady was a [friggin] idiot. She talked to the store owner and my manager about firing me to no avail. She accomplished nothing and was a c*nt, the end.
#30
I used to own a photography store (sold cameras and did pictures for passports etc), we opened at 1pm on Mondays, but I happend to be at the store on Monday morning because I needed to get something, was planning on just grabbing what I needed and go home when Karen tried to get in through the locked door. Door had a sign on it that said we were closed, and a sign with our opening hours. I didn't turn on any of the lights so it was also very dark inside. Karen started banging on the door, I was just about to leave so I went outside to tell her we were closed. Karen didn't take it well and immediately demanded to speak to the manager. I said that I'm the owner, she then proceeded to shout, and curse, so much so that the manager of the supermarket across the street came out to help me. She then tried to make the supermarket manager force me to open my store almost 4 hours earlier. Didn't work. Never seen the woman again.
#31
Asked for my manager’s personal cell phone number to complain that I (seven months pregnant at the time) would not carry a refrigerator (that she had not paid for in the cost of her room) up to her second story room (we did not have an elevator), rather than just accept an upgrade for free because she didn’t want to unpack her stuff. She refused to believe we had rooms without fridges and I was just being fat and lazy.
When I refused to give her the cell phone number, she asked for corporate’s number. I wrote it down on a sticky note with a smiley face. She came down later and asked to move rooms. I made her pay the difference.
#32
Had a Karen threaten to report me to my manager for talking with other customers I was serving.
#33
I worked at a coffee shop where a woman came up to me to complain that her lattes weren't filled to the top(I had seen her husband sneak sips on the walk over but I wasnt gonna say that). So I gladly offered to remake both drinks but she said "I dont want you to fix this, I just want you to know Im dissappointed in you"
#34
This random lady that lived in my neighborhood said I couldn’t bike in front of her house without wearing a helmet because she was afraid of getting sued by my parents if I were to fall off my bike in front of her house or something along those lines. I was like eight. Told her the street wasn’t her property and rode away. Didn’t really look back for a reaction.
#35
I was standing on a crowded train and a pregnant Karen started screaming at ME because she had nowhere to sit. Me, the person who was standing because there were no seats. She started screaming like it was my fault that there were no seats.
#36
I just had a Karen start yelling at me because I parked my car too close to her house. Not on the driveway, literally on the public streets.
#37
I used to manage a restaurant. I had a lady complain about an issue with a previous order and she wanted something replaced. She didn't have what she wanted to return. She had a receipt dated October of last year. She came in to complain about it in January of this year. She went on to say the manager was a tall white guy that told her that she can replace it. I was the only manager at that time. I'm black. So she threw a tantrum, saying how she was never coming back and was talking about complaining on Yelp. I'm glad I don't have to see her again.
#38
I was working at a place that is kind of like Subway but with pizza. Anyway, a family of four came in. Husband, wife, two kids. The wife is immediately mean spirited and insulting. I put the company recommended amount of sausage (about half a handful) on her pizza. Instead of saying, "Oh, can I please get some more sausage?" like a normal adult, she says, "What are you, dumb? That's barely anything! Put more!" I do it with as genuine a smile I can and pretend she didn't just talk to me in that way. She then acts like a b**ch to every single person on the line. The manager saw her the entire time and overheard what she said. Her husband and kids don't say anything (probably scared to say anything to her). She gets to the register and then complains about me and the other two people on the line. Manager defends us and asks her to leave the store and not come back. That, of course, wasn't the end of it. She calls corporate to complain about being banned from the store. The district and regional managers are sent in. The situation is explained. They say we're all clear. That lady was insane. I felt most bad for her kids. Do they think that's normal behavior? Also the husband didn't say a word or make eye contact with us, but I got the vibe from him that he was embarrassed. Poor guy.
#39
Preparing to return a rental car at Gatwick Airport. It's the type you have to queue to check in and there's no drop off. I'd been standing in the exact same spot for about half an hour. A lady came in, said out loud, "I'm not standing in line," and then sat on a couch off to the side. Fine.
My turn was up next, and the lady said, "Excuse me, I was ahead of you. I came in first." I told her she didn't, and I'd literally been standing in the same spot for 45 minutes, including half an hour before she came in. I suspect that because I'm sort of brown (half-Filipino) she thought my English would be subpar, because she seemed surprised when I started speaking in my fluent American English.
She said that I wasn't there when she came in. So I told the people in front of me, who I made polite conversation with when I first arrived, "I'm sorry, but I've got a funny question: I was here right after you, wasn't I?" They confirmed it.
She sat down with an harumph, saying, "I don't think that's very funny."
Then she got up 5 minutes later and literally tried to skip over the entire line to get her car, but the man at the desk wasn't having it, saying, "let me help this gentleman first," while pointing at me.
#40
I worked at a home improvement store for a while in college. I was a cashier in the garden section. This woman pulls up on the curb in a no parking zone. Grabs her fertilizer and soil. After I check out she goes [friggin] ballistic that I didn’t help load her car and she was going to report me to managers. (Due to company policy, I wasn’t allowed to. Other employees were though). Her face mole was shaking and everything. Over a bag of soil that weighed under ten pounds and a handle of fertilizer.
#41
At work.
I made a tiny mistake filling out a booking sheet for a company: i set the time 15 minutes later than asked by complete accident. Its a 2 second fix (for anybody!) to log back into the account and click on the correct time in the drop-down box.
Karen sat next to me and watched me do it.
Karen logged in, took a screenshot of it - didnt fix it - then sent said screenshot to my line manager and said nothing to me.
After the lecture from my line manager about "paying attention to the details" I turned to her and was like "Why not just say 'Hey dude, you made a mistake' and just fix it?"
She doesnt look at me, continues clicking away at her keyboard and says "Yeah, well, if you cant do it right the first time, maybe you need somebody to tell you."
O_O
I requested to move desks after that.
#42
I used to work at a fast food in a theme park when I was 18. Karen held up the line cause she was demanding us to assemble a food for her daughter which we aren’t allowed to do cause we go by a menu.
“My daughter can’t have that.”
“Well, what can you do for me?”
“Do you want her to starve?”
Are one of the most irritating lines I ever encountered.
#43
When I worked at Harris Teeter (a small grocery store) I had a woman tell me that my nail extensions, which I had gotten for Prom, were not sanitary and that I was unhealthy. I tried to explain, no I wash my hands, I keep them clean, but before I could get a word out she said “I really don’t care.” And wouldn’t let me speak. She then went and complained to my manager because I was “slow”. The order before her was a $300 dollar order, yeah it took a bit. She also had three items and could have gone to self-check out. I had another woman insult my hair and another expect me to open my line for her when I was having a system error on that check out line. Needless to say I quit fairly quickly.
#44
I was sitting next to a lady on a plane, and she instigated some small talk before takeoff. When I told her I studied earth science, she proceeded to ask me if there was any real proof that plate tectonics existed, and asked what my Lutheran church thought about that. I'm not religious and there had been literally zero talk of religion at all in the conversation before that haha
#45
I work in a dentist (booking appointments).
A mum was bringing her Autistic son to an appointment. I barely remember the phone call but she asked if there was parking, to which I said there is opposite but can get full quick.
About 2 weeks later her sons appointment comes up. She doesn't turn up but 10 mins later, calls to say she can't make the appointment, was "promised" parking but was no parking available.
Told her she wasn't promised parking and asked where she is. Turns out she drove past the clinic, couldn't find a driving spot, drove to the other side of the city, to park, to call to cancel...
The phone call went on along the lines of;
"You lied to me"
"How dare you do this to my autistic son"
"I want to make a complaint as you're discriminating"
After a few more cusses, I apologized if she was offended, to which she goes;
"That's not an apology"
"I want an apology" (Never gave her one)
"I want your managers name"
"You need to go on a customer support course"
I'm pretty chill so I never talk back or raise my voice, but she just went on and on and on...
#46
I used to work at a coffee shop and this one male Karen gets pissed that we don’t have the small individual sized cartons of white milk. Like, raging. My coworker offered to give him some milk in a cup, but this just wouldn’t do, you see. He continued shouting and hollering about the principal of the matter.
#47
I worked at McDonalds during the time they switched to child's fries and discontinued the caramel dip in Happy Meals.
Everyone was pretty cool with it but one country club looking Karen came in with her daughter and ordered a nugget Happy Meal with three cups of caramel dip, because Braelynn likes to dip her nuggets in it. I apologized and let her know we discontinued to caramel dip, which resulted in an instant melt down. Kid threw herself down on the floor in an absolute screaming tantrum, and Karen was screaming at me that we do have caramel dip and I'm obviously keeping it from her. Then the accusations of me, a 17 year old, purposely trying to starve her daughter. (Honestly, kid coulda benefitted from starving a bit) I've ruined her day, she's a regular customer but she's never coming back, where's my manager, typical Karen stuff.
Manager eventually came out and just grabbed a sundae cup and filled it with a couple pumps of caramel, and Karen gave me a smug look and flipped me off.
#48
When I worked in a retail outlet store, I was asked to size order the shoes when Karen used me as her personal shop assistant to grab shoes for her out the back in multiple sizes. She got mad that we didn't sell half sizes so she threw the shoes at me and stormed out of the shop.
#49
We were about to board a plane and all the passengers were organised into two queues. The employees slowly allowed the queue my family and I were in first.
This random woman in the other queue noticed she wasn’t going anywhere and was obviously impatient, so she tried to pretty much pick a fight with my mum, complaining to her why she gets to go first and that apparently she has priority and a bunch of other nonsense that couldn’t be further from my mum’s fault.
What do you think ?
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Let's just solve that misunderstanding that Karen is a name. It's not. It's an abbreviation. Known Abhorrent Rabid Evil Nutcase.
natie marie 4 years ago
I am more and more repulsed by the term "Karen" to mean a narrow minded racist woman. Karen is someones name, and most of them are not "Karens". Just tell it like it is. A Racist woman didn't want a black contractor.
deanna woods 4 years ago
Those were infuriating to read because it is a shame that people behave like this. Too many think that if they throw a tantrum that they will get their way and it's time for society to stop letting them believe this.
Carrie de Luka 4 years ago
That does seem to be more of a US thing - the letting people get away with it I mean. There isn't the same belief that the 'customer is always right' outside the US. You do still get customers with a dreadful attitude, of course, but there isn't the expectation that staff put up with it. As customers are generally well aware of that there are far fewer people trying it on. I ran an office with staff that took calls from the public and I made it very clear that they didn't have to tolerate any rudeness - tell the customer that if they continue to be rude they'll hang up and then absolutely follow through if need be.
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WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Let's just solve that misunderstanding that Karen is a name. It's not. It's an abbreviation. Known Abhorrent Rabid Evil Nutcase.
natie marie 4 years ago
I am more and more repulsed by the term "Karen" to mean a narrow minded racist woman. Karen is someones name, and most of them are not "Karens". Just tell it like it is. A Racist woman didn't want a black contractor.
deanna woods 4 years ago
Those were infuriating to read because it is a shame that people behave like this. Too many think that if they throw a tantrum that they will get their way and it's time for society to stop letting them believe this.
Carrie de Luka 4 years ago
That does seem to be more of a US thing - the letting people get away with it I mean. There isn't the same belief that the 'customer is always right' outside the US. You do still get customers with a dreadful attitude, of course, but there isn't the expectation that staff put up with it. As customers are generally well aware of that there are far fewer people trying it on. I ran an office with staff that took calls from the public and I made it very clear that they didn't have to tolerate any rudeness - tell the customer that if they continue to be rude they'll hang up and then absolutely follow through if need be.
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