One of the most hated people is the Karens. These are the types who do nothing but spread hate without any valid and logical reasons. Probably, you know someone like them.
However, what would it feel if there was one among your family, friends, or relatives? Wouldn’t it be fun? Or just plain irritating and frustrating. Well, ask these people from the Reddit Community!
1. Purely Irritating
Not married to a Karen, but married someone with a Karen for a sister. SIL is the freaking worst. More than anything, I hate going out to dinner with her, listening to her order food, and talking to the servers.
Holidays are also terrible. She sends out long lists of expected gifts list. She celebrates every holiday and birthday specifically for presents, even when it is not appropriate.
The funny thing is, one time, I was away from the dinner table when the bill came, and SIL waited for me to return to pay the bill by actually handing it to me. She didn't give it to her sibling/my SO or pay her half but expressly handed it to me to pay.
The_Thugmuffin
2. Lowkey Snapped Back
I am not married to one, but my aunt is. My uncle is this soft-spoken giant. He never stands up to her in any way except once.
At their daughter's wedding, she was about to interrupt the ceremony to close a window because she was chilly. Everyone sitting close could hear her whisper, "I’m going to do it, but I don't want to be a bad one."
My uncle, in a calm, quiet tone, says quickly, "Why stop now?" Almost as if his filter just missed this one. I swear I could hear my dad snort two rows back, trying to hold in laughter. Karen was not happy.
ToastyToast1111
3. Go Momma
My mom's a Karen. She is self-aware. She is Karen, and my siblings and I send her memes about it. When my stepdad divorced her last summer, we were all amazed he lasted 17 years, to be honest.
None of us like going out with her. It's terrible, and my husband just straight up tells her, “No, you aren't talking to the manager when we go in a place.”
I'll tell you guys a story my step told us; they are farmers and own a small beef and bee farm. They have a store they go to for bee supplies.
The owner called my stepdad and asked him to please be the one to pick up their stuff because his staff was tired of dealing with my mom. He is the only one who went to the store for the next five years.
The_Turtle_Moves_13
4. Burger Thief
My mom is a Karen. She thinks the world is supposed to cater to her and serve her, and everyone else is wrong. Once, we went to a burger store, and she ordered four burgers for the four of us.
She pulls one out of the bag while the guy is getting our drinks and hides it. She complains that he forgot a burger. She pulls them out one by one and counts them in front of him.
It's obviously missing because she hid it, and he's swearing up and down he put them all in the bag. I'm stunned and speechless, and it happened so fast.
She got a free burger and laughed as we drove off. I’m just staring at her, and she opens it up to eat it on the drive home. I was too stunned to speak.
And she ate her actual burger like the 5th one never existed. I can't even explain how she is when she's in the hospital. She treats it like a luxury stay in a hotel.
M00N3EAM
5. Toxic Partner
Not married. Four years of a toxic relationship, though. I broke up with her on Monday again. We're kinda messed up financially because of this lockdown, so we are just feeling things out for a month before we decide for sure. This cycle is on repeat.
I constantly have to cut her off and speak over her because of the way she treats people. Waiters, sales assistants, gym staff, neighbors, landlords, randoms we meet in bars, etc.
Note: we were both waiters at the beginning of our relationship, so she has worked in the industry but still lacks empathy. She blames the waiter if something is out of stock, etc.
My second major issue. We are both English second language teachers. She teaches kindergarten while I teach high school.
Now that we are working from home, I hear how she speaks to her students, and it's really opened up another aspect of her personality that I don't like.
She will berate a student for not understanding instead of evaluating her ability to explain. Crapping on 3-year-olds in their second language doesn't fly with me.
A lot of her behavior stems from a self-defense mechanism due to insecurity, but that's not an excuse. She doesn't realize how mean she is to people, including myself.
throwawayyyyyprawn
6. Male Version
I am not married but have been dating a male Karen for eight years. He was a semi-successful business owner who was twice my age, and I was young and dumb, for lack of a better word.
The gist of our relationship was him trying to take over every part of my life. For instance, he would order for me at restaurants and would dissuade me if I wanted to try something new. If I had a problem with something, it would be brushed off, but if he had a problem, he had to talk to a manager.
Not knowing any better, I just thought he was very particular and even started copying some of his tendencies, like speaking up when I felt I wasn’t getting the right service when I was out on my own.
I realized who he was when we were flying back from Vegas, and our luggage was heavier than when we flew in. Obviously, we’d bought extra things which made up for the weight difference.
So, as he demanded to know an explanation from the check-in clerk as to why, if it was the same luggage, it would somehow weigh more, I innocently answered that it must have been the extra shoes and clothes.
He was quiet and paid up. Later, he told me not to do that again as he knew the reason why the luggage was heavier. He was just trying to get away with not paying.
At that moment, a bulb went off in my head. This man who’d spent $1500 on a woman for his friend was making an already stressful job more stressful for the clerk in order to avoid paying $60! We broke up soon after, and I checked myself on the Karen tendencies he’d rubbed off on me.
EmeraldSparrow0110
7. Weaponizing Karen
I'm not married to one, but my mom is absolutely one. I spend most of my time with her in public, apologizing to people after she’s walked away.
The one and only time it comes in handy is when I have bought cars and had her come in during the price negotiation phase. I was so wrong for doing that.
She’s knocked off thousands purely due to how unpleasant she is and how much people want her to just get the heck out of the door. It was embarrassing.
DogPunk
8. Made Up Issue
I was married to a male Karen. Everything, and I mean everything, could set him off. We were at a local taproom, and his iPhone automatically connected to the Wifi.
Keep in mind he had full bars on our cell service. The WiFi was being wonky and wasn’t working. The manager, a super nice guy, comes over and asks how we are doing while he washes some glasses in the dish pit on the other side of the bar.
The following conversation ensues. Keep in mind, my husband is super irritated at this made-up problem because our cell service is working just fine, and he can literally just turn off the WiFi.
My husband said, “Your WiFi is freaking trash.” The manager replied, “I’m sorry. We recently upgraded our internet, and Cox is sending us a new modem. It’s supposed to be here this week.”
My husband got irritated and said, “If you say you have WiFi, you should make sure it actually works.” The manager then said, “ I know. I’m sorry. I’d be happy to restart the modem to see if that helps.”
The husband then ignores him and continues to talk under his breath about a made-up issue. This was my life for almost five years.
The sense of entitlement was frustrating enough in public but more so at home. I had apologized to more servers, retail workers, neighbors, and random people in public for him in five years than the rest of my life outside of him.
barelyknowso
9. Not My Ideal Mum
My mum is a bit of a Karen, and we’re pretty much no contact now, so that should tell you everything you need to know. Well, here it goes.
Whenever we’d go out to eat, it was always too cold, they didn’t have the brand of sparkling water she liked, they’d put ice in her drink when she didn’t want it, and she always had to make some kind of modification to her order, etc. the list goes on.
It got to the point where if we were out shopping and she said she needed to return something, I’d just go somewhere else because I couldn’t stand watching her be rude and argue with the staff.
My parents are divorced, and I live with my dad now. Part of the reason I barely see my mum is that I’d have to meet her in public (go for a coffee or something), and I just can’t deal with the way she behaves in these places, so I don’t go.
Octopusgas14
10. Love Hate
Obligatory not married to a Karen. However, my mother is a Karen; it is not easy. I don't even know how often I've had to correct her on how she speaks to servers.
She doesn't listen. The smallest inconvenience is that she wants to talk to someone higher up. She overreacts to every inconvenience and is the type to try and bargain at a retail store...
Apparently, the concept of set-price does not apply to her. Can't stand it. I'm glad I no longer live with my parents. I love my mother; she has great qualities, but she is the most Karen a Karen can be.
isitnormaltohate
11. The Real Karen
I am not married to a Karen, but my mom is a Karen whose name is actually Karen. Simply put, I haven’t seen her in over a year because I couldn’t take it anymore. Living with her was just an exhausting nightmare.
Karen’s world revolves around Karen. Nobody else’s issues matter. If you tell her that you had a bad day, she’ll give you 20 reasons why her day was worse. You worked 60 hours this week? Well, when she was your age, she would work 80.
Are you in the hospital after having major surgery? She has a pinched nerve in her arm, which is somehow worse. Your boyfriend cheated on you? She couldn’t even begin to tell you about all the heartbreak she’s experienced in her life.
She complains left and right about anything and everything. If you’re taking a week's break after just getting back from college, she’ll ask why you haven’t gotten a job yet and claim you’re lazy.
If you’re out to eat at a restaurant, the food is always too cold, too burnt, or too salty. You can only ever go to the places SHE wants to go to because everything else is crap. During my entire graduation dinner, she complained about how cold the food was.
She THRIVES in getting attention and constantly seeks it, but she has very few ACTUAL friends. Facebook is her lifeblood, and she’s always looking to start something on there.
She’s the queen of sharing uninformed, misguided, conservative propaganda, which always starts fights in her comments. Also, suppose a tragedy happens in the family (like the passing of my teenage cousin).
In that case, she’ll make a big scene on Facebook, expect condolences from anyone and everyone, and make note of the people who don’t give her what she wants.
Minor, but the house ALWAYS has to be spotless. Do you have a shirt on your bedroom floor? Pick up! You kids are all slobs! We have people coming over (no, we don’t, and even if we do, why would they be going in my bedroom?).
Her house is HER house, and she’ll let you know. Any object she has spent money on doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to HER.
She also spends way too much money on home decor like oriental rugs, furniture, etc., but then complains about how she has no money. And before anyone asks, yes, my dad is divorced from her.
Toasty-coconut
12. Right Choice
I'm divorcing a Karen. Nothing was ever good enough; everything had to be the most expensive thing, and even then, it wasn't good enough.
It was exhausting, and it sucked the passion I had for life out of me. Slept on this and thought of some more telltale signs.
She never said nice things about me, to me, or to other people. My best friend came over for a BBQ with his wife and kids, and she and her mother just mocked me the whole time to my friend's wife. My friend's wife confronted them about it.
Even on our wedding day, the part where you said nice things sounded like a tentatively warm school report card. The nicest thing I remember her saying about me was, "I like how you make the salads. It's better than how I make it." The whole time, that's the best I can think of.
Haitisicks
13. Hideous Soul
When I first met my wife, she was beautiful in every single way. I remember looking at her when we walked around a lake, and as she spoke to the ducks, I thought, "I'm going to marry this beautiful Snow White."
She loved all animals, and they loved her right back. Her soul was pure. She looked like a queen in everything she wore, be it jeans or a sundress.
She was never a princess-type woman. She was always destined to be my queen. She demanded love and respect because that was what she deserved.
I'm not sure when she changed, but slowly and surely, she did. She humiliates me, she belittles me, and she saddens me. It was just too cruel.
I'll never be right or even acknowledged to have a valid point or opinion. She wastes money that I work hard to earn. Oh, man.
She has strategically spaced out our pregnancies to maximize the time she doesn't have to return to paid work. She has admitted this. Why don't I leave her? Better the devil, you know, aye?
PobodysNerfectt
14. Unbothered And Insensitive
SIL is a Karen, and her name is very close to "Karen." One of her most recent masterpieces. Her daughter (my niece) had a big choir performance one night.
My family, her family, and my FIL and MIL were going to meet for dinner and then go to the show. My neighbor owns a very nice Italian restaurant in town, and he arranged for us to have a big table ready when we got there.
We (my family of 4) were halfway to the restaurant when my wife decided to check in with her sister with a text message. SIL (Karen) immediately calls back and casually says she's running late (she is ALWAYS late) and that it would be best if we drove to their house to pick them up.
To this day, I don't understand how that will help us when she's already late, and we have a rather tight window to have dinner...but Karen throws a crap fit when my wife pushes back, so we turn around, pick them up and drive to the restaurant.
We sit down, and she scans the menu, scans, asks the waitress questions, and tells her a couple of times she's not ready to order and needs a few minutes.
Meanwhile, we are all openly reminding her that we are on a tight window. Doesn't matter!!! Karen WILL NOT be rushed. My neighbor's restaurant has a single-page menu that doesn't change, and Karen has been to this restaurant MANY TIMES.
By the time she decides what she wants to order, we realize we now will not have time to eat. She gives all sorts of crap to the waitress demanding to-go boxes for our meals that are just now being served.
My neighbor then came to our table to figure out what was going on, and she immediately stood up to try to explain what was going on and threw the waitress under the bus.
As we were leaving, I pulled my neighbor and the waitress aside to tell them what REALLY happened. I profusely apologized and told them it was not their fault.
Case31
15. Real Deal
I am not married to one, but my wife's aunt married a Karen. She is a super horrible person. I cannot imagine spending the whole day with her.
Just off the top of my head, at her mother-in-law's funeral, she literally stole all the trays of catered food out of the oven before anybody ate and left.
Another time, When it was over, she got so drunk she just sat on the sofa and peed. She didn't get up, just sat there. We don't talk to Karen or my wife's aunt anymore.
GFunk587
16. Right choice
I was married to a “Karen.” I’m sure the question on everyone’s mind is, “Was she like that at home?” the answer is absolutely.
She was the kind of Karen who had to be absolutely perfect, or I’m complaining. Restaurants, stores, anything. At home, it was worse.
I couldn’t do anything right. Any ambitions or dreams I had, I wasn’t good enough to do...so why try. Ugh. So glad I divorced her! Bonus: the lawyer she hired was an idiot and wrote the paperwork incorrectly, so she won’t get anything from my retirement.
Rockman99
17. Badly Slammed
My Dad married one. She's an absolute nightmare. Apparently, at work, once, she went outside to shout at a gardener who was making too much noise trimming a hedge.
When she came back inside, she found all her colleagues laughing and saying, 'That poor guy got Karen'ed!' When Dad told me about this, I burst out laughing!
She was really shocked that her name got turned into a verb, but her colleagues were spot on! I just don’t know how she could return to work that time, lol!
HildaCreature
18. Unexpected Reward
My brother was married to a Karen. She lived to berate people and rarely went anywhere without a flask of vodka to fuel her fire.
She despised kids and wasn’t quiet about it. In the first year of marriage, she decided her husband had to earn making out. So, if she didn’t like how he painted the shed, groomed the dog, or poured his cornflakes (and she never did), there was no reward.
After 10 years, he divorced her, moved to another State, and married a kind-hearted, generous, empathetic lady. Karen still can’t understand why he dumped her “perfect” ass.
Fromthewombofrevel
19. Buttered Up
My mom is a Karen. She literally can not help herself but to tell others her opinion. She genuinely sees it as doing everyone a favor. It destroys her relationships with my siblings. None of my other siblings will talk to her.
A few years ago, we went out to eat. The restaurant served bread and butter before the meal. The butter was whipped. My mom, the former dairy farmer's daughter, insisted they bring her “real” butter.
The waitress went back to the kitchen and told her what she had was butter. How dare she! My mom, who apparently is infallible in her ability to detect butter, started acting like a complete jerk to the waitress about it. “She knows what real butter tastes like.”
I go to this restaurant often, and my kids are there, so my first instinct was to apologize to the waitress. That was a bad idea. As soon as I did, my mom went into a rage about respecting your elders and walked out of the restaurant. To this day, she still won’t admit she was unkind to the waitress.
Rabidmongoose15
20. Spoiled Brat
My sister is a Karen. She is absolutely arrogant when she speaks with others. Always talks rudely and arrogantly to me in front of her husband.
Still, if I respond back, she just calls Mom and throws an angry fit to blackmail her emotionally that I insulted her in front of her husband.
She forced her husband and me to go to a supermarket to buy a bag of chips for the children right an hour before the lockdown, but when I said No, she went full Karen on the call.
She stoops to disgusting low levels in arguments with me but believes she is very honest, pious, and kind, hahaha. She is absolutely manipulative.
She gets angry at me in front of everyone but straight out denies her behavior whenever I complain about it with my mother or anyone.
YoelIluhYou
21. Deserved Karma
I was married to Karen, which was embarrassing and cost me many good friendships. I was in the military, and she would continually cause drama with the other wives, wear my rank on her sleeve, and be the first person to judge.
She always had the attitude that she was better than everyone (she still does, from what I've heard) and flipped out on servers, and I would have to sneak-tip them.
Well, after a few different duty stations and a lot of burnt friendships, I was getting tired of it, and I looked forward to going on my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.
On my last one, she decided to cheat on me with my "Best Friend" (Gotta love it), and I was immediately told about it; I'm not sure if it was because I was well-liked or she was well-hated.
Anyway, this was my THANK GOD moment. I can be the first one in my family to get a divorce and not get judged too hard for it and end 10 years of absolute misery.
So, fast forward to today, my ex-best friend and my ex-wife ended up getting married. But if there is one thing you don't do, it's cheating on your deployed husband.
This is very poorly looked upon by EVERYONE in the military. You'll be excommunicated by the community, and the other is to start a marriage based on cheating.
So, from what I heard (not that I really give a damn) is that she is divorcing him for cheating on him. She is no longer allowed to be on the post for shacking up with another married dude while his wife is deployed. The circle of shame continues!
Also, this is just the tip of the iceberg, and there were a lot more repercussions for them because of the initial instance that happened while I was deployed.
GeoDude86
22. Just a Headphone
I have Karen’s for parents. Freaking awful. I got £150 in Gift vouchers from charities when I was diagnosed with cancer. So, I went out and bought some decent headphones.
One day, they just snapped. My sister saw. All I did was bend them slightly to place on my head, and they snapped. My dad was angry, and the next day, he grabbed my wheelchair and took me back to the shops.
He made me take off my chemo cap and made me sit in my wheelchair. He wheeled me into the shop. He ended up getting into a screaming match- ordering a manager and a supervisor- and said, ‘Look at her.’
At some point, my sisters left the shop and just cringed outside. My dad wouldn’t let me leave or wheel myself out. The whole time, I was beet red and had my head in my hands.
When they wouldn’t help him- he threw the broken headphones into the metal trash can for receipts, and it rattled. He stormed out, calling them witches.
I looked up as I was being wheeled out and mouthed, ‘I’m so sorry.’ If there are any 30-40-year-old ladies who worked at Argos in the UK and you had a man come in with a child with cancer who was shouting about £100 headphones- I am so so so so so so so sorry.
Hiking-Biking-Viking
23. Double Trouble
Karen's Marry Kevin's. The male equivalent. They drive trucks even though they work in offices, think the check-out ladies are flirting with them, and start fights over parking spaces.
They're the jerks that rush to overtake you and slow down. They flirt with the waitress while their wives are in the bathroom but only tip ten percent.
They have concealed carry permits but let everyone know they conceal carry by showing off their guns every chance they get, with trigger discipline.
Wear t-shirts that unironically threaten their daughter's dates. They let the police know that they pay their wages every chance they get. Sometimes, they berate their wives. It's easier than talking to them.
waxingnotwaning
24. Early Signs
Early in our marriage, I started seeing some Karen tendencies in my wife. It started because companies were legitimately jerking us around on things we needed, and she was trying to be more assertive. Initially, she had it compartmentalized.
She'd turn it on when she needed it and off once things were resolved. But she started losing her ability to segment it, and this entitlement mindset started bleeding into other interactions. It never got too bad, but I didn't like its direction.
I finally said something one night after she'd gone into a store to return something and came back out to the car telling about how she gave the employee a talking-to about how terrible the return policy was.
So I just asked her: "An hourly employee, with no say in the matter, upheld the company policy as she was trained to do, and you thought it was appropriate to give her a talking-to for that? How do you think that made her feel?”
“What would you have done differently if you had her job? Was it worth ruining someone's day over this? Do you feel better that you made her feel bad, or worse? Is that how you want people to remember you?"
All the while, I was circling back to the store. I parked the car and said something to the effect of... "I think you owe that woman an apology. And I think if you take a minute to think about it, you'll do the right thing."
She argued with me for a few minutes because she felt like I was attacking her, but to her credit, she walked herself back into that store and stood in line for 10 minutes to apologize.
That was a turning point for her, I think. Since then, even when people have legitimately screwed up, she's been much more patient, understanding, and polite.
I'm grateful she was open to my critique because I have other Karens in my extended family, and I don't know if I could be with someone like that.
MFWicantusername
25. The True Form
One of my cousins is a Karen. He lives at the office day and night to hide from her, and we suspect he’s not faithful from time to time.
She was a very slow-hatching Karen, so he was basically trapped on a ship with a xenomorph and didn’t know it. That’s the best description, I thought.
She took her ultimate Karen form once they tied the knot and baby 1 arrived. I won’t go out to eat with them because she will complain about everything the whole time.
Social media is her kingdom, and the other Karens reinforce these crappy behaviors by liking all of her posts.
Her favorite activity is complaining about how hard it is being a full-time mom even though her kids are in school and she has a housekeeper...posting negative reviews of stores on Facebook is a very close second.
Corporate-Asset-6375
26. What a Shame
One time, my sister and I went to this well-known grill and bar, or as we like to call it, Crapplebee’s. But Karen was sitting next to us yelling at this 16 yo server because her steak dinner wasn’t what she liked. The young lady started to cry.
So as we finished and left, my sister said, “Maybe we’d all be a little happier if we didn’t expect a 5 STAR STEAK DINNER FROM THIS FREAKING STORE.”
Karen was rather defeated and sank in her chair. The young server said, “Thank you so much,” when we left, lol. The Karen were eating alone, too, and didn't have to wonder why.
SHAKINmyGOODIES
27. Best Family Reunion
My aunt is a Karen. She is exactly what a Karen is portrayed as. Everyone hates her. My mom finally punched her in the face at a family reunion a couple of years ago. It was great.
Apparently, my mom had had enough of my aunt that day and got into a huge argument with her (I can’t remember what it was about).
I went to try and break it up, and as soon as I got to them, my mom said, “You’re such a freaking witch,” and decked her. My mom walked away, and I stood there, trying not to laugh. My aunt started crying.
Oh_imjustagirl
28. The Game Inventor
Y'all, I have a Karen for a mom, and she's super religious now after years of legit making fun of people for having a religion in their life.
Already horrible, I know. So, long story short, I'm going to school for Game Design, and I have expressed to her how much I love it and that it's truly my calling in life.
As a Karen, though, she continues to tell me how games are made by bad people to make us bad and violent people....?? Is she telling me I'm a bad person?
If so, I guess it would make sense to be the offspring of a Karen. Here's to all the children of the Karen. I hope you're doing good out there!
Sleepylittlebirdie
29. Beginning Of An End
I am divorced from my Karen. I used to go into our local video rental store and find that she had closed our account in a huff over incorrectly-applied late fees.
I would have a quiet conversation with the manager during which I would apologize for whatever she had said, and he would then reinstate my account (with no late fees).
I can only imagine the scenes she caused there that resulted in our account getting closed. I realized later that these interactions at the video store were a microcosm of our entire relationship.
She went about in a righteous huff, wreaking havoc in all areas of our lives, while I was left to pick up the pieces. It was so tiring.
Masterpososo
30. Jealousy Hits
My mom was a Karen in name and behavior. My dad had a massive heart attack and an oxygen-deprived brain. We weren't sure if he was going to make it or how intact his mind would be. Intubated, sedated, the whole works for days.
My toddler nephew visited the hospital. He was Dad's special buddy. Dad somehow roused from his critically ill state to wave his fingers and say a few words to him. A miracle!
Mom tried to get Dad to talk to her and then slapped him--pretty hard-- on the chest because he wouldn't say anything to her. Poor dad.
She was completely jealous of a two-year-old. Abusing a man in intensive care. The look on the nurse's face was absolute horror.
Throneofthornes
31. Right Choices
My wife is a Karen. She's a total freaking witch, and I don't know what to do about it. I come home from work, and all she wants to do is to make out. She keeps pestering me about starting a family.
Still, I keep having to explain to her how expensive raising a child is. I tried to do the math and explain to her we wouldn't be able to have nearly as large of a Funko POP collection.
All I wanna do when I come home from work is play Animal Crossing. Is that so much to ask? Anyway, she kinda stopped pestering me once she started going to these private massage sessions with this dude up the street.
Deleted
32. Poor Guy
I am surrounded by Karens. My father is the biggest Karen of all. He's just insufferable out in public if everything isn't his way.
Refuses to wait on any line that is more than 30 seconds of wait time. Everything has to be his way or the highway....his words, not mine.
My MIL is also a full-blown Karen. Just the worst. Makes EVERYTHING about her. Everything. If it's not, she will make a scene or a fuss and turn all the attention upon her, and then she'll play the victim. It's nuts.
My wife is a Karen in training. Her shyness keeps her from being a full-blown Karen, but behind closed doors, everything is gaslighting and my fault.
Rtroth2946
33. Learn from Experience
What is the male equivalent of a “Karen”? Because whatever that is, that’s my father. I don’t think he’s had a decent meal in his entire life; there’s always something wrong. And if he doesn’t get what he thinks he’s entitled to, he goes straight to management.
I worked at a call center in customer service for close to 7 years, working up to management, and in that time, I figured out what works, as a customer, to get what you want and what sure as hell doesn’t.
I was listening to my dad on his phone argue with someone about how an expired promotion should still apply to his recent purchase, getting to a point where he was demanding it, citing the “thousands of dollars” he spends with their store.
The rep, bless them, stood their ground and refused to honor an expired promotion. When he slammed the phone down, I attempted to explain how he maybe could’ve gotten the discount/refund if he’d been more accommodating, but that “never works.”
I argued back, saying that maybe, just maybe, as a rep with years of experience, I might know what I’m talking about. He didn’t believe me.
So I called the store, spoke to the same rep, explained what I’d like, and “I know this is really an exception, but is there anything you might be able to do?” 15 minutes later, I got the discount applied, plus another promotional code for 10% off another purchase because I had treated them like a human.
TL_MadHungarian
34. She’s Everywhere
I'm a Karen magnet. I was married to a Karen, her mom was a Karen, my mom and grandma were Karens. My MIL Karen was Ray's mom on Everybody Loves Raymond.
When I went out to eat with my mom and grandma, my mom complained that the coffee was too hot, and my grandma complained that the ice cream was too cold.
My Karen wife got us thrown out of the Little League game for harassing the 15-year-old umpire. Now I'm by myself and Karen-free.
RonSwansonsOldMan
35. Good Girl
A close friend’s mother was a Karen when I was a kid. His father was the absolute kindest person in the world and took so much crap from her.
Most of the time. Every once in a while, he would say something absolutely withering, and the look he would give at those times was terrifying.
We were all out to eat at one point, and she wanted a server to be fired. She was literally demanding he be fired right there, right then.
She was standing halfway up from the table, face turning redder and redder. She enumerated all the reasons we should have all our food for free and the server should be unemployed.
My friend's father gently put his hand on her shoulder and said, “‘Shut up,’ he explained.” in a voice that was calm, even, and as cold as freaking space.
She immediately shut up, and we ate the rest of the meal in silence. I always lived that line, and I liked that he would stand up to her occasionally, but when he used that voice, I felt like I was hearing a serial killer talk.
Sedu
36. A Half Karen
OK, so my wife isn't a Karen, but she has magic Karen-like powers. She won't abuse a waiter, clerk, or store manager to get her way. Still, she knows how to fight corporate customer service on the phone with the tenacity of a starving pitbull at a nursery. She is brutal. She is merciless.
She'll sweet talk and commiserate with the frontline customer service to see if she can end 'em with kindness or seem sympathetic. But then I hear, "Listen, hey, I know you're just doing your job, but this isn't working. We need to escalate this to your manager, I'm sorry."
Then she'll harangue whatever person is in power until she gets what she wants or until she gets as high up in the chain as possible. Then she'll dig in like it is siege warfare until they meet her demands.
She becomes an unholy spirit of wrath who probes and pokes at the armor of corporate policy until she finds a weak point to drive in her unyielding sword of vengeance.
If that's a Karen, so be it. But if you've ever been messed over by corporate bureaucracy, she's who you want on your side, getting free shipping for your troubles.
[deleted]
37. Grocery Monster
Not married to one, but I might as well be. When we go grocery shopping, she grabs a cart, and I grab my own. I go shopping separately from her because I know what’s going to happen.
And yes, she WILL ask if they could “check the back” if it’s not in stock. At our local 7-Eleven, we are friendly with the cashiers.
They know that she wants two taquitos – only if they’re fresh! Not fresh? Okay. She will watch them put FRESH!!! One on and WILL COME BACK to get them.
She drapes herself across the counter, and I can just stand there and cringe. When I pointed out that she’s not just Karen, she’s A Karen, she said, “If I don’t ask for the manager, how would I get anything done?”
I hate going out in public with her.
Nerdlifegirl
38. Real Purpose
My mom’s a Karen. Awful stuff. She ordered something, and it didn’t come on time, so we drove to the airport for about ten minutes.
I had to stand behind her while she yelled at employees. They didn’t seem too bothered, but I still felt really bad. And it was so embarrassing, too.
I brought it up at dinner yesterday night, and she said, “I was yelling at them because I wanted them to call their manager so I could speak to him.” Real awkward times.
Deleted
39. Battle of two Karens
My mother and MIL are both Karens (real names are both Karen) My mom is her true Karen self when out and about in public.
Going out to eat with her is a nightmare as she constantly complains about the service. She doesn’t even need to ask for the manager. They just know to come over to the table to make sure she is ok.
Her hairstyle certainly drew the manager’s attention. My MIL is 1,000 times worse than my own mother. She is a narcissist. Has the signature Karen look as well.
I could go on for days with stories about all the terrible things she says to strangers, myself included. Seeing that I am currently NC with MIL, I wonder if I should direct her to my manager (mom) for assistance in addressing the problems she has with me. Has anyone seen two Karens battle it out?
Beensilentfortoolong
40. Classic Karen
My mom is a Karen. She always snaps her fingers at waiters when she needs something. I follow her around, apologizing and leaving big tips in the wake of her scorched earth social awareness.
One time, when my brother’s boss wouldn’t give him a full week off for Christmas, my mom called his boss to explain that we were doing family photos and that he needed the time off. My brother was 26 years old at the time.
It is extremely frustrating to be around her because she is so unaware. She is very proud of her ability to “make things happen,” and she views her Karenness as a desired personality trait.
Mikroscosmo
41. Revengeful Karen
My ex was a massive Karen. There was a girl who bumped her shoulder in a food court once. She told the girl to apologize. It was an accident.
The girl refused and walked away. My ex walked over and slapped the girl’s food tray out of her hands. I just stood there in disbelief.
There is a long list of moments like that. Never date a Karen. It’s insanely embarrassing, especially as a Canadian. Most of us would rather die than cause a scene.
Fyrefawx
42. Snapping Time
I have been working in restaurants and the hospitality industry for over 10 years, and I’ve probably met every kind of Karen! One night, Karen and her friends turned up 2 hours late to their table reservation, so I gave the table to a lovely family who had literally waited over an hour as a walk-in table.
Karen eventually turned up with her friends and, I assume, her husband. I explained that they were 2 hours late, and I had called them numerous times and even emailed them as they had reserved online.
Apparently, this was not good enough, and a table was demanded in a specific area of the venue. I point blankly said no, and she asked to speak to the manager (what else?), to which I replied, “That’s me.”
An awkward 15-second silence, and she and her party turned around and left. Her husband apologized to me, but it seemed as though he’d had to do this a million times.
Valentino1993
43. Ashamed Husband
My stepmom is a Karen. It's mortifying. I don't remember the last time we went out to eat together in public. I remember offering to babysit my youngest brother so she and my dad could go out for their anniversary, and my dad responded, "I'm not taking that woman anywhere."
Servers have about 45 seconds to retrieve whatever inane thing she wants at the table just in case she wants to use it before she flags down a different server to get the manager.
Everything she orders has anywhere between three and twelve things changed about it. She will forget what things she asked for, though, and be rude about it when her food arrives.
Retail people are stuck with her grilling them over the exact location of everything she can't immediately find. Anything less specific than, "Aisle seven, third shelf from the top, between products x and y," and she throws a fit.
She will also linger for 30-40 minutes after she has everything she needs because she "likes browsing." She shows up late for movies and gets passive-aggressive with the staff there, too.
It was like they were supposed to psychically know that she was coming, and they needed to hold up their whole movie schedule so she wouldn't miss the previews that she would talk bad about to sit through.
We've tried calling her out on it. The best we've been able to do is limit her crappy behavior when she's at the house. My grandmother said it best, "Bless that woman's heart!"
Notkeenontalking
44. Unusual Date
I dated a Karen. We went out to dinner once, and her food didn’t look like the picture, so she demanded it be sent back. I’m pretty polite, so I wait to eat. I swear they sent the exact plate back.
She lost it and demanded a manager. At this point, I start eating. The manager comes over, the whole restaurant looking like WTH, and she just lays into him on how it doesn’t look like the picture.
I placed a twenty on the table to cover mine and slipped the waitress a 10, mouthed an apology, and left. Never did find out what happened. I drove to the restaurant, too, so I had no idea how she got home. Blocked her number as I left.
Jonsacreep
45. Wasted Opportunities
I once went on a date with a guy who insisted on waiting with me after I ordered a carpool. The Uber got lost on his way to me--it was a confusing shopping center.
This date got so freaking irritating. He wanted me to call the guy and yell at him, or cancel and order another, or SOMETHING. "Do you just let people mistreat you and give you crappy service?! You're paying. They should do it right!"
Never saw him again, blocked his number, and dodged his goodbye kiss. What's the male version of Karen? The driver was literally five minutes late, by the way. Not something unreasonable at all.
jacquelynjoy