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These Entitled Karens Get What’s Coming to Them
There may be a movement to change what we call–shall we say–a difficult person, but until it’s official, “Karen” she will be. Our guess is that a bunch of ladies named “Karen” were sick and tired of their name being used in that manner, so they went straight to the manager and won’t stop complaining until it happens.
We’ve all had to deal with a Karen (or a Ken) before. And while there are some very patient and tolerable people out there, most people gloat any time Karen gets put in place. There’s just something about karma giving nasty people their just desserts…
Take a look at these Karens below. Do you think they got what was coming to them or do they have a second round of karma heading their way?
1. It’s Like David and Goliath
I used to work at a high-end store and it was pretty common to see customers with a sense of entitlement. At Christmas time, I had a customer who was being ridiculously rude to me and my co-worker.
I told him quite clearly that there was a line and that he would have to wait for his turn like everyone else. Once he got to the register, he called my manager “dumb” after he had to re-ring something in.
Little did he know karma was beginning to warm up.
Another customer behind him who was about half his size tapped him on the shoulder and said loudly, “Would you mind shutting up and letting these people do their jobs? You are seriously ticking us all off.”
The guy threatened him, but the smaller guy did not care. “If you were as tough as you like to think you are, you wouldn’t have to be such a jerk. Just shut up.”
And wouldn’t you know, I found a 50-percent off coupon for my new favorite person.
2. Leap Over That Attitude, Kid
I used to work in the toy department of a retail store. The Leap Frog laptop had just come out, and they were crazy expensive.
I was straightening shelves and I noticed a kid just pounding away on one of these Leap Frogs. The mom wasn’t anywhere around. I approached the kid and asked him nicely, “Is that how you play with your toys at home?”
The kid gave me a sheepish “No” and placed it back on the shelf.
I was feeling pretty good about the way I handled the situation…until the kid’s mother came out from nowhere. She very rudely told me that I had “NO RIGHT” to speak to her child that way.
I calmly looked at his mother and said, “Ma’am, your son was about to break a $150 toy. Our store has a you-break-it, you-buy-it policy. If you would like me to give it back to him so he can continue hitting it, I would be happy to ring you up at my register for the damages.”
She gave me a dirty look, grabbed her son, and walked off.
3. Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover
When I was in college, my friends and I were sitting at a table and there was a kid sitting by himself behind us. He looked a bit pompous: popped collar, gelled hair, super tan–the whole nine.
A group of kids sitting in the same area had been loudly making fun of his general fashion sense.
Eventually, one of the girls got up, walked over, and proclaimed loudly, “I’m sorry, but I have to help you out because you look like a total dork.” She then put his collar down.
The kid sat there in disbelief as she walked away. Then his eyes started to well up. I was pretty shocked to she that and had to put her in her place.
I walked over to her table and, in a sugary-sweet conversational tone, said, “Oh hey! Do you know that guy”? She said she didn’t, so I unleashed on her.
I said, “So you just thought it would be appropriate to demean a complete stranger in public to look like a cool kid in front of all of your friends?
“I hope you feel better and that you all got a good laugh at his expense. Maybe next time you can pause to reflect before you’re a total jerk.”
then walked over to the table and invited the kid to sit with my friends and me. It turned out he had just transferred to the college and he didn’t know anyone.
4. Not a Karen But a Bunch of Kens
At a show once, everyone was milling around outside the venue between bands. I was talking to some friends and noticed five or six wannabe tough guys harassing a homeless guy. They were pushing him around, talking down to him and forcing him to take pictures with them.
Eventually, the guy slumped down on a wall, pulled his knees up, and started crying as the guys kept degrading him relentlessly.
One of them shoved his phone in the dude’s face saying he was going to make him famous on YouTube. At that point, I had seen and heard enough and just lost it.
I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I remember flipping out on these guys for about five minutes. I basically told them something along the lines of how they had everything compared to this guy, who had nothing, yet they still chose to act like jerks. I added that they were the worthless, pathetic ones and it was disgusting how they were treating this man.
I didn’t care that they were five or six guys who could probably together beat me up pretty good. However, I knew they weren’t a threat when, toward the end of my rant, they were all staring at the ground. They were red in the face, clearly ashamed of what they had done.
As my verbal berating ended, everyone around us applauded. I helped the old guy up, took him to a nearby store and bought him some dinner.
He was crying on the way there, thanking me for sticking up for him. He said no one ever had before. It felt good.
5. DrunKEN
I was at this bar in a small town I had never been to. A drunken idiot was being inappropriate to a girl and making her very uncomfortable.
I can’t stand guys who do that. No woman should have to listen to that garbage and it also makes all men look bad. I’m a very passive, non-violent guy, but I’m 6’6″ with a pretty solid build, so I guess I can be intimidating.
Knowing this, I knew I had to do something.
I stood right in front of him and told him that he was out of line and if he kept it up, there were going to be problems.
We stared each other down for a couple of seconds, then he left the bar. Several people thanked me and the bartender gave me a free drink.
6. He Absolutely Lost It on the Plane
I’m a pretty mellow guy and travel for a living. I don’t really let small things get to me. However, a couple of years ago, I was on a flight that was running a half-hour behind.
I was thinking to myself that the connection was going to be tight and it would most likely require me to run or briskly walk for a mile or so through the airport to get there in time.
I was one of the last passengers to board the plane, and I had to check my bag since there was no more room. The handful of people behind me did the same thing.
I worked my way down the aisle and there was a guy asking people to shift their bags. He was trying to get his oversized bag to fit, even though there was no room.
He called for the flight attendant, who walked up and said, “Sir, we are out of the room. You will have to check your bag.” That was it for him—he went off on her and started yelling, “This airline sucks. I’m a million-mile member. I want your employee number and name,” blah blah blah.
At that point, I mentally snapped. I felt horrible for the flight attendant who was just doing her job and this guy had spent five minutes making an idiot out of himself and making the delay even longer.
People were gawking, cringing, and just hoping he would stop so they could move on. I just yelled, “SHUT UP. SHUT THE HECK UP!” I was so angry, I was shaking. Then I went off.
“Take your bag to the front of the plane, check it in, and stop with this insanity. You are what is wrong with air travel,” I said.
“Your sense of entitlement makes me want to puke. If you are a million-mile flier, you know the rules of flying. You should know how this works. Why punish everyone on this flight? You have insulted this lovely young lady, you have made everyone on this plane uncomfortable with your little show, and I’m now another five minutes late for my connection,” I continued, as a stunned planeful of passengers sat there watching.
“I want you and your little Napoleon-complex issues to shut up and sit down. Do WE have a problem?” I finished. He looked flustered and started spluttering but didn’t say a single word.
Somebody at the back of the plane started clapping, then like a wave, the entire plane was applauding. I just sat down and waited while everyone clapped and this guy took a long walk of shame to the front of the plane.
The flight attendant thanked me and so did several passengers. I don’t know what came over me, aside from the fact that I can’t stand people like that. The best part was I had free drinks for the flight, the attendant gave me a stack of free drink cards for my next couple of flights and one of the passengers gave me a voucher for free Wi-Fi that he had won.
It was very satisfying.
7. Meteor of Fury
I was at a concert with my girlfriend and best friend and we were having a blast. I drank a lot of adult beverages from the many venue bars we’d gone to. To put it frankly, I had gotten myself to the holy grail of sloshed.
I was like a unicorn: charming, funny, making friends—all the good stuff. It was perfect.
I turned away for a brief second and when I turned back to the stage, my girlfriend was getting shoved by some jerk. Apparently, he was trying to push his way to the front of the stage well after the concert began, after all the good spots were held by people who wait for them.
When he tried to push my girlfriend out of his way, she pushed him and held him back. He didn’t like that so he just started shoving her as hard as he could over and over.
What happened next will forever be etched into my brain. I reached up above the crowd and brought my fist down like a meteor scolding the heck out of his face.
All he could do was stare at me with a blank expression. Two beats later—as if it were planned—a dozen arms were wrapped around him and he was removed from the crowd.
The other concertgoers and security saw the whole thing go down. They promptly took him out. Even the people he was with were embarrassed by him and gave me handshakes.
However, his girlfriend later threw a drink at me from the edge screaming, “YOU BROKE MY BOYFRIEND’S NOSE!” It was the best concert ever.
8. Lunchtime Losers
When I was in high school, a guy from my math class was sitting with his homework at a table in the cafeteria. He wasn’t bothering anyone or attracting any kind of attention; he was just sitting quietly and doing his work.
Out of nowhere, this guy came over, started calling him names and asked him why he only had girls as friends. He was using all the gay insults his ignorant little smooth pea-brain could come up with. Nobody in the room really knew the kid, but he had admitted to being gay and he was getting torn to shreds while the other guy and his buddies laughed.
So my friend, who was about 5’10 and 150 pounds, decided we should do something. This other guy was 6’3″ and had five of his friends with him.
Regardless, my friend marched off unfazed by their advantage with me in tow. They had no idea what was coming.
I watched as he tapped the main aggressor on the shoulder and proceeded to verbally assault him for being ignorant and picking on a random kid just because he was alone.
The jerk tried to pick a fight, but my buddy just kept ranting, “You think you’re tough for picking on a kid because he’s gay? Do you think that being gay is a problem? That he had a choice in the matter? What if you were gay? Do you think you would have had the balls to let high-school punks like you know about it?”
The jerk just shrugged it off, said, “Whatever” and took his buddies somewhere else. The kid was so happy that someone had stood up for him that he bought us lunch.
9. BOGO on Karens
While on my lunch break, I was at the grocery store. This older woman, who had some clear mental and emotional disturbances, was heading to a checkout line.
She pulled her salad out to put in on the conveyor and it opened up, spilling everywhere. She then started crying, said she couldn’t afford to buy another salad and apologized for the mess.
A clerk and I went over and to help her. The clerk explained it happens all the time and that they wouldn’t charge her, but the woman was still visibly upset.
She continued to apologize and cry. Then, I heard two middle-aged women—hair all done up, expensive clothes, etc.—giggling and having little outbursts every time the poor, distraught old lady said something.
I was furious.
But it got worse. They started to openly mock her, loud enough for everyone to hear. At that point, I stood up, grabbed my basket, walked over to them, and quietly said, “Come on, quit it.”
They both stopped laughing and got beet red with anger.
One of them said, “Excuse me? Who do you think you are”? I calmly replied, “She’s obviously upset. She can hear you over there, and it’s embarrassing for you and for her.” That was when they both lost it.
“Who the heck are you? Don’t ever talk to me like that…”,To which I replied:
“Listen, I know you’re both really unhappy because you married a man for money, and now he’s cheating on you with a much younger woman, and your kids probably don’t like you or respect you because you’re obviously a terrible person, but you don’t have to be mean to strangers.
“If you want to laugh, whatever, but don’t start mocking people. Try to contain yourselves and act like the adults you never became.”
They were shocked, and it was so amusing to watch.
They said, “We’re not paying for this,” and just walked out, leaving their food behind. Then the checkout clerk started laughing, and the people in line behind me all started to nod their heads. I kind of think I did a bit of an overkill, but I was really shocked at how mean they were being.
10. They Were Lucky It Wasn’t a Slap-inee
My buddy and I were at a movie and these dudes were talking about how they had just gotten out of basic training. They proceeded to spend the majority of the evening bash the movie, making rude comments out loud and ruining everyone else’s experience.
My buddy told them to pipe down. They did, but not before flipping him off. When the movie was over, we were at the front of the exiting crowd, right behind the group of guys being rude.
My buddy said, “That was really rude, how you were behaving,” and one of them—the loudest guy—whipped out his ID and said, “Yeah, well, I’m a Marine, and I fight for your freedoms.”
I looked over and my buddy was smirking. He whipped out his ID and said, “I’m a Marine officer, and just because you have the honor of wearing a uniform doesn’t give you the right to be a jerk.”
Then he made them stand at attention right at the door of the movie theater and apologize to every person exiting.
11. Serving Up a Dish of STFU
Back in college, there was a man who worked in the dorm dining hall that was mentally challenged. He obviously had some problems but was able to hold down the job.
One day, I was behind some girls in line who were standing right in front of him. They were saying that they didn’t like being served by him and started calling him names.
I got hot and couldn’t hold it in. “He has ears. He can hear you. He’s a person just like the rest of us, and you shouldn’t treat people like that,” I said.
They then called me a name and walked away. I didn’t care; I was just happy to get my point across.
12. Baby Kens
I once caught two kids (around 12 years old) about to throw a soda can at an old woman from across the street.
I stepped in their path and yelled, “Try it and see what happens.” They stopped in their tracks and tried to deny what they were about to do.
Afterward, I felt terrible and thought maybe I overreacted. I thought I could have used less threatening language toward two kids, but looking back it was probably the only way I was going to get through to them.
The old lady was completely oblivious to the whole thing.
13. Crazy Coupon Karen
When I was working retail, this woman brought in a big bag of coupons. Most of them were unusable because either they were expired or they were duplicates.
She started freaking out on me because the system was rejecting most of the coupons. She called me stupid (amongst other names) and kept saying I wasn’t doing it right.
Then…wait for it…she asked to speak with my manager.
My manager came over and asked what the problem was. The woman started ranting about how incompetent I was because I didn’t know how to scan a coupon.
My manager looked at the coupons. It was obvious they figured out that the coupons were the problem, not me. My manager called Karen out for being disrespectful to me and told her 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.
14. Racking Up Some Disrespect
Two teenagers at my gym went around to every single bench and machine, threw a small amount of weight on, knocked out a couple of reps, then moved on to something else, never re-racking their weights.
When I realized they were never going to put anything away, I tracked them down. Being the big, muscular guy I am, I decided to use that to my advantage and put an end to it.
I simply told them to rack their weights. I watched and waited while they put every single weight back where it belonged before I went back to my own workout.
15. Dr. Karen Needs a Reality Check Up
There was a Karen in my medical school. She was not a very nice person. She often lost her temper with just about everyone and was an overall bully.
One day, she picked me as a target because 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 move.
Our professor entered the lecture theatre and Karen started complaining to him that I wouldn’t move. The professor gave her a verbal beatdown on entitlement. He said these types of people make horrible doctors.
Karen felt wronged and left. The whole class applauded as she left. After that, she mostly kept to herself. I felt it was long overdue.
16. One Day He’ll Get His Just Desserts
I was in a culinary arts program. We rotated through stations and ran a full cafeteria on the university campus. The desserts station required that you serve and plate the food in front of the customer.
I was helping one woman when another guy, an entitled regular, came in and cut in front of her. He was the rudest customer I had ever dealt with.
He reached for the dessert that I was still plating for the woman. She said loudly, “Excuse me. That is mine. She’s not done and you can wait and not be so rude. You are unbelievable.”
He walked away with a sulking look on his face. She looked at me and said, “Sorry, I can’t stand rude people.” I couldn’t have been more thankful that she said something.
17. Not Lovin’ It
I sympathize with teenage fast-food workers because I used to work at McDonald’s when I was in high school.
During one visit to a fast-food joint, there was an obviously new cashier working but he seemed to be doing okay.
At one point, he entered something wrong and asked his manager how to fix it. Not a big deal–it happens all the time. The manager came over and started tearing into him and calling him an idiot in front of all the customers and staff.
After I received my order at the counter, I asked the manager to come over and I gave it to him straight:
“Please do not talk to that cashier that way ever again. Just because you are a day shift manager at McDonald’s does not make you a superior human being and gives you no right to treat others, especially your employees, like dirt.”
After I sat down, the other manager came over, brought me some apple pies and thanked me for standing up to that guy. Apparently, that manager acted terribly toward everyone for a long time.
18. Terrible, Rotten Little Bullies
I worked with the special needs students at my school. I’ve also worked with people who have disabilities my entire life.
One day when I was about 13, I came into one of my classes to find one of my fellow students with Down syndrome huddled on the floor with a bunch of girls standing around him, pointing, laughing and making fun of him.
I immediately dropped to my knees to talk to him. I found out that he’d had an accident and the girls were brutalizing him for it.
He was crying and shaking. I comforted him, managed to get him to stand up and got one of the other students to take him to the special needs classroom.
Then I turned to these girls I didn’t really know, looked each one of them in the eye and proceeded to rip them new ones.
At the end of my berating, they were all blushing and hanging their heads by the end of it. One girl was crying.
I didn’t have many friends in middle school but things changed when I got to high school. I remembered every single one of those girls. The looks I gave them when they tried to talk to me reminded them every time about what heartless little bullies they were. I still get mad about it.
19. Rule #1: Never Mistreat Food Service Workers
One of the lunch ladies in my high school was deaf. She was always the one to cash the students out. Once, I heard some dude saying how he mocks her by pretending he doesn’t understand her and that he never pays what he owes.
I got so mad that I just went off on him. I told him he was a horrible person and that I hoped he would lose one of his senses so he could feel what it was like.
It may not seem like much, but I think I got my point across because I didn’t hear him talk about her again.
She was nice too and was really pleased when my school started offering sign language courses because the students could then communicate with her.
The look on her face when I signed with her for the first time brought tears to my eyes. I could tell she was extremely grateful people were trying to communicate with her effectively and not just pretend she wasn’t there.\
20. Cross-Fit Karen
Working retail one afternoon, a Karen came in with a return. At first glance it’s no big deal, she’s 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 brownish sweat stains all over it–from the pits to the stomach to the shoulder. It looked like whoever wore it rolled in mud or wore it during a mud run. It was that bad.
I proceed to tell Karen that I cannot return the shirt because it had clearly been used and that only unused and resealable items could be returned.
Karen threw a fit and started screaming at me. She accused me of calling her a liar. I hold up the shirt and point to the pit stains and say “Karen, can’t you see this stain?”
Well, that made it worse!
She continued to make a huge scene and demanded to see the manager. News flash Karen, I am the manager and I’m not giving you an inch. After 20 minutes of complaining, she finally leaves saying she’ll be complaining to corporate and get me fired.
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.
Great, here we go again. I’m thinking “Now I’m going to get into a fight with Mr. Karen…” Nope.
The guy spends the next 10 minutes apologizing for his crazy wife Karen verbally abusing my staff and me a few days earlier.
Apparently, the guy went to the beach and did some type of CrossFit / HIIT training class in the sand! And he said Karen knew this because 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.
21. No Adult With Mess With Those Kids Again
When I was in fifth grade, a lady grabbed my brother (a third-grader) by the neck. She picked him up and threw him about three feet against the lockers.
She was mad because he had pushed her kid out of the way when her kid tried to cut in line in front of my brother at the water fountain.
I couldn’t believe it. I just started going off on her. I was calling her every name I could think of while following her out the door. My dad was a Marine so I was saying all the stuff I wasn’t supposed to have heard from him that I collected over the years.
I followed her and her kid out the front door and got to the bus circle. Then, she turned around and came at me like she was going to destroy me. There were no teachers around. They were all inside, trying to find out what was going on.
It was just her and me. I could see in her eyes that she was really going to hurt me. She grabbed me by the shoulders, picked me up and shook me as hard as she could. The whole time I was screaming.
The next thing I heard was car brakes. My mom came flying up to us, tackled her and proceeded to beat the crap out of her.
When it was over, my mom had layers of that lady’s skin under her nails and bruised knuckles from punching her so hard.
That night, I got ice cream for trying to protect my brother and was sent to bed early for saying the words I shouldn’t have.
22. 27
I was one of five people in line at a gas station. The kid ringing everyone up had gauged earrings. He was doing an awesome job, being super polite and efficient and moving the line along nicely.
An old lady behind me said to her friend, “This kid is so disgusting. I wish I didn’t have to put up with people like that.”
My ears were gauged, but I didn’t have plugs in. I also didn’t have any jewelry in my septum piercing either. For some reason, I had the ring in my pocket.
This old lady went on and on, making sure she was loud enough that the kid could hear her. He was clearly embarrassed.
After he rang me up, I turned around and said, “I’m so sorry to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t agree more. I hear some people put stuff like that through their eyebrows, lips and even their noses.”
She smiled with satisfaction like I was on her side.
Then, I took out my nose ring, which looked very sharp, and said, “I wonder if it hurts?” I started pushing it through the hole very comfortably but was making screaming noises as if I was piercing it right then and there. A big dude behind her was standing there in shock, eyes all wide.
After pushing it through and letting out a sigh, I said to her,
“It’s not so bad after all. Honestly, I am glad to see this young man has a job at all in today’s economy. The only thing I find offensive is your blatant disregard for other people’s feelings and that perfume you are wearing that smells like a flower threw up. Oh well. Have a great day!”
The look on her face was priceless. The kid was smiling for the first time since I had entered the store, and the big dude behind her smiled and gave me a thumbs-up as I left.
23. Bet She Won’t Steal Parking Spots Anymore
I was at Target and there was a shopping cart in the middle of a parking space. I was alone, so I got out of my car and moved it into the corral directly across from the spot I was about to enter.
Then came an inconsiderate Karen. She pulled around my car and parked in my spot. You know, the one I had just moved the shopping cart out of.
I went up to the window and told them they were welcome for moving the cart. They started sputtering and lying about not having seen me.
So I put thumbtacks behind the wheels of her car and left.
24. Kids Really Do Need Supervision
I was an inner-city school teacher in Milwaukee for a few years. I taught summer school at the juvenile detention center for kids who were awaiting trial, sentencing and release.
I did not look intimidating in the slightest bit and I think that allowed me to get away with calling people out on their BS as much as I did.
Once at a huge music festival in Milwaukee, there were three children, approximately five, seven, and 11 years old, who were running around, knocking over trash cans, blowing whistles and cursing up a storm. There was no parent or guardian in sight.
Eventually, I walked over, and said, “Unless you really want to get in trouble, you need to stop behaving like this. You’re embarrassing yourselves. Where is the person you came here with?”
The 11-year-old kid’s response had me fuming. “I don’t have to answer to you. The grown-ups always think they can tell people what to do. I don’t have to listen to you.”
At that point, my friend, who was a Milwaukee detective, came over, pulled his badge out, and said to her, “You don’t have to listen to her. She was nice and gave you a chance. But you do have to listen to me.”
Her face dropped. She threw herself on the ground and started screaming and crying, saying, “I didn’t do anything, these people are just racist.”
Obviously, my friend got the officers on duty and security to come and get them at that point. I was more concerned about an 11-year-old being responsible for a five-year-old and a seven-year-old than her behavior.
25. Two Chatty Karens
I had the opportunity to see a foreign film for extra credit for a Spanish class I was taking in college. I had to take notes during the film so I could write a brief summary of the movie as part of the assignment.
The movie was playing in one of our big lecture halls and it was put on by the foreign film club at my school, so there were a good amount of students there watching.
I got to my seat, settled in and started watching the movie. About 10 minutes in, two girls entered the hall and started to make a lot of noise–like nothing was going on at all.
They took their seats in my row but on the other side of the aisle. They continued to loudly talk for the next 10 to 15 minutes while the movie was playing.
I could tell the people around me were annoyed with subtle “ahems” and groans and multiple heads turned to look at the girls. However, no one really did anything and the girls kept talking.
Finally, I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up, walked over to the girls, and asked them in the most polite voice I could muster, “Please excuse me ladies for interrupting your conversation.
Would you mind shutting up so the rest of us can watch the film?”
I just stood there while they got angry and left. The entire lecture hall applauded and the movie continued.
I felt pretty good after that and would say it was well worth the 25 extra credit points.
26. Makin’ Granddad Proud
One day, I was helping my grandparents run errands. My grandfather stood up from the store’s mechanized wheelchair to use the ATM. Some 19-year-old thug walked up and sat down in it.
I gave him three polite versions of “He’s using that” before he responded, saying, “Chill out, I’ll get up in a minute.” I started to explain that we needed the wheelchair available in case he lost his balance.
When he wouldn’t listen, I stared him in the eyes and said, “Get up”, to which the dude responded, “Who do you think you’re talkin’ to?” I told him, “I’m talking to you. Get up. Now.”
He again responded, “Who are you talking to?” At that point, he still hadn’t gotten up. So, I rushed the cart fully intending to flip it over. When he saw that I was serious, he jumped up and started muttering about how I’d better hope he never sees me again.
My grandfather was 91. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him prouder than he was at that moment.
27. It’s Showtime!
I went to see “Wolverine” at the movie theater. About halfway up the rows of seats, there was an aisle that cut across horizontally from one side of the theater to the other.
Some idiot father brought his toddler to the movie and let the kid run back and forth across the aisle, squealing the whole time.
After 30 minutes, I finally had enough. I went down to the father and said, “Do you realize the entire movie theater can hear your child and that it’s ruining the movie for the rest of us?
Please make him be quiet.”
The father stared at me in complete shock, as if the concept of controlling his child had never crossed his mind. He immediately left with his kid.
Several people around me thanked me as I sat back down.
28. Nope
I was taking a packed train into work one day. There was a group of college-aged kids standing in the middle of the train, close to an old lady holding three or four bags of stuff.
At one stop, a person who was sitting down in the elderly seating section got up. One of the obnoxious college girls sat down and continued to chat with her friends.
I was not going to let that fly. I looked at her and said, “Nope, get up.”
She gave me a look like, “How dare you talk like that to me” and didn’t respond.
I told her she should give her seat to the elderly woman, but she still did nothing. So, I loudly said that she was selfish and should be ashamed of herself.
She then got up. The old lady sat down and gave me an appreciative smile.
29. He May Be a Nerd But He’s an Intimidating One
I went to the midnight showing of “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.” I was a big nerd. But I was also 6’4,″ 250 lbs.
We were waiting in line for about an hour or two before the movie started. The line was around the corner and snaked around the block.
The theater started letting people in and the line behind us began to push forward, basically becoming a mob. People who were waiting an hour were being cut in front by people who had gotten there five minutes prior.
People in line started whispering to each other, “We should say something. They’re cutting.”
So, I yelled at the top of my lungs, “Hey everybody, no cutting! Back of the line!” At that point, I saw an old friend in the midst of the crowd. I called him by name and shouted, “Hey, yeah, I see you, back of the line”!
Every person who was line jumping then shrugged, exhaled collectively and proceeded to move back to their respective places in line.
I heard a few people whisper, “You see that big guy? He told them to go back, and they did.” I felt like a hero to my fellow line waiters. It felt good.
30. Not So Fast, Ken
My dad was driving around with his terminally ill friend. They needed to go to a pharmacy and because my dad’s friend would become short of breath easily, they were hoping a handicapped spot would be open.
Unfortunately, none were vacant, so they had to park farther away. As they walked up to the store, a muscular man came walking out of the pharmacy.
He started to open up the door of his Ford F150 that was parked in a handicapped spot. He clearly didn’t need to be in that spot and no, he did not have a sticker.
My dad’s friend was fuming when he saw him. He called out to him as he was getting in and said, “Excuse me? Is your handicap physical or mental?”
The guy’s face went white as a ghost and he quickly got into his truck and pulled away as fast as he could.
31. Please To-Go Away
Years ago, I was at a Panera Bread over the holidays. It was shopping season and the place was close to some shopping malls, so it was extremely busy.
This older couple ordered coffee and the lady behind the counter gave them a to-go cup. She apologetically said, “I’m sorry, we ran out of clean mugs, and the dishwasher is running now, but I didn’t want to make you wait”.”
She was so polite but the lady got mad and started screaming at her about how bad her service is. She actually yelled, “I need a FOR-HERE cup, not a to-go cup”!
The poor girl behind the counter kept apologizing and saying they would be done in a minute, but the woman just kept complaining.
Meanwhile, this rant was holding up the line so another employee came up to take my order. I saw my chance to get extra petty. I ordered my drink and said as loud as I could, “And a to-go cup is FINE with me. Unlike some people, I understand the drink will taste the same!”
The old lady freaked out about how rude I was while I waited for my drink.
The manager came out and gave me a free loaf of their holiday bread “for being so patient.” The old people left, still angry.
32. Fancy Feast
I was on vacation with my parents and my dad planned a fancy dinner. The restaurant was very boutique; it was literally on the first floor of a house.
Because the restaurant was so small, patrons had to keep their voices down so as not to disturb everyone else. We sat down for dinner and were immediately overwhelmed by a man talking loudly–to the point he was practically shouting–at the table next to us.
Not only was he yelling, but he was making very inappropriate comments. He obviously had too much to drink but everyone at his table looked too scared to say anything.
We tried to eat our dinner and ignore him but it was becoming increasingly difficult. My poor dad, who had planned this great, fancy dinner, looked so disheartened.
I snapped, which is usually what I do whenever someone upsets one of my family members. I turned around and said very clearly and loudly, “Could you please keep your voice down.
I can hardly hear anything besides your voice.”. The guy was speechless, probably because I was an 18-year-old girl telling him nicely to shut up in front of an entire restaurant.
33. Entitled, Inebriated Ken
I was flying home for the holidays and the guy in the seat behind me was very drunk and very loud. He was bothering everyone around him, but no one said anything.
The flight attendants stopped serving him and shushed him several times but it didn’t work. He was sitting next to teenage siblings.
He started waving his arms around and grabbing at the air. He smacked the back of my seat. When I turned around, the sister was trying to sit as far back in her seat as possible to avoid his flailing arms.
She whispered, “Please say something.”
So all 5 feet and 4 inches of me stood up and said, “Hey! You need to be quiet.” He replied, “Huh? I just wanna get home and nobody will give me a drink.”
I said, “YOU just want to get home? That’s all any of us want and all we’ve heard all night is your darn mouth. You need to keep your mouth shut and your hands to yourself and be quiet!”
Luckily, it worked. There was peaceful silence for the rest of the flight and several people thanked me when we exited the plane. It was the only time in my life I’ve ever done anything like that.
34. Caramel Mocha Frappuccino Moment
I was at Starbucks when a guy grabbed a woman’s purse and took off. I chased him down and wrestled it away from him. Then he tried to fight me.
I yelled at him to grow up—he was clearly older than me.
I walked back inside Starbucks. As soon as I stepped through the door, the place was silent but completely packed.
I set the woman’s purse on the table near her and asked if she was alright. She said she was, so I walked back to the front of the line where my buddy was and said, “And I would like a caramel mocha frappuccino.”
The whole place erupted with applause. It was probably my smoothest move ever.
36. Parks and Rec Karen
I worked as a nanny and would take the baby to the park regularly. We had a “make friends and play” routine. There was a mom there whose youngest child we would play with often.
One morning, we were playing per usual and when I looked up, I noticed that I was alone with the two toddlers and her older child (probably 4 or 5). I called for the mom and looked around for 15 minutes before calling the authorities.
Twenty minutes later, I still couldn’t find her and the authorities and a social worker had arrived. They took my statement, then left with the abandoned children.
As I was walking the baby home and was about a block from the park, guess who came running up to me? The mom and she pointed to the park.
She asked where her kids were and I told her what happened. She started arguing with me. She was enraged that I didn’t just sit and wait at the park with her kids while she ran to the store “since I was a nanny.”
Apparently, I should be able to handle extra kids. I proceeded to tell her— ignoring the fact that I got paid to be a nanny–and as calmly as I could what kind of mother she was and how much she endangered her children.
I also gave her an earful about being an irresponsible, expectant, idiot. There was some kind of court hearing and she claimed I was babysitting her kids. I was cleared when she couldn’t give the judge my name or contact information.
37. McJerk
I used to live in one of those fancy McMansion subdivisions in the suburbs. However, the one I lived in was the “poorest” of the surrounding towns, so the people there felt extra insecure and seemed to try to make up for it.
I would make it a sport to counter any bad behavior. One day, there was a huge line at a coffee shop during lunchtime. They were taking orders and processing credit card payments on a mobile device to speed things up.
This guy had paid but was waiting for his drink. He said, “Wow, they can take your money fast enough; they just can’t do their jobs fast enough. Ridiculous.”
The employee gave me my drink and said, “I’m so sorry about the wait.”
That’s when I gave my epic reply. “Well, barring complete blindness or some mental disability, everyone here should know they’d be waiting, considering the size of the line.”
She started laughing and tried to hide her face. The other guy just glared at me, trying to intimidate me. I just responded, “What are you gonna do about it?”
The server gave me a complimentary drink for the next time.
38. Karens, Karens Everywhere
I was in line at a supermarket on a Friday after work (around 6). The lines were longer than normal. This entitled late-40s soccer mom Karen was in front of me, tapping her foot and getting bent out of shape over the line.
We got up to the register and the woman started going off about how slow the line was and how ridiculous the wait had been.
The cashier was young and obviously couldn’t say anything, so I stepped up to the plate and said, “Lady, you need to CALM DOWN. You aren’t the only one inconvenienced by long lines. Being nasty to this poor girl isn’t going to make your groceries slide through any faster.”
Her jaw dropped as if no one had ever stood up to her before.
She shut up and continued through the line, glaring at me as she left. I didn’t care and shot her several glances that showed it upon my face. The cashier smiled and said she couldn’t have ever done that.
A week later, I saw the cashier again and she told me that the woman came back in, talked to her manager, and got her in trouble for not telling me that I was out of line for calling the Karen out! What is this world coming to?!
39. Cold Coffee Karen
I was at a 7-Eleven when a Karen interrupted my transaction. She angrily told the cashier that her coffee wasn’t hot.
He apologized and told her that he could make another pot right away. She said, “No, I’m way too busy to wait for that!”
The clerk offered her a refund, and she responded, “No, I don’t want a refund! I’m busy, and I want a hot cup of coffee RIGHT NOW!”
I felt so bad for this clerk who was shocked by her rudeness. I snapped right then and there:
“Listen, Karen, he apologized that the coffee wasn’t hot and offered to make you another pot or a refund. What the heck do you expect him to do? The only way for him to comply with your request is to get a time machine and brew another pot before you get here.
“Does he look like some sort of time-traveling wizard to you!? You need to just shut up, get back into your ridiculous SUV and try to act like an adult!”
She just stood there, shaking. I don’t know if it was rage or fear, but after a while, she ran out of the store and took off.
All the people in line clapped. The clerk was also shocked at my outburst but told me, “It’s good to know that some people will still stand up for others.”
40. Terrible Human Alert
I used to work at Walmart and when it was slow, cashiers would be sent out to the floor to tidy the store and help out the people working in different departments.
One day, I was helping out a friend of mine in the children’s section when a woman and her two kids came over to shop.
One child was still an infant and her daughter looked to be around 4 or 5. The woman was browsing the racks, completely ignoring her daughter, who kept telling her mother that she had to use the restroom.
She wasn’t whining but simply saying, “Mom, I have to go”. The mother kept ignoring her and disinterestedly telling her to hold it.
Finally, the little girl let it out: “Mom! I! Have! To! GO”! which woke up the little one. The baby started crying. The mother finally addressed her daughter by yelling at her for being a pain in the who-know-what.
My friend and I were listening to this, looking at each other as if to say, “Man, what a moron,” but there wasn’t much we could really do.
Then the woman screamed, “Will you shut up!? I wish you had never been born!” I was stunned. I couldn’t believe anyone would say that to their child.
My friend literally dropped what she was doing and said, “What did you just say?” The woman started to say something about minding our own business but my friend cut her off by launching into one of the most frightening displays of righteous anger I had ever seen.
She tore into this woman. She told her that it was apparent that the little girl needed to go to the bathroom because it was all she had been saying for the past five minutes.
My friend said that it didn’t matter how frustrated she was with her child; no one should ever tell a kid that they wish they hadn’t been born.
The woman couldn’t say anything in her defense because she was caught being horrible to her child. My friend finished with, “You’re the reason birth control should be mandatory. Take your kid to the bathroom.”
If we had a mic, I would have dropped it for her. The woman left without saying a word.
The woman complained to management on the way out and my friend got hauled into the office shortly after that. She explained why she was justified in what she did and that she would do it again. The manager agreed with her, gave her a warning, and told her, “Good job.”
41. Karen and Ken at the Grocery Store
One day at the supermarket, there was a woman who had three items on the belt, talking away on her phone.
When a little old lady went over to put her stuff on the belt, the woman on the phone said, “What are you doing? This is my space. I’m just waiting for my husband to come with the rest of our stuff.”
That got me pretty ticked off, but it got worse. Her husband strolled up with a cart that was almost overflowing with stuff. I just couldn’t hold my tongue.
This woman had been taking up all the space on the belt while instructing her husband what to get over the phone. I was in the next line over and told her that she and her husband could go to the back of the long line they were causing.
They didn’t like that. They called the manager and I explained how vile and selfish they had acted. The manager told me I was right. He sent the couple to the back and comped the old lady’s groceries to apologize for her inconvenience.
42. Real Tough Guy
I used to ride the city bus a lot. There was a very old couple I would frequently see getting off at the hospital’s cancer center.
One day, the woman got out of her seat 30 seconds too soon before the bus stopped and quickly lost her balance. She fell over onto a man who was a little younger than she was–probably 55-60.
He looked at her with total disgust and pushed her off and she fell to the ground. Some nice young men helped her up.
She was obviously shaken up and off-balance. She then fell on the man again. He shouted, “WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING, YOU DUMB WOMAN”!
She seemed very disoriented and confused at that point. Her husband didn’t appear to see what was really going down but he probably wouldn’t have been able to do much anyway.
The man got out of his seat and loomed over her aggressively and yelled, “I HAVE A BAD BACK AND YOU COULD HAVE HURT ME. GET OUT OF HERE.”
But here’s the thing—this man was maybe 6’1” and 200 lbs, and the old woman appeared to be in her late 80s and no more than 100 lbs.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. The bus driver stopped the bus out of confusion. I jumped up and told the man to get off the bus. I said that I would call the authorities and that he had no business being on public transportation.
He moved towards me. At the time, I was a 21-year-old female who was not physically imposing. I looked him in the eye and told him to get out of my face. The bus driver finally saw what was happening and ordered the guy off the bus.
I never saw the guy again on the bus.
43. College-Aged Karens
I was on a train with a lot of college students, seated between two groups. You could categorize them as the good kids vs the bad kids. You could tell mostly because my friend and I could hear the rude comments behind us and I got smacked with a chip they were throwing at a girl across the way.
One girl, who was plus-sized, got up to go to the restroom. I was already annoyed with what was going on but I had not said anything until the moment when the “pretty” popular girl put her legs up and refused to let the girl go.
At first, the first girl took it in stride and made a joke about it, but the other girl just taunted and verbally assaulted her before finally letting her pass.
It didn’t stop there. As the first girl walked away, the group with the second girl made oinking sounds.
When she came back, this girl pulled the same thing, so I turned around, looked at her, and said, “You’re so cool.” She put her legs down, looked at the ground and the other girl walked by.
I turned to my friend and said loud enough so the whole group could hear, “It’s such a cool thing to taunt and make fun of other people. Because obviously, you’re so much better than the person you’re making fun of if you stop to tease them. Yeah, it shows them you don’t care about them.”
I paused, turned to the girl who was now blushing and said, “No, actually, it shows people that you care more about them than they do about you. Grow up. Be nice.”
She didn’t say a word for the rest of the train ride. No one in her group did.
44. Rock, Paper, Scissors for It Instead
We lived in the part of a city that wasn’t always the safest area. My wife and neighbor were sitting on the front porch when there was an altercation at the gas station across the street.
Two men had tried to pull up to the same pump at the same time. They both got out and one was in his 70s and the other in his late 20s. The younger man was in pretty good shape like he spent a lot of time at the gym.
The men started yelling at each other, but things escalated and the younger man pushed the older gentleman onto the hood of his car.
Our neighbor was a quiet woman who was probably 5’10” and 130 lbs. When she saw the push, she immediately ran across the street and got in the younger guy’s face.
She yelled at him: “What is the matter with you? You’re much bigger than him! You didn’t have to push him! I have two young boys at home and is this the sort of behavior I should expect when they’re older? What is wrong with you?”
He apologized to her, adding that his mother would be ashamed. He said he’d just had a bad day and that he overreacted.
My neighbor told him that he didn’t have to apologize to her. He apologized to the older guy and drove away. He was probably too embarrassed to get gas in front of the people who just saw what went down.
45. Sounds Like the Zoo Animals Behaved Better Than This Karen
My wife and I were enjoying a great walk around the zoo. We went into the primate area to check out the animals.
This one small enclosure had a climbing rope inside with a baby primate crawling around on the rope. A small girl inched closer to the glass to get a better look.
As she did, a woman stepped up in her mother’s face and started chewing her out. She very loudly said, “Ma’am, your daughter is extremely rude. She just pushed my son out of the way, stood right in front of him and blocked his sight. You need to learn how to control your children.”
The little girl’s mom was speechless. That’s not even the worst of what happened.
Before the mom could even respond, I turned to face the lady and just as loudly said, “No, you are the one being rude. I was standing right there, and the only thing that her daughter did was take a step closer to the glass. The area is crowded; everyone is just trying to see better. She never pushed your son out of the way, and his sight was not blocked. You’re the one setting a terrible example. You need to learn how to behave in public because of this little display of unprovoked anger isn’t it.”
Then, my wife and I just turned and walked off. To this day, we still talk about how rude that lady was.
46. It’s Okay to Use Your Size for Good
A small group of friends and I (about four or five of us) decided to go to the state fair. One of my friends wanted to go on one of the faster, more intense rides but everyone backed down. I agreed to ride with him.
There was a good 40 to 50-minute wait. While waiting in the long line, a group of teenagers decided they would ruin everyone’s day. They snuck past everyone, cut in line and merge with their friends.
I looked behind me and saw people whispering and looking a bit angry. I’m 6’4” and somewhat muscular, but I usually don’t like to use my size to intimidate people.
I poked my head out of the line at the teenagers who cut in front of us and said nicely, “Hey, do you guys think you can go to the back of the line? Everyone back here has been waiting for at least half an hour.”
One of them looked back at me—getting smart—and said, “Deal with it.” I told him again, a little more sternly, “Just get to the back of the line, alright? People are getting mad at you for thinking you can do whatever you want.”
This time he thought it would be cute to come back to me and get in my face to try to make me back down.
At that point, he was clearly getting angry and told me, “Tell me one more time, and I’ll knock you out.” I told him again to get to the back of the line.
He laughed, then he went for a punch, but that was a BIG mistake on his part. I grabbed his fist, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and threw him to the ground, lifting him off his feet.
Without thinking, I just took off my shirt in a blind rage and self-defense and told him, “Get your spoiled behind to the back of the line and quit acting like a pretentious little weasel before you regret it.”
His friends signaled for him to come back to them since they figured out I wouldn’t be an easy pushover.
I wore glasses, so my guess was that they assumed I couldn’t put up a fight. They left the line, and it felt good.
47. A Karen if We Ever Saw One
My mom and I were trying to have a quiet lunch. A kid at the next table started to throw crayons at my mom.
The kid’s mom was too busy talking on her phone to care. I tried staring but she couldn’t be bothered to take her eyes off her phone and when she did, she couldn’t have cared less.
In the end, I walked up to her to confront her, and she actually gave me the “one-minute finger.” That was it.
I picked up all the crayons that were scattered around the restaurant: on the floor, on the table, and in front of the kid. I dumped them all onto her lap and sat back down.
I think she was so shocked, she just left. The manager of the restaurant gave us a free meal because they said that woman was notorious for bringing her child in and letting him go wild.
48. Karens in Training
My wife and I went to the movies. A group of teenagers sat next to us. They were loud and annoying and commented on every single line in the film.
I let it go for the first 20 minutes, assuming they would eventually shut up and start watching the movie. When I realized they wouldn’t stop, I made my move.
I gently poked the arm of the girl who was the closest to me. I calmly but firmly told her, “Would you please tell your friends to shut up. Thank you.”
She nodded and said, “Yes, sir.” They didn’t utter a word for the rest of the movie.
