Most Karens think that causing a scene and yelling loudly over others is the best way to get what they want—but sometimes, a worker or manager comes along who knows exactly how to put them in their place. Here are some of the most insufferable Karens we've ever seen in the wild world of retail:
1. Kindergarten Karen
We’re not married, but we went through four years of a tumultuous relationship. I broke up with her on Monday...again. We're kind of messed up financially, so we are just feeling things out for a month before we decide for sure. This cycle of our relationship seems to be on repeat. When we’re out, I constantly have to cut her off and speak over her because of the way she treats people.
She tells off waiters, sales assistants, gym staff, neighbors, landlords, randoms we meet in bars—you name it. We were both waiters at the beginning of our relationship, so she has worked in the industry, but she still lacks empathy. She blames the waiter if something is out of stock etc. But I have another major issue.
We are both ESL teachers. She teaches kindergarten, while I teach high school. We are now working from home, and I hear how she speaks to her students. 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.
Berating a three-year-old child 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 realise how mean she is to people—including myself. I'm a people pleaser that would rather sacrifice my own comfort than someone else's.
She expects me to harass people because I'm a biggish guy with tattoos, and I don't exactly look soft. It's super problematic. The fact that she’s really good in bed doesn’t help me dump her.
2. Over The Edge
My wife and I went to a Dollar Store one evening a few years back because she needed a bar of deodorant. She asks me to come in with her and I say no you're just getting deodorant no need for us both to go in. This was one my life's greatest regrets. Next thing I know, she comes out of the store with no deodorant. I ask where's your stuff? She replies we'll need to go somewhere else for it and she isn't allowed back to that store anymore.
I'm immediately curious and very confused, as my wife is truly one of the sweetest people I know. She lets me in on all the details that happened in the store. She entered the store to a cashier screaming at a few young kids playing around. They had knocked a couple items off of the shelves and she was berating them to pick it up. Well, as my wife was grabbing a stick of deodorant from the shelf, a couple fell on the floor as the shelf was overstuffed.
Apparently the cashier snapped her head around and screams at my wife, "You better pick that up!!” My wife, taken aback by her talking to another adult this way, let alone a customer, says, "Excuse me?" To which the cashier replied, "You heard me...pick it up NOW!" As I said, my wife is an incredibly sweet woman and normally doesn't get angry or act petty. But something snapped in her.
What she said happened next was very out of character for her. According to her, after the woman snapped at her twice to pick them up, and after my wife hearing her scream and swear at a few kids for playing around, she just calmly put her entire arm into the shelf stuffed full of deodorants and just ran her arm across the entire shelf, spilling dozens of deodorant bars all over the floor.
The cashier loses her mind and starts screaming, "You're cleaning this up, I'm not doing it!” My wife just says, "Make me," and walks out of the store. In hindsight it was a jerk move on her part and she knows it, but had the cashier not been such a monumental jerk about it, it would've gone very differently. Anyway that's my wife's most gangster moment story...
3. Father (Doesn’t) Know Best
Building materials store. It was business to business, so not much retail I guess. This guy comes in with his son, wants to buy a $2,000 air tool. I pretty quickly recognize he’s going to attempt check/card fraud. Not a big deal, we get two to three a week for the same thing. But this guy wasn’t very good at it. He hands me a cruddy looking card.
I test the chip and doesn’t work. I can key in the numbers and process the sale if I want. So I know for sure now its fraud but I never accuse them, so I ask for cash. Most fraudsters can read my face and understand I know what they’re doing. Usually, they say they will go to the bank real quick and then they get lost. This guy starts getting aggressive.
I’m fed up so I look at his son. I ask him what his name is. John. Then I say, “John, when you grow up you don’t want to be stealing stuff like your daddy. And sucking at it, too.” Hoo boy.
4. We Need To Talk About Karen
My ex-wife could be considered a Karen. Her outbursts would stem from the simplest of things; all the usual suspects that make people insecure. Things like obvious rejections, the insults, and failure she managed like a normal person; but somehow, she would find those things in almost any situation. Let me give you an example.
She missed her train home one day and called to ask if I could pick her up from the next town over rather than wait for the next train—a whole 20 minutes! When I got there she was waiting on the side of the road, and I could not park properly, so I blocked the road and waited for her. She proceeded to make things worse—she just stood there and didn’t even try to get to the car.
When I asked what the problem was, she complained: "A gentleman would open the door." Once in the car, she then complained that I took ages to get there, and moaned about how I didn’t greet her lovingly. I didn't really care by then, but not once did she even thank me. I would have just preferred she did not, by default, berate me.
After many situations like that, I realized everything I was putting in the relationship—as a people pleaser—would come back as punishment from the Karen. Anyway, she's an ex-wife now. I don't regret marrying her, I do regret staying with her longer than I should. That is the only advice I can give to others who somehow wound up with a Karen.
Getty Images5. Mr. Big Shot
I had a customer tell me I was a lazy piece of filth because I wouldn't grab his wife a flat cart. I was with another customer. He told me they were there to drop $400 on a lawnmower. I laughed and said, “Let me know when you plan on filling a trailer and dropping $20,000.”
6. Karenology 101
I dated a Karen for a while. Yes, the booty is the reason I stayed as long as I did. This is always how it went down: Whenever I raised my dander from annoyance to “What is wrong with you," that's when the flirty side came out. Like, she knew that she'd crossed a line, and so she tried to fog my mind with an amazing time in the bedroom.
That's an easy formula for things to turn bad. She's associated intimacy with calming me down after she's made me angry. So, if she's looking for a little lovin’, clearly she has to get me angry first, so there's something she can do to make it up to me. Meanwhile, every time she raises my ire, in the back of my head, there's a part of me that likes it because hey, I know what’s going to happen next.
For however long I’m angry right now, this is going to end in an awesome time in the bedroom—or anywhere else I guess. So how can I hold a grudge?
7. Grown-up Needs to Grow up
I was counting my till and a customer waiting in line for the other register started laughing and saying random numbers rapid fire to mess up my count. She succeeded. This was like a mid-40s lady. I sighed and looked at her and said, "What are we, 5 years old?" and then took my till around the corner to start again. It was seriously rage inducing. Like, why would you do that? It's just being a total jerk. No redeeming humor value at all.
8. Sweet Then Sour
My husband and I were downtown last night just doing some window shopping after dinner. We came across this little candy shop and ended up going inside. I ended up picking out a couple things and going to the counter to pay. I ran my card then it came up with a prompt to tip. I declined because the girl behind the counter only ran my purchases through the register.
As I’m grabbing my stuff, the girl shoves a tip jar in my face. I’m sure I had a “what the heck” look on my face because she immediately gets snarky and says, “Uh you didn’t tip.” I just say, “Nope,” grab my stuff and leave. I completely have no problem tipping in situations that warrant it, but does just manning the cash register warrant it now?
I mean I’d get it if maybe they were serving ice cream or if it was like bulk candy that they had to package up for you. Am I the one in the wrong here? I just don’t get why you’d get a tip in that situation.
9. But I Want It Now!
Back when I was an undergrad, I worked part-time at Macy's. One day I get this customer who says he is looking for a sports jacket that he saw listed on the website and he wanted to buy it at the store. I told him, " No problem, let me check and see if we have it." So I check on my computer and nope, we don't have any in stock, so I tell him that I can just place an order and he can pick it up in a few days.
"No, I'm going to be out of town." So I told him that we can have it shipped directly to him. "No, I want it today," I told him that I can check and see if another Macy's had it. "I already drove all the way here." I told him, "Well you saw it online right? Why not order it from the website?" Apparently, that set him off.
He said, "I REALLY DON'T LIKE YOUR SMART ALEC TONE RIGHT NOW." I just have him a "what the eff?" look and said, "Sir, I am trying to help you and you're not helping me by literally rejecting every option we have, why not try buying something similar?” He screams, "NO I WANT THAT ONE, I BET YOUR MANAGER CAN GET ME WHAT I WANT."
I say, "He's gonna tell you the same thing I just told you," and he replies: “Oh, we'll just see about that, you'll be lucky if you have a job left after this blah blah blah..." I really didn't pay attention to his ranting as I was calling the manager, and giving the guy the middle finger with my eyes. So when my manager gets down to where I am he looks at the guy and just says, "Oh, it's you. Do I need to call security again?"
I had such a big grin on my face. Jerk customer starts screaming at the both of us and says, "THIS IS RIDICULOUS, I AM GOING TO REPORT BOTH OF YOU TO CORPORATE." I just start laughing and say, "Dude, didn't he just tell you to get out?" Apparently, he wasn't expecting that and just stared at us. My boss is trying to keep a straight face at this point and says, "Well, you heard him, get the heck out of here."
10. Buttering Up The Server
My mom is a Karen. She literally can not help but tell other people her opinion. She genuinely sees it as doing everyone a favor. It destroys her relationships with my siblings. None of my brothers or sisters will talk to her. Here's the perfect example of her “Karenness.” Like a lot of these stories, this happened in a restaurant.
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, came back, and told her what she had was butter. My mom, who apparently is infallible in her ability to detect butter, started acting like a completely horrible person to the waitress about it. “She knows what real butter tastes like.”
I go to this restaurant often—and my kids are there too—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.
11. Nothing Comes For Free
So back in 2008, I went into early labor with my son. I was hospitalized for three weeks and eventually gave birth to my first child, who weighed a bit more than 1 lb. He was hospitalized for three days until the doctors told me he would be blind, deaf, and unable to walk, but that he would likely pass before that. I was going to end life support for him so he could pass in peace and not be in pain.
Obviously, I'm a wreck the whole time, so when the nurses ask what I want him dressed in, I had no idea. They were trying to make it special since it will be the first/last time I hold him without tubes coming out of him. They said we had a few hours if I wanted to dress him in something nice. He's was too small for baby clothes so I had to find doll clothes, so I hit the closest store.
I happened to work in the same store but a different location. They would mark stuff down for sale and then if it didn't sell, it would go to clearance which is half off the sale price. I went there first knowing the medical bills were adding up and hoped to find something. I found something I liked and headed to pay. I'll use easy math numbers for ease of explaining what the cashier thought.
She rung up the item and it came up as normally $20 and on sale for $10. I then reminded her of the clearance price. It went like this. Me: Oh, it's also on clearance so it's half that price. Her: No, that would make it free. It's not free! Me: Oh, I don't want it for free, I just want the clearance price. Her: Sorry girl, you gotta pay what it scans as! Me (getting annoyed but too sad to be angry) Can I just talk to the supervisor please?
Her: NO. I am not wasting her time because you want something for free. Just pay. Me: grabs paper out of my purse I don't want it free. Look, if this paper was $20 and it goes on sale rips paper in half then this is $10 right? But then it goes on clearance rips half into half again then you’re left with this for $5. Get it? Her answer was mind-blowingly stupid. Her: No, it's different with numbers.
Me:........bursts into tears because grief is weird like that Another employee is walking by while I'm trying to compose myself and she asks what happened. I tell her in-between sobs. She rolls her eyes at the cashier and cancels the transaction and rings me up herself. The whole time the cashier is eyeing me like I'm a thief.
12. Too Little, Too Late
A guy asks me for a shoe and I go to the back to grab it, but we don’t have the size he’s looking for. I tell him there’s only one size left and it’s the display shoe—half a size smaller—that he’s holding in his hand. I ask him if he wants it, he says no and thanks me for my help. I nod, give him space and walk to the register to help others.
As I was working the register my co-worker is helping a couple and brings out that shoe—I don’t know this. When I’m done at the register the guy comes up to me a few minutes later and says he does want the shoe. So, I go to the back and check but it’s not there—it’s with the couple. I walk out to tell him that someone else is trying it on and if he wants it he’s gotta wait to see if the couple will take them or not.
The couple decides they want the shoe but the guy won’t give up the display shoe he’s holding on to. They start arguing back and forth over a shoe that’s been sitting there for months! My manager comes to resolve it and get both sides. This is where the original guy says that he had told me he wanted them from the start. Told my manager he was lying and we told him to leave and that he was leaving without anything. He left angry, saying he’d call corporate. Gotta love retail!
13. Ten Years Of Absolute Misery
I was married to Karen, and it was absolutely embarrassing. It cost me many good friendships. I was with the armed forces and she would continually cause drama with the other wives while wearing my rank on her sleeve. She was the first person to judge everybody. She always had the attitude that she was better than everyone (and still does from what I've heard). She'd flip out on servers, and I would have to straight-up sneak tip them.
Well after a few different duty stations—and a lot of burnt friendships—I was getting tired of it. I would look forward to going on my deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. On my last one, she decided to pull the last straw—she cheated on me with my "best friend." Gotta love it! 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 would be the first one in my family to get a divorce and not get judged too hard for it. Plus, I'd finally end 10 years of absolute misery. So, fast forward to today...my ex-best friend—thanks for the solid dude—and my ex-wife ended up getting married. But if there is one thing you don't do, it’s cheat on your deployed husband.
This is very poorly looked upon by everyone in the service and you'll be excommunicated by the community. The other thing you don’t do is start a marriage based on cheating. So, from what I heard—not that I really care—is that she is divorcing him for cheating on her. Also, she is no longer allowed to be on the post for shacking up with another married dude, while his wife was deployed. The circle of shame continues!
14. When All Hope Seems Lost
I had been a third key for a hated but national video game store chain for almost two years when I finally had the opportunity to tell someone to get out. A little background: it was coming up to the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and the back stock of the last generation of systems was getting quite large company-wide, so a sale was being run on the systems.
In addition, a free second pre-owned controller was being included. The district manager had decided—and mandated—that it was a good idea to put stacks of boxes of live systems out on the floor to show the sale was going on. A gentleman had come in and was poking around the store. I greeted him to acknowledge that he was noticed and I was ready to help him.
Immediately, he started acting suspiciously by testing the doors of cabinets, checking accessories if they were indeed locked, and he pushed an empty display box for the Xbox One with his foot to see if there was anything in it. Another gentleman had come in and asked for a PlayStation 3 and a handful of games. I turned my back to grab the games out of the drawers behind the POS and when I turned back around about 45 seconds later I noticed that a stack of Xbox 360s had suddenly gotten one shorter and had cut tape where the system used to be.
Being the only person in the store relatively later in the evening I noticed the suspicious guy from before had disappeared. Bowing my head in defeat that I wasn't able to protect my product from theft and that I would be hearing about it the next day from my manager, I headed towards the storeroom to grab a system for the paying customer when I was suddenly greeted by the sound of squeaking Styrofoam against cardboard from behind a display shelf full of Nintendo Wii games.
As I turned to my right, I witness the sketchball of a man on his knees with a black Xbox 360 stuffed halfway in his backpack. Completely bewildered to why this idiot hadn't just dipped out of the store after grabbing the system, I finally remembered that this idiot was trying to take my stuff. I walked over to him and said, "What in the heck are you doing?"
Suddenly, the man turned up and looked at me like a dog pooping on the floor and getting caught. He decided to tell me, "It said it had two controllers so I was just making sure that it was in the box." With a dumbfounded look on my face, I pointed to the door and said the awaited words "GET OUT OF MY STORE" and watched as the dirtbag pulled the Xbox out of his backpack and sprinted out of the store before I had a chance to call security.
15. My Karen-In-Law
My sister-in-law is a Karen, and her name is very close to "Karen." Here’s one of her most recent masterpieces. Her daughter had a big choir performance one night. My family, her family, and my father and mother-in-law were going to meet for dinner and then go to the show. My neighbor owns a very nice Italian restaurant in town, so I set something up there.
My neighbor had arranged for us to have a big table ready when we got there. My family of four was halfway to the restaurant when my wife decided to check in with her sister with a text message. My sister-in-law, the Karen, immediately called back and casually said she was 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 would help the situation, and we had a rather tight window to have dinner. Anyway, Karen threw a huge fit when my wife pushed back, so we turned around, picked them up, and drove to the restaurant. When we sat down, her "Karen" started showing real bad. and she scanned the menu, asked the waitress questions, then told her a couple of times she was not ready to order.
Meanwhile, we were all openly reminding her that we were on a tight schedule. Doesn't matter!!! Karen WILL NOT be rushed. It should be noted that my neighbor's restaurant has a single-page menu that doesn't change, and she had been to the restaurant MANY TIMES. By the time she decided what she wanted to order, we realized we wouldn't have time to eat.
She gave all sorts of hassles to the waitress: demanding to-go boxes for our meals that were 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... while throwing the waitress under the bus. As we were leaving, I pulled my neighbor and the waitress aside to tell them what REALLY happened and profusely apologized.
16. The Hero Of The Night
Location: A local Italian restaurant, tiny venue, tiny kitchen staff, obnoxiously busy. Need a reservation. Dinners here usually take between 2-3 hours. I'm here with my mom, cousin, and a few others. The door to the waiting room/entrance is about three feet behind my seat, and the register is three feet to my right. Like I said, tiny venue. So I'm eating my starter salad when I hear a stressed-out waitress behind the register.
She's talking to an older lady of about 50-60 years old (from here on, "Mother"). The Mother asks to see the manager. Surprise, there is no manager. Mother wants to see the owner. "No, she's cooking. We won't be able to seat you if she stops cooking, because no one will be able to finish their dinner." (Excellent comeback, waitress!) Mother wants to stick tables together. Can't do that.
This goes on for a while. My attention is piqued. Then...Waitress: I'm sorry ma'am but I have to go help my tables, they're waiting for me. [starts to leave] Mother: [mocking voice] ooooOOOOHHHhhhHHH, heeeerrreee you go [implying that waitress is making excuses]. I just couldn’t stop myself from causing a scene. Me: [turns around] What is WRONG with you?
It was loud in the restaurant and I got no reaction, so I assumed she didn't hear me. But five minutes later...Mother: Excuse me, I really don't appreciate the way you talked to me back then. Me: Well, I don't appreciate the way you were talking to that waitress. Mother: We've been waiting here an entire hour and we haven't been seated, and we have reservations.
Me: And I'm very sorry for that, but you don't need to treat the waitress poorly. The restaurant is very busy, obviously. There's nothing she can do until someone finishes. Mother: Well, you need to understand that my daughter is six months pregnant. Me: That's great. Mother: And she's very tired and needs to sit. Me: There's chairs outside, she can sit there. Mother: She has been, for over an hour. Me: [sarcastically] Well, maybe she needs to lie down in a bed.
Mother: YES, maybe she DOES. Me: Oh! Then maybe you should go home with her so she can lie down. Mother: She's six months pregnant and we've been waiting an hour. Me: I know, and I'm sorry. But you don't need to be rude to the waitress about it. My 16-year-old brother has a better attitude than you! Mother: [huffing] WELL I'm feeling very sorry for my daughter right now.
Me: I feel sorry for her too, because she has you for a mother. At which point someone at my table audibly says "ooohhhhh" and my mom starts stifling a laugh. The Mother widens her eyes and stares in horror from me to my mom. My mom quickly waves me back to my dinner. The Mother eventually leaves to the waiting room without saying anything back.
The waitress comes back to the register and I apologize for the Mother. Waitress thanks me for sticking up for her. Anyway, the Mother and her family come in, finally ready to be seated. Then it got sticky fast. Her son comes up to me with Mother in tow. Son: Did I hear you were talking back to my mom? Me: Yes, because she was being rude to the waitress.
The entire family (six people) start to loudly shame me as they walk to their table, just five feet away from ours. They're all saying different things. Highlights: Son: I think I know my mom better than you. This restaurant is a JOKE. Me: Then leave. Mother: [to my mother] You better not have been taking pictures of me. My Mom: What?! Why would I take pictures of you, I don't want pictures of you!
Lady 1 (Daughter?): [shakes her head, staring me down as she walks by] Shame on you. Me: You're having SIX PEOPLE gang up on one person and you're saying shame on ME?! Lady 2: You need to stay out of other people's business. You don't know anything about what's goin—Cousin: YOU WEREN'T EVEN IN THE ROOM! The waitress runs between us and tells us to chill.
She sneaks in a, "But thank you, I really appreciate it" to me. My table gets back to our dinner. I'm shaking and feel like throwing up, but I try my best to get it together. For the next hour or two, both the waitress and another waitress came up to our tables to thank us multiple times. One called me the "hero of the night." They comped our two plates of garlic fingers, which was nice of them.
It was a bit hush-hush, but if the other family tried, they could definitely hear the waitresses doing all of this. I hope they did. We ate lots of food, laughed a ton, and had a great time. Meanwhile, random family members would turn and glare at me, especially whenever I was laughing. Maybe they thought I was laughing at them? Anyway, we get up to leave, and the ENTIRE family is blatantly staring at us.
Then my dad stands up. He's a real tall, big guy who's done physical labor his whole life. And he looked back at them. They stopped staring after that. We walk out and have yet another laugh at their expense. The best part is that I have more of those comped garlic fingers to eat tomorrow.
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17. Back of the Line
When I was 19 I worked as a manager at a Dollar Tree. The first of every month was always the most hectic because of food stamps which, unfortunately for us, not a great day because there were only three employees inside the store including myself. Lines are building up when a woman and her 20-something daughter come to the line with over 60 items.
When the total comes up and she uses WIC, she cannot remember her PIN. Happens, I get it. I told her we’ll have to move it over to an empty cash register to clear my conveyor so that we don’t hold anyone up—four or more people in each of our two lines now. She complied—Woo!—and I continued ringing up customers.
She takes five steps from me and calls friends/family to find out what the password is and after slightly less than five minutes says she knows it now. I say ‘Awesome!’ At this point, she starts moving my customer’s items back while she cuts off every customer to place all of her items back on the belt. Every customer is like “What the heck?!”
I stop her and tell her that she needs to get to the back of the line and she pulls out the “Let me speak to your manager” at a screech that could be heard from the city over. I calmly say “No problem,” bend down, turn around, pop my head back up, and say “How can I help you?” Every customer starts laughing, including her daughter, and she starts cursing at me like the Wicked Witch of the West.
This was the point when I told her to leave the store to which she just went to the other line and I told the employee not to ring her up. She blew up in anger and left the store with her daughter apologizing to everyone.
18. Bestie Can’t Take It
My best friend married a Karen. This woman is a whole different level of Karen. My buddy makes a large six-digit salary but has to work cycle shifts away from home. She has the option to move so they can live as a family, but refuses to because she has what she calls a “career.” She sells scents and works a clerk job at an HR office.
They have two kids and she can't handle them. She makes him drive home from work every day so she can work out for 30 minutes in the evening. It's a seven-hour commute. He had to buy another vehicle because he couldn't take the company vehicle back and forth—too expensive and dangerous. Also, when she's working at home, he has to leave the house with the kids and can't come back until she says it's okay.
She has insane spending habits and buys unnecessary stuff from Amazon, Scentsy, and other MLM products. She made him buy a luxury camper ($40k) so she could visit him at work and went only one time. She puts the kids in daycare, even though it costs them more than she financially makes. She wants huge renovations done but refuses to watch the kids while he does them.
Any negative thing that happens in her life: it’s his fault. And he has to fix it immediately—no matter the cost. She texts and calls him every 10 minutes at work to complain about him being away from home and how the kids drive her crazy. She makes him attend job fairs in hopes that she'll find a job making just as much money. It won't happen, but he does it anyway.
This one, however, gets me the most—she'd rather pretend to have a really good career than move with him. They'd save lots of money and they would be a much better parenting team! It frustrates me because my time with him has literally become therapy sessions where he vents for hours. It's brutal and I hate that he tolerates it.
Shutterstock19. Like Father Like Son
This kid had two Xbox games in his pants when I was working at Blockbuster. I saw him tugging at them because they were sliding down his pant leg and confronted him. He took them to his dad, who I didn’t even realize was in the store. Dad decides to reward the wannabe thief by renting them, except they already owed over $100 in late fees because of Xbox games they’d never returned.
He proceeds to lose his mind, yelling and screaming at me. My manager gets angry and tells him to get out for saying some pretty insane stuff to a 16-year-old girl. Dude says he’s just going to go to the other Blockbuster. We flagged his account and called the other store to warn them. He showed up there about 10 minutes later, the kid tried to run off with games AGAIN, and this time that store manager called the authorities. It was pretty awesome, even though my heart was racing pretty fast when an adult man was leaning across the counter to tell me what a b-word I was.
20. When A Karen Snaps
I have Karens for parents and let me tell you: it’s awful. When I was diagnosed with cancer, I got some money in gift vouchers from different charities. So, I went out and brought some decent headphones. One day, they just snapped and my sister saw what happened. All I did was bend them slightly to place them 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 got me to take off my chemo cap and made me sit in my wheelchair. He wheeled me in the shop and that's when he blew up. 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: I remember hearing it rattle. He stormed out calling them terrible names. As I was being wheeled out, I looked up and mouthed “I’m so sorry.”
21. No Shoes, No Service
I broke a large light bulb on the floor near the door, and as I was cleaning a customer comes in barefoot. "Sorry sir, I just broke some glass in here how about telling me what you need or coming back in a minute with shoes?" He says, "I don't care, you workers are all huge pansies these days, I worked in a nail factory barefoot blah blah,” as he continues to walk closer. I said, "Did you really just override my request and expect to be served?" Insert more disrespect. Cue register lock. I come around, hold the door open to leave, and I told him to get out.
22. Facebook Is Karen’s Kingdom
One of my cousins is married to a Karen. He lives at the office day and night just to hide from her. We also 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. Once they tied the knot and baby number one arrived, she took her ultimate Karen form.
I won’t go out to eat with them, because she will complain about everything the whole time. Facebook is her kingdom, and the other Karens reinforce these terrible 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.
23. Drive Me Crazy
When I was about 16, I had a 2006 red Ford Mustang and was having some car troubles, which ultimately led to finding out I needed my catalytic converter replaced. Keep in mind that this is a very expensive repair. Me and my dad took it to an auto shop to get it fixed along with a tire rotation and an oil change among other work. I can't remember the exact price, but it was somewhere around $1.5k-$2k.
When the car was repaired and ready to pick up, my dad came with me, as he knew stories of auto-shops "stretching" the truth. As we paid and got the keys (the repairman seemed nice enough, very outgoing and helpful) he looks me in the eye with my dad right there and asks me, "Do you drive this car a lot, or do you drive mainly to work? Joyrides?” Obviously being 16, yes, I loved driving my red mustang around.
"Well son, the entire steering/braking system is about to go out. The days of joyriding are OVER. You're going to need everything replaced, you're going to be driving one day soon down the highway and the steering is going to snap or you won't be able to brake and you don't want that to happen going 65 mph." My alarm bells started ringing.
The guy probably saw a 16-year-old with a nice mustang with daddy there to pay for everything. Little did he know, I saved up and paid for the car completely by myself, and I took great pride in that. Ultimately after doing some research, the parts he said were about to go out generally are never in bad enough shape to need replacing. For the next six years, every day I drove by that car shop and honked to let him know I still lasted another day.
I basically lived in that car. I sold it to a Ford dealership with no problems in the inspection. To this day, I still laugh at how much he tried to scare me. "Son, the days of joyriding are OVER.” What a joke.
24. You Get What You Pay for
I work at a bowling alley and a lady put seven names on her lane instead of the five she paid for. When this happens the lane will shut off and to restart it you have to pay for the excess people. We tried explaining this to her and she flipped out. She was accusing us of all kinds of stuff and causing a huge scene.
She threw a half-full beer bottle over the register at my manager so we promptly told her to get out. We have a cop on duty at night for reasons like this and he told them they had five minutes to leave or else. This lady starts saying we were throwing her out because she's black. My manager and the cop, who are both black, just looked at each other and laughed.
25. “Karenasaurus” Rex
I was married to a Karen. She was very nasty and could not lose an argument. She was physically and mentally abusive. But the worst thing she would do is, if she had the idea that I might walk out on, she would physically corner me and scream in my face for over an hour. She'd try to egg me into touching her so she could "Call 9-1-1 on me for assault."
She rear-ended someone in her Geo Tracker—the poor woman's Karenmobile. The accident only shattered her grille. I went to a few Pick ’n Pulls to see if I could find a new grille. There were No Geo Tracker grilles, but I found a Chevy Tracker grille. I bought it—but I had to have permission to spend a dime, so I told her I got a Tracker grille.
Unfortunately, she saw the grille before I had a chance to de-badge it and put it on her Tracker with the Geo logo. That resulted in two weeks of torment from her. I told her I'd take it back and get a Geo Tracker one...and I did take it back...but I still had my devious plan in mind. I went and found the badge I’d seen the other day (that wasn't sun-faded like hers), stuck it on the Chevy Tracker grille, and installed it.
She had no clue about my deception. She did, however, go on for days about how stupid I was to buy a Chevy grille, which was obviously not the same vehicle, and how she had to wait a whole extra day to be able to drive it to work. She also went on to complain that I should have used the original badge so it wasn't obvious, even though that's what I did.
It was also my fault she rear-ended the guy. My fault her brakes weren’t good. My fault that she drove the faster route I found to her work. My fault that she still worked there. My fault I didn't force her to move to San Diego. My fault I didn't make her a new child. All my fault. When she couldn't win a fight, the past would win it for her.
If that wouldn't win, she would get straight abusive until I would submit. After I left her—which was the second largest battle and longer story—I found out that she cheated on me with every male employee she worked with on "business trips." And yes, it was a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde scenario. All the way up to the wedding, she was outwardly a great person. The wedding changed her into Karenasaurus Rex.
26. Too Cool For School
I was waiting in line behind some annoying high school kids at this burger joint. When they put in their order, the employee (who had an accent) repeated it back, but the "alpha" of the group starts making fun of his pronunciation, like, "No, I want to order four cheeseburgers not four 'cheeseboogers.' That sounds gross. Also, what are 'prench pries'? Are you trying to say French fries?"
He'd glance back at his buddies and they'd all giggle like some little gossiping schoolgirls, which pressed the alpha to make the cashier repeat their order several times, correcting every perceived mispronunciation. The cashier seems pretty frustrated, so I step in and attempt to translate for the idiots by repeating the order all nice and slow, loud and dramatic to them as they were doing to the cashier.
They fall silent and kind of stared at me, obviously surprised to see someone else getting involved. I tell them, "Doesn't feel good when someone talks to you that way, does it?" They almost looked ashamed. They paid for the order then shuffled off to the side to wait. I can hear them talking about me, as if I care. I recognize the cashier's accent because my mother is Filipino so I speak to him in Tagalog for a minute so the idiots can't understand what we are saying, but we keep glancing over at them and laughing.
I apologize to the cashier for our education system and lament how many Americans their age rarely learn to speak another language and tend to not travel anywhere unless it’s to get inebriated, hook up, etc. then explain that not all of us are like that. When I put in my order, the cashier refuses payment, so I got a comped meal because some idiots were being rude.
27. Unreasonable Request
I worked at a Buck-A-Book. I was the only employee there at the time as my manager was asleep in the back office, and nothing would wake him up. I was in a cast and on crutches from having broken my ankle and so I was sitting behind the counter. I wasn't even supposed to be back at work for another week, but my manager had whined about being alone and forced me back.
It was pouring buckets of rain that day. A woman came in and bought 100 books—some hardcover—for her school. She demanded that I carry all these books out to her car for her. Our two-wheeler was in the back room with my sleeping manager and banging on the door for 15 minutes failed to bring him out. I explained that I couldn't help her with the books because of my cast.
She threw a fit and demanded that since she spent $100 that I close the store and carry each and every box out to her car in the pouring rain by myself on crutches. I may have said more than just get out.
28. Karenism Explained
My girlfriend desperately wanted to be a Karen when we were younger until she started losing all of her friends. Then she started losing all of my friends, and we discussed in a healthy manner how unhealthy and unattractive rudeness is. But the worst part is, in her head, it was because that’s how she needed to act in order to ever feel like she's being heard.
So, I made a point to be more aware and she made a point to be less rude. Now, disagreements are normally thought out. Our big problem has always been that I react by calculating and thinking things out, and she reacts by whatever the most powerful emotion she’s feeling tells her to do. We both have worked on that.
The problem is soft-spoken women are almost always walked on, especially in scenarios where they aren't satisfied: you can almost hear the New York deli guy going "Listen, lady..." (cringe). So you start Karen-ing and it gets immediate results.
29. Clap Back
I was a supervisor at a popular coffee chain that had a rule that employees were not to be in the store alone. So, for example, when opening you had to wait for your second barista outside and then enter together. This was to prevent theft, but anyway, that meant we couldn’t put out our patio furniture until our third came in.
A customer began demanding I set up the patio, to which I advised him of the above. When I continued to refuse, he said, “let me speak to your supervisor” and I said, “I am the supervisor.” Obviously now super mad, he says, “You’ll never get ahead if you don’t break the rules every so often,” to which I responded, “Well, I certainly didn’t get promoted by breaking all the rules, now you can order and stop harassing me, or you can leave.” He promptly stormed out.
30. Hardly Working
So I'm from the UK, and I was in NYC for a week. I'd forgotten to pack my earplugs, and since it's tough for me to sleep without them, I figured I'd use the errand as an excuse to check out the local area. I head into a nearby chain pharmacy, and after a brief unsuccessful search I ask employee #1 if they have any earplugs. He told me he would “go check” for me, and walked into the back.
It was pretty clear from his dismissive tone and body language that he wasn't actually going to check anything, but whatever, maybe he's just tired. I just shrugged and asked someone else, employee #2, who walked me to the display immediately. So I'm standing in front of the display trying to figure out which ones I want, taking my time since the brands are all unfamiliar.
Five minutes goes by, and employee #1 emerges from the back. It's a fairly small store so we make eye contact, and he approaches me. "Sorry sir, we don't carry earplugs." "They're right here mate." I gesture to the display in front of us. "Oh." He's taken by surprise and a little embarrassed, and isn't sure how to respond. "I'm sure you tried your best though, when you were in the back. Thanks for all the hard work."
"Go screw yourself." Now it was my turn to be surprised. I was giving the guy a hard time, sure, but it wasn't malicious. I actually just thought the situation was funny and was simply pushing his buttons to mess with him. I could have been a lot more of a jerk considering he deliberately wasted my time. After this, though, things got way out of hand.
Employee #2 pokes his head around the corner. Turns out he is not just employee, but is also the manager on duty. He hadn't gone very far since showing me to the display, and had heard everything that just happened. "What did you just say to that customer Daniel??" Cue an argument between them so loud and intense that it almost ended in a fistfight.
Hooooly. I guess Daniel had a lot of pent-up frustration. Finally, he throws his scanner to the ground, spits at me, swipes a whole row of shampoo off the shelves, and stamps out. The entire store was frozen with everyone looking at us, and I'm just standing there with a dumb look on my face not sure how to react. I got free earplugs out of it though, so that was pretty cool.
31. Take It or Leave It
I worked in a college bookstore years ago and this guy came in and I greeted him. He then turned around and I saw he had a bag on him and store policy was to have customers leave bags up front so I politely said, “Oh we don't really allow bags in the store, could you please leave it in the cubbies.” He then got upset and started loudly saying, “I have my COMPUTER in here, I CAN'T leave it here.”
We normally would put things like that behind the counter so I offered him that choice and he started flipping out like CRAZY. By this time the store manager came out and asked what all the yelling was about and the customer started to berate both me AND the manager about how crazy it was that he couldn't keep his bag on him. My manager was known to not take anything from anyone so after his rant, she just told him “If you don't like our policies, just get out.” She will probably be my favorite of all time.
32. Gloves Come Off
My aunt is a Karen. She is exactly what a Karen is portrayed as. Everyone hates her. At a recent family reunion, my mom had had enough of my aunt apparently, 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 delivered the final hit: “You’re such a despicable person,” she said, before decking her.
My mom walked away and I stood there trying not to laugh. My aunt started crying.
33. Wrong And Strong
I recently moved from city X to city Y, and they're about an eight-hour drive apart. I also recently got a text from the vet in city X that they had scheduled my cats' annual checkup and vaccines in October as usual, and to respond to the text if I had to reschedule. I never ask for these appointments, they just book me in every October and send a text.
I responded that I have moved and would like to cancel. An hour later, I get a multi-paragraph email that I honestly hope was a standard spiel they send everyone, otherwise they’ve got wayyy too much time on their hands. Basically it talked about all the benefits of vaccines and said they had kept my appointment for now and to actually cancel I could text YES to a number. I do this.
Soon after, I get another text message outlining how horrible the cat flu and how it's wrong not to vaccinate. It ended with, "See you and [cats] at your annual checkup on October 7th." So I email the vet that I have moved to city Y, and I will no longer need a vet in city X. Two hours go by, I get another email not to worry, because they have taken the liberty to book an appointment for me at their sister clinic in city Y.
At this point, I'm just baffled at the audacity. I never asked for this appointment to be made! Anyway, after another couple emails, I finally managed to fully cancel and book an appointment at their competitor in city Y. Their final email was quite cross and claimed I shouldn't have animals if I wouldn't give them proper care. The funny thing is, I was happy with them so far and would have probably used their clinic in city Y if I wasn't given this glaring reason not to.
34. Crossing the Line
I had a lady curse me out when I worked as a customer service manager for a big retail store. She then went on to tell me how my mom didn’t raise me right and should have done better. My mom passed on a few weeks previously, so I then told her, thanks ma’am but she did a great job and recently passed and immediately told her to leave or law enforcement would be called and she would be criminally trespassing.
35. A Coven of Karens
I’m surrounded by Karens. They’re everywhere. First off, my father is the biggest Karen of them all. He's just insufferable out in public if everything isn't his way. He refuses to wait in any line that is more than 30 seconds of wait time. Absolutely everything has to be his way or the highway....these are his words, not mine.
My mother-in-law is also a full-blown Karen. Just the worst. She makes everything about her. Everything. If it's not, she will make a scene or a fuss and turn all the attention on her. How she reacts afterward boils my blood—without fail, 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.
36. Double Trouble
I was at a bar with a friend. I only had a cider but opened a tab just in case I wanted to order another. Never did, so my tab was around 5-6 bucks. We still hung out for a while so it was over an hour before I closed the tab out. Well, it came time to skedaddle so I went to close out my tab. Handed the bartender my credit card and waited, and he handed me back an over $40 tab.
The last name was very similar, just a few letters off, so I knew it was an honest mistake. I flagged the bartender down and told him this was not my bill. I only ordered a single cider. Then came the twist. Turns out my tab had already been closed out by this mystery person with a similar last name. So said person racked up an over $40 tab, got a bill for $6, and what? Didn't notice? Yeah sure...
So they charged him $6 and then me $6, costing the bar over $30. People suck.
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37. Special Agent Karen On The Case
This happened when my wife, son, and I went to H-E-B (the famous Texas-based Supermarket chain). When we got there, I took my son out of the back and put his carrying car seat on the truck bed. My wife was experiencing symptoms of seasonal allergies, so she was dabbing her nose and eyes with a tissue. When she has allergies, it can kind of sound like she’s crying.
I was making funny faces at my son and trying to get him to laugh. A random Karen appeared out of nowhere, walked over to my wife, and asked if she knew that a man was bothering her baby. And that's not all. She then went on to say, “Is he making you cry? Do you need me to call someone, honey?” I chose not to say anything out of sheer amusement.
I could tell my wife was pretty shocked for a second and then she said, “Lady, this is my husband and that little boy’s daddy”. The Karen was befuddled and didn’t really know how to extricate herself from the immensely awkward situation of her own making. She mumbled some kind of apology to my wife and fled the scene. Ahhh Karens, what would we do without them?
38. Thinking Outside The Bun
A couple of months ago, I was visiting my grandmother. We were out doing errands and we both got hungry. She suffers from diverticulitis, which basically means she can’t eat any kind of small seeds or nuts. This often causes problems when we go out to eat. Well, when deciding what to eat, we thought of a popular burger joint, because I figured a burger wouldn’t have seeds in it.
I order my burger but notice that the buns do have seeds on them. I ask the manager if there are any seedless buns and he informs me that no, they only have seeded buns. So my grandma orders a grilled cheese, assuming it would just be on some white bread. We receive our food and we see that they also make the grilled cheeses with the hamburger buns.
I go to the manager to ask if there’s anything that can be done and provide some more information on her condition. He informs me that the only bread they have has sesame seeds and he apologizes. I sit down to quickly eat my burger so that I can take my grandma somewhere else to eat. The manager comes to our table as I’m getting close to finishing my food.
He looks at us with a smile saying, “I figured it out.” We unwrap the food he brought us and it was a grilled cheese with two flattened hot dog buns on either side. No sesame seeds. The fact that this manager continued to think of a way to help us and was considerate of a condition my grandma had was heartwarming. Most places write her off as someone who just doesn’t like sesame seeds or who doesn’t like whatever the thing is that she can’t eat, but he actually attempted to take care of us.
39. The Last Straw
Working as Target's mobile rep, I'm helping this old man with his phone—yes, he's asking very basic questions about his iPhone but he had an appointment and was very polite. We were setting up his phone too. This Karen is waiting behind us with her kids running around for about 15 minutes, and again he has an appointment and I told her it might be awhile.
She has been making comments under her breath the entire time and setting a terrible example for her kids about respecting your elders. Then the old gentleman said he needed to run to his car and get his SIM card and that he'd be back in 10 minutes. I then proceeded to help the lady while he was away but she required help involving me making a call that I knew was going to be too long so I said she had to wait until I'm done or come back later.
When the old man returned and she commented on how she was "surprised he didn't fall down in the parking lot,” implying that he should have. I just got fed up with Karen at this point and I called AP on her and said she was causing a disturbance. Sure, I didn't help her and she undoubtedly left me a bad review, but I couldn’t care less. I just feel bad for her kids and that such jerk actually exists.
40. Husband Picks Up The Pieces
I am divorced from my Karen. I went into our local video rental store once and the owner looked at me while shaking his head. Apparently, 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 life. In the meanwhile, I was left to pick up the pieces.
41. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid
This is a rollercoaster. I got a pimple on my nostril, simple right? So I left it alone because it was in a tender spot. In a day, it swelled up and popped. Well, I thought life would be grand after that despite this horrible ugly blemish on my face. I was so, so wrong. I woke up around 3 am that night in incredible pain, and the entire lower half and left side of my face was completely swollen.
I go to the ER. I was there for quite a while and was told that my swollen face wasn't a big deal and given a mild antibiotic. I was reluctant at their lack of care but left anyway with my pill. The next day it's even worse. I'm even more swollen, running a fever, and vomiting. My aunt rushed me to the ER. I am again faced with the same doctors as before. They say I'm fine and decide to give me Percocet.
I tell them I'm in a great deal of pain and the doctor tells me, "Well you actually have to let the medicine I give you work for a while for you to notice a difference." There was a difference, it was WORSE. A nurse talks to the doctor about her concern for me, and she badgers him to take a sample of my leaky nose blemish. He is visibly annoyed but agrees, and they take a sample.
The doctor is short and cold to my concerns and pain. While this is going down, my aunt is calling around for an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist in town. She gets in contact at a local clinic with a doctor’s assistant. My aunt gives me the phone and I explain what's happening to me. The assistant says she can’t get me in that day but she thinks the doctor might come in the next day on his day off for me.
Upon talking to her, he immediately wants to see me and agrees to see me on his day off. My mom is freaked out about my health at this point and is on her way to see me from a few states away. She arrives just in time to take me to this doctor the next day. He walks in the room and simply glances at my swollen face. My eyes were basically swollen shut at this point.
"You need surgery, now" is the first thing he says to me and my mother. And then he cut open my nose and drained 2.5 cups of pus and disgusting fluid from my face. He asked me what the hospital did to treat me, and he was angry when I told him they basically did nothing. I was guided out of the room, and he pulled my mom aside and told her the horrific truth.
He told her I'd have been a goner two days from now if I hadn't come to him. The infection was in the "triangle of death,” a highly fatal area that goes straight into your bloodstream via your brain and heart. I would have had a massive stroke, no way I'd have made it. It's fairly common; my grandma had a classmate who passed from this very same thing.
A month later, the hospital calls and tells me that what they sampled was a combination of staph and other infectious garbage. A MONTH LATER. I refuse to go back to that hospital because they treated me like I was a nuisance and wrote off my condition.
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42. Saved by the Bill
This guy came in and without even glancing at any merchandise, comes to the register. He hands me five $20 bills and asks for one $100 bill. As unusual as it was, I obliged. After I verified all his $20 bills were legit, I pulled a single $100 bill from my till. This is the part that saved me—I held the $100 bill up to the light just like we were trained to do every time we handle a $100 bill.
Only $100 bills and not any other denomination. He took the $100 in one hand, turned away from me, turned back and showed me a $10 bill, and claimed he was short $90. Without even thinking, I pointed to the door and told him he could leave or I would be calling 9-1-1. He conceded and left without another word. The thing that saved me is that $100 bills are the only ones we look through at a light. The cameras saw me do that and I knew I had him dead to rights.
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43. Snow White Becomes Evil Karen
When I first met my wife, she was beautiful in every single way. I remember looking at her as she spoke to the ducks at the lake. 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.
I'm not sure when she changed, but slowly and surely, she did. She humiliates me, she belittles me, and she saddens me. I'll never be right or even acknowledged to have a valid point or opinion. She wastes money that I work hard to earn. But the thing that gets me the most is that 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?
44. Keep It to Yourself
I was working the register at my mom’s business when some guy came in and started bragging about how many slip and fall lawsuits he has in progress. I was like, “Please, very carefully, get out and don’t come back.”
45. You Can Lead A Horse To Water…
This event just happened yesterday. I was at a certain shipping company's store going to mail out a few packages. I walk in to see two workers begging, pleading, and attempting to persuade an elderly customer to not send a package. According to their conversation, the customer received a phone call or something from someone saying that they were going to give him a brand new Mercedes-Benz and he just needed to pay the "taxes" on it; around $9,000 in taxes to be precise.
The exchange went on for about five or so minutes, with the workers pointing to signs on the walls warning against this kind of thing, saying that they see stuff like this happen all the time, and even offering to call their supervisors to tell him the exact same thing. The old man started to get annoyed by saying things along the lines of, "Just mail the darn package; that's your job and I'm paying for it."
However, the workers refused, saying that if he wants to mail it, he'll have to go to the store downtown; "I'm not gonna be a part of it.” The old man left, probably to do as they said. When I made my purchase, I filled out a small online survey at the bottom saying how the clerks did an excellent job.
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46. Karen Sufferer Hits The Jackpot
I have two exes that were both borderline Karens. Both were extremely frustrating people. They couldn't take the blame or responsibility for anything! I still remember one of them being absolutely furious with me for not answering her calls—despite the fact that her calls weren't coming through because my workplace had no signal at the time.
I had another who treated me like an absolute idiot. I used to drive to her places all the time, but when my car broke down, she came to mine and always made a fuss about giving her gas money. I argued at first, considering I normally paid for everything and never asked her for anything back. I figured then that giving her the gas money was also kind of a way of paying her to shut up.
She'd also make a massive scene when something didn't go her way. I still remember her screaming at her dad about something so insignificant, and I was absolutely embarrassed for her. How on earth does a grown adult think and act so entitled? Still, we got engaged—I now have no idea why I did that—and an ex of mine, who I hadn't heard from for a long time, asked if she could come to this big celebration we were having.
I told my then-girlfriend about this weird email and she totally flipped out—she accused me of cheating on her with this ex of mine. She said, "You guys must be seeing each other if she's contacting you!!!" Then she ran off to tell my parents I'd been cheating on her.
That was a big ugly mess to clean up. The break-ups were interesting. I broke up with the first one in my car when dropping her off at home after having our 500th argument of the week—it was still only Monday, too! She properly ugly cried in the car and refused to leave. She was coughing and spilling everything from the contents of her nose everywhere.
I just stayed quiet and eventually, she quietly left. It felt like forever though. It was by far one of the most uncomfortable moments of my life! But it wasn't over yet. She proceeded to tell a few of my good friends we broke up because I took advantage of her, so yeah—another horrible mess to clean up. I even had to go to the authorities about that.
The second girl took it better, but still made it her life's mission to rip me to pieces every time we were out with friends—we had some friends in the same circle, and she'd always be out when I was out with a particular group. It makes me so grateful for the wife I have now. I don't know what the opposite of a Karen is, but she is absolutely it!
She's understanding, extremely generous, kind, caring, empathetic, sweet, considerate, and respectful. I've hit the jackpot, and by God do I know it!
47. Read The Room
I decided to stop eating at one of my regular workday lunch spots because of a new employee they hired. I’d been coming in once or twice a week for lunch for years, usually by myself. I knew the daytime staff and we would have a friendly chat when I came in, just like the staff did with all their regular customers. I got busy and didn’t come in for a couple of months.
When I finally made it back in, the restaurant had hired a new assistant manager/head waiter. This was a completely new employee who I had never met before, and I was seated in his section at a table for one. Immediately upon seeing me, he freaked me right out. He grabbed my hand and started gushing about how much he’d missed me. Then he stopped talking and just stared into my eyes like we were long-lost lovers.
Every time he passed by my table, he would stop and hold out his hand for me to take it, then stare longingly into my eyes and talk about how much he’d missed me, but we were together now. It was annoying as heck. I reiterate, I never met this guy before. The lunch staff was always the same small crew. If we’d met before because he was filling in or something, it would have only been one time.
Whatever the case, his fake romantic stuff was unwanted and very annoying. I looked around to see if there were any other lone female diners that he was carrying on with, but there weren’t any. I think his idea was that since I was a lone female I would be starving for romantic attention and his flattery would lead to a larger tip. Nope. This was not the first time I’ve had a server put on this overly-familiar act and probably won’t be the last.
If you are a server, please don’t engage in this behavior! Nobody likes it!
48. Son Teaches Karen A Lesson
What is the male equivalent of a “Karen”? Because whatever that is, that’s my father. I worked at a call center in customer service for close to seven years and was working up to management. In that time, I figured out what works, as a customer, to get what you want, and what sure doesn’t. One day, I was listening to my dad on his phone argue with someone at a Best Buy about an expired promotion.
My dad said the promotion should still apply to his recent purchase. He was getting to a point where he was demanding it and citing the “thousands of dollars” he spends with Best Buy—he goes there maybe twice a year to look for deals. The rep, bless them, stood their ground and refused to honor an expired promotion. Then my dad slammed the phone down.
I attempted to explain to him how he maybe could have gotten the discount and or refund if he’d been more accommodating. He replied to me: “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.
I spoke to the exact same rep and explained what I’d like. I said in my friendliest voice: “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.
49. Nothing To See Here
I was shopping at one of my favorite thrift stores today. They were having a 50% off all tag colors, except blue. So I was looking for mostly non-blue tags, and found one item that didn't have a tag on it. I had planned to ask an employee when I saw one. I went around an aisle and saw a female employee texting on her phone. She looked up and saw me and said, "You did NOT just see that."
As an aside, I don't care if an employee is on her phone. Doesn't matter to me at all. But I guess some customers might have snitched on her. I said in reply, "I didn't see anything, I don't know what you're talking about." She smiled and said okay, then started walking away to continue her work. But I said, "Wait a minute, I have something here that doesn't have a price on it."
She came back and looked at it and said, "Since you did not see anything, you can have it for $2.99." And I said, "Cool!" It probably would have been at least twice that, maybe with a blue tag or not. I didn't know or care. A little while later I saw her and said, "Just to let you know, the only thing I saw was an employee doing her job." And she said, "Thanks."
50. Perfect Response
I managed a cell phone store years ago and there was an entitled older lady who came in and made my full-timer cry. I stepped in and told her that I didn’t need her business and to leave because she had no right to treat people the way she did. The customer escalated the issue to the "office of the president" and I was contacted asking why we were so rude to this customer and what happened.
My only response was to email a section of the "violence in the workplace" training module that states that you do not have to take mistreatment from customers. Nothing else was ever said about it. Other than another manager who heard about it contacting me to say "Well played, sir".
Pexels51. Secret Menu Item
So, my husband loves decaf iced lattes from a very popular coffee and donut store in New England. He has one at least 3-4 times a week. Today I go to the drive-thru as normal. E = Employee at drive-thru. Me: Can I get a medium iced decaf latte please? E: We don’t have decaf lattes. Me: I got one here yesterday? E: Nah, we don’t have decaf lattes, only decaf coffee.
Me: It’s on the menu... E: Listen, I’ve worked here over a year and I’ve never heard of a decaf latte, we don’t do those. Me: Okay... I’m gonna go somewhere else. At this point, I drive off because I didn’t want to argue. I drove five minutes to a different store in the same chain (we have them every couple miles here) and got the latte without any issue.
How does that lack of knowledge happen? How do you work somewhere for year and not know something on the menu?
52. Act Your Age
I worked at a call center years ago. I overheard an angry commotion from the headset of the gal next to me. The yelling continued for what seemed like 30 minutes, but it was probably closer to five. But she was totally unfazed, just reading a magazine while the ranting continued. Finally, I heard my co-worker ask, "Your mother or father home, sweetie? We're not permitted to speak with children." They hung up. Before the next auto-dial, I said, "Darn, that was a kid?" She just shrugged, "No, it was some old man."
53. Karen Magnet
I was married to a Karen whose mom was a Karen. She was like 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 wife also got us thrown out of the little league game, and for the most embarrassing reason too—she was harassing the 15-year-old umpire.
Now I'm by myself and Karen-free.
54. Chris Is Cross
BOY do I have the story for you. It was my best friend’s 20th birthday, so we and our third best friend decided to go to our local chain restaurant. They don’t take reservations on the weekend, so we understandably waited a good amount of time to get seated. However, our waiter made sure to take extra time before he took our orders. He was a middle-aged guy, drenched in sweat and undeniably unhappy.
But I get it, I work food/retail, as do my friends, so we are probably more understanding than most. We waited about 20 minutes, watching him buzz by us and serve all the tables around us. At one point, a couple was sat down across from us about 10 minutes after us, and he took their orders first. By then we had politely told him we were ready to order.
My friends ordered their food, and I ordered their Cubano sandwich, specifically asking for French fries with my side of ranch. He looked at me funny, and said, “Cubano? Who orders it like that? Literally no one.” I nervously laughed, mainly because I didn’t know what the heck to say. So he took our orders and went. About 45 minutes go by. No food, which isn’t a big deal.
We’re having a good time. And then our food comes. My friends get theirs, and I get my sandwich…and no fries. He says they’re taking extra time. No worries man, I can wait. And I do. I wait 25 minutes. I decide to go to the bathroom, which had a ginormous line, and think, “Surely they’ll be there when I get back.” About 15 minutes goes by, and I head back to the table and they aren’t there.
So I decide it’s time, and head over to talk to a manager. I really hate going there, but I really just wanted my fries. The manager greets me, and I explain the situation. His response to me is, “Oh Chris? Yeah he’s been having a few rough nights! Doesn’t surprise me.” I had absolutely no clue what to say to that, so we walk back to the table where my fries are still not waiting for me yet.
The manager says he’s going to get them right away! As he stepped away, my friends tell me the strangest story. They say that the waiter actually stopped by our table (without fries) demanding where I went. They felt super uncomfortable and told him the bathroom. He responded by laughing and saying, “That better be where she is.”
The manager returns with my fries, and we let him know the comments made. He kind of shrugs and walks away. By now, my food is cold and the waiter comes back. My friends dashed to the bathroom as they saw him approaching and I pretended to take a phone call to avoid him. Instead of taking the hint, he literally stood at the corner of our table and just side-eyed me the whole time.
I didn’t even know what to do, so I pretended to hang up, asked him for the check and a box after he wouldn’t leave! My friends came back as did he with the check. Two of them put their meals on a card, and I put down a $20 towards the bill towards my meal. When “Chris” came by to collect our bill, I told him personally, “Cash first then card” and my friends also said, “Please do cash first then the card.”
He then repeated it back to us. Great! The bill was around $60. He came back, set down the checkbook, and walked off. My friend went to look at the bill and said, “Uh I think he charged the full amount on my card.” She checked her bank account and he had indeed charged the full amount on her card. At this point, my friends called “Chris” over and we asked him about the $20.
He responds with “What $20 bill?” I swear to god, smoke came out of my ears, and I was ready for revenge. So I went to find the manager again. When I explained the situation, the manager seemed really unaffected, which surprised me. The only thing he said to me was, “Well, that’s his third strike! Thanks to you, he’ll probably be out of a job tonight.”
The manager adjusted our bill to show my $20, and we left. Let me tell you, it felt like I was in a different universe.
Pexels
55. Baby Fever
I worked at McDonald's in 1997 and we had Beanie Babies as Happy Meal toys at one point. It was insane. They literally had to buy a security cage to keep the toys locked down in the back. They were delivered with a security detail. People were ordering "100 Happy Meals with no food" because we couldn't sell the toys by themselves.
One day I heard a commotion up front and found my high school counselor reaching across the counter grabbing one of the owners by the shirt because we were out of the pink flamingo. I'll never forget the look in her eyes. She had to be dragged out. It's scary how easy it can be to work people up into a frenzy.
Flickr, Housing Works Thrift Shops
56. Karen Gets Told
My 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 garbage from her: at least 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. Here’s a perfect example of a time he talked back to her.
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, her face turning redder and redder, and she started enumerating 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 he spoke two words that had the whole table pause from eating: “‘Shut up,’ he said in a voice that was calm, even, and as cold as outer space. She immediately shut up and we ate the rest of the meal in silence. I always loved 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 psychopath talk.
57. A Bright Idea
I am in between teaching classes and I ran out to my favorite noodle spot to eat. It’s a tiny place with only a few tables and it’s not that busy this time of day. There was only one occupied table when I arrived. A woman with a shrieking baby in a tiny room. Oh no. I don’t have enough time between classes to find somewhere else to eat. I’ll just deal with it.
I don’t love to listen to a screaming baby while I eat but I’m not someone who gets especially upset about it. As I’m settling in, I hear her asking the staff for a to-go container so she can get out of there. I feel bad for her as her bowl of noodles is pretty full. She obviously didn’t get a chance to eat much before the kid started up. I am grateful that she has the consideration to think of getting her fussy baby out of the restaurant.
Just then, the staff got an idea. Suddenly, the pop music that normally plays in this restaurant stops. A few moments of silence. I don’t exactly know how to describe the music that plays next but you all know it. It’s that classic “baby music” style. Like a xylophone or a music box. It’s gentle, not obnoxious like a lot of kid music. I recognize the melody as “The Circle of Life” from The Lion King.
The next song to play is “Baby Mine” from Dumbo which, if you don’t know it, is both soothing as heck and an absolute tearjerker. I’m sitting here sipping a pint and enjoying my noodles while the mother is able to stay and finish up with her baby softly snoozing away beside her. As a service industry veteran, I usually bristle at the notion of a restaurant altering its atmosphere to suit the needs of one guest.
In this case, it’s just a great example of staff thinking on their feet and showing somebody some compassion. If they weren’t already my favorite, they would be now.
Pexels
58. You’re Not Special
I worked at a ski resort when I was younger, fitting boots and sizing skis, etc. My first year I worked at basically the Walmart of rentals, the cheapest option and the biggest store. So the week of Christmas, there are lines out the door every single day. I remember seeing my two-week paycheck after the two weeks around Xmas and I worked 119 hours.
It was absolute insanity. For another reference, the closest town had a permanent residency of fewer than 10,000 people, but during Christmas, it jumped up to 70,000 people trying to enjoy their vacation in the same spot. So, one of these days it’s business as usual, a quarter mile line out the door, non-stop craziness.
I’m at the bench closest to the door helping a lady when this kid walks up to my bench. I asked if I could help him and he said he had reserved rentals online and he wanted to pick them up. I said this is our store name if that’s where you reserved you’ll need to get in the back of the line and we’ll help you as soon as we can.
This 13-year-old kid said something inappropriate in front of the customer I was helping. I told him that quite literally every piece of equipment in our store was reserved, every single person in front of you has a reservation as well and we have to help everyone. He started insulting me personally, saying I was stupid and that he was going to report us to anyone he could because we weren’t letting him skip hundreds of people doing the exact same thing he was doing.
I think what angered him most is that I’m 6’3” tall and big. He was maybe 5’0” tall and 54 kg (120 lbs) so when he called me stupid, I literally laughed in his face. I was at no point threatened by this child, and at first, it was funny. The first lady left, I’m ignoring/laughing at this kid and asking the next person to come up and he starts yelling swear words at me because I’m not helping him.
Up until this point, my manager had been a complete jerk and I was not a fan of him. But he’d had enough of the Christmas rush as well, and this kid was a perfect person to let off some steam on. I went and got my manager and told him this kid was personally attacking me and yelling swear words in front of customers, so he walks up to the kid and says, “I’m sorry for the confusion, what’s your name so I can take a look at your reservation?”
And the kid lights up, thinking he finally beat the system and got in front of everyone for throwing a fit. My manager goes and finds his reservation—it’s digital, but I’m pretty sure he printed it off for the added dramatic effect—comes back and says, “ I found it.” He proceeds to rip it in half in front of his face and says, “Don’t ever treat someone that’s trying to help you like that, you are never allowed in our store again, and with every other store in town also being completely 100% booked on equipment, good luck skiing this week.”
I still didn’t like the guy, but I respected him one point more for the rest of the season for standing up for me.
59. Karen Sees The Light
When I was growing up, my mom was a total Karen. She was always angry about something and treated my dad like total garbage. Mind you, my father is the kindest man who came from nothing, and he has built our life so good that even my grandkids will benefit from it. Also, she and my sister used to always go at it. Screaming and yelling were the norm around my household as a child.
I remember a time when I was like 10 or 11, I did something that upset my mom—I can't remember exactly what it was—and she punished me in the most devastating way. She straight-up pretended I didn’t exist for months. She would literally come home—thankfully I rode a bike so I didn’t have to depend on her for a ride—and I'd have to wait for my dad to get home to make dinner. Eventually, I learned how to make simple meals myself.
She would openly say bad things about my dad, my sisters, and me to her friends. I remember walking in the kitchen one time and saw her typing an email to her friends and it was just bashing us. I remember when we would walk by her computer, she would half shut it, and give us a side-eye as we were walking by, and then reopen it as we walked out of the room. As if we didn’t all know what she was doing.
Public outings generally ended in some type of drama. Whether it was between my sister and mother, or just some problem my mom had in general with the venue or restaurant. You could almost always expect those to end in some sort of harrowing style. It honestly got so bad that my siblings and I, at one point, told our parents they should get a divorce. They never did though.
As I got older things got a little better. We moved across the country because my dad was doing well, and my parents were able to buy their dream house at a young age. My dad’s job was in our hometown though, so he would still spend most of his time there. So, basically, it was just my mom and me who moved out there full time. My sisters were both moved out by this time.
I was going into high school where I knew no one, and my mom didn’t work so she didn't make any new friends either. I think we were forced to kind of be each other’s rock. We still had our arguments and indifferences, but as time went on we got closer. My mom still had issues with my dad—and a few other things—but life with my mom was good.
About a year after I went away to college, everything started to suddenly change. my mom got really sick. At one point, she came really close to not making it. It was terrifying for my whole family, but it ended up being one of our greatest blessings. Thankfully she pulled through and made a full recovery. Ever since then she has been a completely different woman.
My parents are totally in love again, and I’ve never seen them so happy. She never yells, screams, or really gets involved in any conflict anymore. She’s become the most supportive person in my life, and I can honestly say she is my best friend now. My whole family is closer now because of it as well.
Holidays and family get-togethers went from being a total drag to my most look forward to events of the year. While it’s unfortunate that it took my mother a “close to losing her life” experience to realize how good life could be if she would just change, I feel blessed for having a closer and happier family for it.
I think it also allows us to really cherish our time together because it’s not often we see each other anymore given our various life circumstances. But when we do, it’s the best time.
60. What A Drain
I moved my family into a new house, and the first night there I tried to take a bath. My boys came running to the bathroom to tell me my bathwater was draining into the kitchen. After getting out and doing some investigating, I discovered the overflow drain was not attached to any pipe. When I took the plate off, I could see the light defuser over the kitchen light from the hole in the tub.
The landlord was a nice man from my church who was giving me an awesome deal on the rent and I didn't want to rock the boat. So no baths for me. I replaced the useless drain cover and then taped plastic over it and we just took showers. Then a few months later, the tub drain clogged so we had to ask the landlord to call a plumber. In comes this guy. He’s an older guy.
Turns out, a small child of the previous tenants had let a plastic necklace go down the drain and it collected enough to stop the water. At this point, I got an earful I never want to hear again. The guy lectured me about not letting my kids have toys in the tub. I explained that I had boys and this was a little girl’s toy and not ours. He just shook his head and smiled.
Then when I asked him if he could fix the overflow drain, he took off the plate himself. The pipe was clearly not attached and you could see down into the kitchen. He said it was fine and replaced the cover. I watched him. He didn't attach anything and this guy, I kid you not, gave me that same stupid smile and told me, "You're a woman. You just don't understand how plumbing works."
So I asked him, completely incredulous, "So the tub is supposed to drain into the kitchen?" He refused to believe me. I called the landlord after the guy left and told him what happened. The landlord fired that guy and a new guy came the next week and actually fixed the drain. I may be a woman, but I understood plumbing better than that guy sure did.
61. Couldn’t Be More Obvious
It couldn’t have been more obvious that a guy was trying to return stolen merchandise. He “lost” the receipt, didn’t know when it was purchased and paid with cash so we couldn’t just easily look up the transaction on a credit card. He said he would call his friend to ask if they knew when it was purchased, and then he took out his iPhone and without pressing a button started to talk on it.
I was like...I can clearly see the home screen with no call happening. When he “got off the phone” I got a little bold and in my best retail manager voice said something to the effect of, “Oh, that’s cool! Is that a new update where you can talk to someone without actually calling them?” He left after that.
62. Karen Likes It Fresh
We’re not actually married, but we might as well be. At our local 7-Eleven, my girlfriend and I are friendly with the cashiers. They know that she always wants two taquitos—but only if they’re fresh! Not fresh? Okay, she will watch them put fresh ones on, and will come back to get them. She drapes herself across the counter and I just stand there and cringe.
When I pointed out that she is Karen, her reply made me roll my eyes. “If I don’t ask for the manager, how would I get anything done?” I hate going out in public with her.
63. This Isn’t A Game
I used to visit the local games store a lot. Mostly, I went in to pay off pre-orders for my then fiancé, now husband, and I, but I also spent a period tracking down old games for my husband that he thought were impossible to find. One of these days, I decided to check out the PC games while I waited to see if the manager was out back or not, since the manager was the one helping me find the games.
Well, the PC games are in the back corner, next to the storeroom door. The door swings outward and nearly hits some free-standing shelves. Because of this, the only way to get to the games was on the other side of the shelves, leaving you right in the corner. While looking, I bend down a little to see the games at the bottom when I noticed a pair of legs right behind me.
Straightening up, I turn to see a new employee standing there, looking me up and down. I've had zero interactions with him before but have seen him in the store once or twice. This guy was over 6 feet to my 5 feet 3 inches, and he was heavy. His hair was a mess and greasy, and the uniform for the store was half tucked in, half not. He didn't have a neckbeard and I didn't know the label back then but yeah, neckbeard.
His bulk blocked the only exit unless I closed the storeroom door. The door was heavy-looking but I was definitely thinking about it when I noticed him staring at...not my face. "I see you here a lot. I noticed cause pretty girls like you don't normally play games," he informed my chest. Lies, since two girls he worked with were very pretty, but they had smaller chests so maybe that was his way of measuring beauty.
I muttered something like "Okay...I'm going to go back to looking now." "Why are you looking at PC games? No one plays PC games anymore. If you want to be a real gamer girl you need an Xbox!" "My fiancé and I have an Xbox, I just also like PC games. "PC games can be cool, I guess." Steps in closer, literally cornering me, and giving me what I think he thought was a seductive gaze.
"I can pick you out some good ones." "I'm good. I have more shopping to do. Can you let me out?" "Nah, seriously, I can even get a copy and we can talk about it next time you’re in. Come on, it'll be fun. Or we could play together." He tries to put his hand on my shoulder or touch my hand, but I hit it away. The whole time he has been looming over me and leering at me.
The shelves with the PC games are digging into my back as I try to put space between us, but he just keeps edging forward. "No." I'm about a minute away from having a PTSD panic attack at this point and probably look like a caged animal. My breathing is heavy and my voice has gone up a pitch or two. Everything about me says I am uncomfortable and terrified.
"Leave me alone. I don't want your help." His "seductive" vomit-inducing gaze turned annoyed. "Why are you being rude? You flirt with the manager all the time but when someone flirts back you turn into a witch Are you just trying to get a discount off him?” "I don't flirt with him, I just chat to him about games FOR MY FIANCE!" My breathing has become erratic by this point and I've started clawing at my throat and arms, a sign of my PTSD being triggered.
I had just started trying to work out what would be easier, ramming into this buffoon's stomach and making him fall over or pulling the standing shelves onto him (both would have been difficult) when the storeroom door moved. The storeroom is fairly big, I knew from the times I had stood at the entrance to talk to the manager, but apparently in my panic I had used my normal speaking voice, which is actually quite loud, allowing the manager to hear and come forward to eavesdrop.
The moment the manager closed the door enough for me to get through, I bolted out of the corner. The manager opened the door again hard enough to wedge it against the shelves before moving around the shelves to corner the employee like he had to me. "That game isn't in yet," he shot over his shoulder, sounding angry. "It'll be at least a couple of weeks.”
I bolt, run to the closest bathroom, and lock myself in a stall to have a breakdown. A few days later when my fiancé and I went to the shops together, I wouldn't cross the threshold of the store and started freaking out. I couldn't see the employee but I didn't want to risk it. About three weeks later, I braved the store after looking around for the new employee.
Only the manager and one of the female workers were in sight but I still kept close to the door. When the manager saw me he looked relieved and very clearly moved behind the counter to greet me. "Hey, your game was actually in the last time you were here. I made sure it was held though." Store policy is to only hold unpaid orders for one week.
"I'm sorry about that employee. I heard what he was saying to you, and saw the way he was standing over you. I sent him home after you left and called my regional manager. He has given a couple of other girls the creeps but until he trapped you in the store I had nothing to really fire him over. I told my regional that he basically intimidated you and they agreed to the firing."
According to the female workers, they had all wanted him gone but they can't fire people easily.
64. Goes Without Saying
I had a customer threaten to call law enforcement because I wouldn't give them 50% off on a CHARITY bear on Boxing Day. 100% of the proceeds from these teddy bears went to the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and they were only $15. The store had a 50% off everything sale for Boxing Day, but it didn't include the CHARITY bears.
I add capitals because it's a charity bear...its purpose is right in the name! I basically just kept saying "Ma'am, it's a charity bear," because I didn't know how else to explain that the point of the bear was to raise money...that seemed...obvious. People in line were starting to get really upset with her and she just started to freak right out and was starting to dial 9-1-1.
My boss, so upset—she lost a son early in life to cancer so the Make-A-Wish Foundation was important to her—just gave her a bear and told her to never come back. A bunch of familiar customers of ours were so upset they pitched in the $15 without us even saying anything, which was super kind of them. It was a restoration of faith in humanity, but what a nightmare for no reason. Especially on Boxing Day!
65. Tween Confronts Karen
My mom is halfway to being a Karen. By that, I mean she will only do it in grocery stores. One time when I was 12, we were standing in line, and she was being an obnoxious twit. For some reason, I had had enough, and I decided to put her in her place right then and there. I said very clearly—and loud enough for most people in our line and the cashier to hear—"If you do not stop, I will not come out with you in the future. Your behavior is immature at best. Grow up."
She's not pulled that stuff around me since. Fingers crossed she doesn't, but I guess we’ll see...
66. Three’s A Crowd
This happened on Valentine’s Day back in 2019. I had just got off work and stopped at a very well-known chicken place that’s famous for its wings and chicken strips and a special sauce they have in the south. I typically stop at this location every Saturday night, but this particular night I thought I’d treat myself. I get my usual order and sit down. Now it was, of course, busy due to it being Valentine’s Day.
I sit myself at a corner booth and get on my phone. Also, I was the only single individual in the entire restaurant eating alone. Everyone else was on a date, this is important. I’m sitting, browsing on my phone when I notice two young adults (maybe 19-20 years old) who appear and stand right next to me with trays of food in their hands. M = Me, MD = Male Date, FD = Female Date.
M: Can I....help you? FD: Yes, could you get up please? Or soon at least? We need a place to sit down. I’m a bit appalled by this, and look around to notice that there are no more available tables. M: I’m still eating my dinner. I’m sorry but maybe If you two wait a little longer another table will soon get up. MD: She told you to get up, and soon at that. Since it’s obvious you don’t have a date why don’t you be respectful and let a couple like us enjoy their date?
I had considered getting up and asking for a to-go box if another table didn’t get up beforehand, but after that snarky remark, I wasn’t going anywhere. M: I have no idea what your issue is, but any thought I had about getting up just went away after you turned your tone up a few notches. FD: Let’s go babe, since this jerk doesn’t want to get up since it’s just him.
I’m just staring at these two, not sure what to make of this interaction. MD: I hope you learn respect, because you severely lack it, have a great day. They go up, ask for a to-go box, speak a few minutes with the cashier, who happens to be the manager on duty, and with that they both leave. I finish and get up to leave, and me and the manager make eye contact and we both let out a chuckle.
The entitlement in others never ceases to amaze me.
67. Need For Speed
My friend was visiting a northerly city for a job interview, and he got a rental car from a typical car rental chain. He was waiting in line for 5+ minutes while the lone worker at the desk deals with someone on the phone. He’s only really hearing one side of the conversation, but basically, the guy on the other end is demanding that they have a BMW M7 available and that they will have it waiting for him.
The guy is also nickel-and-diming the worker the whole way through, haggling the price and asking for upgrades and perks for no better reason than that he was demanding them. Doing it all with a threatening tone and numerous profanities. The worker finally cuts the conversation short with, “Look, sir, if the car is here you can have it but I have other customers waiting!” and hangs up abruptly.
Wishing to break the tension, my friend steps to the desk and playfully says, “What was that? Some people can be jerks!” The worker agrees and they make small talk for a minute to lighten the mood. The worker regains his cool and they proceed with the car rental as per usual. Halfway through the transaction, the worker just stops typing and looks up at my friend with this mischievous smile. He had the most incredible idea.
W: Hey man, can I interest you in an upgrade? We’ve still got a few luxury cars on the lot, and you qualify if you’re interested. F: Oh, I can’t. I’m kind of on a budget for this trip. Thanks though. W: Oh, it’s not expensive. Actually (looks down and starts furiously typing)…it looks like I just got you a free upgrade. F: Uh…ok thanks.
W: Alright, so we have upgraded you from a compact to a luxury rental, and it looks like we will be putting you in a BMW M7. F: ...(confused) W: There’s only one M7 left on the lot, and I’m giving it to you. So now when the jerk on the phone comes to get it, I get to see the look on his face when I tell him it just got rented. So my friend got to cruise around the city all weekend in a borderline supercar for $24/day, all because the worker at a car rental desk wanted to spite some entitled jerk. Beautiful.
68. Mr. Moneybags
When I was younger, like 12-17, my mom always gave me $40 if I was going to eat with friends. For some reason, I thought the tip had to equal or be above the price of my check. I did this for years, until one day my dad asked for the change to get gas. I said “What change? I used it to tip the waitress.” He wanted the receipt, and sure enough, I had tipped 115% on an order of chicken fingers and fries.
He asked me why I tipped so much and I said, “Because the tip has to match the total of the bill and then you tip more to add the percent in.” He laughed so hard he cried. Then he had to explain to me, a 17-year-old, how tipping works. Well, I’m in my late 20s now, and I have a firm rule of tipping at least 30%. I hope the tips I gave as a teenager made a lot of waiters and waitresses happy.
69. Battle Of The Karens
My mother and mother-in-law are both Karens and their 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.
My mother-in-law, on the other hand, is 1,000 times worse than my own mother. She is a narcissist. I could go on for days with stories about all the terrible things she says to strangers and myself included. Seeing that I am currently not communicating with my mother-in-law, I wonder if I should direct her to my manager—my mom—for further assistance to address the problems she has with me.
Has anyone seen two Karens battle it out?
70. Crossing A Line
I work at Best Buy in the warehouse, and we cover breaks for the guys working the cameras up front. A co-worker was covering a break when this guy came up to one of the front lane registers. There was a bit of a line and we only had two lanes open. One of the front lane guys is handicapped. It doesn't affect his job, it just takes him longer to walk around.
The customer finally made his way to the front of the line and paid with a credit card. The front lane rep needed to see the last 4 digits of the credit card and asked to see his card "real quick." The customer FLIPPED OUT. He said, "Oh NOW you want to do something real quick." Then he muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear: "I should have known not to get in the short bus line."
My co-worker who was observing the cameras saw everything and was not very happy. He walked up to the customer, grabbed all his merchandise, and said, "Nope, you're not buying anything today. You can leave." Never been so proud of him.
71. This Karen Cleaned Him Out
I was married to a typical Karen. She was always holding the line up to complain that the last time they forgot to add something to her long order at McDonald's. She loved berating underpaid staff with her bellyaching no matter where or who. It was very embarrassing, to be honest.
She was also loud. Her voice had only one volume: 11.
She was ungrateful, and just a nasty piece of work. I desperately sought an excuse to leave her, but she ended up giving me the best reason to end it for good—I got cheated on and finally divorced her. I lost everything but my dignity.
72. Can’t Defy Physics
I work at Toys R Us. That should be bad enough. But for a specific story, I worked the back of house. Those are the guys who bring down bicycles, power wheels, and other large items that are purchased from the back of the store up front to the customer. This one time, this man purchased a large power wheel (Barbie Jammin' Jeep '08 model I believe).
When I brought it out, I see the customer standing next to his car. A small, two-door Nissan. I immediately inform the man that the box will not fit in his car, and that we can hold it for him if he wished to come back later with a larger vehicle. He said that wouldn't work; he had to get the jeep now because he's been searching for weeks for it. I again tell him how the box is larger than his car and it will not fit.
He tells me that's bull and has me attempt to load the car into the trunk, then the front seat. After 20 failed minutes, I tell the man I can no longer spend time on this. I tell him I can write down his information, put the jeep on hold, and wait for him to return with a different car. He says he's going to continue to try and put it in his car. I leave him be and resume my work.
About a half hour later, I get a call from the customer service desk that I have to bring a returned jeep back to the storage area.
73. Karen And Proud Of It
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 terrible behavior. 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.
The crazy part is how old my brother was when this happened. He was freaking 26. 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 the desired personality trait.
74. No Judgment
In the food court in our shopping center, there’s a donut place and I just realized today that the last three times I’ve been to this place I’ve been served by this teenage boy and it’s always been really bad times for me. The first time I almost fainted. I’m pregnant and my iron and blood pressure was low at the time. I felt fine waiting in line, but when I got to the counter to order I started to fade and felt my blood draining from my face.
Hands flat on the counter, head hanging down, low mumbled voice while ordering. After I got my donut, I sat at the closest table and put my head down for a few minutes. Recovered and ate my donut like nothing happened. The second time while ordering, I had just gotten some bad news and it was clear I’d been crying. Ordered an ice coffee through sniffles, stared off into the distance while waiting, then went on my way.
And last time I was having a panic attack. I was super out of it, crying a little, and hyperventilating while basically clawing my arm and looking around frantically. Got my stuff and shuffled away, hiding behind my husband with my face pressed into his back. So I guess thank you teenage boy for always smiling while serving me and never making me feel awkward during our encounters.
Also I swear I’m not a weirdo, I just have very unfortunate timing for wanting donuts.
Shutterstock
75. A Little Sunday Shopping
I used to work at Home Depot over the summer as a cashier. The very best was the woman who came up to my line with a cart that had only a single small box of nails. Odd, I thought, but maybe she just didn't find what she needed the cart for. So I ring her up and she says, "Well what about the rest of my order? I need 800 lbs of Quickcrete, 50 10' 2x4s, ten 8' 4x4s...”
She starts reading off all of the ingredients she needs to make a massive deck, or a dock, or something. She then asks me sweetly if I'll help her get them while she waits in line, holding up the 10 people behind her while I pull an entire back yard's worth of lumber and concrete out for her. I told her we couldn't do that, and gave her the number to call to have her order pulled.
She freaked out. Spent about 20 minutes screaming at me, even after I called the head cashier and had him handle her. See, she would run over to my lane while I was with other customers to tell me how "unprofessional" I was being, and that this is why everyone goes to Lowe's nowadays, because there they care about the customer.
76. Another Karen Bites The Dust
My mother is a reformed Karen. In fairness, she was never particularly bad. But, when I was young, if we went to a restaurant and something was poorly made, she would call in the waitstaff and be very indignant and complain. She's now completely swapped sides. She's particularly kind to waitstaff. If something is wrong and does need to be raised, she'll be polite about it.
How did it happen? Well, it started with me being honest and saying her behavior was making me not want to go out to dinner with her. Then, she saw a member of her family do something similar: It turns out it was an acquired trait from her upbringing. She later recognized that he was being unpleasant and had ruined our night. She completely changed her tune after that and is more polite than normal.
Nowadays, if things are good, she will go out of her way to leave compliments.
77. Going Green
I asked the waitress if they had spinach. She said they do. So I ordered a spinach and cheese omelet. She comes back, right about when I'd expect the food to be ready, to apologize that they don't, in fact, have spinach. No problem, I'll take broccoli instead. She goes to the window and tells the cook, "She'll have a side of broccoli." So I call over, "No, I want broccoli in the omelet."
"But he already made the omelet." "Then please remake it, with all the ingredients." Brains were in short supply this day.
Unsplash78. Food Not Picture Perfect
I went on a date with a Karen once. It started out alright, but then when her food arrived, it didn’t look like the picture, so she demanded it be sent back. I’m pretty polite, so I waited to eat. I swear they sent the exact plate back. She lost it and demanded to see the manager. At that point, I started eating.
The manager came over, and the whole restaurant was looking like “what’s going on." She just laid into him. I placed a twenty on the table to cover mine and slipped the waitress a ten while mouthing an apology. I left right after that, and I never did find out what happened. I drove to the restaurant too, so I have no idea how she got home. I blocked her number as I left.
79. What A Pain
I have rheumatoid arthritis, a condition that causes severe chronic pain. I take a narcotic pain medication as part of pain management, but yesterday, my doctor decided to increase the dose. That’s when it all went wrong. My pharmacy did not stock the medication in this dose, and neither did any other local pharmacies, so my doctor called around, and found this boutique-like compound pharmacy in an upscale neighborhood that had it.
He called the pharmacist, explained the situation, and sent me over there. The moment I walked through the door, I was greeted with hostility. The pharmacist angrily asked what I was doing there because he had not seen me before, and when I told him that my doctor had called him, he said he did not remember. When I showed him my prescription, he rolled his eyes and said, “Oh you like narcotics. Give me your ID and insurance card.”
This irritated me, but I complied. When he pulled up my patient profile, he ran a background check and asked why I was trying to fill this prescription when I had gotten one two weeks ago. I explained that I had been given that medication, and my doctor was giving me another prescription to increase the dose. His response? “Well, I’ll see to it that you won’t see this prescription until you bring the old one back. You’re probably selling these pills to your little friends.”
I was frustrated, but I told him that was no problem, and that I’d have to go back home to get the old prescription and that I would return in a day or two. But he wasn’t finished. As I was walking out, I heard him mutter, “She probably has to get those pills back from her crackhead friends.” This was a day ago, but I’m still very hurt and angry. I never fill CII prescriptions early, never misuse them, and I was nothing but polite to that man.
80. Extra, Extra, Read All About It
During high school, I worked at a Burger King. There was this one woman who would always come into drive thru during the afternoon and ask for a Whopper Jr with extra onions. And I mean, a LOT of extra onions. And no matter how many we put in, she always came into the store and complained that there weren't enough. Still, this was in the middle of the afternoon, so we didn't care.
However, one day, we had four buses full of US Army enlistees at the store at the same time. Convoys of chartered buses would go by periodically, and they usually stopped at our store because the bus drivers knew my boss. Now, these people were always the nicest, most respectful people you can possibly imagine, which was a welcome change after dealing with jerks the whole day.
They also always ordered a ton of food—all king-size, tons of double and triple whoppers, the whole nine yards. My boss would always have me give them the "senior discount" (15% off), and they enjoyed that immensely, because it said that they were getting a senior discount on their receipts. Anyways, nice as they were, they strained our store to the limit because they ordered so much food.
So we were almost literally going hammer and tongs to keep up, and then the worst happens. Onion woman comes into drive thru. My boss told me to just grab two handfuls of onions and put them on the sandwich, because she didn't need a scene when we were as far behind as we were. I could barely close the burger because of the onions, but I managed it and we gave it to her.
Now remember, the store is completely full of US Army enlistees. They probably have not had fast food for weeks (I think they were going from boot camp to get their first assignments). And the line was out the door. So onion woman pushes her way past all of these people, rudely shoving them out of her way, and comes up to the counter screaming that she didn't have enough onions.
My boss is angry, so she takes the sandwich, hands it to me, and tells me to do whatever I want with it. I knew just what to do. I dumped the ENTIRE TUB of onions on this (probably about 1.5 LITERS of onions), and wrapped it up really, REALLY tight, and taped it shut (Note that the wrappers were somewhat elastic...). My boss hands it to the woman, and she opens it right on the counter to "make sure we have enough" even though it's like six times bigger than normal.
The thing EXPLODED ALL OVER. SO freaking awesome. All the guys trying not to laugh. One of their officers (a quite young 1st Lt.) was waiting by the counter for his food, and finally he just gave up and started laughing his butt off. The men took this as a cue, and she had about 250 men dying laughing at her.
One of the best days of my high school life. She didn't come back for a month, and she never, EVER complained about not having enough onions.
81. This Karen Comes With Baggage
I dated 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 a lack of better words. 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 immediately brushed off; but if he had a problem, then 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 really was when we were flying back from Vegas. I noticed something so peculiar—our luggage was heavier than when we flew in. Obviously, we’d bought extra things which made up for the weight difference. So he demanded an explanation from the check-in clerk as to why it weighed more if it was the same luggage. 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. He said he knew the reason why the luggage was heavier and that 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 $1,500 on a private dancer 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.
82. Tell The Truth
I was in a chain beauty store that has a hair salon in the back. I was looking at a display that happened to be right next to the salon, and I overheard the woman in the chair finishing up with the stylist. I was there for a few minutes, so I heard a decent portion of their conversation. A little while later, I got in line to pay and recognized the woman in front of me as the woman from the salon.
There was only one cashier working, and she was currently helping someone else. When they finished and the cashier called her over, the woman dropped her items on the counter and handed the cashier a coupon. Cashier (C): “I’m sorry ma’am, but this coupon can’t be applied to the items you’re purchasing.” Salon Lady (SL): “What do you mean?”
C: “There are some restrictions to what this coupon can be used towards. They’re listed down at the bottom of the coupon here,” and she attempted to show her. SL: “That’s absolutely ridiculous. I’ve used coupons on these items before. I buy them all the time.” C: “I’m sorry ma’am. The previous coupons you used may have had different restrictions, however, this one specifically states that it cannot be used on these items. The coupon actually mentions this brand by name in the restrictions.”
SL then began screaming at the cashier about her horrible customer service and the fact that last month they wouldn’t give her a free birthday gift even though she’s been a rewards member for over 10 years just because she tried to redeem it two months after her birthday. She demanded the number for corporate and the cashier’s name. The cashier started to write down the number.
SL: “No, tell it to me right now. I’m going to call them right now to make sure you aren’t lying to me!” She pulled out her phone and the cashier told her the number and her name. SL proceeded to dial and stand at the register. C: “Ma’am, if you could just step to the side so I can ring up the other customers...” SL: “NO! YOU WILL FINISH MY TRANSACTION! I AM GOING TO TELL CORPORATE HOW HORRIBLY YOU’RE TREATING ME AND THEY WILL COMmAND YOU TO HONOR MY COUPON AND GIVE ME MY BIRTHDAY GIFT!”
The cashier attempted to flag down another employee and drew even more screams from SL for “attempting to leave.” By this time, the manager had overheard the yelling and come over, but SL refused to speak to her, refused to let the cashier open another register, and refused to move from where she was standing. She stood at the register fake crying to the rep on the phone.
It was total lies, all about how she came in to get a haircut and it turned out horribly and the stylist refused to fix it and how her mother was dying in the hospital and she just wanted to see her one last time and now she looks awful and the employees in the store were treating her horribly and she couldn’t believe how such a loyal customer was being mistreated and publicly humiliated “all over a free birthday gift.”
The manager, having no other option, opened up another register to try to move through the massive line that had backed up and called me over. At the end of my transaction, I said, “Thank you. I would also like the number to corporate, your name, and that employee’s name, so that I can tell them how calmly and politely you attempted to deal with this completely irrational woman. I was here for the whole thing, including when she told the stylist she liked her hair and her mother had been released from the hospital last week. Hopefully I can counteract whatever damage she may be doing.”
The manager thanked me and gave me the number and their names. I got in my car and called, telling the rep who answered the entire story and insisting that the cashier and manager did nothing wrong and that the woman was lying to get what she wanted. She thanked me and said she would make sure that my message got to where it needed to go. I sure hope it did.
83. Wet And Wild
I used to work in Best Buy services. It was sort of like Geek Squad before Geek Squad and it dealt with everything like TVs and VCRs and junk. One day we had a guy come in and complain about his little video camera not working. I agree to take a look at it even though there's not much I can do but send it back to the manufacturer for him.
It will take some time, but that was 90% of the problem people had with services. Naturally, this guy wants a new one on the spot and he starts getting REALLY loud about it. So I call the manager. While I'm waiting for them to come up, I'm still tinkering with the camera in the back. I get some tools out and, hey, look I got the thing open for the guy. When I saw what was on it, I knew we had him.
A minute or so later I come back out when the manager gets there. The manager is talking to the guy as I move a computer up to the counter. I jump in and say, "Hey, I don't think we should give this guy a new unit." The guy gives me dagger eyes and the manager is like, "Oh? why's that?" Then I play the footage of what is unmistakably someone running around a pool, dropping the camera, which tumbles into the pool.
He had taken out the tape but it was recorded to the memory stick. Guy takes his camera and quietly leaves the store.
84. The Old Switcharoo
When I was a server, I was that server that everyone claims they would always be if they did one day become a server in a restaurant. I filled up glasses when they needed to be refilled without asking, I brought out a bowl of lemons if you asked for lemons; if you wanted extra ice, you got a whole extra glass full of ice. Heck, I was even careful enough to write down every order even though I could easily memorize it and get it right.
One particularly busy night, I’m working a party of about 20 people. It’s a Friday night and the kitchen is slammed. Everything was going smooth, I thought—until I bring out the drinks and salads. There is one idiot that starts off saying I didn’t bring her anything right (wrong dressing, the drink had a lemon, too much ice, etc.). I play the gracious and apologetic server correcting the issue despite knowing she is wrong.
The meal comes out. It goes from bad to worse. She explodes about how I can’t seem to do anything right and what a screw-up I am. I proceed to congratulate her on the fine example she is setting for the kids at the table on how to treat another human being, and what classy language she was using. I then proceeded to show her where I wrote down everything she asked for.
The type of salad, the dressing she wanted, how she wanted it on the side, pulled the straw I gave her from under her bread plate, and told her that I did give her one. I also talked about how I heard when her sister had ordered another dish, that she told her sister that she wanted that dish instead, and advised that she maybe should have simply asked for me to change the order instead of trying to play it off as if I was truly a “screw up” as she claimed.
I said maybe next time she would do a better job of making sure the server was not in earshot when she says something like that. I then told her that I would go and have the kitchen fix the meal she really wanted, instead of the one she ordered, and that it would take about 10 minutes before it was ready. Needless to say, the whole table was quiet. Then came the most glorious moment.
Her father piped up and simply said, "Honey, It's about time someone called you out on your antics.” The old man gave me a $100.00 tip when he paid for the meal, a strong handshake, and thanks.
85. Wake Up Call
Last Friday night I stayed at an inn. I made my reservation at 4 pm and checked in at about 9:45 pm. I get to my room and do the usual. Order a pizza, shower, watch TV. At midnight, two women in their 50s open my door. They both apologize and immediately walk out. I had a little chuckle about it and let it slide. I figured the doors didn't automatically lock for whatever reason so I flip it and go back to watching TV.
At 12:15 am I get a knock on my door. It was a different front desk attendant than earlier. Female, 50s. Employee: "I'm going to need you to come downstairs." Me: "Why?" The answer sent a chill down my spine. Employee: "Because I don't know who you are, why you're in this room, or how you got in here." I get dressed and head down, more than a little agitated.
I give her my ID and she says the guy earlier checked me into Room A but had me to go to Room B. She says she's going to go ahead and let me stay in Room B since I'm already there. Gee thanks. So I walk back up to my room, undress, and hop into bed because I'm ready for it. At 12:30 am the room phone rings. It's the front desk attendant again.
She tells me she needs me downstairs again because she can't find my payment info. So once again I get dressed, trudge downstairs, and hand her my card. She doesn't do anything with the card except read the numbers and check her screen. She had the information, she just wanted to verify it, it seems. So I go back up and crash. The next morning I go to check out and it's a different attendant at the desk. Female, 20s.
Employee: "How was your stay?" Me: "There isn't anything in the computer about what happened?" Employee: "Ahh yes. I am deeply sorry for everything and I can give you $10 off of your stay." Me: "$10? I would think having two women walk into your room and then getting called down to the front desk twice all after midnight would be worth more than a $10 compensation."
Employee: "She had you come down here? She didn't tell me that part." I explain the whole story. Employee: "Oh my God. I am so sorry, I apologize. That never should have happened. I can knock it down to $75 but anything more than that I have to get approval from the general manager who isn't here this weekend." So I accepted that with a smile. Not the girl's fault. I'll definitely be writing corporate this afternoon though.
86. If The Shoe Doesn’t Fit…
I work in a shoe shop. One of the services we supply is to check how well school shoes fit on our younger customers. Once a staff member has signed to say they are a good fit, the customer is able to bring them back if there are any problems. This one time, a mother came back in with her son a week after being fitted with a pair, loudly mouthing off that the shoes were too tight and causing blisters.
Even though she was being a psycho about it, we offered to get her a new pair. Once back in the kids' department, she spotted the girl who fitted the original shoes and went crazy at her, demanding that the girl should be there while a better pair was fitted so she wouldn't make the same mistake again. Despite the mom saying some pretty degrading stuff about her, the girl agreed to sit in on the re-fit in an attempt to help out.
She remembered the customer, even to the point of remembering the child’s name, and was visibly upset about doing a bad job. Returning to the till, the fitter offered to put the exchange through as a final gesture of goodwill. She then froze, realization dawning on her. "These aren't your son's shoes," she said to the customer. They have a name tag inside saying Tommy, and your son’s name is Billy.
Turns out the kid had swapped his shoes with another boy in his class. Laughed that witch out of the shop.
87. Karen Versus McDonald's
My mom is a Karen. She thinks the world is supposed to cater to her and that everyone else is wrong. Once, we went to McDonald's and she ordered four burgers for the four of us. What she did next made me so angry—she pulled one burger out of the bag while the guy was getting our drinks and hid it. She complained that he forgot a burger, pulling out the remaining three in the bag one by one and counting them in front of him.
He keep swearing up and down that he put them all in the bag, but she threatened him, saying, "If you don't get me another burger, I will call your manager." I was stunned speechless, but it happened so fast. She got a free burger and laughed as we drove off. I just stared at her and she opened it up to eat it on the drive home. She ate her actual burger like the fifth 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.
88. Money Can’t Buy You Class
I've been a TA for a couple of courses at my university, which is fairly competitive and the students are generally all top-notch. Once in a blue moon, though, someone slips by the admission process. My worst experience was as a TA for a lower division math course. She was a freshman student, and spoiled doesn't begin to cut it.
Her family was clearly loaded, and I suspect she went to some insanely expensive private school that wrote her application for her. This girl would be in designer clothes and on her phone or laptop the entire time in lecture. Obviously, everyone does this sometimes, but this girl was clearly just chatting with her friends and shopping for clothes all the time.
When she failed to turn in the first four problem sets, I sent her a quick email to let her know that homework contributed to a significant portion of her grade. I also said I'd still accept them. I never got a response. So she gets a blatant F on her first midterm. Like, it’s not an F that could be rounded up to anything significant.
She was at a point where she should've just dropped out and tried again next semester. I sent another email saying this. This time I got a response, with her stating she could make the grade back next midterm. Alright, I think, suit yourself. So I continue through the rest of the semester. She was still failing...until something absolutely ridiculous happens.
At the last meeting of my discussion section, SHE SHOWS UP! Not just that, but with her parents. Oh my god, it gets better. She stays after the session to introduce me to her parents, then hands me a stack of papers and informs me that it's all the homework for the semester. Meanwhile, her parents are sitting there all proud of their little girl.
I take the stack graciously and, in my most professional voice, let her know that I'd be happy to take a look at it, but she won't get any credit. Her parents' faces completely fall. Her father starts to insult me. So I show them everything: The abysmal attendance record, the 0% homework score, the low, low, low midterm scores.
Now she's starting to tear up and the parents are seriously fuming. Not wanting to put me in the middle of the rest of the storm, I mumble that I have a class to get to and sprint out of there...but not before I hear the student getting chewed up so loudly that people actually poked their heads out of classrooms. She never showed up for the final.
89. A Look Of Absolute Horror
My mom was a Karen in both name and behavior. My dad had a massive heart attack. His brain was oxygen-deprived, and we weren't sure if he was going to make it. We also weren’t sure how intact his mind would be. He was intubated, sedated, the whole works for days. My toddler nephew visited the hospital. He was dad's special buddy.
My dad somehow roused from his critically ill state to wave his fingers and say a few words to my adorable nephew. A miracle! My mom tried to get my dad to talk to her, and then she did something absolutely appalling...she slapped him—pretty hard—on the chest because he wouldn't say anything to her. She was jealous of a two-year-old. I mean, she hit a man in intensive care.
The look on the nurse's face was absolute horror.
90. Mouthing Off to an Inventor
A customer of mine asked me a question. I answered the question, and it wasn't the answer they wanted. They suggested something impossible for the machine to process. I explained why it wouldn't work and again explained the proper way to do it. They then replied, “What makes you the expert?” all snarky and indignant.
To which I replied, “Take a look at Patent Number #xxxxxxxx. It lists me as the inventor.”
91. Hotel Havoc
I used to work as a front desk agent at a boutique hotel. A guy who was obviously very full of himself came in with an online reservation that he had booked at a shockingly cheap nightly rate. He proceeded to give me a hard time about EVERYTHING, from telling me he shouldn't have to give me his credit card info since he had prepaid his reservation, to telling me "Um yeah, I'm pretty sure I can find the elevators, I'm not stupid."
He was just being an all-around jerk. About 10 minutes after checking him in, he came down and demanded that we give him a bigger room with a king bed and a view, even though he had booked a standard queen bed online. I complied, as we had extra king beds available. 10 minutes later, he came down again to complain about the size of the room.
He told me, "I'm only going to give you one more chance to make me happy," and asked for the general manager. After much arguing between him and my manager, we ended up giving him our nicest suite AND free parking since we had "Given him trouble." He got all this for a way cheaper rate, like $40 per night! Oh, but he outdid himself.
Get this: He informed us shortly after the ordeal, while on his way out to dinner, that he was not even going to be in the room for the majority of his stay, as he was visiting friends and would be staying at their home. What the heck! So I made it my personal mission to make his life a living nightmare from that point on.
I reset his room keys every time I saw him leave the hotel—which was quite frequently, 3-4 times a day. It was particularly funny when he came back tired from a night out and had to come all the way down to the front desk to get his keys fixed. Needless to say, he was very frustrated by the end of his stay. I doubt he'll be staying with us again.
92. Sounds Wrong
My uncle is a deputy sheriff, and one time, he was at an airport speaking to my aunt over the phone in Spanish. Once he was done with his call, some nearby Karen who overheard him went up to him and started demanding to see his green card. Huge mistake. My uncle decided to mess with her and said he didn't know what a green card was.
He told her he had never even heard of it. She became more upset and kept demanding to see it. He messed with her more and then eventually went, "Well, I don't have a green card, but I have this," then brought out his wallet and showed her his badge. She immediately walked away while my uncle just kept laughing at her.
93. New Account Balance: $9.11
I work in the dispatch center for a department that serves a city with a population just shy of a million, so we get a buttload of calls every day. Naturally, we get some wild stories about various cons, especially these days. Because of this, I quickly became numb to some of the mental gymnastics people do while they rationalize why they sent the IRS $5,000 worth of Best Buy gift cards purchased from five different Best Buy stores.
Half the stories give me a chuckle, but an overwhelming majority of them just cause me to feel bad for the caller because I know they’re not getting any of that money back. This brings me to a call that I took last year from a younger woman who was likely in her late 20s or early 30s. Her story started off like any run-of-the-mill scam: Someone claiming to be from the FBI called to inform her that she had a warrant out for her but that she could “clear her name” if she sent them money.
Well, how much money did they ask for? They told her that all of the money in her checking account would suffice...Yup, that’s correct. Whatever random amount of money she had would do—so, that’s what she sent. The total amounted to about $4,000. But wait—there's more. After feeling bad for her and gathering some additional information, I began to let her know about the various reporting options and whatnot. She cut me off and asked, “Well, what can I do about the verification pictures?”
I was like, “What are you talking about?” What she said next blew my mind. She explained, “Well, yeah, they said they needed to verify my identity through their body verification system. So, I sent them several undressed photos as they asked me to—pictures from the front, the side, and from the back while I was bending over.” I was absolutely stunned.
She had to do a quintessential, “Ya there?” into the phone so that I could come back to freaking reality for a moment. At this point, I thought I was the one getting messed with! But she was bawling her eyes out by this time, so I made no assumptions, other than the fact that there was probably even more to the story—WHICH THERE FREAKING WAS.
Like a respectful kid listening to a bedtime story, I was just like, “And then what happened?” She proceeded to tell me that they threatened to send the photos to her friends and family if she didn’t pay them even more money. How much money? Well, in true FBI-Body-Verifying-Agent form, they doubled down and said that all the money she had in her savings account would be enough, WHICH WAS $25,000!
I’m just sitting there in my chair like, please God, no. But of course, she sent it to them. I’ve considered getting into the scamming business ever since.
94. Smile! You’re on Camera
Many, many, many, years ago I worked at a retailer in the UK. A grimy-looking family came in and started acting shifty, having over-exaggerated discussions on washing machines, asking ridiculous questions about our returns policy. They bought a reasonably expensive Hotpoint washing machine from us and wanted to take it with them that day, which we were happy to do.
They paid cash. They took their washing machine, loaded it into the back of their van, and we watched them drive over to the McDonald's on the other side of the trading park. About an hour later they drove back and said that we'd sold them the wrong machine. They'd gotten it home, unwrapped it, and it was the wrong machine.
We told them to bring it on in and we'd sort it out. They went out to their van and brought in a CLEARLY DIFFERENT, DIRTY, OBVIOUSLY SECOND-HAND WASHING MACHINE. Oh, and they didn't want an exchange. Just a refund. With every alarm bell ringing, my boss and I had a quick scan through the security cameras.
Sure enough, they had driven to McDonald's, and come straight back. Whilst I was "running the refund through," my boss called the authorities, who turned up, had a little look in the back of their van where, unsurprisingly, there was a brand new Hotpoint washer, still in its wrap. They were carted off by the officers. Didn't get charged, unfortunately, but it was a definite get-out moment.
If they'd only been more patient and less greedy and gone home for a few hours first, they probably would've gotten away with it, knowing how much my boss would adhere to the “customer is always right” principle.
95. Netflix And Go Berserk
When I was seven years old, I was sitting in the park and watching Netflix on my iPad. The park was right in front of my house and my parents were watching me from inside.
Then along comes a Karen. She told me that I wasn’t allowed to loiter and then asked whose iPad I was using. “It’s mine, miss,” I answered and started to get up to go home.
My parents warned me about prejudiced people but I was still confused about how a child sitting on the grass in a public park would be considered loitering, but I didn’t ask her. “Come back here! You swiped that from someone. didn’t you?" She said, grabbing my arm. Her hand was cold and clammy. “Miss, please let me go,” I said. But she would just not let up.
Even at that young age I already knew that arguing with older white people never ended well. “Give me the iPad,” she said, trying to grab it. I clutched it to my chest and just then my dad came running out of the house and to my rescue. “Ma’am, your hands are on my child. If you don’t let go I will call the authorities”.
She huffed and finally let me go. “You probably shoplifted the iPad for her anyway,” she mumbled as she walked away.
Freepik, freepik
96. The Best Offense Is A Good Defense
I had a raging Karen in the first lane of the drive-thru yelling at me. I just listened and listened, and when she was done I let her sit there a second. Then I said, “Ma'am, you can choke.” Not expecting that answer, she just drove off in shock. It could have gone totally different, but I'm glad it didn't.
97. On The Edge
When I was a kid, my family owned several pizza places. I didn't hang around them much because I was fairly young, but my older sisters worked at the big one waitressing and cashiering.
She told me that one night, the well-dressed father of a large family that had ordered several large pizzas tried to get out of paying for them because the pizza didn't have sauce/cheese/ingredients all the way to the "edge".
The family had eaten the entire pies except for the crusts. My sister refused to refund his money, he threw a huge fit and reduced my sister to tears. He kept yelling and demanded to see the owner—my dad. Dad came out, saw my sister sobbing, and got the story from one of the cooks. He didn't say a word.
He just slammed the guy's head through the wall and well into the store next door. The guy had to be taken away on a stretcher. The staff and a couple of customers told the authorities that the customer had tried to hit my sister so my dad wouldn’t get taken into custody. Dad didn't get physical often, but when he did, he played for keeps.
98. If The Shoe Doesn’t Fit…
I work in a shoe shop. One of the services we supply is to check how well school shoes fit on our younger customers. Once a staff member has signed to say they are a good fit, the customer is able to bring them back if there are any problems. This one time, a mother came back in with her son a week after being fitted with a pair, loudly mouthing off that the shoes were too tight and causing blisters.
Even though she was being a psycho about it, we offered to get her a new pair. Once back in the kids department, she spotted the girl who fitted the original shoes and went crazy at her, demanding that the girl should be there while a better pair was fitted so she wouldn't make the same mistake again. Despite the mom saying some pretty degrading stuff about her, the girl agreed to sit in on the re-fit in an attempt to help out.
She remembered the customer, even to the point of remembering the child’s name, and was visibly upset about doing a bad job. Returning to the till, the fitter offered to put the exchange through as a final gesture of goodwill. She then froze, realization dawning on her. "These aren't your sons shoes" she said to the customer. They have a name tag inside saying Tommy, and your son’s name is Billy.
Turns out the kid had swapped his shoes with another boy in his class. Laughed that witch out of the shop.
99. Charity Case
I used to work for Hot Topic and they “sell” items for charity. What's really occurring is that you are making a donation and you get the item for free. The money does 100% go to the charity, but we had to start ringing them through the register because California changed their “donation” laws to charge tax. Jerks. Anyway, this lady came in wanting to return 96 of the charity bracelets.
This lady had bought 100 of them to SELL at a music festival because they said "music=life" on them. She didn't realize her target demographic shopped at Hot Topic and knew they were charity giveaways so they didn't buy them. I explained to her that she didn't really purchase anything, but she wouldn't give up. I gave her my manager’s number and from there, the story escalated. He turned her down flat, so she called the home office. Every day. For almost a month.
This finally gets around to the CEO at the time, who absolutely takes no nonsense from anyone. She finds out about this and calls the customer for her address. She sends her a personal check along with a note telling her that there was no way Hot Topic was going to take money away from a charity and she'd rather take the hit herself. But there was a catch. If the lady cashed the check she was never allowed in our stores again. I had heard about all this but the story was confirmed when I went to the home office and a copy of the letter was posted at one of the HR personnel's desks.
Wikimedia Commons, Scouts Canada
100. Looking For A Fight
I got accosted by an army Karen at a Home Depot parking lot because I parked in “her” space. I parked in a Veterans spot at Home Depot. I am a veteran, I had my two toddlers with me, and the spot was next to a cart stall. As I am pulling my kids out of the car, this lady walks up to me and starts asking me questions.
Simple stuff, nothing out of the ordinary, but I had a bad feeling and leave my kids in the car to be safe. She then starts asking about my veteran status, which was weird, but again not bad. I told her “I’m a Sergeant” etc and tell her about my brigade. Her response floored me. “Well, my husband’s a Lieutenant Colonel, which means he’s a higher rank. So you should give me your spot”.
I was dumbfounded. I told her to pound sand, to which she wanted my information, rank, name etc. So I said, “Yeah sure, and I’ll make sure to give you the spot next time”. But that wasn’t the end of the story.
No joke, three days later, I get a call from my commanding officer. He puts me through to this woman’s husband. “I wanted to apologize for my spouse’s behavior the other day. I jokingly told her she could parade up and down the street ordering other men to do things, and I had no idea she would take it literally. I’m sorry this happened and I hope we can put this behind us”.
I accepted his apology, because up to this point, no Commanding Officer has ever apologized for their actions. Chillest Lieutenant Colonel ever.
Sources: Reddit , , , , ,
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