People Let Us In On Their Most Frustrating Karen Encounters
25. Think We Stole Your Phone Charger? There Never Was One To Begin With
“I work as a manager in a phone store. One of my reps sold a lady a Samsung A03s and I’ve consistently had my reps notify the customer that Samsungs do not come with charging blocks anymore and instead just a USB-C to USB-C lightening cable.
Yes we hate it too by the way, companies love to find ways to make more money while the people selling the product suffer the consequences of buying products that don’t come with everything they should come with.
Anyways! Customer was told at least three times that the phone does not come with a charging block and a different kind of cord.
Customer of course brushes it off and says “I’ll just go to Walmart to buy one” after we offer her to purchase one that we carry in the store. She leaves for about an hour and suddenly the door swings open and she comes stomping in like someone stole her candy or something.
I’m with a customer at this time so my rep says, “Hi, how can I help you.” To which she rudely says, “Oh I don’t need anything from YOU, I’ll wait for a manager.” To be honest I knew it would be something dumb based on her response.
I have my rep help the other customer while I tell the lady I am the manager and kindly ask her what I can assist her with. She immediately explodes saying, “You guys stole my block” and “I know it comes with a block I saw one” and so on and so forth.
I assured her that the phone does not include a charging block and she was told this a few times before purchasing the device. She continues to insist that it does come with one and we stole it from her. I show her the list of contents that’s listed on the front of the phone box and still she does not believe it.
I even opened up a sealed box of the same device and showed her that it did not come with one and still, she did not believe it. I asked her if she would like me to pull up the footage of the purchase to prove it did not come with one and surprise!
She did not want to. At this point, I’m just wasting breath so I say, “Ma’am I can call my Area Sales Manager and you can confirm with him as well if that will make you feel better.” She agrees and so I call him and of course he says the same exact thing to her and she spends about ten minutes yelling at him saying he’s wrong.
Nope, this lady still does not believe it, she wanted a free block and I was not going to lose money out of my own pocket over something she was already notified of before the purchase. She sits there throwing a tantrum in front of the other customers like she was on the verge of tears or something.
Cussing me out, berating me, screaming, you name it. I had nothing else to say to her, no solution was going to make her cold wrinkled heart happy so I accidentally let out a little giggle. Yes, not my proudest moment and I will admit it was completely unprofessional on my end but if you saw this lady during her tantrum you would’ve probably laughed too.
I gave her my name and said she was free to talk to corporate for any other solutions or concerns before she could even say “I’m going to call corporate about this and get you fired.”
Most entitled chick I’ve ever met, forget you, Karen.”
Another User Comments:
“I think we need to stop pretending it’s not ok to be unprofessional with these idiots. The whole attitude of the customer is always right and always being professional is what created these monsters. At some point it’s completely ok to say “Get out of my store before I call the cops” and honestly as a customer, I’d have much more respect for a business if I saw that happen vs watching someone spend a long time being professional while I waited or even if I wasn’t waiting I don’t want to hear that or stuff lol.
Maybe customers need to start checking these people so employees don’t feel like they have to put up with it or risk getting fired.” yourmo4321
24. Pick The Cheapest Option? Deal With The Consequences
“I work as a garage door technician fixing garage doors and openers. I had a very nice gentleman call me out to replace his opener. He stated on the phone that he just wanted it replaced. I arrived, made sure it wasn’t something simply broken (28-year-old burned-out motor and several failing parts), and agreed with the gentleman that he needed a new opener.
I talked to him about the options and features of the several different models I carry on the truck. He decided on the middle option (most popular), and I immediately got to work replacing the opener.
About 3/4 of the way done, the wife storms out, furious at the price.
I explained that I don’t set the prices and, that as a professional, I don’t install the cheap $75 units they sell in stores (too many people got mad when their low-quality unit dies a few years later due to manufacturing defects). She then demands a much cheaper opener.
I tell her about the options of the different openers we carry. She picks the cheapest one only due to price. The cheapest one only comes with 1 remote and no keypad (manufacturer’s decision on that option, but the one husband picked out did). I warned her about this and that her old remotes and keypad would not be compatible with the new unit as the technology had changed over the years.
I offered to sell her the extra remote and keypad, but she declined.
I then get to work, removing the middle option, boxing it up, and then installing the cheapest one at no extra cost to her. I finish the install, get the husband and his wife out, walk them through how the opener works, hand them the 1 remote, take payment, and I’m on the way to the next appointment.
Later that day, I get a call from the dispatch people stating that the husband left with the remote after she did, and she can no longer get into her garage. I called the customer back and reminded her that the model she chose did not come with a second remote or a keypad.
She was furious, stating that her husband has dementia (seemed just fine to me) and that he shouldn’t be listened to, even though he was the one who set up the appointment and was with me in the garage while I was inspecting the old opener.
I told her that my manager would reach out shortly.
My manager called her 10 minutes later and gave her a keypad and 2nd remote at cost, delivering, programming, and installing himself.
She called a week later stating that her keypad was defective, threatening to call the cops, threatening to sue, and demanding her old broken opener be reinstalled. I arrived, asked her to put the code in, but she didn’t press the enter button.
I told her to press the enter button and it worked as designed. She stated that the old one didn’t need the enter button 10 years ago when it stopped working (it very much did). I didn’t charge her for the trip this time.
She called my manager 10 minutes later, stating that it was broken again.
Manager read my notes on her failing to use the keypad properly, talked her through it on the phone (same problem as before) and it worked. She called back the next day, stating the same issue. Manager refunded the money, and she never called us again.
She apparently called other companies instead with her same issue. Keypad not broken, just user error.”
23. Have An Outburst Over Understaffing? This Really Isn't My Fault
“This was last year and luckily I have not seen him much after that.
I work as a manager at a phone store for context. This guy (we will call him Benny) would come in to pay his cellular bill and always would make rude remarks on his way out.
At this point in time, I was the only one working at the store for a while and was pretty burnt out and then we finally hired another employee who worked the couple of days I had off. Anyway, there was only one person working the store every day.
Part of my job is to take the deposit to the bank or back office would have a field day with me. I tried to be quick every time and put a sign up on the door saying I would be gone for maybe 20 mins.
Besides that, I never left the store, skipped eating or taking breaks on a 10-hour shift because customers would be majorly furious about this and I agree that it was very inconvenient for them and hated this. My employee would only put the sign up when she would get food and leave and go straight back to the store also skipping a break.
Well, Benny came in one beautiful afternoon when I was assisting another customer. The day before he had come in to do a sim swap and he and another Karen ganged up on my employee. She called me crying while they screamed at her in the background.
I hated listening to this call, it made me furious.
Anyway I’m helping him pay his bill when completely unprovoked he says “Are you always such a jerk?”
…Sir.
I kindly asked what he was talking about to which he started ranting about how sometimes he arrives at the store and the door is locked and that I sound like a robot.
(I have a generally monotone voice but I’ve always tried to sound upbeat) I explained to him that we are unfortunately short-staffed and that I need to leave the store sometimes to run deposits or my rep leaves to get something for lunch. Obviously, I’m not happy with these conditions either and wish we had more staff but it just isn’t that simple.
He starts yelling at me that I should just quit if I’m not happy with the understaffing (like that would make his problem worse but ok?) and also screaming at me to hire more people and it’s ALL my fault. Like dude DUH that’s what I’ve been trying to do.
Anyway, this was kind of my breaking point because customers have been constantly putting me down since working there. Only time I’ve ever cried in front of customers. I’ll spare some details but he basically cussed me out and called me every name in the book.
The other customer I was helping before him even yelled at him to just leave because he just flipped out unprovoked and would leave for a moment but then come back in to continue screaming.
How did it end? His wife made him come apologize to me.
Bless her heart.”
Another User Comments:
“As a former manager, my favorite response to this nonsense was to let the person know we’re hiring and ask if they’d like to apply? Inevitably they’d scoff and I would reply saying we’re looking for help on evenings and weekends if they know anyone who would like those hours to let them know we’re hiring!” SandbergForever
Another User Comments:
“I used to work as a Walmart cashier and people complained even to me to hire more and I would say apply online there is a personality test you have to pass, also I am not a hiring person, I am a cashier.
It was fun when they asked me for jobs and I would be like go to the site, click careers, enjoy. That’s all I could do. Karen would even yell for a manager and the manager would flip around and say “person I am right here” then be surprised a manager was on the register right next to me.
And supervisors were also up front like “Karen we are all up here, pay and get out.”” grand305
22. I'm In Your Seat? I Don't Think So
“I live abroad and there are no direct flights between where I am and my hometown. The easiest way is to fly from the large international airport 120km away and take a bus to/from my hometown.
Buses depart roughly every 2 hours and the demand is quite high in holiday season.
The buses are more the longer distance type of bus, not commuters, 46 people in total, and tickets are sold on a first-come, first-served basis, tickets are sold with your name and seat assignment.
Two important things to note now are that the bus driver is a bit like a plane captain and has final authority on the bus and they’re the only ones who can sell tickets very close to or after departure time (for the 1 or 2 stops along the route) since the ticket office system locks sales 5 minutes before departure, remaining tickets are printed and given to the driver.
The driver doesn’t have a card machine, so if you buy a ticket from the driver you have to pay cash.
My parents live rather close to the ticket office, so to make sure my significant other and I get seats on the bus and together, I go to the office about 20 days before our travel day and buy 2 tickets.
I literally bought the first 2 tickets for that particular bus.
Day of the travel, we put our suitcases in the hold, bus driver checks our tickets and IDs (it’s just a visual check), we go to our seats and settle in for a bit. All fine and dandy, enter Karen 1-2 minutes before departure.
Karen: You’re in my seat!
Me: *checks our tickets* No, I’m not.
Karen: Yes, you are! I always buy this seat because it’s by the window on the front, and it’s my lucky number!
Me: You couldn’t have bought this seat because I bought the first 2 tickets on this bus 20 days ago.
Are you sure you’re not looking at the wrong row?
(We’re in seats 5 and 6 – I was expecting her to be looking for 7 or 13 since she mentioned lucky numbers…)
Karen: No, I always get seat number 5! Here is my ticket, you either move or I’m going to go settle this with the driver.
I take a look at Karen’s ticket – she has seat number 5 for a bus departing at that time alright but the travel day is one week earlier. Meaning she no-showed on her original bus and her ticket is invalid – the driver probably didn’t notice the travel date, just looked at the route, time, and her name against the ID.
Me: Your ticket is for last week, not for today. If you want to go settle this with the driver, be my guest.
Aftermath: Karen stomps off to talk to the bus driver (who is already upset because she is delaying departure), bus driver tells Karen she needs to buy a new ticket now in cash or buy one from the office for the next bus 2 hours later.
Karen doesn’t have that much cash on her and has to borrow from someone on the bus.
She sulks the entire trip and has to explain to her daughter why she needs her to transfer the money for another bus ticket to this person who loaned her the money because she essentially wasted her original ticket by not looking at the date.”
21. Think You Can Keep Shoplifting? Karma Is Coming For You
“I have NEVER seen this happen anywhere.
This morning I went to our local Meijer (SE MI, for those who don’t know Meijer is a Michigan brand). I’m perusing the fruit hoping to find cotton candy grapes. They are my kryptonite.
The produce section begins on the left, right when you walk in.
Found my grapes, walked back towards the main entrance to get a street taco kit thing.
I am RIGHT by the door. Not even 100 feet away. Here comes this crazy Karen. She just LOOKS like she’s on a mission to talk to someone’s manager.
So I started recording her when she got upset with the greeter. The greeter informed her that she had been tracked by Meijer Theft Recovery and is identified as a thief.
It was at that point my phone died. I continued to pretend to record her to solicit a good Karen-worthy response.
She had ALREADY been flagged previous to this. They turn a tracker thing tied into the price tag bar codes.
Greeter: “I’m sorry ma’am but you are already on our list of trespassed individuals so I’m going to have to ask you to leave.” She was super polite.
Karen flips out. I mean total meltdown. She screams they made a mistake, she’s never stolen anything. Then she asks for a manager.
The GM happened to be at the store today, and now I’m fully committed to watching this play out.
He comes up with a tablet and said “so this isn’t you?
This isn’t your car and license plate leaving the store after stealing merchandise?”
Here is when things popped off. Karen is getting more red-faced as he’s talking to her. She looked like Aunt Marge in ‘Prisoner of Azkaban’ mixed with Mrs. Puff.
Karen starts screaming at a decibel I previously thought was reserved for dogs.
“HOW DARE YOU, YOU REALLY THINK THAT IS ME? I’ve Never Stolen Anything. I have been coming here for 20+ years. I cannot believe how you are treating a paying customer. GIVE ME THE NUMBER FOR CORPORATE.”
GM gave her the number. He told her that she needed to leave or he would call the cops.
Karen gets all huffy and puffy and says “I am never coming back!”
The GM said, “if you do decide to come back, you’ll be arrested. I probably wouldn’t recommend coming back.” Karen then sees me recording her. Shrieks like a wild banshee and starts the whole “you can’t record me” song and dance.
GM finally had to physically grab her arm (not in a painful way) and lead her outside. She was hysterical. She started slapping him and kicking him in front of the store.
I went back to shopping and when I exited the store, there were 2 police cars parked out front.
I don’t know if it was for her or not. I couldn’t see anyone in the back of the cop cars. I would imagine it was her they came for.”
20. Karen Gets The Wrong Message And Totally Goes Off In A Google Review
“I am a supervisor at my restaurant, and yesterday was my day to be a plainclothes manager.
We were super busy, trying to churn people in and out as best we could. In the evening, my coworker came in and said she was having a terrible day due to a family illness. I asked how I could help, and she replied that she was just going to get a bite to eat as she hadn’t eaten all day and that she’d be fine.
I insisted on comping her meal, saying it was the absolute least I could do. We went back and forth with her saying no that’s not necessary, me insisting, etc. Until she finally said yes, thank you. We are good friends, and joking around in this way is not uncommon among us or our other coworkers.
This morning, our online survey system sent us this:
Details of Concern: As per my Google Review: “The bartending supervisor did an amazing job behind the bar and waiting on tables. She greeted us, she tended to us, asked about our food, and also promptly cleared the tables to provide takeaway containers and the bill.
Until that bartender served us, no one had tended to us since the front door. We would still be sitting there with menus if it wasn’t for her professionalism.
I don’t know specifics of what I and my family witnessed but an older, grumpy-faced woman who seemingly was a boss publicly berated this staff member and bent over to get in the face of the shorter younger lady, using a lot of hand gestures and acted rather like an immature teenager even telling the bartender and other staff to “zip it” while shoving her hunched back face into eye to eye level with the younger staff.
My daughter and I inquired with the staff member if they were ok because we saw and overheard that incident and it didn’t look right, not to mention the bartender’s eyes and body language looked a wee bit defeated after that. The worker politely kept confidentiality to what publicly happened and tried to cover for the manager saying “She’s super expressive and emotional.” I said she can say what she wants it didn’t look or sound right and I used to work in the industry myself.
I asked if they pool their tips or if tips are kept individual. She told me they keep what they are given and I tipped her larger than I usually do. I hope she got to keep every penny of it. I encouraged the young lady to not tolerate being spoken to like that as it’s workplace harassment.
The lady tried to reassure me, but something wasn’t right. If someone is a middle-aged hot mess, don’t take it out on the younger staff because you think you are superior or older and wiser. I have not seen anyone get in anyone’s face like that since high school and I grew up inner city ghetto in (city name).
Who acts like that to a peer, a coworker, or another human being? Take a break and check your own self before humiliating staff. The girl did not mention what transpired but did state she was going through her own family issue and the manager was trying to be “accommodating and supportive.” I said nonsense but good job at maintaining composure and professionalism.
Don’t get into anyone’s personal space while clicking fingers and waving hands with head motions to match telling someone to “zip it, just zip it, I don’t want to hear it.” Who’s having an adult temper tantrum and being an unprofessional manager? I can’t unsee what I saw or unhear what I heard and it ruined our farewell bon voyage family dinner as it happened right at the end.
The manager was acting like a cow in all polite honesty for lack of a better word. This bartender was the only staff who helped us unlike the other staff and the 8 dirty tables that surrounded us. Why not reprimand the 3 tools of girls who were too clueless or too high and mighty to bus the tables to be an effective restaurant manager and do what you should be doing?
No wonder there was a 20-45 minute wait list: all the tables were stink nasty and not prepared to efficiently usher new customers promptly. I saw a couple of big parties of people just leave so you know the location lost money as no one had time to wait that long and it’s not the individual staff’s fault.
A team is only as good as its leader and Miss Hot Mess in your face, is failing the corporation and the customers. I hadn’t been to a (restaurant name) in 6 years, I was so happy with the food options, the food that came out.
The last location I went to was in (city in another province). What I remember the corporate symbol to be and the collective identity they wanted you to have, the training they gave, and the synergy they tried to keep: this manager and location did not compare to anything close.
Thank you bartender and wish you and your family’s circumstance end up well. You deserve a raise and a promotion. The manager has balls to be awful when there is security surveillance that can be reviewed by corporate when prompted.”
So, I was called a middle-aged hunchback cow (I’m 33) for trying to help a coworker feel better on a horrible day.”
19. Entitled Family Causes Drama Over Stroller On Disney World Train Ride
“Yesterday at Disney World I experienced a Ken moment. I was riding the train with my husband and daughter in a bench that would hold four people. We take off having a great time and go to the next station.
At the station in the front of the park, Ken puts his family’s stroller in the empty spot in our row.
I helped him maneuver it by just pushing a wheel that was caught. It’s at the end of the seat. The cast member is doing checks and tells me I can’t have that on the end and I tell him it isn’t mine. He yells to ask who it belongs to and Ken says it’s his.
Cast member explains it can’t be on the end because it’s a safety liability.
Ken asks if I can just hold on to it. (What? It isn’t mine!) Cast member shuts him down and basically tells him someone either needs to get off with it or move someone around so it can be in the middle.
Ken says “What if she switches places with me?” I respond and say “I want to sit with my family.” He will NOT stop arguing with this amazing cast member who says that there are 300 people waiting and they need to make a decision and if it fell off it could hurt someone.
Ken didn’t care. OH! He also told the cast member I said I would be responsible for it, which never happened.
In the end, the whole family got off the train and we took off but not before his wife asked if they couldn’t store it in the area for people with mobility devices.
The cast member just said, “Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” Why one of his family members didn’t just sit by me and move the stroller to the middle of their row I don’t know. I guess they just assumed I would leave my family to make their life more convenient.
In the end, I know they were cursing me and I wrote a compliment for the cast member on the Disney app.”
Another User Comments:
“Oh, I have SO many horror stories about bad behavior at Disney parks (longtime DL pass holder, three-time WDW visitor).
Ironically, it used to be MUCH worse before Disney started cracking down on oversized strollers. One parent at WDW ran over my mom’s foot, on purpose, to shove her way through a very poorly managed crowd.” littlelostangeles
Another User Comments:
“The one time I went, our plane to Florida was waiting to take off.
Everyone had boarded except two people, but it was still ahead of departure time. This older woman behind me (who had been loudly talking about how they went to Disney once a year for 15 years), asked why we couldn’t just leave without the mother and son who hadn’t made it from their connecting flight yet.
A fully grown woman, flying without children herself, who wanted to leave 15 minutes early and stop a kid from going to Disney because she was impatient.” WhichxWitch
18. Karen Thinks She Can Use Flash In An Art Museum
“I am a security guard for a fairly large art museum in the Midwest, USA. My job is to make sure patrons do not touch or harm the art.
On to the story. I was doing my rounds and I noticed a woman using a flashlight to light the pictures she was taking. Our policy is no lighted or flash photography as it can degrade pigment on paintings. I approach her.
Me: “I’m sorry ma’am, but you can’t have flash or lights in the museum.”
Karen: “Since when!? I always use this here!”
Me: “I don’t know how you haven’t been caught, but I’m telling you now that it is against policy.”
She huffs and I think that’s the end of it so I start walking away. I look back just to make sure she listened and I see her walking up the stairs with the light still on.
I go to intercept again.
Me: “Ma’am I need you to turn that off right now.”
This makes her mad and she starts screaming.
Karen: “WHAT DO YOU THINK I’M DOING?! DON’T ANNOY ME!” (She was obviously trying to sneak the light past me and was mad I caught her again.)
Me: “Ma’am if you won’t turn that off I have to ask you to leave.”
She starts screaming about wanting my supervisor so I oblige and he comes and backs me up cause Greg is a real one. When the Karen realized she wasn’t going to get her way she screamed that she was leaving and never coming back and all I could think was, ‘I can only hope.'”
Another User Comments:
“I accidentally used my camera flash at an art museum one time (forgot to turn it off, simple as that, my fault entirely), and the security guard approached me and politely told me that I wasn’t allowed to use flash photography. I apologized, disabled it in front of them, and walked away not feeling slighted, and was thankful that I was told so early on.
Why do people have a problem when they’re treated with respect? No wonder this world is going to pot.” Meta-Fox
Another User Comments:
“It never ceases to disturb me how people act in museums. Was in Europe last year and saw a bunch of crap.
The worst ones were the people taking pictures in the Sistine Chapel, before you go in they tell you there is absolutely NO photography inside, but these clowns kept “sneaking” pics. I personally liked it because I didn’t worry about my phone and was just taking it all in.
Plus the lighting was really low so I bet their pics were crap, my opinion, enjoy the art and buy a book in the gift shop. Plus that was the ONLY place that was restricted, just obey the rules!” nocultsforme
17. Don't Want To Listen To Me? Good Luck On Your Drive Home!
“I was on my way home and stopped in at a small town butcher shop.
When I parked, I saw another Subaru with a woman driving, about to back out of the parking area. On her roof was a large Thule Aero box. The box was obviously having trouble; it was sitting at a 30-degree angle from the center, and I could see one of the anchors hanging underneath, very loose.
I waved her down, pointed out the problem, and offered to help her get it secured…us Subaru drivers are like that…
“Karen” was a classic; 50 years (old) and 50 pounds (oversize) sneered at me and said “It’s fine…I only have to go a few miles, and my husband will look at it.
If it needs fixing, he’ll fix it.”
She went on her way, I went and got some really great sausages.
I got back out on the highway, and had barely gotten up to highway speed…maybe a couple of miles…(I drive a Subaru, remember), and suddenly there was all sorts of “rubble” on the road; paper towels, a blanket, some rope, a can of oil…bits of plastic.
Black plastic.
Around the next corner, I found “Mrs. Subaru”…Like I predicted, the Thule and the car parted ways. It must have been pretty dramatic; there was about a third of it still attached to the car. It had ripped the side rail completely out of the roof and took a chunk of the roof with it.
All the windows on the whole car were cracked or smashed, there was stuff tossed everywhere, and she was talking on the phone, and very red in the face.
I got out, and she immediately snapped…”What do you want???” I told her I was just making sure she wasn’t hurt, and I rubbed a little salt in the wound and said that it may have been a good idea to have looked at that a few minutes earlier.
She did not appreciate it…not one bit. She even told me to go away in a very rude manner!!!
I laughed & laughed…and drove away.”
Another User Comments:
“I was driving home with my son on a highway when I saw a pickup truck ahead of me with various kinds of debris flying out of the back.
One large piece came toward me, but there were cars on either side of me. It hit me under the car causing a lot of noise and smoke. I pulled over as soon as I could. There were at least three or four cars in sight that had also had collisions with this junk.
All of them had flat tires. I wasn’t quite as lucky. In going under my car, my gas tank was ruptured. I called AAA and in the meantime, the state police stopped by. Apparently, it all happened so quickly that none of us knew anything that could identify the pickup truck.
At the time my son had just started his second year at university and didn’t have housing so for about three weeks, I’d been driving him to school, going to work, and then picking him up and going home. I was glad he was with me that night because we ended up on the side of the road for the better part of three hours.
So stuff coming out of or off cars can be dangerous. If that piece of metal had hit my windshield, I might not be here writing this.” awakeagain2
16. You'll Have Me Fired? I Think We're Done Here, Enjoy Your Broken Cable
“This takes place all the way back in the ancient year of 2016. I was working as a Field Tech (cable guy) for Time Warner Cable, one of the greatest companies I ever worked for.
My job was to install and repair cable services in homes. I had already dealt with my share of difficult customers before this but this lady took the cake and then demanded another one for free.
I had her work order to install internet only, looking at the account number it ended in a 04 or 05 meaning it was the fourth or fifth time that the house had been serviced. Tells me there should be cable there already.
I get there, introduce myself, and start my site inspection. I ask where she’ll want her modem and she takes me to her son’s room at the front corner of the house. I see there’s cable coming in through the wall. That cable goes straight outside through the wall and is wrapped to a bundle of cables that goes around the corner of the house and is to our demarcation point.
I tell her the cable looks a little wonky and I might need to replace it.
She stomps her foot down and says “NO DRILLING IN MY HOUSE!” I assure her I won’t need to drill, I can use the existing hole to run a new cable through it and she won’t even be charged for it.
She doubles down and I tell her we’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I’ll need to do some stuff outside and test that line first. I connect a probe to the cable so I can verify which line it is outside.
I go outside, she stands on the porch watching me.
I set my ladder up on the pole, make sure the line from the pole to the house is connected and I have good signal from my tap (I do). Next, I go to the house box and check the signal again, quick math tells me the line is good.
I ask if she currently had satellite like Dish or DirecTV. I get a forceful no.
So now I can unplug any cables around the demarc point (there’s a lot of them) and I use the other end of my probe to find the cable in her son’s room.
It’s a simple test, in her son’s room the cable has a red probe. My tester comes with four probes of different colors and when it’s connected to a cable with a probe on the other end the light for that color comes on. The cable from me to the modem is less than twenty feet long.
I go through all the loose cables and nothing. I start unhooking satellite cables going toward the house, nothing. I try unhooking cables going toward the satellite dishes, nothing. Finally, I follow the cable from where it comes out of the room through the bundle and into the house box.
It still doesn’t tone out. Not good.
I hook it up and go inside to test the signal, none. This cable is broken somewhere. I tell her I have to replace it but I won’t be drilling, I’ll use the same hole and I- She cuts me off.
“I thought I was clear, no drilling no holes.”
I repeat I won’t be making any new holes, I’ll use the one that’s already there and I can put a wall plate over it so it looks better.
She explodes saying her house looks good enough (it didn’t), that I don’t know what I’m doing (I do), and if I’m going to do this I’m going to hook every TV in every room up.
In my area during this time you could get about 70 channels by plugging your TV straight into the cable.
Now in my mind alarms are going off, my brain is calling away battle stations! “No,” is my calm response. “I will bend over backward to get your internet working, you will not be getting free TV from me.”
The customer then informs me if I don’t she’ll have me fired. I tell her I need to replace the line, the existing one is damaged. “TV,” she says.
We are now at an impasse, I’m not wasting my time or hers. I tell her to have a nice day and I get in my van to leave.
As soon as I get on the road I grab my phone to call my boss to give him a heads up but he calls me. From “Have a nice day” to my phone ringing it’s been less than three minutes.
I’ll say this about my boss, he was amazing.
He knows some people are just difficult and we knew that if we were honest with him no matter how bad it was it would be better for us. As the phone rings I’m thinking “No way, no way she’s THAT fast.”
Turns out he was calling about something else but I gave him the heads up, he asked me what I had done there at that house and a few other probing questions then told me to email him a summary of it.
This was my last job before lunch so I went home for lunch early (advantage of being in the field in the town you live in), typed up the email, and enjoyed a slightly longer lunch.”
Another User Comments:
“I used to handle super high-level complaints for a cable company and the things I heard, I don’t know how you guys out as field techs did it.
I’ve had customers swear techs walked in and demanded a beer and a favor (he didn’t), steal all sorts of things (some did, some didn’t), burn down a house installing phone to the neighbors (this dude was nuts and we all knew him by name), call a woman a difficult name, and so many other things.
Techs always have the best stories.” teknrd
15. Demand I Back Up? Yeah, No Can Do
“So I’m a mail carrier in a tiny town. Less than 800 people tiny. I’m on route yesterday coming around an uphill turn and Captain Jerk starts to back out from his driveway onto the road and almost hits me.
I politely beep letting him know I’m there, and he waves me the “back up” wave. As a mail carrier, we’re not supposed to back up more than so many feet technically, but the preference is not at all unless there’s no other option.
Now I am on a hill at an angle, being on the technical passenger side, which made backing up unsafe. So I shake my head no. Oh, the entitlement! The disbelief on his face as he got out of his car immediately set off alarm bells.
I’ve seen too many Karen videos. “I need to back up. You can back up and let me out!” I’ve been waiting for a chance like this.
“First off sir, we have regulations against us backing up. I have several warnings posted in this van.” I point to 3 different big warning stickers saying “DO NOT BACK UP!” “ALWAYS PARK TO WHERE YOU CAN PULL OUT.” “AVOID BACKING AT ALL TIMES!” Because at this point, of course, he’s walked up to the other window.
“Also I’m on the road. You’re supposed to yield to traffic. You just need to pull back in and let me by.”
He looked like I had slapped him. “Oh is that how it works? I don’t think so. I can wait here all day.”
I smiled, put it in park, and killed the motor. “So can I sir.”
He huffed and replied, “You get paid to sit here.”
I giggled and said “You’re right sir. I do get paid to sit here.” Picked up my cell phone and opened TikTok.
He started cussing and went back to his car.
Instead of pulling back into his driveway, this jerk gets his passenger to attempt to help him. They let him bottom out in the drainage ditch.
The thing that was the chef’s kiss though, was after I got off, I stopped at the only gas station/deli/community center in the town.
As I’m standing in line, I notice his backside in line a few ahead of me. In walk 3 county cops. I say “Excuse me, gentlemen. Quick question. I’m basically being petty, but indulge me if you don’t mind. If I’m on the road and a dude decides he wants to back out of his driveway, I have the right of way no matter how badly he wants to back out right?
Because I had a jerk Karen do this an hour or so ago.”
All 3 said “You had the right of way. He didn’t cause a problem, did he?” (What the guy did could be considered impeding a postal employee, which I believe is a federal charge.
90% positive.)
I said “Nah. He just stomped out the door though. I already knew that before I asked. I just wanted him to hear it.”
They laughed. I felt like it probably didn’t change dude’s attitude, but maybe? Plus, I enjoyed that feeling of being that petty to someone who deserved it.”
Another User Comments:
“Had a similar thing happen to me. I just got my driver’s license a couple of months back. I was downtown, looking for a parking spot. I don’t want to bore you with German traffic rules, but a dude thought he had the right of way, when he didn’t.
After I supposedly “cut him off” I did find a free parking space. Right in front of my driving school. Where my former driving instructor was doing some paperwork. I got out of my car, got my pay and display ticket. Dude comes up to me and berates me.
My former driving instructor saw it, came out, and asked if there was a problem. Dude told him what happened, yadda yadda, and got not the reaction he would’ve liked. My beloved former instructor gave him a fresh up on the rules and he marched off with a red face.” [deleted]
Another User Comments:
“I ran into similar problems years ago when I drove a truck. Never had any problems until I went into the rich area of town. Karen’s would never yield at 4-way stops. Every time I got to an intersection and I had the right of way there was always some BMW or Mercedes that would try to speed past the stop sign and get in front of me at the intersection.
I just kept going, if they hit me it’s their fault and I had cameras to prove it. Annoyed me they couldn’t wait the literal 5 seconds for me to pass through the intersection after a stop.” Swimming-Ad2377
14. Bump Into Me And Demand I Move? There's Plenty Of Space, Lady!
“Today, I’m having a bit of a lousy day but I’m trying to cope and feel better by being productive.
So I’m off to my bank. It’s my lucky day and they are open way late and I need to get some paperwork done ASAP.
I get to a street corner and I’m close to the edge off to the side, making sure I’m not in the way of anyone who’s using the sidewalk nor standing in the way of anyone wanting to cross too.
I’ve got some feel-good music pumping in my ears and I’m on my phone and not wholly paying attention, admittedly. But I know for a fact I’m not being a nuisance and not blocking anyone. I’m just tuning the world out while I wait for the light.
All of a sudden, I feel this bump on my leg. I turn around and there’s this old lady with a dolly loaded with some bags, some empty water jugs (you know those big ones at water coolers?), and some other stuff. Can’t remember what else, not important though.
What is important is that this lady was standing there, staring expectantly at me.
I take a headphone out asking “Can I help you?”
Karen (word for word): “You should be careful and take your headphones out.”
Me (thinking to myself): Okay, fair I guess?
It’s a sketchy-ish part of the neighborhood. Weird why she’s preoccupied with my safety though?
Me (out loud to Karen): “I’m fine. Thank you for the concern, but I can handle myself.”
Karen interrupts me before I’m even done speaking and this is when I know she’s a Karen.
Karen, visibly irritated: “Well, you can’t hear anything! I tried so many times to get your attention and get you to move!”
Me, looking confusedly at the very wide expanse of sidewalk she still has available to her, easily double the width of her dolly: “Ma’am, you didn’t have to bump me.
You could have just gone around me.” (Should note here that even if she had a problematic, hard-to-turn dolly, she had more than enough room to make a very wide turn without hitting me.)
Karen, huffs: “I didn’t want to have to move around you!”
That did it. I snapped a bit.
Me: “So you thought to bother me? What the…? Lady, you have so much space on the sidewalk!”
Karen, even more irate now: “Well, you couldn’t hear anything!”
Me (in my head): No kidding, it’s because I don’t want to interact with harpies like you.
Thankfully the light changes and I just roll my eyes and walk off. I yell back over my shoulder “Lady, you have problems!”
She says something completely unintelligible at me and smoothly turns her dolly up the sidewalk. Like… What the actual…? Definitely no problems turning.
She could have saved both her and me the whole interaction.”
Another User Comments:
“I was standing in a checkout line in Target when a cart smacked me in the back of the legs. I turned around and looked and this little old lady was standing behind the cart.
OK, obvious accident. Turn around and continue to wait. BANG, BANG, two rapid smacks to the back of my legs with the cart. No way that was on accident. Turn around again and give a “Can I help you?” look to the woman. She looks around her cart at my legs, pulls the cart back slowly…and rams it right into my legs again.
Finally was like “That’s my leg you’re running into. Everything alright?” and she said “No, you need to move up! You’re too far back from the person in front of you.” What? I looked over at my wife, who just starts laughing her head off.
All I could say was “O…kay…” and go back to standing there. She eventually got so annoyed that I was leaving an arm’s length gap in the line that she huffed and moved to the next checkout line.” Nythoren
Another User Comments:
“Lady did this to me in whole foods.
Purposefully, repeatedly ramming her cart into me physically. Having a bad day, I yelled ‘EXCUSE YOU!’ And when she grumbled and went to DO IT AGAIN, I grabbed her stupid little cart, her weapon of choice, out of her hands and yanked it past me.
Since she was in such a hurry to go that way. Finding herself now robbed of support but not her momentum, she was falling towards me. In one swift motion, as I pulled her cart away, I stepped sideways and past her. I just kept on walking right out of the store.
Ignoring the commotion behind me, I decided I didn’t want the craft root beer after all.” agent_smith_3012
13. Karen Demands I Retrieve Her Dog's Toy From A River
“So I’m teaching my pup how to swim in a local off-leash river area in my city. The water isn’t horrible but it’s not necessarily nice to swim in.
It’s rocky and seaweedy and kinda gross. I’m fully prepared to go in if necessary for my puppy but it’s not something I want to do.
Anyway, so we are trying to convince my pup to go further into the water by throwing sticks and a few floaty toys.
Eventually, we reach the point of “nope, not going to do that Mom” with my pup who decides to not get the ball I threw. I don’t want to leave the ball in the water but it’s far enough that I’d get my shorts completely soaked to get it.
Not a problem though, there are plenty of other dogs around. I ask some owners if they can encourage their dogs to get it and they can keep the ball. So at this point, we have multiple owners trying to encourage their pups to go get it.
An unknown dog comes flying out of nowhere into the water and goes to swim towards the ball. Great! I see the owner (Karen) come up holding a toy. I say her dog has my ball but she’s welcome to keep it. I don’t really care I just don’t want it in the water.
She kind of ignores me. By this point, her dog is out of the water and drops the ball. The owner throws her toy FAR in the water but her dog doesn’t go for it. Karen is confused until she sees the ball. Then she goes wild.
Karen turns to me and goes off about the ball.
Karen: This is YOUR fault that my dog won’t go get the toy. Dog hyperfocuses on one toy and won’t go for others.
Me: Oh sorry well you can keep the ball –
Karen: I don’t want your stupid ball!!
Now my dog won’t get his toy!! It’s expensive! I keep losing toys like this here it’s so UGH! (which, why are you bringing “expensive” toys to an off-leash park anyway?)
She then grabs the ball from her dog and throws it at me. I shrug and put it away.
At this point, I’m just going to leave. I start packing up. That seems to reinvigorate Karen, who stomps over to me again.
Karen: What are you going to do about it?!
Me: What? About the toy? Well I have the ball now so I hope your dog will get it.
Or there are plenty of other water dogs here who will get it!
Karen: So you’re NOT going to go in and get it for me?!
No. Just no. I’m not going to swim out and get her dog’s toy. She doesn’t take that well and starts going off again, repeating herself for a while.
Me (eventually): Why don’t you go get it then if it’s that expensive?
Karen: You need to take responsibility!
Me: Responsibility for what?! You’re the one who brought an expensive toy to an off-leash dog area and threw it in the river.
Karen: This whole thing is your fault for throwing the ball you need to go get it.
At this point the other owners/dogs have cleared out, all giving Karen a look. I realize that conversing isn’t going anywhere so I simply pack up and leave.
In the background, I hear her screaming at her dog to go get the toy and dog owners walking by to send their dog to get it.
I wonder if she ever got it lol.
Not too satisfying of an ending but wtf. This is a grown woman expecting another person to jump in a river to retrieve her dog’s toy???”
Another User Comments:
“I doubt the “expensive toys” are actually expensive.
I think Karen was just upset/jealous that her dog responded to your toy and not hers. I would bet all the fake internet points in the world that’s the real issue. This is exactly the kind of situation that pulling phones out and recording would be suitable for.” BureauOfBureaucrats
Another User Comments:
“I’m sure this doesn’t apply to all, but in my experience dog owners are very entitled, especially when it comes to assuming that everyone loves dogs. A few months back I was walking along the beachfront (where dogs are supposed to be on leads to begin with) and a big, soggy, and very excited dog comes sprinting over to me and starts putting its wet paws all over my clothes.
I try to get it to stop and then politely tell the owner that the dog should be on a lead. The owner was not happy with this and claimed “well if you don’t like dogs, you shouldn’t be on the beach.” Like…no…Karen, the beach isn’t just for you and your dog.
I like dogs, I don’t like ones that have just come out of the sea ruining my clothes.” JealousElavator
12. Demand A Specific Dog Food? Well, It Would Help If You Knew What It Was
“My mom and I are at the vet with our cats and we are waiting to see the doctor when one of the vet techs comes out with a little bean of a dog (size of like a jar of a cola bottle) and brings it over to an elderly lady (we’ll call her Karen).
I’m ignoring most of the things happening as Mom and I are trying to keep our heads down. So I happen to listen to the conversation.
Karen: I also need to get my dog some food.
Receptionist: Okay, can you tell me what it is?
Karen: I don’t know but I know you have it.
Receptionist: Okay, well, can you show me it?
Karen: No, I’m holding my dog.
This goes on for a bit as the two receptionists and our tech are working to figure out the food brand (the tech tried to get her to show her the food, but Karen keeps saying she is too busy holding her dog) when she asks the other lady in the back (I suppose she thought she was the manager).
The receptionist told her she can’t as she is working the call center. After some time, they find out what the food is and get the food.
Now, they hadn’t received their food shipment this week so they were low and only had 7 cans, not the 12 she wanted. And when Karen learned that when she was given 2, she was very annoyed with this and demanded to have the 12.
Tech explained that they wouldn’t have more until Thursday and they only had 7. Karen said she was going to take the 7 and come back for the rest. Then, after paying, she left her wallet and the food to take her dog to the car. Another lady tried to call out and tell her but the receptionist told her Karen was coming back.
I do not know what happened after as our tech took us to our room. (I later learned she came back in with the dog.)
PS: Later in the room
Mom: She was carrying her dog in, and in the room, she could have easily shown them.
Me: I know.
Mom: -sigh- and they wonder how Karens are made.”
11. Annoying Customer Demands To Know How Much Is On Her Credit Card Before Paying
“This happened a couple of years back, I (45m) was on my way to Mother’s Day dinner and had to stop at a local Walgrams (name changed for privacy) to pick up a card for Mum.
After picking out a card and gift card I walked to the register where there were a couple of people in front of me. The person at the register was just finishing up. Everything seemed fine.
And then the Karen steps up to the register and asks/yells how much is on her card.
Her voice was immediately rather off-putting but who cares, right? No big deal. The cashier does not understand so she inquires further, the Karen replies with a screeching nasal sound which I believe was summoning a balrog or some such from the depths of Walgrams’ past.
The Karen then demands again to know how much is on her card, a credit/debit card I can see at this point, and says she does not know which item to buy until she knows how much each of them is and how much she has.
Now this sounds logical, how much money do I have so I know what I can buy. But yet, the Karen does not understand the cashier cannot check the balance on the credit/debit card. Cashier starts to point to the ATM but the Karen keeps screeching and yelling how much are they, what do I have.
So it goes, back and forth, the cashier asks to scan ONE item to see how much it is, the Karen puts her card in the reader and asks how much she has. The cashier says ‘ma’am I don’t know how much it is, please don’t put your card in the reader because then I can’t see how much your item is.” Then the Karen removes the card and the cashier tries to scan the item nearly crawling over the counter as the Karen won’t actually hand her the item.
The Karen is screeching ‘how much is this one’ then the cashier gets a BEEP and it scans and … the Karen puts her card back in the reader which takes the price of the screen for the cashier.
This goes on for almost 10 minutes. Every couple of minutes the Karen moves further away from the register, so I step closer.
Eventually the Karen is holding her two items about 5 feet from the register so I lay my card and gift card down on the counter and the cashier rings me up. I thought to myself ‘Don’t punch the Karen on Mother’s Day. Don’t punch the Karen on Mother’s Day.’
Anyways, the cashier rings up my stuff and it comes to about $50 or $60. For one regular $3 or $4 card and a $25 gift card. I think well that’s odd. Then I see the cashier’s face just absolutely fall like she kicked a puppy on accident and she mutters ‘dear god help me’.
I immediately knew what had happened so I just start laughing, loudly and with much glee. I said to the cashier ‘Forget it, just total it’ and paid for my stuff and the couple of different packages of adult diapers the Karen had.
The cashier says ‘thank you, thank you so much’ and then starts to tell the Karen ‘Maam, this kind man has…” “NOPE,” I interrupt her and just shake my hand no and say not till I’m gone and hastily limp/scoot/hop out of the store as quickly as I can.
As I hit the doors I could hear the cashier telling the Karen a kind man had paid for her stuff, and then ‘well how did he know how much I have on my card!” … ‘No ma’am, he paid for them’ … “but how did he pay when we don’t know how much each one is…” And I was out of range for the screeching.
Still feel bad for the cashier.”
Another User Comments:
“This COULD have been a case of Alzheimer’s or dementia. This is exactly the sort of thing I could see my grandmother doing in the past. Their (Alzheimer’s patient) frustration spawns not from anger but the fact that they’re confused and can’t really put components of thoughts together to assemble a complete coherent thought.
I hope I die before I ever have to experience that.” WebSmurf
Another User Comments:
“Pharmacies are a special kind of old people chaos. Not just Karens but old folks in general. They go in and shoot the breeze with EVERY employee they encounter and then spend quality time with the cashier, asking questions about the products they’ve chosen, discussing the price of each item as it’s scanned, the crazy tax rates in the area, and then realize that…they have to pay.
So they start looking for their wallet as if it’s some kind of scavenger hunt and they aren’t sure where it might be; once they find it, they have to be talked through the payment process and read every message on the display. Then obviously they wait for the paper receipt and any coupons.
And finally, they finish the conversation with the cashier.” sfcumguzzler
10. Karen Complains About Rollercoaster Ride But No One Seems To Care
“My friends and I went to a little theme park for a day out.
When we got there, we instantly went on to the biggest ride there, which was a small rollercoaster (the theme park was for way below our age lmao).
We sat down near the back and then did one lap of the track.
On the second lap around, one of my friends who was sitting behind me said, “Wait I wonder if you can grab a leaf” because we were in a forest area.
She grabbed a leaf and in doing this pulled back a branch. It had been raining not that long ago so the branch was wet. The branch flung back and sprayed the tiniest bit of water back.
Enter Karen…
Karen: “Excuse me that is EXTREMELY rude, you just soaked me!”
Friend: “Sorry!”
I turned around to see Karen sitting in the back row with no visible water on her at all? So, my friends and I giggled, shrugged, and then carried on the ride.
We then reached the end and were waiting for the workers to come and release the metal bar.
Karen then says to my friend who pulled the branch, something along the lines of “Well I hope you enjoyed the ride being dry” and my friend just smiled at her.
Karen (to worker): “Excuse me! I’d like to file a complaint against these four here, they were ALL grabbing branches and getting me and my children soaking.
They found it VERY amusing and were laughing at us the whole way round!!!”
Her poor children were bright red at this point.
Worker: Uhh ok.
The worker (who sounds really fed up in his job, probably having to deal with people like Karen all the time) tells us to “please follow my colleague outside for a second” so we do.
We get outside and the other worker (who also sounds fed up) asks what happened. I told him what happened and he basically said, that’s fine just don’t do it again, I know what people are like, you won’t be getting a warning. We thanked him and then walked to the next ride.
Later on, we sit down at a bench to eat our lunch, and unknowingly sit next to a bench Karen and her kids are sitting on. Once we realize we start to talk about how we got off without a warning and how the worker said he found the situation funny VERY loudly, and Karen doesn’t even give us a single glance.”
Another User Comments:
“BTW been on the other end of someone grabbing a leaf off a branch on a fairground coaster. Nearly getting hit by the edge of a branch going 30 mph is not an experience I want to have again because I like my face and eyes intact.
Your friend is not the first person to try this and there is a reason why people don’t grab or throw things while speeding on a roller coaster. It’s not funny and just learn not to do it again.” Ladymysterie
9. Think Screaming Is Going To Help? It Won't In The Slightest
“A few years ago, I worked as an automotive technician (mechanic) at a Honda dealership.
I had mostly wonderful customers there and I loved saving people money. My favorite thing about that company was that we were allowed to help people fix small issues for free (like if your headlight is out and I have a drawer full of replacement bulbs or your antenna fell off and I have another drawer full of those, too).
One morning, right after we opened for the day, a woman drove into the service center super fast, with her head out the window, already yelling at everyone, “Y’all need to fix this stuff NOW!”
Since I’m also a woman, I was the tech who figuratively drew the short straw and had to handle it.
I looked over the exterior of the vehicle as I approached it, like I do every car (quick visual inspection of tires, lights, listening, even smelling and note-taking what model, year, etc). Normally, customers will stay in their cars until they are directed to exit.
This lady jumped out of hers and started full-throttle screaming, gesturing wildly with her hands, so erratically that we couldn’t even understand her and even thought she might be physically combative. She was screaming something about check engine light, a lawsuit, it was pure chaos.
I gave her a moment to finish screaming at me and said to her, with a huge, sympathetic smile on my face and the best friendly customer service I always gave to everyone: “I’m here to help, tell me more about what happened.”
She’s still screaming, literally at the top of her lungs, bless her heart, “This is a brand new car and the check engine light is on!!!
You better call your lawyer because all of mine are coming at you! We are going to end you!!”
Now, if she’d been nicer, I would have fixed her problem (regardless of what type of vehicle she drove, Honda, Chevy, Volvo, whatever…) in less than 2 minutes – for totally free – and I would have hooked her up with the coffee and donuts in the lobby while I had the lot attendant run her car through the wash and vacuum.
But because she was such a horrible person, all I could do was tell her, “Ma’am, that’s not your check engine light, that’s your tire pressure sensor, you need a little air, and this is a Honda dealership, you drive a Hyundai.
Their dealership is the next one down the road.””
Another User Comments:
“Oh, I’ve had people threaten me with legal action before because I didn’t immediately help them with their problem. The worst thing you can do to them is take them seriously. And by that I mean you tell them it is inappropriate to contact you personally like this and they should have their lawyer contact you on their behalf considering the ongoing legal concerns.” Fox_Underground
8. You Think My Dog Is The Problem? Look In A Mirror
“I was strolling my baby and my small dog (on leash) early on a weekday morning. It’s nice so I walk from our neighborhood just a few blocks away to a slightly more upscale neighborhood. I see a smaller dog peeing on a mailbox up ahead, unsupervised, off-leash.
I paused for a minute and decided that I was going to turn back soon anyway and not knowing this dog, it would be safer to turn around now. He looks harmless (bulldog, maybe), but I have my baby and my small dog and I just want a peaceful walk.
I turn around. Too late.
Bulldog spots me and starts barking. I keep walking but he follows me. The dog seems friendly, just young and barky. I like dogs. I don’t want the dog to follow me and get lost, so I wait to see if the owner will come out.
Sure enough, from a different house, a woman comes out and starts calling the dog. She comments that she has seen my dog before and he’s very sweet. Then she asks if we have another big dog. At this point, it’s getting weird.
I say no… sometimes my parents’ dog visits (they don’t live far). I don’t even know why I volunteered this information. My parents’ dog is a large senior dog that’s lived out here for 9 years, they live about half a mile from us.
She starts going off about how my parents’ dog pees and poops on her porch. Destroys her flower beds. Knocks things over. And how he will get hit by a car if they don’t keep him in… the whole time her dog, off-leash, is barking at me.
I’m thinking she’s crazy so no point in explaining my parents’ dog is old and physically not capable of said feats. I said “Okay. I’ll tell them.” She goes on about how she doesn’t want to bring this up but “it’s for his own safety too.” Her dog is still completely ignoring her calls.
Still on the road. I said, “he has a tag, feel free to give my parents a call next time you see him they will take care of it.” Thinking it’s not their dog so this would solve the problem. She says she hasn’t been able to get his tag.
(My parents’ dog is old and super friendly). I say again “Okay. I’ll let them know.” For like the fourth time. My baby starts whining. She says “Sorry but it’s just so annoying that my porch smells like dog poop.” I said, “Okay have a nice day.” And quickly start walking away.
Her dog eventually follows her barking up the hill. I wonder if this lady ever considered the issue may be her own dog.”
Another User Comments:
“We have 2 dogs, my neighbor has 3. We have an agreement. If we see a pile, pick it up. We have small shovels and scoops placed strategically around our yards.
There is an area behind our houses we’ve let go natural, maybe 600-700 square feet. All the crap gets dumped there. No idea what, but something is eating it, lol, it just disappears.” jdthejerk
Another User Comments:
“I’ve never had an encounter like that but I once scared a dog away by growling at it.
I used to walk my niece, who was 6 at the time, to her piano lessons just down the street from where she lived at the time. There was a house on the corner and every time we passed by it there would be a dog in the picture window barking at us.
It was a medium-sized dog, high on its legs, grey wirey fur. One day we walk by the house and the dog is outside not on a leash. The dog came running around the back corner of the house making a beeline toward us while barking.
I didn’t know if the dog was friendly or not so I put myself between my niece and the dog. I looked directly at the dog, bared my teeth, and growled loudly at it. The dog brought up in its tracks, stopped barking, gave me a wary look, then turned and ran back the way it came.
My niece thought the whole thing was hilarious. She had to tell her piano teacher when she got there and her mother when we got home.” Channel5exclusive
7. My Encounter With A Stubborn Customer At Subway
“I was out in the afternoon, got hungry, and saw a Subway. Went inside and joined the line.
Only four people but in the front was an old man (balding, sports backpack, bicycle helmet on his hip). He was having a small argument with the cashier. At first, I didn’t think much of it, but the cashier kept repeating “don’t do what you did last time.” Eventually, the old man got basically the cheapest option available and ordered it to go.
But after he had paid, he started talking about how he wanted a table. The cashier argued with him, saying he had already paid for it to go, literally pointing to the doggy bag, while the old man said that the bag was his now and since this was a restaurant he deserved a table.
When the cashier called him out he just said that was between Subway and the government, not him.
Obviously, this was annoying everybody, but I decided to just keep my mouth shut and wait for my turn, but the old man just kept going on and on.
At one point he literally dared them to throw him out. At that point, my temper boiled over and I called him out for being a jerk. To his credit, he didn’t shout or anything, instead he acted like a holier-than-thou internet libertarian, acting offended and saying he was just standing up for his principles.
I responded that he didn’t have any principles and was just being a jerk. He then repeated his principles and talked about how the politicians were taxing stuff (there had just been a local election) and how this was a demonstration. I answered that 1. No politician was going to notice or care about him.
2 He was just harassing ordinary workers. 3. He didn’t have any principles he was just a greedy jerk.
I wish I could tell you that everyone started clapping and he eventually left in shame, but none of that happened. Instead, it eventually became my turn, he went back to his table (sadly they didn’t throw him out), I told them that next time they should throw him out, then ordered my sub to go and left like a normal person.
EDIT: This took place in Europe. Here you can either order to go which is cheaper and not subject to tax, or you can eat at Subway, which counts as dining and is subject to tax. He ordered to go, paid the lower price, but still wanted to eat in the restaurant.”
6. 'Kangaroo Karen' Is Mad Over Pet Food? Find Someone Else To Yell At
“So I work in a small locally owned Pet Shop geared mostly towards cat/dog food and toys. A few weeks ago I was ringing out a regular customer whom I’ve come to build a good relationship with, when all of a sudden I hear the crackling voice of a boomer Karen yelling from across the store “YOU SELL KANGAROO?
YOU’RE DISGUSTING.” The customer I was helping literally dropped her jaw and gave me the “Is she serious?” look. I asked the Karen if she could wait until I was done with my customer for her to scold me.
She got up to the register and immediately asked for a manager so she could complain that we sell Kangaroo dog food then proceeded to give me this entire speech about how unethical it is to sell.
I told her she’d have to walk across the street to complain as we’re just a branch off of a local grocery store. She told me she wouldn’t be shopping with us until we stopped selling the Kangaroo dog food, to which I just replied “Right on.” Yet she has come back in a few more times and each time she goes ballistic on whoever’s working because it’s obviously our fault the “Kangaroos are being ground into dog food” as she puts it.
Each time she raises her voice and makes a whole scene about it. I just can’t imagine taking out my opposition to something on members of the service industry, individuals at the bottom of the food chain who have nothing to do with whatever it is I’m opposed to.
This woman also ran for City Council a while back and is always about town raising havoc over something. I hope I catch her giving a speech out in public sometime so I can call her on her abusive behavior towards service industry workers. She’s now known as the Kangaroo Karen amongst the staff.”
Another User Comments:
“Kangaroo dog food is what saved my dog. He was allergic to everything we kept trying, vomiting, diarrhea, and losing weight, until the vet prescribed the royal canin kangaroo food. Several months of it stabilized him until we eventually discovered he’s allergic to chicken, grains, and beef and we’re able to transition to limited ingredient lamb/potato food.” Maleficent_Injury504
5. A Battle For Kitchen Space With My Aunt
“So, in two days I am going to be selling flan at a church holiday market.
Now, the way I make it, it’s set in individual ramekins. It takes almost two hours to make one batch, so I made it clear to everyone in the household, even talking individually to set a schedule with everyone, to make sure that I would have the kitchen to myself today so I could make the batches of flan in time for them to be able to cook and set right.
I told my aunt this multiple times and even made sure she’d be done. She was making some pie filling for the thing she’s going to be selling and decided to start on Monday. No big deal right?
Wrong. She decided she was going to make 30 jars worth of apple pie filling in two days and has been hogging the kitchen the entire time.
At first, I thought she would at least let me have my day to make my flan since I had clarified multiple times exactly when I would need the kitchen. But no.
She was already working on two more batches of pie filling, and on top of that, she said that the kitchen wouldn’t be free until late tonight – but the thing is – she’s been working into the night for two days now so chances are I won’t have any time to make my flan during the day.
I’m going to have to stay up all night to make the flan because for some reason my aunt couldn’t spare the time or counter space for me to do it now.
She even had the audacity to complain about how I was rushing her and taking up her time when I specified that I needed the kitchen weeks in advance!
Edit: Further context as to why I’m making the flan so soon before the market, it’s because the flan takes around 8 hours to set and it can go bad anywhere from 3-6 days after initially being made so I have to make it as soon as I possibly can manage before the market so it’s sellable.”
Another User Comments:
“I would tell each and every person who wanted the flan her first/last name and specifically what she did to prevent you from using the kitchen. I’d tell them in front of her while making direct eye contact with her while I was doing it.
I’d keep telling them about it for the rest of the year, or until I had a written promise that I would have the kitchen for the agreed-upon time again in the future without any of her interference. However, I am a jerk and have become reconciled to it.
I would also not stress about not having the flan because I could not control the conditions. I’d just tell everyone why.” Loofa_of_Doom
Another User Comments:
“You’d think the fact that you’re cooking for a church event would give you some sway with Karen enabling granny.
They’re often religious fanatics, and helping the church is good. Even ‘Karen, dear, it’s for the church. We should give Lilly the kitchen to cook for the church. How about you and I go out for a nice dinner whilst she does it and then I’ll treat you to a movie?’ You know… kind of like how you baby and bribe a toddler into dropping the toys because it’s time to go now.
Lots of praise and coddling. She wants to pamper Karen, of course… but the church! She can bribe Karen away for a few hours.” DaniMW
4. Think I'm Going Through Your Mail? What A Silly Idea
“I was working at the post office and was almost done casing up my route when my ex-boss, who lives on my route, came into the post office to pick up her two packages that had just arrived this morning.
Some necessary information before I continue: I wasn’t aware this ex-boss lived on my route until after I agreed to take the job. When I realized she lived on my route, I honestly didn’t care. She was just another customer on my route, and I hadn’t spoken to her face to face since before I quit my old retail job.
She wasn’t there the day I quit, and I believe she was on her third vacation of the year.
I was almost ready to leave the office when a clerk approached me and told me one of my customers was at the counter telling everyone that I used to work for her, she fired me, and I’m now using my job as her mail carrier to open her mail and get information on her.
She was so loud in telling her traumatic experience of how she could have had her identity stolen by the dishonest mail carrier that her voice echoed all the way back into the mail room.
Why did she think I was opening her mail? The sorting machine had torn the corner of one of her letters just a tiny bit.
Now, thanks to her actions, I will no longer be her mail carrier. I’m going to be moved to a route that pays significantly more.
Thank you, Karen.”
Another User Comments:
“I hope her new carrier is constantly late and losing her mail.” measaqueen
Reply:
“Usually how it goes–a new mail carrier, even an experienced one, needs a few months or so to learn a new route well enough to run it efficiently. When our mail carrier switched we went from having mail before 11 am every day to being lucky to have it before 6 pm.
The new guy was struggling for the first year or so but seems to have gotten it together enough to get our mail to us around 2 pm. Still not as early as the previous carrier, but much better than the first day of their tenure.” Capn-Wacky
3. Do I Know Statistics? Um, I Have A Master's In Math
“I tutor online and tonight I had this teenager I was going to help in statistics. The first person I talk to is the mother. This doesn’t usually happen for older kids and by older I mean like maybe 11 and up. Usually, the parent is not involved at all.
Anyway, I was trying to explain to her how to calculate the skew of a data set. It was a stem graph to be specific. The first person I talk to is the mother. This doesn’t usually happen for older kids and by older I mean like maybe 11 and up.
Usually, the parent is not involved at all.
The first thing I do is ask her questions about what was her thought process behind the question. I usually do this to gauge where the students are to figure out what they know and what they don’t.
I could then hear her voice already starting to question me.
Karen: Do you know statistics?
Me: Ma’am yes I do. I have a master’s in mathematics with a specialty in statistics.
Karen: I don’t think you know what you are doing. We are going to drop and find someone else.
Me: We are going over how to calculate a skew. I can help her with this.
Once again before we even get through half the problem. She saw it had been almost 30 minutes and I still had not helped her child fast enough. She saw that we hadn’t even gotten through 1 problem.
Having her take the problem step by step.
Mom butts in.
Karen: I don’t see you making much progress. I don’t think you know what you are doing. We are going to drop.
Me: Alright. That is fine. Since you don’t think I helped you I am not going to charge you.
Karen: Thank you.
Yea, forget that. I charged her for the pain and suffering of what I went through with that. I might be a jerk for that.
The next student I got was a sweet middle schooler who needed help with slope. He came alone!
I was able to help him with his homework. Sometimes it just takes time Karen! It might take me longer than 5 minutes to fix your student’s problem if she doesn’t know what she is doing.”
Another User Comments:
“I feel bad for the poor kid.
I had a friend back in elementary school whose mom was like that and she was very overbearing and acted very similar to the kid’s mom. The friend herself was very funny, mischievous, and happy-go-lucky. When she’s around her mom, she turns into a completely different person and barely speaks.
Parents like this need to have a rude awakening of who they really are. They are hurting people and their own child.” SuperShoyu64
2. Won't Get Your Own Cart? You'll Have To Deal With Me First
“I work at a large storage facility. We provide carts for customers to move their goods as a courtesy and keep them evenly distributed between the two entrances to the building.
They are available on a first come first serve basis.
As I was doing my daily facility inspection, I got a call from my coworker in the office asking me to come speak to a customer because they had an angry confrontation with another customer.
My immediate reaction was “so what?” Mediating disputes between customers is not in my job description.
Regardless, I took the elevator down to the back entrance where the argument occurred and talked to the customer back there. She explained they were using all of the carts to transfer goods between their new unit and their old unit, and when another customer had asked for one they currently had goods on, she had let them know that more carts were in the front of the facility.
This triggered the person asking to start screaming, the phrase “Why should I have to.” Screaming lady’s husband got aggressive, so the cart-using customer’s husband asserted himself without violence and the other guy decided to go to the office and make it our problem.
I get to the office and ask the Karens what happened and immediately recognize the husband as someone who has thrown a tantrum over there not being a cart available for him immediately when he arrived a few months ago. They share their side of the story, which also features the words “why should I have to” and the same events, but casting my other customer and her husband as dangerous and psychotic people.
Male Karen repeatedly states he will do whatever he has to do to protect his wife. I let him know if anyone does violence on the property they will be evicted and reported to the police. He keeps saying that it’s my responsibility as the facility manager to “control my customers” and that if something happened to them I would be the one at fault.
I disagreed with him strenuously, stating that I can’t control anyone and am not responsible for the behavior of my customers. They left in a huff, saying I’m not even a real manager. I let them know there are more carts in the front if they still need one.”
Another User Comments:
“As a manager, you should be empowered to cancel their contract. “You obviously have a different need than we can offer so we hereby cancel your contract.”” tonykrij
Reply:
“I’m a facility manager for a multibillion-dollar storage company with a hefty corporate chain.
I can take that kind of action but it requires approval and I have a decent sense of what will/won’t play with my immediate superiors. This wouldn’t have had any traction since no one was hurt and the threats were vague at best.” Rogendo
1. Miss Rich Karen Throws Tantrum At Grocery Store Self-Checkout
“So when I went to the store today, I grabbed 2 products. My grandma got very sick so I wanted to go home fast.
Then, Miss Rich Karen comes in and decides that I should be her target for the day (she had two kids waiting outside the store and had a Gucci bag and expensive clothes).
I went to the only self-checkout that accepted cash. Then, Karen comes, with one full shopping cart AND two kid ones (tiny ones). She looked to be in a rush since she completely ignored me while I was there first. While I wanted to ask her if I could go first, I know that she looked extremely stressed out, so I let her.
After like 2 minutes, an employee asks her if she wanted to pay with her card or cash because the employee knows I always go cash (a really kind employee who just wanted to help by asking if she wanted to use her card since that is the only self-checkout that accepted cash of all 8).
Then, Miss Gucci bag responds. “Of course I want to pay cash. Why else would I be standing here? Maybe go ask HER instead?” (She sounded really annoyed in the first bit, and the HER sounded straight out of a Disney movie.)
After a while, a kid comes in with one product.
Apparently, it was his first time going to pay himself (his parents told me as small talk, since we had already been waiting for like 5 minutes. I have social anxiety, but I tried to stay calm and respond since I didn’t want them to feel even more stressed out).
I got really annoyed by the constant beeping of scanning items, so I was relieved when she was almost done. Then, she realized something. Her fruit didn’t have a sticker. So she angrily told the employee “This service is absolutely unacceptable. Your co-workers didn’t even put a sticker on this food.
You know, I have TWO kids here AND a baby at home. I’m a single mother, and my job as a mother is incredibly tough. I am constantly being stared at by the woman behind me, and it’s freaking me out!” I wasn’t even staring at her.
I was staring at the screen to know when she is done. The employee just said, “Miss, you need to weigh your products over there and select your fruit.” (It weighs the fruit and you have to put what it is, and it automatically shows how much it costs and gives you a price sticker.) She went to weigh the fruit, and then she came back.
She scanned the products and was finally done. Then, I realized that there was a screen that had an employee come to you and check if you’ve scanned all your products. It came up, and she absolutely lost it. She was screaming and even threw some of her stuff on the ground.
Then, she realized she had kids and calmed down a bit. The employee just scanned a few products and was done since apparently you only need to scan up to 12 products. She finally went to pay, and she paid around 100 to 280 euros of products. I didn’t check exactly how much to make sure I did not hurt her mentally (even though she seemed mentally broken.) Yes, she had that much on her.
I finally scanned my products and went to pay, when I realized she had left 30 cents, (there are two places to put money in. One for paper bills, the other for loose change, but since she seemed to only use bills, she hadn’t noticed.) I grabbed 25 cents and just gave the rest to the family.
I went straight to grandma’s instead of home, since I did not want her to wait any longer. Really stressful, but at least I got 25 cents.”
Another User Comments:
“I would be more inclined to consider this story being about a Karen, but the repeated mentioning of owning a Gucci handbag means entitled is crazy.
Was it a real Gucci? Did you take it from her and inspect it? Maybe it’s the only nice thing she owns? Did she flaunt the handbag around and expect everyone else to treat her differently because of it? Maybe she had to borrow the cash from someone else because she’s broke and stressed about it and unfortunately, you caught her at her worst moment losing the little bit of control she had left in the world?
The Gucci handbag does not make her a Karen, her actions do. But let’s stop judging people by their possessions lest we all become condescending and judgemental Karens.” GameTillDawn84
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