Coming in contact with a “Karen” is bad enough, but being akin to one is even worse! There is no escape from their bad behavior, and living with the constant embarrassment they bring about, can be a total nightmare. Keep reading to hear some horror stories from Redditors who are, unfortunately, related to Karens. Their pain is never-ending.
1. Enough, Mom
My mom was a Karen. Every time we would go out to dinner with her, it would be an absolute nightmare. She would complain about everything—her fork was bent, her dish wasn't as spicy last time, the waitress didn’t address her first, her food was cold, it's been too long since we've seen our server even though we don’t actually need anything.
The list went on. She would voice each of her complaints arrogantly at the server and would follow it up with, "I was a waitress, and we never had these issues". She was a part-time waitress in the early 90s at a pizza joint. I can't eye-roll hard enough.
2. No One Could Hold A Candle To Her
My aunt was a Karen. I was visiting her, and she needed to stop by Walgreens. She had a newspaper ad that stated some candles were 50% off, so she bought ten of them. She got charged full price and flipped out. The cost was a dollar per candle instead of 50 cents. The cashier and I both showed her that she was holding an old newspaper.
The ad even said that the offer had expired a week prior. Then, she shifted to "Well, you could have told me more nicely" and kept complaining. I just kept telling her we needed to leave. Once I finally got her out into the car, I said I had forgotten to grab a pack of gum and went back in and apologized to the poor guy.
3. Country Kevin
My dad isn’t usually a Karen/Kevin, but one day he truly was. We’re from the UK, but my parents were really into country music. So, when I was about 13 years old, one of our summer holidays was spent driving around Tennessee for three weeks. We went to Memphis, Pigeon Forge, Chattanooga, and Nashville. We went to all the usual tourist sites—Graceland, Sun Studio, Tooties, Grand Ole Opry, looked for Garth Brooks, etc.
We went to this one museum that had some sort of backlot studio tour. My dad was really excited about visiting it. However, the backlot tour part was closed. My dad was not happy about this, especially since he found out after we had already paid and been around the main museum. So, we went to discuss it with the ticket desk.
There was a sign on the ticket desk, albeit it was a little small for someone to have spotted it. Both sides made some reasonable points, but my dad was not getting far. He then exclaimed, “I’ve come all the way from England to visit this Goddarn place”. Big mistake. Using blasphemy against an employee of a country music museum in Tennessee absolutely did not have the desired effect he was looking for.
The employee just smiled, and then he unleashed the perfect comeback: We’ll y’know what, sir? I was thinking about giving y’all a refund, but I don’t think I want to do that anymore”. At that point, my siblings and I all noped out of that one and headed outside. I never even found out if my dad got his refund.
4. Border Brouhaha
We were at the Mexico City airport flying to Juarez. We were bringing back a bunch of plates and stuff my mom got while we were there. They were in this huge box. When we got to the check-in counter, the guy said she needed to have the box wrapped. My mother became deeply offended by that. She yelled, “WELL, I’VE NEVER HAD TO DO THAT BEFORE!! I BRING STUFF FROM MEXICO CITY ALL THE TIME, AND I’VE NEVER HAD TO DO THAT”!
Her screaming caused some bewildered stares in her direction. This was a very white woman arguing angrily in absolutely flawless Spanish. That in itself was intriguing enough. The guy again demanded that she needed to go get the box wrapped with tape, and that would be an extra charge of about 200 pesos (around $10).
Instead of doing that, she stormed off, leaving a massive, unidentified box completely unattended—just what airport announcements always tell you NEVER TO DO. My dad and I had already checked in and made it through security while this was unfolding. My mom joined us at the gate in a huff, regaling us about this slight against her honor.
Just as she finished, karma came for her. Five security officers walked up to her—AR-15s at their sides—and asked her to confirm her name. When she did, they yanked her up and started dragging her away. My dad—an attorney—had a “holy cow” moment, and we went running after her. My dad did his lawyer thing; she didn’t get taken in for terroristic threats, and we somehow made our flight.
We also managed to get that box of plates back home as well. I make fun of her every time we use them.
5. She Got Saucy
We were having a family dinner and decided to order in Chinese food. With around 15 people eating, it was quite a large order. One of the things we ordered was honey garlic chicken balls of which we got two orders. This restaurant delivered these as an order of breaded chicken balls with a side of honey garlic sauce.
My dad went to pick up the food and brought it back home. When we unpacked everything, we saw that we got two orders of the breaded chicken balls, but only one order of the honey garlic sauce. It was mildly annoying, but it happens, and we still had tons and tons of food. Not only that, but a single order of sauce was likely enough for two orders of chicken anyways.
My mom was essentially sent into a rage because of this. She was very annoyed we didn’t get the second sauce, and while people were starting to sit down and help themselves to the food, she got on the phone with the restaurant—and did not hold back. While I’m sure the restaurant staff was apologizing, she kept insisting that this was a bunch of nonsense.
She told them that she expected to get everything she paid for and that the restaurant had to rectify the situation. She argued back and forth—while everyone else ate—and eventually got the restaurant to send a delivery driver with just the order or sauce. She, of course, sat down to eat after that, and just about everyone was already done.
By the time the sauce got there, everyone had finished, so it wasn’t really missed. My mom, however, felt extremely proud of herself that she was able to get the restaurant to go to ridiculous lengths over such a trivial thing. My mom is usually pretty level-headed, but when it comes to slight mixups like this on food orders, she needs to go to irrational lengths to make sure she feels complete.
6. Churlish Over Cheese
When I was about nine years old, my dad took my sister and me to McDonald's one evening. At the time, he and my mom were separated, so he only saw us once a week. He ordered a quarter pounder with cheese for himself, took one bite, and spat it out into the box. He then stormed up to the counter, ignored the line of people waiting to order, and started loudly berating the woman at the checkout.
This woman wasn’t even the one who had served him in the first place. He said, "I asked for a darn quarter pounder without cheese. Why the heck have you put cheese on my burger? You clearly don't know how to do the most simple of tasks. I want to speak to your manager". It went on and on. I felt such shame and humiliation I couldn't even finish my meal.
If that wasn't bad enough, when he finally came back with a fresh meal, I told him in a timid voice that he had, in fact, ordered one with cheese, and he started screaming at me.
7. Diaper Duty
We were at a restaurant, and it was crowded. My mom attempted to change my sister’s diaper on the table. The waitress asked her to use the restroom, and my mom started going absolutely ballistic. My mom then had me change my sister’s diaper while she continued arguing with the entire restaurant.
8. Beach Day Blowout
As a son of a slight Karen, this one story will always stick with me. One summer, when I was around 10–11 years old, my mom, aunt, and I all went to this beach that had a restaurant right next to it. After we finished swimming, we got a little hungry, so we decided to go to eat there. The place was incredibly packed. There were people sitting at tables everywhere, and there were only a few staff members who were serving.
There was even another section at the back with more tables. We waited for about 20–30 minutes before we ordered. My aunt wasn't with us when we ordered, so I was the one listening to my mom’s nonsense the entire time. When we eventually ordered, my mother started shouting at the wait staff, "Do you know how long we've been waiting for? It's been 30 minutes"!
The poor employee had to explain that they were obviously very packed, but my mother wasn't having it. She continued, "I don't care! You should hire more staff then"! At that point, I was off to the side and red in the face because I felt so bad for the employees. We ordered and walked back to our table.
I told my mother that I was very upset with her behavior and that there were many people in the restaurant. She kept shouting at me, saying it wasn’t my place to comment, but I just ignored her. When I went to pick up our food, I immediately said, "Hey, I'm really sorry about my mom shouting at you. You guys have so many tables to serve, and you're doing the best you can".
The guy who took our order was really nice and said, "Don't worry, kid. Thanks for apologizing".
9. She Made A Mountain Out Of A Molehill
My mother had a dreadful Karen moment once. She paid me a visit shortly after I moved to Switzerland. We went shopping for groceries together. Everything in Switzerland was at least twice as expensive. My mother proceeded to brutally embarrass me. She let the entire shop know how overpriced each and every item I put in the cart was while also insisting that we needed to buy bottled water because she couldn't drink the tap water.
Meanwhile, she would drink tap water at home, and Switzerland had better quality water. So from everything she complained about, the $12 for four bottles of non-sparkly water was somehow completely fine. I never went shopping with her ever again after that.
10. Coffee-Time Karen
My mother, whose first name is Karen—but she goes by her middle name—is a literal and figurative Karen. The worst incident in my memory happened years ago. I was in town visiting, and she wanted to take me for coffee and bagels at a place we had gone to for years. There was a new lady there, and my mother informed me that she didn’t like this lady much because she was kind of slow at things.
The lady was just trying to make ends meet at a "simple" job since she couldn't focus on her real career while she mourned her recently deceased daughter. We ordered coffees and these delicious cheddar bagels. The lady forgot the bagels. So, after waiting for a bit, my mom asked the woman, who apologized and put them in the toaster.
My mom was now irritated, tapping her foot and huffing. Meanwhile, we had no time commitments. The bagels got burned. I was disappointed, but whatever. My mom told her,"I paid for these bagels, and I want you to replace them". The woman replied, "Yes, of course, ma'am, let me take care of the customers here first". Those were the wrong words.
My mom became livid. She didn’t scream, but she was raising her voice. I finally told her it was okay and we could get food somewhere else. It was just a few bucks, and I said I would cover the cost. I finally got my mom to leave. She told me, "When I worked in service, I'd never treat a customer that way"! We drove to Starbucks.
It wasn’t the best option, but I figured at least we could get some food so my mom wouldn’t be hangry. When we got to Starbucks, my mom exclaimed, "They cost how much?!?! That's nuts"! I told her, "That's the price mom, stuff had gone up". She said, "No, no, I don't want anything. My appetite is gone", and she started huffing and pouting.
11. His Attitude Wasn’t Going To Curry Any Favors
My step-grandparent was a Karen. We went to a Thai restaurant, and they were severely understaffed because of the pandemic. The food took around 30 minutes to come out. My order didn’t come out for another 10 minutes after that. During those 10 minutes, my step-grandfather kept calling over waiters and asking when the food was going to come.
He also told them that if it didn’t come soon, he was going to give them a one-star rating. It was pretty funny for me, but I also felt bad for the people working there.
12. Dollar Dilemma
My dad was a bit of a Karen, but luckily, he never got too loud or obnoxious. He would just really, really pedantic. He once called Walmart and went into this whole thing about the strawberries being one dollar more expensive than what was advertised. I couldn't believe that he would go so far over a single dollar.
13. Street Screamer
My grandmother used to scream and yell at anyone, and everyone who walked their dog, played basketball, or rode their bike past her house during the day. When I came out to get her and reminded her that people had the right to use the city street, she turned on me and screamed, "I pay my darn taxes so I can have some peace and quiet. So, yes, it IS my street, and I don't WANT THEM ON IT"!
The level of self-absorption and entitlement would have been staggering, except we all knew she was a raging narcissist, so it was par for the course.
14. My Mom Got Schooled
My mom went and harassed my elementary school so much over small things and caused such a big fuss that they didn't let my niece—who they knew was my mom's granddaughter—come back. They just didn't wanna deal with her anymore, to the point of booting her out of the school. Luckily, my sister and I had already left and were in middle school.
Those poor teachers didn't get paid enough to deal with her.
15. Say Yes To The Dress, But No To The Karen
When I was wedding dress shopping, I invited my mom only because I knew she would be hurt if I didn’t. Ten years later, my friends still recalled how rude and obnoxious she was to the poor staff. My parents weren’t giving me a penny for the wedding, so it wasn’t like she was the one paying for the dress and had a say in anything.
Every time a staff member asked me a question, she kept talking over me and giving them wrong information. She was also just horribly negative about everything—the sizes that the store had, the dress details, the alterations, etc. She did all this in a loud fashion in front of the staff and the few other people in the shop. She even tried telling them not to bring dresses I had specifically arranged to try on ahead of time.
My aunt started distracting her as much as possible because it was so uncomfortable while my friends tried to lighten the mood. When I found my dress and went to order it at the cash register, the employee asked if I wanted to open a store credit card. My mom quickly piped up and said, “YES, she does”. I did, but it was not her choice to make, and I hadn’t discussed it with her, so she had no reason to think I wanted to do it.
I finally snapped at her and later apologized to the staff.
16. Three Time’s A Charm
My mother went to the supermarket alone and came back in a rage. She had got into an argument with not one, not two, but three people on three separate occasions during one single supermarket visit. I have no idea what happened, but, of course, it was all everybody else’s fault and had nothing to do with her. At least that’s what she said.
17. The Color Of Karen
My mom said that it’s weird to dye your hair and told my kid that she should never do that. Since then, my child’s hair has been pink, blue, purple, red, and green. My mom hates it and always threatens to dye it back to a natural color. It brings my child and me such joy to see my mother mad at something so stupid as hair color.
18. Film Freak Out
Back in the mid-90s, my mom rented Clerks for the family at the rental store inside the Kroger's we used to shop at. Meanwhile, she had no idea how raunchy the movie was. She was so offended by it that, the next day, she went back to the store, seeking vengeance. She started screaming at the manager, saying how outrageous it was that they would carry such an offensive movie at a family rental store.
She then demanded that they permanently take it off the shelf. The crazy thing is that they actually obliged her. They never carried the movie Clerks at that location again.
19. My MIL Was A Multi-Time Karen
My mother-in-law was a total Karen. She tipped $2 on a $100 bill because she didn't like how the fish was cooked. I got up and handed the waitress $20 and apologized. Then, she took my kids out to lunch and did it again. Luckily, I had sent them with cash to tip just in case. Another time, she walked into a salon with no reservation and threw a passive-aggressive huffing fit because they wouldn't give her a slot right then and there.
Unfortunately, those are just a few of many, many similar moments.
20. He Was Out Of Step
My dad was a male Karen. He was the “argue with the servers at a restaurant, demand for his coupons to work” type of Karen. It was horrendous and oftentimes embarrassing. One day at the beginning of the school year, I went to get new shoes. We went to a specific store because he had a coupon. The store was having a sale, and the items we got did not match the coupon, but he was INSISTENT.
He kept arguing with the poor worker for a good 10–15 minutes. As we were leaving, I whispered, “I’m sorry”, to the employee, and she nodded in appreciation. My dad overheard me, and I got chewed out in the car on the way home. This wasn’t the worst thing he did, but it stuck with me because I ended up on the receiving end of his Karen attitude.
21. I Was NOT On Board
We were coming back from a weekend away and were at the airport. Before getting on the plane, my grandpa saw a man he didn’t like the looks of and whispered to me, "He's gonna try to get on the plane without a ticket". I was confused and told him that if he went through security, he had to have a ticket. Then, we got on the plane, and there was a woman wearing a hijab in first class.
We went to our seats, and he saw a man getting to his seat, who was wearing a hoodie, with the hood on, and sunglasses. My grandpa called over a flight attendant. I was confused. He told the flight attendant that there was a woman wearing a scarf and a man with his hood on, and that they should be careful about them.
Basically, he was afraid the plane was going to be hijacked because a man in a hoodie and a middle-aged Muslim woman were on board. I looked at the flight attendant in a sorry way, and he smiled nicely at me. I just told my grandpa that the flight attendant would take care of it. I’ve never been that ashamed before in my life.
22. Covid Karen
During the early stages of the pandemic, my mother was in line at the grocery store. An elderly woman didn’t want to keep her distance in the line, so my mom’s natural instinct was to cough at her on purpose. I was so mad at my mom because it was so disrespectful. But it was about to get so much worse. She turned the tides and started claiming that no one had “technically” died from Covid.
She claimed that all the millions of people who had passed just happened to have Covid as well. This was once again extremely disrespectful to all the people who had lost someone.
23. She Was Off The Rails
My parents went with me to the UK when I started boarding school, and my mom reserved our seats on the train. A girl was sitting at our table. We told her, “Hey, those are reserved”, and she apologized and moved across to sit with her family. But my mother wouldn't let it go. She pulled out our tickets and started screaming at this family about how we reserved the seats.
My dad and I told her to sit down and shut up. It took some arguing because she then turned on us next. She started screaming at us during dinner—in the hotel restaurant with other people around—for not having her back. I was eager for them to leave when I moved into my dorm.
24. Christmas Karen
My mom used to be a Karen. I can still remember her arguing with the cashier at Zellers when I was a kid over the price of clearance Christmas stuff. It got to the point that the people behind her were yelling at her to stop and hurry up. Sometimes the difference in price was a couple of cents. I was so embarrassed and walked away to do something else while this was going on.
Thank goodness, she finally became self-aware and stopped.
25. At The Tipping Point
My mom was always finding coupons for restaurants, and that decided where we would eat. My family was not poor. One day when I was about 15, she and I had lunch at a Tex-Mex place with a buy one get one coupon deal. The total bill ended up being around $11. My mom tipped $1. The server ran out to the parking lot and handed it back to her saying, "You must need this more than me".
26. Like Mother, Like Daughter
Every single time we would be checking out, and the cashier asked about rounding up the cents, my mother would go into an endless rant about how big of a racket it was. The poor cashier—who has absolutely no say in that—would have to nod and agree with her just to get rid of us. Even worse than my mother was my grandmother.
We were paying, and she threw a big tantrum because the cashier "made a face" at her while receiving her card. The poor cashier was new and young. Even though she wasn't arguing, she was trying to diffuse the situation by telling my grandmother that she hadn’t made any bad gestures at her. At some point, the cashier and I crossed eyes.
All I could do was give her a sorry look. My grandmother was making a scene, but luckily once everything was bagged, I just grabbed everything and left. Later, I tried to apologize to the cashier, but I couldn’t find her.
27. Her Behavior Was A Total Wreck
My aunt was a Karen. My family went on vacation to Minnesota and brought my aunt with us since we always bring a family member along. We went to the park. Thirty minutes later, I was thirsty. There was a Walmart right across the street, so my aunt went there to get me a bottle of water. As she was coming out, a shiny, yellow Lamborghini was driving across the road.
She ran in front of it. She was rushed to the ER, and we ended up having to extend our vacation for a while longer because of it. She had two broken ribs, a fractured ankle, and a sprained wrist. I was surprised she wasn't injured more. Then, she tried to sue the driver. She ended up losing, which served her right.
28. No One Could Manage Being Around Her
My ex-mother-in-law was a Karen, and her name was actually Karen. She worked part-time in a diner and was not very good at it. People would get angry at her because she would mess up the simplest things. She wouldn’t write them down and mix them up later. Because of her experiences at work, she believed the only way to fix any inconvenience when eating out was to complain loudly to a manager.
If she went two minutes with an empty glass—"MANAGER"! Was the steak slightly over or undercooked—"MANAGER"!! She would loudly tell the manager that she worked at a diner and would have never made this mistake. Then, if the manager did not comp whatever was not perfect, she pulled out her phone and started loudly dictating her Yelp review with the manager standing there.
It was so bad that if I found out she was going to the same place as us, I would just not go. She was such a spiteful, hateful waste of oxygen.
29. He Had No Concept Of Good Manners
My dad can be a bit of a Karen. I have made a habit of bringing $10–$20 cash whenever we would go to a restaurant. We went to a “concept” place once, where the food was brought out, not all at once, but as it was ready. For a party of six, nothing came out together. My dad was unbelievably furious. He complained about it to the food runner, our waitress, the bartender, another waitress, the manager, and the hostess.
He moaned nonstop from the moment the first dish came out until our exit from the building. I slipped the waitress an extra $20 on top of the measly 5% my dad left her. Thank goodness he’s chilled out over the past few years, but there was a while when I wouldn’t go out to eat with him because of the embarrassment.
30. I Wanted A Ticket Out Of There
I was at the airport with my dad. He got into a screaming match with someone because he went to use the express check-in lane at an airport. He couldn’t use it, but he insisted that he could. He then started screaming at me because I also told him that I didn’t think he could use it.
31. My Mom Was Out Of Line
My mom was a Karen. So much so that I don't go out with her anymore, but especially not to Aldo. I was standing in line when the people in front of us said, "Please stand back. There are limits because of Covid". Instead of moving back, my mom made an absolute fool out of herself. She had a full-on argument in the middle of a busy line about how she was wearing a mask and how many showers she takes.
I started doing my own shopping after that.
32. Nana Was A Nuisance
I am the granddaughter of a Karen. My grandma would complain about everything. She would always try to argue with waiters and waitresses and give them $2 tips for $50 meals, saying “they were terrible” when they didn’t do anything wrong. I would always feel so bad when she’d complain, and the waiters would just be as nice as they could.
Then, other times she would brag how she ALWAYS tips 20% because they work hard. It would be so infuriating. Now, as an adult, I always offer to write out the check because she can’t see well. I always give 20% and round up too if she has been especially rude to the staff.
33. My Dad Was A Total Crumb
We went to some theme park when I was a kid, and my little sister LOVED Cookie Monster. It was about 100 degrees outside. The character actor for Cookie Monster was taking a break, so they told my dad they wouldn’t be able to take a photo with her. My dad lost his marbles and argued with them for a bit. Then, as we walked away, he said, “Don’t choke, Cookie"!
I never understood what he meant by that and still cringe when I think about it.
34. I Wanted To Book On Outta There
I was taking an English class at my local community college, and my mom took me to the bookstore to buy books. I went in and looked at the catalog. It turned out that we didn't need to buy any physical books because all the course materials would be online. For some reason, she outright refused to believe that. She got really mad when I insisted there were no books needed.
She yelled at me and made me look at the catalog and the shelves before she finally realized it was true.
35. This Karen Almost Got Cuffed
My dirt bike was taken, and the authorities got the report wrong. So, because I was a minor at the time, I went with my mother to the station to correct it. She started a verbal fight with two officers. The officers were trying to explain to her that I told them how I thought it all went down, and they just wrote what I was saying in their own words.
I just stood there watching them argue, wondering if they were going to cuff her for screaming at them right in the station.
36. Just A Phone Call Away From Karensville
Whenever my mom goes boiling hot to complain on the phone, she turns into a Karen. She always ends the calls with, "I recommend you leave this terrible company so as to avoid being screamed at". It’s her feeble attempt to make the company lose employees. As if the employees there give a hoot about my mom’s opinion. I can tell they're just like, "Mhmm...Uh-huh...Right", during the entire call.
37. Grandma Had A Beef
Once, we were out eating, and my grandma had a breakdown. She cried because she asked for chicken, not beef. They brought her beef in her food, so she demanded the manager. They told her they would refund her and get her what she wanted, but she continued to cry. She said she didn’t want anything from these people and then said she just wanted her food with chicken.
38. The Dinner
I have a pretty serious food allergy that happens to be in quite a few things. One of the most common things it is in would be yellow cheese. One day, my friend was over for dinner, and my dad decided to order in from a local place. We made sure my order had no cheese as usual, but everyone else was free to have whatever they wanted.
About half an hour passed, and our order arrived. I looked for mine, but I couldn’t find it. The restaurant had accidentally doubled what my friend got, which had yellow cheese. My dad threw a fit and immediately called the Door Dasher that brought it to us. I felt so bad for him, but my dad wasn’t finished. He also called the restaurant.
He made sure to explain to them in excruciating detail how allergic I am and how they could have killed me, all while saying they better be sure I get my order for free and a refund for the trouble. I was so embarrassed because it was the first time I had my friend over. I knew my dad was semi-worried for my well-being, but it wasn’t like we didn’t have food in the pantry I could have grabbed.
39. No Time For Talking
Back in the day, my mom was a tyrant. Nothing would set her off more than a bunch of employees standing around gabbing when there was a big line of customers waiting. She would let them know every time. Now that I’m older, I get it. I was in Home Depot and there was a huge line and only one checker. Meanwhile, they had three employees “directing” the line.
I asked one of them politely to call another checker up, and they did. However, my mom would have torn them all a new one.
40. She Couldn’t Take The High Road
When I was a teenager, my mom picked up my two best friends and me from the mall. While driving us home, someone cut her off when she was trying to change lanes. She went into total road rage and started screaming at the other car. Words were coming out of her mouth that would make a sailor blush. She swerved the station wagon so hard it banged into the yellow concrete dividers.
The tires scraped the sides and almost went over them. None of us said a word on the way to my house. We didn't know whether to laugh or be scared, so we kept silent. The next day my dad was about to get in the car to go somewhere, and he noticed the tires on the one side were yellow. He asked, “Hey, who painted the tires yellow”? I didn't want to squeal on my mom, so I said, “Boy, that's weird. Heck if I know”.
41. Swimming In Shame
When I was about eight years old, my dad and I went to a pool supply store, looking for chemicals for our pool. It was about 9–10 AM on a Saturday—typical dad errand time. The employee was about 15, at most 20 minutes late to open the store due to another employee calling off last minute. My dad didn't cut the guy a break. He made sure to let him know that the late opening was his fault.
He told him that this was the reason the store would lose good paying customers—it was the first time we had ever been there—and that he, as an employee, was a bad representation of the entire "pool industry". I remember being completely ashamed in front of the other customers who were waiting with us.
42. His Attitude Didn’t Cut The Mustard
My dad hated mustard. I remember one time he got mad at a lady at McDonald’s because there were pickles, onions, and mustard—all the toppings that he didn’t like—on his burger. He started yelling and asking for them to remake his meal. He then proceeded to tell them to be careful with taking orders and getting them correct because some people have mustard allergies, like him.
He didn’t have a mustard allergy. Then, from the front seat, I mouthed “Sorry” to the lady, and we drove away with his new plain burger.
43. Hit The Road, Jack
It was Christmas Eve, and I had just gotten my license. I was sent out to go get Jack in The Box because no one wanted to cook. I was given cash. The order came out to $75. It was clear that the young woman was in training and was overwhelmed. Before finding out how I was paying, she asked to see my ID because card purchases over $25 had to be verified with ID because of rampant thievery.
I got my food, apologized for adding to the issue of a horribly long line, and went home. I asked my dad, "Hey, why would they need to see my ID for a cash purchase"? My dad lost his marbles, saying how dare the minimum wage worker ask to see my ID. It had my address on it. What if she comes to our house and takes me? My goodness, this is the worst crime!
So, he put me in the car, drove me down to Jack in The box, and started throwing a fit while I simply stood there. I hadn’t eaten my food, and I was hungry because it was way late. I was just too tired for such nonsense. The general manager—not just the shift manager—but the general manager of the store was reached on the phone.
She gave my dad her personal number and said to give her a call so they could sort this out. He was given two free meals, and he sent me to go get them the next day. I felt nasty. I haven't been able to show my face at Jack in The Box since then.
44. Request Denied!
There was a moment when my mom turned into a Karen. She wanted me to film her while she said something to a cashier at McDonald’s. I told her I wouldn’t do it, and she got mad at me. She apologized soon after, but her request honestly got me mad. People who work in retail or food industries don’t get paid enough to deal with an irate person who is yelling at them for accidentally making a mistake.
They certainly don’t get paid enough to be filmed and be embarrassed online.
45. Crowdsourcing Karen
My mom had a Karen phase for a few years. She literally told me, "You know, if I'm mean to people, they do things for me," as if she had a revelation. So, she yelled at a cashier once because she didn't read the signs that were plastered everywhere. The cashier had to call his manager to cancel her transaction. Then she said she deserved free booze from all the hassle he caused her.
She was actually looking around, trying to get the crowd to join her in her single Karen riot. I decided to step up and put her in her place. I told her—very loudly in front of everyone—that she needed to shut up because she was acting like a child. I said that no civilized adult would be acting with such a low IQ and as barbaric as she was acting. You can't cause a problem and then get mad about it.
46. Karen See, Karen Do
My mother becomes a Karen when she's stressed. One time I was at the pharmacy. There were two people in line in front of me and one person at the register. The woman right in front of me shrieked as loudly as possible that they needed to open a second register. I thought maybe she was in a rush, but when I went to check out next to her, I overheard her going over coupons and whatnot.
It was one of the few times I've run into a dyed-in-the-wool Karen in the wild. She even had the haircut. A couple of months later, my mother did the exact same thing while I stood there contemplating if I should have pretended not to know her.
47. No Time For A Dip
I went to a hotel one night for dinner. The hotel had a pool that was clearly only for hotel guests, as was indicated by the dozens of signs surrounding the area. Did this stop my mother? Absolutely not. My mother told my little brother and me that we were allowed to use the pool and even had us wear our bathing suits under our clothing so we could easily get changed after dinner. However, they had employees monitoring its use.
After we jumped into the water, security calmly walked over and asked to see our hotel room keys. Since we weren't staying there and didn't have room keys, we were politely asked to leave. My mother refused and insisted we were within our rights because we ate dinner there. A screaming match ensued, and there were hundreds of people staring at us.
Finally, the head of security had to escort us off the property before the authorities were called.
48. I Went Karen Over A Hot Cake Craving
I had a Karen moment a few years ago. My poor boyfriend and my stepdaughter had to deal with my anger during the ordeal. We were going camping for the long weekend, and we got up early to head out. My boyfriend asked if I wanted to grab breakfast before we hit the road. I said, “No, I will be OK until we get to a town an hour away, and I will get hotcakes from McDonald’s".
We rushed to get to McDonald’s in the town because it was 10:45 AM and breakfast was done at 11. I had a one-track mind, and all I was craving were their hot cakes. That was all I wanted to eat. When I got inside the restaurant, there were ten people ahead of me. So, I asked an employee if they were still serving breakfast. I got a yes from them, so all was good.
I would get my pancakes. I was three people away from the cashier, and the breakfast sign flipped to the regular menu. They announced breakfast was OVER! I just lost it! I freaked out and yelled—at no one in particular—for wasting my time in line and stormed out. I went outside, flipped out on my boyfriend, and pouted in complete anger for the next hour and a half in the vehicle.
It was NOT A PROUD moment, and I was completely embarrassed. I was still mad when we got to our destination and angrily cooked lunch after we unpacked our trailer. I am pretty sure my stepdaughter would have cried from embarrassment if she had come in with me inside the restaurant.
49. Driven Out
My dad once got banned from the Ford dealership, which was the only place where his car insurance covered the three-year late oil change that he needed. Why? Well, for the dumbest reason imaginable. They had a vending machine that sold Arizona tea for $1.25 while the can said 99¢. He didn't even buy it or want to. He was just screaming at the front desk people because there was a discrepancy.
The vending machine wasn't owned by Ford, and they were most certainly not in control of the prices. I have no idea what he hoped to gain out of that ordeal.
50. Mega Burger Mayhem
My mom was totally a Karen. One day, we were at a fast-food restaurant, and I asked for my mega burger without bacon. I'm not allergic or anything like that; I just don't like it on burgers. My mom turned into a monster. She actually asked for the fryer to be heavily sanitized, and when they said no, she stormed into the back and tore the place apart.
Sources: Reddit,
