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Life can be tough if you’re named Karen—the internet now associates this name with some women who are entitled and want to speak to everyone’s managers. Keep in mind that the term 'Karen' isn't meant to insult all women; it's used to poke fun at super-entitled problematic people. The Karen meme is the female equivalent of the Kyle meme and you can check out our post about the times that the internet destroyed fragile masculinity right here. Now, we know that most women named Karen out there are probably awesome people in real life, but the name has become a part of internet and meme culture.

The ‘Eff You Karen’ subreddit is one of the places that is dedicated to “the hatred of Karen” as they put it. We’re not fans of hating other people, you can’t deny that this online community makes some hilarious Karen content. We’ve collected some of the best Karen memes, so scroll down, upvote your faves, and check out the ‘Eff You Karen’ subreddit when you have the chance.

Bored Panda reached out to Matt Schimkowitz, Know Your Meme's Senior Editor, and spoke with him about Karen memes, and how some people find them offensive and insensitive to women. "As [the meme] grows from a parody of a common social experience of someone demanding to speak to a manager to a statement about white privilege, the stakes over the meaning of the meme grow as well. So I think that users of the meme should be cognizant that what they're meme-ing might not be their intent anymore. It's very possible that the meme could grow even farther to exhibit misogynistic tendencies, which are somewhat already present." Scroll down for the rest of our interview with Matt.

Some people have even stated that Karen memes allegedly promote so-called 'incel culture.' However, Know Your Meme's Senior Editor Matt doesn't believe that this is the case. "I don't think statements about white privilege necessarily align with most of that philosophy. I could see those with sexist beliefs using Karen as a catchall for all women, which is where things get really ugly and suddenly 'Karen,' a meme we all enjoyed and used with abandon is connected to something many would find offensive," he said.

Matt pointed out that most meme humor has a certain level of maliciousness to it. It's an inbuilt 'feature' of memes, in other words. "Meme-ing can be nihilistic artform and rewards really ugly behavior in some cases. Sometimes, what starts as a fairly inoffensive meme can grow into something really hateful, like Pepe the Frog. I could see that happening to Karen—though, I'm not really sold one way or the other on the debate."

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He continued: "Personally, because I'm kind of iffy on the intent of the meme and where it's going, I probably wouldn't call someone a Karen or use the Karen meme, judging the trajectory of its meaning. The meme's meaning will change depending on who is meme-ing it and what their intent is, and that could alter how we all view Karen. As I tell most people, you should always meme with caution. These images, nicknames and jokes frequently have unknown origins and could be connected to some really hateful areas of the internet."

Matt said that it's been hard to pin down the exact origin of the Karen meme. However, he personally thinks that the most convincing origin story is Dane Cook's 2005 comedy special bit "The Friend That Nobody Likes" which names Karen as the friend no one likes. "This is one of the earliest examples that we have to using a specific name to stand in for a whole type of person, and it's a comedic trope that we've seen dozens of times over the last 15 years," Matt stated his position.

“Every group has a Karen and she is always a bag of douche," Cook said during his stand-up routine. “And when she's not around, you just look at each other and say, 'God, Karen, she's such a douchebag!'”

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#7

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Tina Hugh
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’ve given myself insulin shots in public and have never had anyone say anything. My stereotype of white women is that they wouldn’t notice and if they did, their first impulse would be to, if anything, help and comfort me.

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One alternative theory is that it all started with the hit 2004 movie Mean Girls (I still rewatch it every year) which had the ditzy and insensitive character, Karen Smith. This sparked the ‘Oh My God, Karen, You Can’t Just Ask Someone Why They're White’ meme and things snowballed from there.

Another theory about the so-called rise of Karen states that things got started with the character Karen from 1989’s Goodfellas.

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I zzi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Best Karen ever...seems like she can educate the herds

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The problem is not considering equations as a foreign language. The problem is considering a foreign language to be something bad.

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ZombieGirl
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes, very true! One restaurant I worked at...the managers would schedule you on Sunday as a punishment, lol. Like if you were late too many times, they wouldn't fire you, they would schedule you double shifts on Sundays for like a month or so. Sunday crowds are the worst

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Valerie G.
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had one pastor who said "if you are going out for a meal after the service and insist on saying grace, please tip really big".

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AzKhaleesi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is true, when I was a teenager, I worked as a hostess at Denny's. I was seating and getting drinks for a table of ELEVEN. As I opened a new gallon jug of apple juice to put in the machine, I cut my thumb damn near off. I was bleeding everywhere, needed stitches and somehow just barley missed the tendon. The whole table was mad because I didn't bring them their friggin drinks. I was like ummm I'm bleeding here...wtf?

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deanna woods
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As someone who works in a restaurant, I have to agree with this. They come in in large numbers, they make the biggest messes, and they complain the most.

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Mimi777
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

PREACH IT! I just want to understand why those people are so nasty and hateful. You apparently love Jesus and follow him shouldn’t you be a nice and good person?...

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shannon.messenger#1fan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, I'm just going to say that I go to church and so do many of the people at my school because I don't know what horrible churches you have in your cities, but all of the people in my town that go to church and/or are Christian are drastically much kinder, respectful, and well-informed people than the non-Christians in the town. Also, being a Christian is not just a one-hour a week thing; if that's how those people do it, then they're not really Christians.

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Leo Domitrix
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We do not even leave our house on Sunday once churches let out. It's all, "I am a good Christian, now GIMME!"... *shudder* Gimme that parking space, gimme that table, gimme that whole aisle at the store to myself, gimme gimme gimme (give me, for those unfamiliar with US slang). And I have said, "Ma'am/sir, I need to reach that item behind you," and been told, "Get it later!"... Er... OK, but you're texting your family in the middle of the store, can I just ... NOPE. Yeesh.

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Freya the Wanderer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another thing church crowds do is "tip" with religious tracts. Oh it's so nice to know that you can get into Heaven if you love Jesus - but your kids need to eat HERE and NOW.

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Randy Klefbeck
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And aren't those the people that just put money in the collection plate so they could sit for an hour or two of philosophy and shaming?

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Melissa Nunya
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I had a friend who waited tables years ago. On Sunday they would get huge groups after church. A group of 20 left her a prayer card as a tip.

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Laura Campos
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a Christian who waitressed in my youth, this makes steam come out my ears. There is a word for these cretins: pew warmers. A real Christian will give you the shirt off their back. I know, because I was on the receiving end of a lot of Christian kindness back in the day.

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Iapetos
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's so different in secular Austria. The church people are no different from anybody else!

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Karen Lyon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My former husband was working as a busboy when I met him. He said the exact same thing. Our hometown has had one of those big megachurches for years, the pastor has been known to be on the tv circuit as well. My ex always claimed that particular pastor and his group were terrible to wait on/bus tables for, and never left a tip. Two of my best friends from my high school days later went on to join that church. Whenever they talk about how great their pastor is, I have to bite my tongue.

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shannon.messenger#1fan
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, I'm just going to say that I go to church and so do many of the people at my school because I don't know what horrible churches you have in your cities, but all of the people in my town that go to church and/or are Christian are drastically much kinder, respectful, and well-informed people than the non-Christians in the town. Also, being a Christian is not just a one-hour a week thing; if that's how those people do it, then they're not really Christians.

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shannon.messenger#1fan
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Okay, I'm just going to say that I go to church and so do many of the people at my school because I don't know what horrible churches you have in your cities, but all of the people in my town that go to church and/or are Christian are drastically much kinder, respectful, and well-informed people than the non-Christians in the town. Also, being a Christian is not just a one-hour a week thing; if that's how those people do it, then they're not really Christians.

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Laura Thomas
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Turned me off to religion just watching how people behaved getting out of the church parking lot.

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Mary McDonald
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We went to Phil's Pancake House maybe once every couple of months after Sunday Mass. Dad would make all 7 of us order the same thing to Not create confusion for the wait staff. Proper etiquette was expected. He was also a very generous tipper (even after just dropping a weekly cheque into the church basket an hour before). DONT paint churchgoers with one brush. It's unbecoming.

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Cho Chang
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not all christians are bad, but there are many that definitely fit that description.

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Curry on...
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not all who call themselves Christians really are. They just like calling themselves that.

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TheHerplover
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A Karen asked if she could adopt my bearded dragon, I said yes, and she said AND I KID YOU NOT "yum" I called the police and kicked her out of my building. She later said she only wanted to eat him at a restaurant, she found that entirely normal and okay. My beardie is traumatized. I wish her the slowest and most painful death possible

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Gary Harms
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They have God's blessing to act as if they are Holier than thou...

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Valerie Smart
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They are the biggest hypocrites and sinners of all. Prove me wrong

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Samantha black
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If There was a zombie apocalypse, Karens would keep their brains

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Colin Leamon
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Leason in humility 101. Going to church doesn't make you a Christian

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Courtney LeDroit
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because they go to church and think that makes them righteous so everybody should be lining up to kiss their asses. On the upside, maybe they'll put in a good word for you with God.

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a dose of reality
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3 years ago

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Nothanks L. Walk
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well yes Ethan, that's why they're religious. Only an imaginary magic sky man could ever forgive their attitude.

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Flibbel's Follies
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

True hell is Mothers day ugh! I think id do the tide pod challenge if I got stuck being a restaurant worker on that day

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elfin
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For a lot of Christians "Christianity" is not really their religion. It's their excuse for getting away with bad behavior.

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Donald Davidson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My mom was a waitress for most of her adult life and she always said the exact same thing.

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Mary McDonald
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They're not. My family is not. And I am not. Folks on this thread are working each other into a froth.

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Tabitha L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For me, it was the two white women for lunch. These women ordered waters with lots of lemon (they would add sweetener and make themselves lemonade at the table); they ordered side salads; and ate basket after basket of free bread. They would site in my section the for the whole lunch service - 11:30-1:30. The entire bill would be about $13, and I would get a $1 tip. And I am not referring to two women in particular. This happened so often, with so many women.

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Bear42212
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why exactly bring race into it? Did you ever think that maybe they couldn't afford to get anything but the water and the salad? Maybe that was the only time that they got out all week. Maybe all they could afford to give you as a tip was the $1.00. You sound like a nasty person. I hope you weren't nasty to them.

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SaraFromHell
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

100%. Down with Christianity. Its our only hope. No Christians..No antichrist..no republicans..problems solved.

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Sarah Malicoat
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is the truest thing I've ever read in my entire life. I can't tell you the amount of times I received "tips" from the after church crowd that looked like real money only to be a note with scripture written on it instead. The. Absolute. Worst.

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Kelly Hartle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We‘ve had our own Karen jokes for years about entitled women in Indiana—we call them Carmel housewife jokes, after a rich Indianapolis suburb. What does a Carmel housewife make for dinner? Reservations. What’s a Carmel housewife’s favorite wine? “I want a new mink coat!”

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a dose of reality
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's what church turns people into... People full of anxiety, doubt and fears that are projected.

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Shart
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And im gonna guess ethan is most like lgbtq,young,non white and a non church goer....so i think he is a lil biased

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Rosie Li
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

idk how any of that should make you (unrightfully) bias or has to do with anything but ok I guess o-o

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Liesbeth Blogt
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3 years ago

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Getting up early on an sunday listening to stories they ofcourse already know, trying nog to fall asleep while at least halve of them is still drunk from the day(s) before, yeah I can't blame them for not being as kind and gentle they should be. And isn't it so that those people aren't allowed doing anything on a sunday? Like it is the day of God, so if they stay at home as an good Christian, everybody including you will have a good sunday too.

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I zzi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh how the every person in the world wishes they were a oppressed, marginalised group....do they think it's cool?

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Freya the Wanderer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You have to judge each dog individually. However, there may be good reasons for dog weight limits. Just another reason to have cats instead.

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Freya the Wanderer
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A lot of "pro-lifers" are consummate hypocrites. They mightily protect embryos and fetuses, but don't give a rat's butt about children who have been born.

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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

karens find every way possible to be mean to others and make a big deal out of their small mistakes but dont care when they or their kids do some thing ten times as bad

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Ami Temi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

OMG! I feel like desinfecting the whole house with bleach after reading so much hatred. I can't even find the right words to describe how this makes me feel. I really hope Karma will teach her a lesson!

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Tracey Hirt
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I’m so tired of hearing, “You just need to stop buying avocado toast and lattes, and then you can afford a house.”

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𝕏𝕩ℝ𝕠𝕤𝕖𝕩𝕏
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I want to cry this Is hilarious. I lost it at 1 am. My parents came to my room to ask if I’m ok.

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#24

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Kathy Baylis
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And Death says, “Don’t worry Karen. You’ll be meeting him soon enough. No need to bring a sweater.”

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Ami Temi
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good reaction! The nerve this talentless, useless idiot has! That whole family is just too much...

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Stille20
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I hate that people Christmas shop on Thanksgiving. People didn't use to shop on Thanksgiving because the stores weren't open.... but chain owners are greedy.

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Carrie Henderson
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's a great cartoon. Would be so much better without the massive sexism (and no, I'm not talking about Karen here).

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depicus
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The irony was certainly lost on her but when our political elite do the same what can you say !!!

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