“I Need Police Here”: Karen Throws A Fit Over Homeless Man Buying Food, Gets Taught A Lesson
Interview With Author
Many of us might walk right past beggars and homeless people, but a few kind souls will stop and perhaps give them a little pocket change or something to eat. The vast majority of the population tends to see this as a good thing. But as always, there are some entitled folks who think they know better.
A woman handed a homeless man $4 and was almost immediately berated by a “Karen” who insisted that this was “enabling” his lifestyle. So OP decided to get a little bit of revenge. We also got in touch with her to learn more.
Giving the homeless some money for food is generally seen as a good thing
Image credits: Timur Weber / pexels (not the actual photo)
But one woman ended up being shouted at by a “Karen” who thought she knew better
Image credits: Ümit Yıldırım / pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: thatonedonut88
OP shared her thoughts on what might cause some people to become Karens
Bored Panda got in touch with OP and she was kind enough to share her thoughts and some other encounters she has had with Karens. To start, we wanted to know her thoughts on what creates “Karens” in the first place. “As far as my thoughts on why these sorts of people act this way, I think they had parents that gave in if they acted a downright fool and they just continued to do it well into adulthood.”
“Karens/entitled people assume you’d rather give them what they want instead of dealing with the fight, and end up having to see it through when you call their bluff. Then at that point, they’re too far gone for any sort of rational thought to tell them that it’s time to stop. The world absolutely has to work the way they want it to, that if they get belligerent it will make the world do what they want, and have no clue how to process what happens when it doesn’t.”
If you work in a customer-facing job, you will encounter your fair share of Karens
Image credits: Polina Zimmerman / pexels (not the actual photo)
OP has had her fair share of experiences with Karens, perhaps why she handled this one so well. She was willing to detail another encounter she had in the past. “Back in 2014 to 2015, I worked as a floor manager at Macy’s. My main departments were the jewelry and handbag areas. At the time, the Michael Kors brand was all the rage, particularly purses. We’d just gotten a new series of purses in the brand, which came in 4 colors. ONLY 4 colors, that’s the key to this story.”
“So, we get the usual rush of customers to grab one of these purses, the rush dying down around 7 pm. I remember the approximate time, as it corresponded with the last hour of my shift. Anyway, in walks HER. The Karen look hadn’t quite been widely known, but working in luxury retail, we knew the look. The huge Gucci sunglasses, the Michael Kors jogging suit (that for some reason was insanely popular), the completely fried highlighted hair, and heels with a jogging suit. She makes a beeline for the purses and starts yanking these expensive handbags off our holders and shelves like she’s digging through a closet in a cartoon.”
“All the while I’m watching, realizing I’m going to spend the last hour of my shift picking them all up. Then she snaps at one of my associates. I stepped in since I’ve always been the type of manager who doesn’t tolerate treating a coworker like an animal. Before I could even finish my “Can I help you find something?”, she snapped again and demanded that I get her an MK purse in a specific color. A color that wasn’t one of the 4 colors that style was produced in. Apparently, that was NOT the correct answer. She tells me to go find it in that color. I told her again, that particular style of MK bag didn’t come in that color, only the 4 that we had displayed. This goes back and forth about 5 or 6 times, with this woman steadily getting louder and adding more profanities.”
Most retail workers will find OP’s story sadly relatable
Image credits: Veronica / pexels (not the actual photo)
“Everything from I need to “send someone to the other Macy’s to get it”, to “I know people that work for Michael Kors and I know they made that color, go get it!” We’ve now gotten to about half an hour of arguing, she demands a manager. I tell her I’m the manager, so she demands my manager. I had the authority to tell customers no unless it was a real complaint, which I told her. I then tell her as firmly as I can, that the bag did not come in that color, but we can find her either a different brand or maybe she can take a better look at the 4 colors it did come in and she comes unhinged. I expected more yelling, cursing, and maybe even storming out (hoping anyway). Nope! This woman, I want to say late 40s, drops to the ground like a 2-year-old.”
“I wouldn’t even have believed this had I not been standing there to witness it. She lays flat and starts flailing her arms and legs against the floor. Full-blown tantrum, screaming that I am going to get her this purse in the color she wants, RIGHT NOW! Security finally comes running over, but as you’re probably aware, we can’t actually touch her unless she requests some sort of physical aid. I told my security guard to call the police, and then try to ask her to get off the floor and act like an adult. Does it end there? Nope. She does sit up, but crosses her arms in front of her chest, still like a toddler, and yells that she will hold her breath until we get the purse. So if she suffocated, it’s our fault. I tell her – again – that the color doesn’t exist so she literally takes in a lung full of air and holds her breath. Thankfully this only lasted about 15 seconds, but she kept trying to “hold her breath”, for the next about 10 minutes until police arrived (we had a local PD storefront in the strip mall that shared the parking lot with our mall).”
“Police had to physically haul her to her feet, cuff her and all but drag her out of the store while she’s alternating between screaming that we were being selfish because we were keeping the purse she wanted for ourselves, and trying to hit or kick any merchandise around her. Finally, my actual store manager appeared (I’m 99% sure he was hiding), and filed trespassing against her with one of the officers. The said woman showed up a few days later, but we were able to get an officer there quickly to get her out before we had a repeat of that fiasco… and yes, she did come back to demand the purse in the nonexistent color.”
Some readers wanted more details
Netizens thought her actions were hilarious
A few also shared similar stories
Poll Question
Thanks! Check out the results:
Subscribe to Access
Exclusive Polls
By entering your email and clicking Subscribe, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. You are also agreeing to our Privacy Policy.
Thank you! You've successfully subscribed to newsletters!
You May Also Like
Woman Refuses To Chip In For Babysitting Because She Doesn’t Even Have Kids, Asks If She’s A Jerk
Do you think childless individuals should be expected to chip in for group babysitting costs during friend gatherings?
17 Y.O. Is Done Sharing Her Birthday With Her Late Twin, Parents Are Not Having It
Do you think the girl should be allowed to celebrate her birthday without the remembrance of her deceased twin?
I just hate those type of people like the karen in this story, some humans are just awful.
How we treat, interact, engage with the unhoused, regardless of why they are (cost of living, mental health, substance/medical issues, etc), is the universe’s way of gauging our humanity & kindness. It’s all indicative of our individual worldviews and the assumptions we make about people & situations we know little personal detail about.
Load More Replies...
There is a homeless guy in my town that will do what he can to get by. One of the local convenience stores will hire him to do a little bit of cleaning every so often. He is also good friends with my former manager at a pizza place. She would allow him to come by every once in a while to get pizza or a sandwich or whatever he wanted. One day, he was digging through the dumpster to get some pizza scraps for his pet cats. A girl I used to work with had a full meltdown because she didn't know why he was digging in the dumpster. The manager on duty and I both thought that she was being absolutely ridiculous. Who cares that he was digging in the dumpster. It's a dumpster.
After some bad experiences with fakes when I was younger, I only give food and water these days to street beggers, I feel if they truly need it, they will accept it, the fakes will curse me out. For a while there was a homeless looking begger right near my local 7/11 he always was happy for water and food I would get him from there (learned he really liked the Pre-packed very unhealthy $2 cherry pies so I would get him that). But I no longer give casg
I'm the same. Never cash. If I see someone outside the store as I'm going in, I'll usually buy a couple of boxed meals and a few bottles of water; if they have a dog, I'll get several cans of dog food too.
Load More Replies...
I just hate those type of people like the karen in this story, some humans are just awful.
How we treat, interact, engage with the unhoused, regardless of why they are (cost of living, mental health, substance/medical issues, etc), is the universe’s way of gauging our humanity & kindness. It’s all indicative of our individual worldviews and the assumptions we make about people & situations we know little personal detail about.
Load More Replies... There is a homeless guy in my town that will do what he can to get by. One of the local convenience stores will hire him to do a little bit of cleaning every so often. He is also good friends with my former manager at a pizza place. She would allow him to come by every once in a while to get pizza or a sandwich or whatever he wanted. One day, he was digging through the dumpster to get some pizza scraps for his pet cats. A girl I used to work with had a full meltdown because she didn't know why he was digging in the dumpster. The manager on duty and I both thought that she was being absolutely ridiculous. Who cares that he was digging in the dumpster. It's a dumpster.
After some bad experiences with fakes when I was younger, I only give food and water these days to street beggers, I feel if they truly need it, they will accept it, the fakes will curse me out. For a while there was a homeless looking begger right near my local 7/11 he always was happy for water and food I would get him from there (learned he really liked the Pre-packed very unhealthy $2 cherry pies so I would get him that). But I no longer give casg
I'm the same. Never cash. If I see someone outside the store as I'm going in, I'll usually buy a couple of boxed meals and a few bottles of water; if they have a dog, I'll get several cans of dog food too.
Load More Replies...
69
47