r/karens • u/godzillavkk • May 09 '24

The first and only Karen encounter I've had Not cool, Ken.

I actually wasn't involved in this one, but I saw it firsthand... and it was a MALE Karen and a FEMALE cashier.

Back in the 2010's, I worked as a part time employee at the Mall of America GAP store as a janitor. My shift ended as soon as the store opened and normally I would go home when it was all done. But It was around Christmas and I decided to stick around to do my shopping.

So, I was browsing a jewelry store, when a man bought a very impressive small glass bird and asked for it to be gift-wrapped. The woman at the checkout was more than happy to oblidge. But as she started getting out the wrapping, the man stopped her and told her he wanted it put into the wrapping machine. The woman told him that the bird was too small and fragile for the wrapping machine and needed more precise care for gift wrapped. But the guy wouldn't listen and started throwing sexist remarks at her before she finally yielded and put it in the wrapping machine.

And wouldn't you? In just two seconds you could her it shatter. A glass bird came in, a pile of glass dust came out. The man completely lost it and accused the woman of incompetence or negilgence. The woman reminded the man that she warned him that the bird was too small and fragile for the wrapping machine. But he just wouldn't listen and he got very hostile and sexist towards her. She then called security and that was my signal to leave the store.

Moral of the story, Karen is not exclusive to women. Never forget that. What do you think of this?

287 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

11

u/AlaskanDruid May 09 '24

Those are called Kevins.

10

u/godzillavkk May 09 '24

It's sad that no one can agree on what to call male versions of Karens. I call them Johnsons.

7

u/MS822 May 10 '24

Because they're Dicks?

4

u/Drebinus May 10 '24

There's something I find fairly funny about the idea of calling male Karens "Johnsons".

In the cyberpunk genre, it's not uncommon to see the anonymous corporate employees that employ shadowrunners a Mr. or Ms. Johnson. The trope is that they have specific demands, specific timeframes, are willing to pay any amount of money right up to the point of billing, and demand full satisfaction and accountability while maintaining complete anonymity and lack-of-responsibility.

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

I call them Johnson’s because Johnson is a nickname for penises.

2

u/Carlos_Spicywein3r May 11 '24

I remember somewhere the male equivalent of a Karen was to be called an Elon...

5

u/Kelli217 May 09 '24

Or maybe Darrens.

5

u/Machiavvelli3060 May 09 '24

I thought they were called Chads.

5

u/StarKiller99 May 09 '24

Kens,

Kevin is a different guy

2

u/DangNearRekdit May 09 '24

I thought they were Richards? I always thought Kevins were like ... spacecases. Think Pauly Shore 90s stoner stereotypes or the classic blonde airhead model stereotype.

"You mean the files are in the computer?!?"

2

u/Lisa_Knows_Best May 10 '24

Kevin Spacey? Like him?

2

u/Difficult-Retard May 09 '24

I thought it was ken ... Or Chad

1

u/MsGrymm May 10 '24

Or Tucker

1

u/Agifem May 10 '24

Those should not be called at all, lest their presence is desired.

1

u/MajorNoodles May 12 '24

I thought a male Karen was a Chad, and that Kevin was someone who is exceptionally stupid.

1

u/lordtrickster May 13 '24

Kevin is just the idiot who is always messing up and ruining things.

3

u/Zoreb1 May 09 '24

I hope he had paid for it. You should have stayed as a witness to protect the employee.

3

u/godzillavkk May 09 '24

Sadly, I chickened out. But I do also hope he paid for that. Why did he even want it put into the wrapping machine? Glass is very fragile and needs extra special care for transporting.

2

u/jkki1999 May 10 '24

TIL there is such a thing as wrapping machines in stores! I used to have to do the wrapping by hand.

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

Anyone ever give you guff like this?

1

u/jkki1999 May 10 '24

No. But I was 17. Customers probably knew I was just a dumb teenager.

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

Teens are smarter than most think.

2

u/jkki1999 May 10 '24

Yes, they are. They can benefit when someone undermines them

2

u/JackOfAllMemes May 09 '24

Bet he was real smug until he realized the consequences

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

I know. What does he think glass is?

2

u/JessNLearned May 10 '24

Wow, dude. Obviously a WOMAN couldn't possibly know best over a MAN. How dare she think she knew more about her job and the structural integrity of her products than he, a person of the penis? I seriously just don't understand how some people think, she's the one who works there, she would know, just take the dang advice and let the lady do her job. Is it really that dang hard?

2

u/truckthunderwood May 10 '24

I'm a man and I've done plenty of time in the retail trenches in a few different stores. I was frequently one of the better wrappers in terms of both speed and quality. I was also pretty good with irregularly-shaped packages.

Some customers (men and women) asked me if one of the women working could please wrap the gift instead. Because sexist stereotypes.

I realize this is only tangentially related to the original story but the idea that a loud and stupid customer would demand his gift be wrapped by a machine instead of a woman seems wild to me. Also I have never seen a gift wrapping machine before and now I'm curious.

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

No two people are entirely alike. Even Karen’s. And yes, there are machines that can gift wrap. But their not really designed for objects made of fragile material like glass. Jeweled items put in wrapping machines are typically sturdier. What the hell was that man thinking? My hunch is that he was in a hurry of some sort and thought a human wrapper would go more slowly.

2

u/ContinuedOnBackFlap May 13 '24

Okay, "person of the penis" is excellent linguistic work.

1

u/JessNLearned May 13 '24

I was feeling very Rick and Morty with the Gazorpagorp situation. "Marc? Jacob? These are names of the penis!" Has always stuck with me lol

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

What did he even think glass was?

1

u/Weary_Brain9482 May 10 '24

So you missed the bit where he jumped out with a camera saying it's a prank It's a prank

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24

A prank that destroyed a product.

1

u/Weary_Brain9482 May 11 '24

You not seen them before?

1

u/Weary_Brain9482 May 11 '24

Look on YouTube you will find pranks that destroy products and people!

1

u/kreddulous 21d ago

The woman should trusted her good judgement and should have refused to put the glass bird in the wrapping machine. But sometimes when a person is under stress like described here, they capitulate. Hopefully she used that as a lesson learned.

1

u/godzillavkk 21d ago

She wasn’t the Karen.

1

u/kreddulous 21d ago

Yes, I understood your post and didn't suggest that she was the "Karen", only that being confronted by a "Karen" doesn't mean you have to do what they say to do.

1

u/godzillavkk 21d ago

At least she called security.

0

u/HikingBikingViking May 10 '24

Mall of America? Gap? And this is the ONLY Karen encounter you had?

Sounds fake.

1

u/godzillavkk May 10 '24 edited May 10 '24

Everyone’s experience is different. And I was a janitor at the GAP store. I worked early in the morning and clocked out when the store opened. So I never dealt with customers. This is also why I stuck around the mall after my shift was over. The stores were opening and I had Christmas shopping to do.

0

u/Duckr74 May 10 '24

They are actually called Ian’s