Are you a closet “Karen”?
Using your pain to give your life meaning
--
A woman fell in front of a store the other day. We heard the commotion and looked over to where she was. A small crowd had gathered around her and a gentleman was helping her back up. Other than a bruised ego, she seemed fine. Either way, there were still a few people around her that were able to assist if she needed anything.
I did not think much about it at the time until a friend told me that the lady called the store the next day and wanted the manger’s name and a number to call the head office of the company. According to her, no one from the store had come out to ask if she was okay. She wanted to lodge a complaint on what she considered was neglectful customer service.
I overheard another woman talking loudly on her cellphone while I was shopping one day. She was adamantly telling the person on the other end, that they were the customer and not only was the customer always right, it was mandatory that things be done exactly the way they wanted it executed.
The “Karen” phenomena has sparked a whole movement of stories of entitlement taken to a whole new level of righteous indignation. On Yahoo top stories, one reporter noted a growing trend between older women (45–75), who have never been in trouble with the law and the increase in raging tantrums. These women were wildly demanding their way and seemed oblivious to any effort being made to reason with them. Some outwardly lied or got violent to the point of being arrested. Overall, the attitude was one of playing the victim in a perceived conspiracy that they were blatantly exposing.
Perhaps I am just being naïve, but I never felt that important. The world, as I have come to know it does not owe me anything.
● Life is not fair.
● There is not a weight and balance mode in operation.
● Good days happen and bad days happen.
● None of it is personal.
● It just is.
I can think of several times I had to remind myself of this when things were not going smoothly. Even the best planner in the world will have days where the unforeseen will throw in the odd obstacle here and there. Learning to play dodgeball is…
