42 People Reveal What Real-Life “Karens” Are Like When The Viral Meltdown Is Over

My mum is a bit of a Karen, and we’re pretty much no contact now so that should tell you everything you need to know. Whenever we’d go out to eat it’s always too cold, they don’t have the brand of sparkling water she likes, they’ve put ice in her drink when she didn’t want it, she always has to make some kind of modification to her order etc. the list goes on.

It got to the point where if we were out shopping and she said she needed to return something I’d just go somewhere else because I couldn’t stand watching her be rude and argue with the staff.

My parents are divorced and I live with my dad now instead. Part of the reason I barely see my mum is because I’d have to meet her in public (go for a coffee or something) and I just can’t deal with the way she behaves in these places so I don’t go.

Not the married to one, but my moms a Karen. Literally overreacts to everything. Whenever something doesn’t go her way- you guessed: gotta speak to the manager or whoever is in charge. Sometimes really embarrassing to go out in public with her because she’ll just yell at the service workers for the smallest of things. Also she has a bob cut.

Not married. 4 years of a toxic relationship though.
I broke up with her on Monday, again. We're kinda f****d financially because of this lockdown so we are just feeling things out for a month before we decide forsure. This cycle is on repeat.

I constantly have to cut her off and speak over her because of the way she treats people. Waiters, sales assistants, gym staff, neighbours , landlords, randoms we meet in bars etc.

Note: we were both waiters at the beginning of our relationship so she has worked in the industry, but still lacks empathy. She blames the waiter if something is out of stock etc.

My second major issue. We are both English second language teachers. She teaches kindergarten, while I teach highschool. Now that we are working from home I hear how she speaks to her students and it's really opened up another aspect of her personality that I don't like. She will berate a student for not understanding instead of evaluating her ability to explain. S******g on 3 year olds in their second language doesn't fly with me.

A lot of her behaviour stems from a self defence mechanism due to insecurity, but that's not an excuse. She doesn't realise how mean she is to people, including myself.

I'm a people pleaser that would rather sacrifice my own comfort than someone else's. She expects me to be an a*****e to people because I'm a biggish guy with tattoos, I don't exactly look soft. It's toxic as hell, please help.

Divorced an a*****e “Karen” who was convicted of domestic violence (that’s a misdemeanor folks), so she got half of everything.

Totally worth it. My life before was a nightmare. Escape was priceless

I'm not married to a Karen but someone in my family decided to make a Karen family and let me just say.. it is freaking hell! I do not go to any social event if said Karen will be there (keeps the peace in my family tbh) nor do I go alone with Karen. She is a nightmare to everyone in her path, from car guards to cashiers, even her friends... No one can be better than her or smarter than her and she's just freaking exhausting man. The worst part is... Her kids are becoming just like her 😓.

I'm divorcing a Karen

Nothing was ever good enough, everything had to be the most expensive thing and even then it wasn't good enough.

It was exhausting and it sucked the passion I had for life out of me.

Edit: slept on this and thought of some more tell tale signs. She never said nice things about me, to me or to other people. My best friend came over for a BBQ with his wife and kids and her and her mother just mocked me the whole time to my friends wife. My friends wife confronted them about it.

Even on our wedding day the part you say nice things sounded like a tentatively warm school report card. The nicest thing I remember her saying about me was "I like how you make the salads. It's better than how I make it." The whole time that's the best I can think of.

I broke up with my ex karen after she went to buy a coffee machine for 700 bucks and then proceeded to be so horrible to the cashier ( for some reason she demanded 20%off) that he had to get his manager. And then after about 40 minutes of pure karenness the manager used his card to give her the 20%.
After she came home and told me that i drove back to the store to apologise.

My ex wife is a Karen, in every sense but name. It was always so embarrassing. She was incapable of treating anyone like a human for the most trivial of occurrences. It was hell for me, as a person that's pretty forgiving and don't seek out confrontation. So in a 1 word description it was Hell.

P.s she's very codependent and jumps from relationship to relationship these days. Not surprised.

My mother is a Karen. If something minor inconveniences her, she blows it up into a huge done, constantly complains, belittles me and has a slight superiority complex.

Kind of a funny story...

Note before reading - I am a male.

So I ordered a pizza (this was way before the COVID days). They said 30 minutes. An hour goes by...no pizza. Due to a fault on their end and their attitude I went off on them. My 10 yr old son heard me and after I hung up, he says "dad, why do you have to be such a Karen?!"

Obligatory not married to a Karen. However my mother is a Karen and lord is it not easy. I don't even know how many times I've had to correct her on the way she speaks to servers. Doesn't listen. The smallest inconvenience, she wants to talk to someone higher up. She overreacts to every inconvenience and is the type to try and bargain at a retail store... Apparently the concept of set-price does not apply to her. Can't stand it. I'm glad I no longer live with my parents. I love my mother I do and she has great qualities but she is the most Karen a Karen can be.

I know a guy who’s married to a Karen named Karen. Every part of their family’s life is perfectly scheduled. Right from the homework to the dinners. I think the bathroom schedule has been out of whack recently.

I think it’s a win-win situation for him since his life is perfectly organised with minimal effort on his part and when someone crosses a line and annoys him his wife will destroy them with her passive aggressive comments and he still doesn’t have to raise a finger!

Not married to one but my wife's aunt married a Karen. She is a horrible person. Just off the top of my head: at her mother in law's funeral she literally stole all the trays of catered food out of the oven before anybody ate and left.

Another time, When over she got so drunk she just sat on the sofa and peed. She didn't get up, just sat there.

We don't talk to Karen or my wife's aunt anymore.

My mom is a Karen. She literally can not help herself but to tell other her opinion. She genuinely sees it as doing everyone a favor. It destroys her relationships with my siblings. None of my other siblings will talk to her.

A few years ago we went out to eat. The restaurant served bread and butter before the meal. The butter was whipped. My mom, the former dairy farmers daughter, insisted they bring her “real” butter. The waitress went back to the kitchen and came back and told her what she had was butter. How dare she! My mom, who apparently is infallible in her ability to detect butter, started acting like a complete a*****e to the waitress about it. “She knows what real butter tastes like.”

I go to this restaurant often and my kids are there so my first instinct was to apologize to the waitress. That was a bad idea. As soon as I did my mom went into a rage about respecting your elders and walked out of the restaurant. To this day she still won’t admit she was unkind to the waitress.

It is the absolute best I love my wife

Edit: I didn't write that.

My brother is married to a Karen. He's getting p***y whipped (henpecked) everyday and no one likes her in the family. She'll complain to the manager every time they go shopping. My nephews and nieces would reply "ok, Karen" repeatedly at her.

Engaged to one, she was raised as a princess by here military raised father. However she’s super down to earth but god forbid you work in the service industry and mess something up. She worked at IHOP during college so it humbled her compared to her family. She just writes reviews now (good or bad) and emails corporate to complain. If something is wrong with my food she refuses me to sit there and eat it. Which I hate but I have gotten her better about it (I believe). So maybe she is just a recovering Karen at this point.

My sister is a Karen. She is absolutely arrogant when she speaks with others. Always talking rude and arrogantly to me in front of her husband but if I respond back , she just calls mom and throws an anger fit to blackmail her emotionally that I insulted her in front of her husband. She forced me and her husband to go to a supermarket to buy a bag of chips for children right an hour before the lockdown but when I said No , she went full karen on the call.


She stoops to disgusting low levels in arguments with me but believes she is very honest, pious and kind hahaha. She is absolutely manipulative , she gets angry at me in front of everyone but straight out denies her behavior whenever I complaint about it with my mother or anyone.

Thank God for posting this. I am stuck with her these days in the lockdown and can't wait to gtfo of this hellhole which she haunts.

My mother is her enabler.

My mom is a Karen. Not fun. I think she was part of the reason the girl I loved left because whenever she was around my mom behaved much better and put on a nice face. We argued frequently about my relationship with my mom. Hurts a lot. Don't think I can fully let this one go.

Edit1: I apologize for not replying to very many of you. The end of the semester is upon me and papers and such are taking up a large amount if my time.

Edit 2: I love my mom very much and she is generally a very nice person. I've spent a good while trying to put it to words accurately but its difficult. Everything is very minor and very subtle. But its constant all the time. 'It's not what she does it's how she does it' sort of thing. She doesnt try to hide her behavior when in public, she just trys to put her best face forward when around others like everyone else does. I dont know if she is aware of what she does when at home because it is so minor and subtle, but I have a difficult time believing that since it is constant and other reasons.

I know the name and address I'd every manager working a 30 mile radius.

The drawers in our kitchen are overflowing with out of date coupons that she still attempts to use.

We spend hundreds of dollars on Bob cuts and sunglasses I dont think we'll make rent this month, but I'm sure she'll find a way to talk to our landlords manager.