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A Firsthand Encounter with Karen
Aug. 22nd, 2020 09:17 amI wake up around 6:30 every morning, read for a bit, do some weight training, take a shower, and start working at around 7:30. By around 1:00 in the afternoon, I am sick of being in the house. In the beforetimes, this is when I would go to campus, go to the library, go to a café, go to the park, or whatever. I enjoy sitting and working outside.
None of that is possible now, so I’ve taken to sitting in my car with the windows cracked open. I can usually tolerate only about an hour of this before I get overheated or have to use the bathroom or something, but it’s still good to get out of the house and soak in some Vitamin D once or twice a week.
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I’ve read any number of opinion pieces and editorials about “Karen,” but I get the feeling that people might be overthinking things a bit. Putting the delicate issue of mental health aside, some people are just crazy, and I think what frustrates everyone so much about the Karens of the world is their entitlement in assuming that their particular brand of antisocial behavior is not just normative but an actual service to the community.
Obviously – obviously! – I’m not going to do anything in response, but I can’t help but be a little upset. I know this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Karen and her dysfunction, but it still hurts to have tangible evidence that my unobtrusive physical presence in a public space upset someone so much that they put up actual signs to let me know that I’m not welcome in their neighborhood.
And so the question of who is allowed to occupy public space in the United States remains contested. What else is new? I suppose the pandemic has lent the issue an extra degree of anxiety for many people, myself included.
None of that is possible now, so I’ve taken to sitting in my car with the windows cracked open. I can usually tolerate only about an hour of this before I get overheated or have to use the bathroom or something, but it’s still good to get out of the house and soak in some Vitamin D once or twice a week.
( Read more... )
I’ve read any number of opinion pieces and editorials about “Karen,” but I get the feeling that people might be overthinking things a bit. Putting the delicate issue of mental health aside, some people are just crazy, and I think what frustrates everyone so much about the Karens of the world is their entitlement in assuming that their particular brand of antisocial behavior is not just normative but an actual service to the community.
Obviously – obviously! – I’m not going to do anything in response, but I can’t help but be a little upset. I know this has nothing to do with me and everything to do with Karen and her dysfunction, but it still hurts to have tangible evidence that my unobtrusive physical presence in a public space upset someone so much that they put up actual signs to let me know that I’m not welcome in their neighborhood.
And so the question of who is allowed to occupy public space in the United States remains contested. What else is new? I suppose the pandemic has lent the issue an extra degree of anxiety for many people, myself included.
