There were things my daughter needed for back to school that couldn’t be purchased online, so yesterday she & I went on a close to home, brief, nerve-wracking back to school shopping trip. You know, just in case “back to school” is a thing this year. While at American Eagle I was victimized by a real-life Karen…or “Karen’d” as I like to call it…
THE STORY
…Now don’t go getting all offended if your name is Karen. I wrote a deep heartfelt post about my mom the other day & her name just so happened to be…Karen…and she most decidedly was not a Karen. Most women who are actually named Karen are not Karens, just as I’m sure 99.9% of Karens aren’t actually named Karen. However as I’ve always said, while stereotypes are basically bad, many of them do have a basis in reality & the Karen stereotype is no exception. The Urban Dictionary defines “Karen” as “the stereotypical name associated with rude, obnoxious and insufferable middle aged white women” & that pretty much sums it up. Feel free to click the link for examples of Karen-esque behavior.
For whatever reason, in the last several months (or years if we’re using pandemic time) Karens have been flourishing in the wild. There was Central Park Karen, Trader Joe’s Karen, & even gun-toting Karen. It may be that what was once a relatively polite society that for the most part followed polite decent societal expectations has morphed into the wild west where it’s perfectly okay to be an ass & anything goes. Or it could be that many of us have reached reached our breaking points & gone off the deep end…whatever it is, it ain’t good.
While my firsthand experience with a Karen was nowhere near as dramatic, it is the perfect example of typical mean, nasty, entitled Karen behavior.
First, let me set the scene. I don’t know about where you live, but I have found that not only is in person shopping now a health risk, but it’s also typically a fruitless endeavor. The two times that I have been in both Target & American Eagle since this whole shitshow started, the stock has been very minimal…it’s not worth the trip or the risk. However, since my girl desperately needed jeans we had to give it a shot.
She was in the dressing room at American Eagle & I was at a table of tee shirts debating between the small & the medium. It was a soft beautiful pastel tie dye that I desperately wanted for her & I to share. The aforementioned meager stock meant that there was only one of each size in the shirt.
I had both shirts unfolded & laying in front of me to compare the sizes. You know the drill…it’s something that you don’t necessarily need to try on so you go back & forth between two sizes…hold them up together to eyeball the difference…lay one down, hold one up to yourself…you know what I’m sayin’. Anyhow, I laid down the small, picked the medium up & determined that I wanted the small.
In the split second it took for that to happen, Karen (and I kid you not, she even had the stereotypical Karen haircut & angry scowl…google “Karen haircut” if you don’t know what I mean) swooped in on the other side of the table, snatched the small tee that was lying unfolded in front of me just as I was in the process of picking it up & bolted for the register to pay for it. What in the literal f*ck??? I was so startled at not only seeing a real Karen in the wild, but also at actually being victimized by said Karen that not a single word was able to escape my lips…I simply stood there with my mouth hanging open behind my mask.
In my opinion, Karen behavior, even on a small scale, is at the very heart of so much of what is going wrong in the world right now. For whatever reason, selfish, entitled & often cruel behavior is becoming something that people no longer have any qualms about showing in public. We’re currently living in a very “me & my rights-centric” society. That kind of attitude sucks in the best of times & now it only serves to exacerbate an already epically awful situation.
Those of us who are a part of this tribe…you know who you are, we read each other’s blogs, follow each other on Instagram, have become actual friends…talk often about being kind, supporting other women & lifting one another up. And we do those things on the daily, but sometimes we forget that there is this whole other subset of women who make being cruel & angry a lifestyle choice & not just a one-off bad day.
What that means is that we need to keep on doin’ what we’re doin’. Lifting one another up, sending out good vibes, being kind & allowing other women to keep the pretty size small tee shirt they have in their hand because it’s the kind thing to do. If we keep fighting the good fight, perhaps the Karens of the world will go extinct & all that will remain is a sad Karen display tucked away in a dark corner of a museum somewhere…
Tell me, have you ever experienced a Karen in her natural habitat?
THE OUTFIT
This month’s Ageless Style Link Up theme was chosen by moi, and since it’s August I went with “The Heat Is On”, which is ironic since it’s only 70°, cloudy & so windy you’d think it was October. Anyhow, the theme was open to interpretation so I styled one of my favorite keep cool combinations…cami, denim cutoffs & kimono.
Since I yap about kimonos pretty much constantly I’ll keep this brief. This is one of my favorites because I love all of the fun bright colors & the mishmash of random prints…it’s basically all the prints in one fabulous piece. As if the kimono itself wasn’t print enough, I didn’t go with any ol’ cami. I went with my pink leopard print cami because, well, are there ever too many prints that can be thrown together in one outfit? I think not.
This particular pair of shorts are my summer go to…especially this summer because they’re the only pair that I own that currently fit me comfortably. I don’t often wear ankle boots in the summer, but when I do they are always my Freebirds. The straps and side cutouts make them comfortable enough to wear in the heat without my feet melting into a puddle of sweat which is why they make a good choice if you’re looking for a pair of heat friendly ankle boots.
THE TIP
Mix your prints with wild abandon! Nothing screams, “I’m a confident woman who gives zero sh*ts about your opinion” more than a wild mix of prints & colors. I do however try to make sure that at least one of the colors in each print ties in with the colors in the other prints so that they can live together in peace.
THE LINK UPS
Check out the weekly link ups I participate in for even more fashion and style ideas… BE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN AND LINK UP WITH MYSELF AND MY LOVELY CO-HOSTS FOR THIS MONTHS AGELESS STYLE LINK UP!!
Kimono: Similar: Cami: H&M (Similar); Shorts: American Eagle (Similar); Boots: Similar
Amy ~ Amy’s Creative Pursuits Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Google+, Pinterest
Bettye ~ Fashion Schlub Blog, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube
Daenel ~ Living outside the stacks Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter
Debbie ~ Fashion Fairy Dust Bloglovin, Blog, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter
Jennie ~ A Pocketful of Polka Dots Blog, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Bloglovin
Jodie ~ Jodie’s Touch of Style Blog, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin, Twitter
Julia ~ When the Girls Rule Blog, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram
Kellyann ~ This Blonde’s Shopping Bag Blog, Instagram, Bloglovin, Twitter
Shelly ~ The Queen in Between Blog, Instagram, Bloglovin, Pinterest, Facebook
Shugunna ~ Nzuri N* Simplicity Blog, Pinterest, Instagram
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