Guy's Decision To Tell His Dad About 'Karen' Memes Backfires After His Aunt Karen Finds Out—And Pulls A 'Karen'

A guy discovered that his aunt Karen had an altercation while shopping and told his father:

"That's such a Karen thing."

Being a baby boomer, the father had no clue about the popular meme, coincidentally called "Karen"—a pejorative applied towards entitled White women who make scenes in public.

When used as an insult, a "Karen" is typically characterized as a White woman in her 30s and 40s who is a mother with kids, a likely anti-vaxxer and usually asks to "speak to a store manager."

So Redditor "Bigringcycling" caught his father up to speed with the slang term.

In the "Today I F*d Up" thread, the OP described the dinner debacle that ensued after his father used the newly acquired knowledge for some meta-level antics.

"My family loves to over share. This lack of filter sometimes has the tendency to get people into trouble because not all the information is provided, even when it's meant harmlessly."

"My parents are a bit older (prime 'Ok, Boomer' age). I was talking to my Dad the other day on the phone because his birthday dinner was a few days later."

"I asked how mom was doing and he goes on to tell me a story how my Mom and Aunt (Karen) were at the store and the cashier made a mistake."

"My Aunt went off on the cashier and asked to see the manager. My Mom was mortified and tried to calm her down but she wasn't having it."

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"I then mentioned to my Dad, 'That's such a Karen thing.' He goes on to say 'Yeah, your Aunt does that a lot.' I tell him, 'That's the funny part, the Karen meme is a real thing."

Here are some examples of the Karen meme.

"It's when an entitled (typically white) woman gets angry at the smallest mistake and asks for the manager.'"

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"My Dad found this hilarious and I explain in more detail. I send him a few links to sites explaining it online."

"He finds all of this hilarious and she even has the Karen hairstyle."

Pandora's box was officially open.

"This sends him down the google images rabbit hole and the next few days he sends me random meme's of 'Karens' doing Karen stuff adding 'Your Aunt did this last week' or 'I think this one is about your Aunt.'"

"This leads up to his birthday dinner with extended family."

"My Dad's birthday dinner is going well. Everyone is having a good time, good food, and drinks, etc. Suddenly my Aunt (sitting a few seats down from me) leans forward and loudly shouts down the table 'Hey [my name], what's this whole thing about making a meme about me?'"

Giphy

"I respond 'Huh?' She then tells me my Dad sent her all these memes about things she's done. He didn't give her the context that it's a generic meme from the internet and what it's about."

"Now, my Aunt thinks I made all these memes about her real life events."

"At this point, the entire family thinks I created this meme on the internet about my Aunt's antics in public. There is a back and forth discussion about it being really rude of me. She's pulling a Karen and starts chewing me out."

"Meanwhile, I am looking at my Dad like W-T-F, back me up here."

Giphy

"My Dad finally steps in to say that this is just a random viral internet thing and that I didn't make these up behind my Aunt's back."

"Even after explaining, she's a bit irritated. It is apparent she is embarrassed that she is so much like a 'Karen' and couldn't tell the difference between the stories online and her own encounters."

Redditors shared their observations about the Karen meme coming to life.

"Shes embarrassed that she couldn't tell the difference between her life and the memes. The embarrassment. Karen is becoming self aware." – Mdepietro

"I was going to say that hopefully this leads to a moment of self reflection and a change of behavior but we all know this Karen is currently trying to find the internet's manager to get these libellous memes removed." – batmattman

"And when Karen finds the internet's manager, Karen will let the manager know that Karen is friends with the internet's owner." – SeemedReasonableThen

"You got to wonder if the self awareness kicking her in the face like this would encourage her to get her act together."

"A bit of 'oh god do I really act like that?' Has potential" – jarris123

"Any Karen may become self aware, but a true Karen will double down on her choices, likely with a bible verse included." – cannotrememberold

"Release the Karen!"

"100ft woman rises from the ocean demanding to see the manager." – whatisabaggins55

If the meme fits.

"She couldn't tell the difference between the memes and her own life, that's amazing. I hope she had some kind of revelation after that" – Tiger_irl

"This is surreal, like this is f*cking mad funny. God that's so awkward for her, realizing that the memes weren't about her but she's just exactly like all of the other karens, and the how she acted towards you just solidified that. F*ck it's perfect" – -SENDHELP-

A woman also named Karen learned to embrace the meme.

"The first few times I saw the Karen memes or stories I was a little offended. Now I love them!"

"I've even used them to my advantage. I have joked with people by saying, 'Don't make me go all Karen on you.' Yes, my name is Karen and I had the hair cut, which I have since changed."

"Now I ask friends and family to send me any Karen memes. Sorry your aunt doesn't get it." – karebear66

This is getting deep.

"I think the Karen meme is a bit overused and loses its roots. On the other hand, if someone thinks that every Karen meme is about them, that's maybe a hint to make them second guess at least some of their actions."

"What I take from this post is that she's become a little bit more self aware and maybe kinda thinks about the situations somehow differently in the future before she acts."

"But remember: for every Karen out there, there's an anti-Karen. Someone who let's themselves be screwed over and doesn't voice concerns or demand compensation when it's perfectly reasonabley to do so." – monneyy

"HAHA a karen being made aware of her own karen-ness, shes gaining a level of self awareness she didnt have before, i wonder if karen will upgrade or evolve into a new karen now that she sees herself reflected in this meme?"

"thats the power of the meme, it exposed herself to herself, now what will happen?"

"will she continue being a karen even with all her behavior being so predictably displayed by a meme?" – honestanonymous777

Auntie Karen may have revealed her true colors, but our hearts go out to all the anti-Karens out there.