Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)An Army of MAGA Karens and Kevins Is Being Shitty for Sport [View all]
TRUMPY TANTRUMS EVERYWHEREhttps://www.thedailybeast.com/an-army-of-maga-karens-and-kevins-is-being-shitty-for-sport?ref=home
America has done it again.
Rather than being discouraged by the tragedy of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have dug in, held on, gritted our teeth, and against all the odds, somehow emerged from a year of unfathomable hardship into our bold new normal, where we somehow act like even bigger dickheads than we were before this all happened. This week I, like millions of people, watched a video of an unruly woman at an airport being told that she was not allowed to fly on that particular airline after refusing to wear a mask and calling one of the check-in agents a bitch. In the video, the woman pleads with a higher-ranking airline employee, who calmly explains that rude behavior isnt tolerated on their airline, and if shes looking for another travel option, he suggests Spirit Air. Burn. Although we didnt see the behavior that led to the womans expulsion, it was a solid entry into the public Karen freakout video genre, because it featured a person who was clearly used to getting their way no matter how they acted running head on into a reality where they do suffer consequences as a result of their actions. The woman pleads, and is denied. She lies, expecting her word to be believed over that of the other party. Shes denied again. She does not get what she wants. She walks away, defeated. Its like mainlining schadenfreude.
But for every Karen or Kevin who gets their just desserts, there are untold numbers of abusive customers, passengers, patrons, and shoppers who do get away with it, and the problem seems to be getting worse. Restaurant workers who returned to understaffed restaurants report that customer shitheadery is at an all-time high, from New York City to South Carolina to California to Massachusetts, where last week a restaurant closed down for a day of kindness after entitled customers abused employees to tears. Airline passengers throwing tantrums about wearing masks have led to grounded flights and emergency landings. (The uptick in ugly airline travel experiences inspired my husband and I to call an audible and drive from Los Angeles to a family reunion near Duluth, Minnesota rather than brave LAX. It took us three days. No regrets.) Predictions that the summer of 2021 would be both horny and chill have turned out to be sorely mistaken. Instead, all across the country, some Americans decided to get their pandemic ya-yas out by abusing the wait staff, flight attendants, bartenders, receptionists, baristas, nail technicians, cashiers any worker whose job is to deal with customers, reset expectations, enforce rules.
In retrospect, we should have seen Summer 2021: Revenge of the Karen coming, as our former president has spent years modelling this exact behavior. Donald Trumps presidency damaged our standing in the global community, our public health, our government, and our democracy, but hes also done irreparable harm to the American personality, attracting people who were already kind of shitheads in the first place and encouraging them to give into their worst impulses and then cry and break things when they dont get their way. Trump might not be in any of the public freakout Karen videos that matriculate from social media to national news, but hes felt in each one, smiling down on the insufferable asshole throwing a fit. When I watch a video where a man is dragged off an airplane after refusing to wear a mask, I see a COVID-riddled President Trump ripping off his mask as he gasps for air on the steps of the White House after being released from Walter Reed. When I watch a diner screaming anti-Asian racial slurs at restaurant staff, I hear President Trump telling CBS News Weija Jiang to ask China about COVID-19. When a patron threatens to call ICE on a Texas restaurant because of its mask mandate, I hear Trump calling Mexican immigrants rapists. The woman from the airline counter denying over and over again that she called the employee a bitch is Trump tweeting NO COLLUSION! at all hours of the day, with no context.
When Donald Trump refused to concede the election after a clear Biden victory, an internet user whose identity has been lost in the whitewater rapids of memes we call culture photoshopped a stereotypical Karen hairstyle onto then-President Trump, alongside the words I would like to speak to the polls manager. It got made into tee shirts. The Jan. 6 Trump riot that claimed the lives of five people in the U.S. Capitol building was the ultimate Karen tantrum, a Transformers Combiner of Karens, the worlds most powerful Karen calling his army of Karens together, all of them demanding to speak to the manager and then, when their demands were not placated, trying to destroy reality rather than live in it. One would think that embarrassing behavior that leads to public shaming on a massive scale would be a deterrent, but Trump demonstrated to this country that being an insufferable prick is a great way to get ones way. Once a persons sense of entitlement grows larger than their ability to feel empathy, they also inoculate themselves against shame. And shameless jerks have almost unlimited capacity to ruin everybody elses day. If youre a jerk for long enough and you dont care that everybody youre dealing with thinks youre a jerk, eventually the other party will get tired of dealing with you and give up. And you win.
snip
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
21 replies, 3324 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (38)
ReplyReply to this post
21 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
It's part of being in a cult. One willingly humiliates themselves for the approval of dear leader
PSPS
Jul 2021
#2
he knew it would work too, all he had to do was look at the RW televangelist cons
Celerity
Jul 2021
#8
I have to ask, since I have no experience, is Spirit Airlines really shitty?
captain queeg
Jul 2021
#4
same bloke, he just put up his long hair and tied it with his facemask, plus, same shirt and shorts
Celerity
Jul 2021
#18
more info on that asshole, his name is Ryan Brewer, he is from MI & OH, and is schizophrenic
Celerity
Jul 2021
#19
he seems aware at times that he is bright but not shining, and yes, he deffo needs psych help
Celerity
Jul 2021
#21
age of computer's - no fly list, lot of folk,s might be taking alternate transportation!!
monkeyman1
Jul 2021
#5