Is the Male Version of Karen a Thing? The Internet Has Stories

The male version of Karen, aka Kevin, is all too real. According to the internet, at least.

People with a bad attitude and an even worse haircut have long been dubbed “Karen.” But it’s not only women who can be rude. Anyone can ask for the manager. Anyone.

The title of the male version of Karen is up for debate. Chad, Brad, Kevin and Richard are some of the internet’s top picks, but their stories about male Karens in the wild are even better.

These tales about the male versions of Karens will make you appreciate the baristas, waiters and cashiers in your life so much more. And we threw in the last one just to restore your faith in humanity, just a little.

Gasoline Has Gotten So Pricey That It’s More Valuable Than Human Life

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“I worked at a gas station for a few months. … A man tried to climb over the counter screaming about how he “Was going to beat my skull in,” because we ran out of premium gas … during a hurricane.” —Cananbaum, Reddit

What Is It With Gas Stations and Male Karens?

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“I work at a gas station. Today this guy told me to put his money on the wrong pump. Came back in to tell me to switch it. But to switch it, I have to refund them and they have to pay for the other pump. He leaves before I can tell him so I get my manager to cover the line and go out to tell him. He’s not out there but his brother is so I tell his brother that he has to come back in to pay for the different pump. The guy comes in screaming for my manager and cursing me out in front of a line of 8 people for having to come in three times, despite it being entirely his fault. Also had a guy a few weeks back spit in someone’s face because they asked him to wear a mask. I really don’t get paid enough.” —Raponde, Reddit

Sounds Like Someone Needs a Timeout

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“I worked at a large cell phone company. We had a policy with loaner phones where you could only be given one if you had an insurance claim or warranty claim on a phone and it would take in excess of 3-5 days to receive the phone. Kevin demanded a loaner because he had not decided what phone he wanted yet and didn’t want to be ‘forced’ into buying one yet. … He didn’t get a loaner, and stormed out the store after threatening to have me fired.” —Beautiful_Ad9299, Reddit

Or, Alternatively, a Lifetime Ban

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“When I was in high school, I worked at a small convenience store. I pumped gas, stocked shelves, etc. When there were no gas customers, I would be inside doing other work, then the bell would ring and I would jog out to the gas pumps and help that customer. One man would come in about once a week. Sometimes I was already out at the pumps helping other customers, but when I wasn’t, he would time how long it took me to get to him and start helping him. If it took me longer than 20 seconds to get from inside the store to his truck he would go inside, complain about how I wasn’t hustling enough and want a discount on the gas or something for free. … After, he would tell me if I didn’t hustle in life I would get nowhere.” —Kane55, Reddit

The Male Version of Karen Can Be Just as Condescending

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“Barnes and Noble. While I was ringing him up, this man turned to his kid and said, “Johnny, she didn’t make good decisions after high school. That’s why she’s standing behind this counter ringing up our books instead of reading them.” I’ve never been so insulted or wanted to murder someone more than in that moment.” —Leftywrites, Reddit

Unless Rules Are in Their Favor, Kevins Hate Them

Young apprentice cashier at a supermarket

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“One guy, after completing a sale, tells me ‘now close your register and go over there and bring a cart back for me to carry this in.’ At my store, stepping away from your register while there are other customers present was absolutely forbidden. I asked my supervisor to help out and he starts yelling about how he would have got better service ‘back home in the U.S.'” —HalfManHalfCyborg, Reddit

Karens and Kens Come From All Walks of Life

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“I worked customer service at a Los Angeles theme park which also involved the selling of tickets and other fun stuff to guests. One chubby guy in a sweaty T-shirt and basketball shorts stumbled in, screaming at me and demanding a refund for a ‘cold burger’ that he ate across the park. When I told him I couldn’t do that, he went on to demand a refund on his entire ticket. When I declined again, he demanded my last name, told me he worked for KTLA news and threatened to sue me (personally) and the entire park, and told me that he would make it a huge news story. He was in there for a good 20 minutes, and by the end of it, he was bright red and sweaty.” —Sidandrews, Reddit

But Every Single One of Them Thinks the World Owes Them Something

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“When I was a pizza delivery driver, I had a customer yell and threaten to shoot me because I did not carry extra containers of parmesan cheese with me.” —Pikajabroni, Reddit

If We Were the World, We’d Offer Them a Restraining Order Instead

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“I used to work at McDonald’s when I was in high school. One valued customer apparently was incensed that the long line of customers in front of him was taking up the time he had until he could get his four Big Macs he had ordered when he pulled up to the speaker. He seethed in line all the way up to both windows, paying for his bag of Big Macs and then parking immediately after getting his food in the ‘Pull ahead and we’ll bring your food out to you’ spot, even though this clearly did not apply to him. He storms into the store (where there was little to no line, despite the 10+ cars in the drive-thru) and proceeds to overhand throw the bag of Big Macs right at my manager.” —Avertr, Reddit

Seriously. Who Cares That Much About Paying an Extra Buck for Grilled Onions?

Whole Grain Burger with Bacon, Roasted Onions Served with French Fries

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“I had a guy threaten to fight me because I told him it would cost extra to add grilled onions to a burger … but I think the worst was a regular bar customer who came in every night, annoyed every female I worked with, and then would leave $1 for a tip no matter how much his tab was.” —DoYouWantAnts, Reddit

Some Brave Baristas Risk It All and Tell Brads What They Need to Hear

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“Once had a guy throw a dollar in the tip jar and say, ‘Here, go back to college.’ Fished out the dollar, told him I was six weeks away from a master’s degree and I taught at a university and that it was time for him to leave.” —Goatboy1970, Reddit

But Others Just Aren’t Worth Your Breath

Angry restaurant customer complaining to waitress

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“I had a guy that was barking orders at me all night. He never made eye contact with me, and was constantly questioning me about my knowledge of the menu. At one point he commented that if I had spent more time in school I wouldn’t be working this job (I had just started my masters). I got fed up and finally said, ‘You know sir I am not sure what your problem is, but it is no excuse to not treat me like a human being.’ He replied, ‘Treat you like a real person? You serve me food. How are you a real person?'” —Ro-Maniac, Reddit

Regardless of Gender, Every Karen Shares One Quality: Selfishness

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“Thanks to our ‘customer first’ policy we had to set up our freshly cleaned fryer and oven at 9:50 p.m., ten minutes before closing, to fry a customer new chicken because he didn’t like the ones that had been sitting out for an hour. Everyone gave him a murderous glare.” —Anonymous, Reddit

The Male Version of Karen Seems Somewhat More Likely to Threaten Physical Violence

Coffee customer wants his money back, now

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“I was waiting on a table and one of the guys said he was going to reach across the table and choke me for bringing him the wrong drink (he ordered it wrong). I locked my jaw and stared at him for a very uncomfortable 10 seconds while his friends all fidgeted, then he apologized and ran off to the bathroom. Tipped me 50 on 100.” — Wurtis16, Reddit

But Every Type Gives Humanity a Bad Name

Black Nintendo Wii Controller - Remote with Nunchuck

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“I worked at Target’s electronics section in 2010 when Wiis were all the craze. Right before Christmas time, people would come in RIGHT when we opened, buy our whole stock and sell them online for double what they paid. This obviously prevented families from the ability to go to Target and just buy a Wii, so we made a rule that one person could buy 2 Wiis per day. A man came in smiling like he won the lottery and said, ‘I’m buying all the Wiis you can give me.’ There was a long line of people behind him that looked outraged. I said, ‘Sir, the limit per customer is two Wiis.’

Him: ‘No. I got here first, so I’m going to buy what I asked for.’

Me: ‘Sir, I’m sorry you feel that way, but I can only sell you two.’

Him: ‘Oh, you’re sorry? No, what you are is deaf because I already told you two times. Call your manager. NOW.’

So our manager asked him to leave.” —Digimap, Reddit

I Mean, Would a Dog Break Someone’s Nose Over a Phone? Point Made.

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“A guy broke my nose because he thought I stole his phone. We later found it in a shopping cart.” —YaBoyVolke, Reddit

Occasionally, Male Karens Get What’s Coming to Them

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“A guy threatened to shoot me because I wouldn’t warranty a battery he had no proof of purchase on. Had his address in the system at work and cops went to his house and gave him a restraining order to that store.” — OrbitalOdin, Reddit

Not Getting a Scoop of Ice Cream Is Like a Minor Slap on the Wrist

Gelato cafe worker scooping for a customer order

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“I worked at a fancy ice cream store. I had this one guy come in like 45 minutes after opening with probably 10 other people with him. They all spent at least 20 minutes combined picking out samples. I’d estimate that everyone got at least 7 or 8 so I had to give about 90 samples. Then, none of them wanted any ice cream except for the original guy, who ordered a small in a cup and had the audacity to be furious when we told him he couldn’t pay with a $100 because we had just opened.” —Cactipoke, Reddit

Not Sure If This Ken Is a Scam Artist, or Just Missing a Few Screws

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“Last Thursday, I had a customer yell at me on the phone for nine minutes and forty-seven seconds because the order that he had emailed over approximately four minutes before he called on Thursday had not been delivered on Wednesday. Yes, this man decided that it was my fault that an order that he did not send to us until a solid 24 hours after he wanted it to be delivered had not shown up at his loading dock when he wanted it.” —Instamatical, Reddit

Nothing Is More Flavorful Than Poetic Justice

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“I worked in Domino’s. I had a guy throw a hand full of pennies at me while laughing. The 30 odd cents was my tip. He was mad when I turned around and walked away without picking any of them up. His exact words were, ‘Oh, my money not good enough for you? Fine, I’ll never order Domino’s again!’ I’ve never had a customer fire themselves like that before. It was great.” —Sixesand7s, Reddit

Hey, Karma? We Need You

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“This guy threw a beer in my face when I stuck up for myself and told him to stop banging his fist on the bar and screaming ‘YO!!’ to get my attention.” —Inspiredbypink, Reddit

Smartphones Are Way Too Expensive These Days. Get Creative.

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“Bartending in a restaurant a few years ago. There was a private party and one of the guests asked me to plug in his iphone to listen to a song. No big deal … I did it and he tipped me $20. He left his phone behind the bar and got wasted. When he was leaving I said, ‘Sir, don’t forget about your phone!’ He threw a beer on me and told me to leave him the f*** alone and told me get a real job. Guess who got to keep a nice new iPhone?” —Mox44ah, Reddit

Excuse Me, Sir? It Would Appear You Dropped Your Logic

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“I’ll never understand why people make their dislike for a restaurant’s food into a bizarre personal grudge against the server. I worked at a place that had good food except for this one dish: steak frites. It was a small hanger steak, cut into strips, served with fries. That’s it. The steak was always tough, under-seasoned and wasn’t a lot of food for the money. One day a guy asked me for some recommendations, so I made a couple. He apparently wasn’t impressed by my suggestions, so he asked about the steak frites and said, explicitly, that I wouldn’t recommend it. So that’s what he ordered. After taking a couple of bites, he pushed the plate away, then asked me to call over the manager. He then complained to the manager – not directly about the food, but about me for giving him an awful recommendation.” —SuitcaseMurphy, Reddit

We Actually Experienced This Exact Same Thing. Only With a 2-Year-Old

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“This one guy who basically hated his order so much that he waved me over and told me to put my hand out and proceeded to spit out entirely what was in his mouth into my hand, then tell me to refund him and then make him something else.” —Loves_me_tacos125, Reddit

Gotta Give the Man Props for His Commitment To Fish

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“One guy walked in with 12 people during a snowstorm and flipped when there wasn’t fish on the menu … because we couldn’t get a delivery … because of the snowstorm…” —Ilib2223, Reddit

Who’s Gonna Tell Him?

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“I work tech support for a cable company. Customer calls in wondering why his television wasn’t working. Customer’s television wasn’t working because his electricity was turned off. Argued with me for an hour about how it shouldn’t matter, that he is paying for a service and we need to guarantee it no matter what. The customer was certain that we were the only company that still required televisions to be connected to utility power and then went on about how it must be because the service is not digital like our competitors.” —Quesnt, Reddit

We Feel Sorry for the Clerk, the Man’s Friends and Even the Beef. But Not for Him.

Fresh raw angus beef meat, whole, ground and chopped on parchment paper

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“I used to work in a butcher and a guy came in to order some obscure amount (I think it was 6.37kg) of beef mince. He demanded that I make up 3 different bags of completely different weights, because he was having friends over and wanted them to pay for the exact amount of beef they ate. I was new at the time and had little experience with the complicated and ancient till, so this was incredibly stressful and time consuming. After finally making up the bags, he decided it was wrong and demanded I do it again. The other customers were getting very impatient, and I was beginning to get extremely anxious. I politely suggested I give him one bag and that he and his friends split the bill evenly later, but he took extreme offense to that idea … threw the bags on the floor spilling meat everywhere, and stormed off swearing.” —Anonymous, Reddit

Unsure If This Guy Was a Male Karen, or Just Very Old

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“Not the worst by far, but just today some guy called to ask how to beat the first enemy in Dead Space 2, and when it was suggested that he look up a guide or FAQ he demanded his money back. Said he’d tried to beat it a million times and that the game was broken.” —Mattius555, Reddit

Messing With the People Who Handle Your Food Seems Like a Bad Plan, but Some Like to Live on the Edge

Unhappy businessman eating pizza at work

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“This one guy, we’ll call him John, was a regular at a restaurant I worked at. He would always ask for recommendations and no matter what you suggested, John would tell you he had that last week and it sucked. He would take up as much time as possible no matter how busy the restaurant was. He had a wife who would jokingly tell him to knock it off but she would laugh so it would just encourage him to be a jerk.” —Journey*****, Reddit

To Close, a Reminder That Good People Outnumber Karens, and a Kind Gesture Can Change a Life

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“Obviously these are the worst stories, here’s a nice quick one. I worked with a really sweet girl who at the time was about 6 or 7 months pregnant. She was waiting on a Dad with two young boys and she and they got into a fun conversation. When he paid the bill, it was maybe 50 or so dollars. He left her a 1000 dollar tip with “best of luck” on the check. She started to cry when it hit her and followed him and gave him a hug. She didn’t have any money so that made me feel pretty damn good.” —Anonymous, Reddit