The only time someone shopped out of our cart, the Karen was confronted by my wife. They argued and the Karen slapped her. Wrong move Karen, Mama has a blue belt. Her next move was to give the Karen a roundhouse kick🤣, grab our items back. Of course Karen screamed for a manager from the floor. Manager rolled his eyes when he saw Karen, like you again? Cops were called, Cameras looked at by the manager and the cops. The best camera was 20 ft away with a PERFECT view. Karen got cuffed and banned because Laura pressed charges. ALWAYS PRESS CHARGES! I wish I had video of Karen getting kicked. Karen got Chuck Norrised!! It was beautiful.
This reminds me of Tom Laughlin in _Billy Jack._ “I’m gonna take this right foot and I’m gonna whop you on that side of your face…and there’s not a damn thing you’re gonna be able to do about it.”
@@autonomouscollective2599 Mario Girotti (aka Terence Hill, who is an Italian actor best known for his comedy movies alongside his long-time buddy, the late Carlo Pedersoli aka Bud Spencer) in „Più forte, ragazzi!“ (Engl. „All The Way Boys!“, German: „Zwei Himmelhunde auf dem Weg zur Hölle“, Giuseppe Colizzi, 1972), translated from the iconic (and, admittedly, rather silly) German dub by Rainer Brandt: [The scene: Plata (Hill) to Naso (Pizzuti) during a brawl. Naso just pulled out a knife and stands opposite Plata in a fighting stance] „I’ll explain it to you: At first you need to try to attack me. Then, I‘ll kick you in the gut, do a pirouette, kick you once again in the kisser and you‘ll have a tooth missing!“ [Riccardo Pizzuti‘s character attacks, gets kickt twice] „Now go on, take it out. The tooth, remember?“ [Pizzuti fumbles in his mouth and produces a tooth].
That first story... If you let an entitled cow think she's won, she becomes a Karen, if you let a Karen think she's won, she becomes a Mega-Karen. Coddling these Karens is just making the situation worse, you know she'll be back there next week trying to get someone else fired just for kicks now and to reinforce her sense of self-importance.
if I was the manager, I would tell that Karen that this ch12 year old child does not work her and in fact she is the daughter of the boss and I will tell him about you and take your picture and ban you from the store for life if you do not leave at this moment. if you are going to lie, lie to make that stupid cow to feel bad not the child
Managers giving in to Karens always annoys me, but this one in particular really ticked me off. A minor is getting harassed in your store and THIS is how you decide to handle the situation? Not to mention that OP had an armful of books and was obviously about to spend a decent amount of money, as well as being a regular customer. So you're gonna scare off someone who regularly spends money in your store in favor of someone who probably doesn't? Even if you're a heartless jerk just concerned with money, that's just a bad business decision. There is no way to look at this in which that manager doesn't deserve to get fired.
Dead right. If you don't disable that mental illness, you enable it. Years ago I was fired by someone with an agenda and that wasn't even a Karen, it was an assistant manager that got shipped in with an eye on the managerial position. From the day she started, she got a co-worker fired every... single... day. The most hideous turnover rate in that location's history. That said, Karenism feeds on itself, it's a lot like bullying. You HAVE to shut it down.
Gotta say...if another customer followed me around demanding Iserve them, and the manager gas-fired me to avoid a call to corporate, the very first thing I would do is demand the number to corporate before that Karen even left earshot...Cowardly manager.
Me too. That MANAGER, instead of treating the store's PAYING CUSTOMER with respect, was HELPING a random person HARASS the customer. Manager needed fired & Karen needed banned. Call corporate & tell them exactly how that manager treats customers!
@@starrywizdom Not to mention that the customer in question is a minor being harassed by an adult. If I were that guy's boss, he would be fired so freaking fast.
I would certainly have demanded the corporate number if that had been my child. You think Karen demanding you fire another customer, and a child is a problem? Ohhh, you have no idea Mate.
I am rarely a Karen, but when I am, I go for broke. And few things put me in Karen mode worse than another Karen abusing a child, whether it be me(twenty years ago) or somebody else. Because I know if it wasn't me and you're brazen enough to abuse me, then you're brazen enough to target some other kid. If this had happened to me, I would have given the sweetest little girl smile I had in my arsenal, just before giving the high, bone-chilling scream that is the terror of every true mom and bane of every pervert: "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!" After that, you'll learn where I learned how to Reverse-UNO Karen.
The guy who hurt OP's girlfriend, who had his nieces and nephews with her is a complete idiot Why would a worker bring that many children to their place of business? Didn't it ever occur to him that maybe she could be babysitting or a mom with a lot of mouths to feed? Then he physically assaulted her and left marks, in front of little kids God, I hate it when are all like "I'm more important, I'm doing you a service by being in your presence"
I'm be in OP's shoes. No one touches my spouse and harms him without a healthy does of "F- around and find out how at my age, 'life in prison' is not a deterrent.
Kind of like the drivers who tailgate, or pass improperly because they are in a hurry, but have tons of time to brake check you or stop in front of you and get out of their car to bitch at you.
Kindergarten kids sort of slap at each other. The difference with adults is that they punch and a lot of them are armed. It's just a bad idea to go hitting anyone. You don't know what sort of hair trigger you might be tripping.
I injured my shoulder and the amount of people who feel the need to touch my shoulder with or without my sling is a lot. It is also getting to the point where they are making my injury worse.
When push comes to shove you'll do anything to defend the one you love even hitting them my partner would do the same for me and I would do the same for him and yes you are right you should watch if you hit somebody but what would you do in a moment like that when you see the one you love getting hurt and also how do you know he's not going to hurt the children he laid hands upon a woman if he was willing to do that imagine what he could have done to the children
Okay yes you have a point there but like I said how do you know he's not going to hurt the children next he laid hands on a woman as any human would be mad he did the right thing in the end maybe that knock some sense into that guy to not mess with anyone he got lucky that he didn't get kicked in the nuts for what he did
Story 1: (to the “manager”): “Congratulations, you just swapped one call to Corporate for another. I’m letting them know that you encouraged the harassment of a minor in your store, and tried to buy my silence with a pathetic discount.” Story 2: No, no, NO! Always press charges, especially when security footage can back you up for self-defense (as in, if someone picks you up, box their ears and put your thumbs in their eyes).
"I've seen you before, so you must be an employee" yes, Karen, because other humans don't actually exist, so you never see another human "repeated" except employees 🤦🤦♀️🤦♂️
Most of those horrible karens firmly believe employees aren't human like theirs. They look at employees as mere things placed on the stores to serve them.
"Main character syndrome", and employees are just NPCs in her little world. (For clarification, MCS is not a real condition, according to the DSM-V. But it's sure as hell a common phenomenon!)
@@RedT...TheOriginal.NotANumber it honestly should be classified as a mental health disorder because that way there might be some treatments for it because in the US both mental health help and medical help are in the crapper because of pig pharma and their a-holeishness
Which is exactly why I hated working for corporate or national chain establishments. Managers were always concerned about complaints going to home office or a stuffed shirt. I remember one day I shut down this decrepit, wrinkled old Karen who no one liked dealing with. I finally asked her if she had any grandchildren. She said she did. I then suggested that they most likely never visit her because of what a horrible person she is. Since I was very cryptic, she didn't get what I said but later complained but couldn't remember my name or what day it was. So she was dismissed
When I was six we lived in a big midwestern city. We used to play tag and "home" was the corner mailbox. One day we're playing when this guy comes running up and grabs me pulling my arm so hard I immediately broke down crying. He was screaming at me about the noise we little kids were making. I knew he lived next door in a 3 story apartment building and had been a neighborhood annoyance to everyone. Of course, once he let go of me I immediately ran home about 100 yards crying and my dad came outside, saw me, heard my story and took off after the guy. Let me just say, I'd never, ever seen him practically spit blood before. He caught up to the guy. Asked me if he was the one and I replied he was. Now, the thing is my dad was a 5'11" skinny guy, WWII vet and after challening the other guy lit into him. It wasn't pretty and my dad walked away fine but the other guy not so much. Never, ever put your hands on someone else's loved one. If you do, be prepared for a beat down!
In general, I am against violence as a solution pretty much across the board. However, in cases where someone's vulnerable loved one is hurt or in danger, I think violence can be totally understandable & excusable. When people revert to angry mammal parent mode in such situations, it'd be like trying to shame the Mama Bear for protecting her cubs. Don't fuck around if you don't want to find out!
Worked at a store in a rough neighborhood 20 years ago. Guy put his hands on a female customer, grabbing her. I walked over (being way bigger), told him to get her go. When he did I grabbed him, yanked him off of her and physically dragged him to the door and threw him out onto the sidewalk. I came in then expressed regrets to the lady who was attacked. She became a very loyal customer. My boss (another woman) had said she wanted us "rough looking" (unshaved, etc) for a reason. Turns out it was good for business. The boss later explained "clean shaved" staff where not as "respected".
As someone who prefers clean shaven men, I hate that. I'm not saying it's wrong, I've seen in action plenty of times me (a woman) tell someone the exact same thing as a co-worker (a man) and they didn't believe it until the man said it. I have seen that people "respect" "more manly men," but it still breaks my heart.
I would have filed a formal complaint with his boss/corporate that a minor was getting harassed in the store and instead of protecting said minor, the manager actually backed up the minor's harasser. Even at that age that would have ticked me off enough to start reigning hell on that employee.
First Story - The correct response for OP would have been something like, "OK, Mr.Spineless Worm. You can now put away this basket full of books that I WOULD have bought, if not for your actions. Will she be buying that much, to make up for it?"
Story 3: I feel like I am not the only one wondering this after hearing the conclusion but I must ask: Did that manager ever get fired for what he did? As he tried to cover his friend, and honestly if OP's GF did actually happen to work there and the friend did that to her then that really should show he might not be a great manager if he lets a customer do that to an employee.
Honestly it sounds like OP and his girlfriend should have sued the store because of the manager. It would most likely gente he was fired and got them some money in the process.
Possible the 'manager' wasn't a manager and was just the guy's buddy who he called to help him manhandle OP's GF away from the kids. Maybe he also worked there, but who knows?
Lawyer to Karen: “Do you think he worked or works at that store?” Karen: “Yeees.” *with a sneering yet entitled voice* Lawyer: “Why is that? Nothing the man wore indicated this stores uniform.” Karen: “He was looking at shelves.” To be honest, that’s probably her excuse in that (last) story. Damn moron.
I can absolutely relate to that last story, being on a blood thinner myself. Nothing like that has ever happened to be and I do try to be nonconfrontational, but if it ever does come down to it and someone is determined to hurt me, I basically _have_ to treat it as if they are trying to murder me and respond accordingly. Here's hoping it never does happen.
I know what it's like to have been on a blood thinner (Brilinta), and how quick and easily even a minor scrape can bleed. Bruising is also easy to have happen. So nicks and bruises can be very life threatening. Thankfully it wasn't all that long term. It was about for about two years after my heart attack. The only nice part about the Brilinta was I could eat my leafy green vegetables. I hope you never have to defend yourself against some arrogant sot.
Story 2: The dude grabbed OP precisely because he knew 'oh it's Xmas eve, they won't escalate the situation'. He doesn't even sound like a "raging" customer bc he got an elbow to the face and didn't accuse OP of assault like people from other stories.
I'm a pretty big dude, and as such if someone managed to pick me up to carry me off I might be too amazed to press charges, but it's my opinion that anyone putting hands on another person without legal cause they should be prosecuted.
Exactly! He knew because of the day that the store was so busy that he could probably get away with doing whatever he wanted because other people wouldn't want to cause extra hassle for anyone. & that is ABSOLUTELY why he should have been detained & charged! After all, HE was more than happy to cause extra hassle for everyone. There's a case for him being charged with attempted kidnapping, & that would be a good lesson to him not to go around grabbing random young women & carrying them around as they scream to be let go. That is such a violation of prosocial behavior on SO many levels that I can only assume he's regularly raping people any time he thinks he can get away with it, too!
@@thelonemask Exactly that, OP said that she didn't call the police bc she didn't want the manager "to stay longer than he already has on Xmas eve." So Hairy Guy now knows he can do it again. Next Black Friday watch out for Hairy Guy groping someone.
I only heard a similar story to story2. A male Karen grabbed and threatened a girl at a convenience store problem was her police officer father was one row over and arrested him for harassing and threatening a minor.
I couldn't help but think of the recent story where the manager said, "You're fired."; "That's the third time this week." and then said, "See you tomorrow, as usual?"
I’d be tempted to say “ this big bitch was rude to me. She shouldn’t be allowed to treat a paying customer like that. I want her kicked out”. Sauce for the goose ……. I wonder what the manager would have done then.
Nah, she should have demanded the number for corporate, so she could have the manager's job for harassing a customer! Think about it for a minute: who is the store's corporate leaders gonna think manager should help, a nice young person with a basket full of books they're buying & a $100 gift card to pay for them with, or some random lady who isn't buying anything & is just harassing an underage customer? That manager's bosses needed to know he was helping random people abuse customers...
@@DonDueed Given that he was shopping with a $100 gift card, the store had already gotten their money, so that wouldn't have accomplished anything. Pity.
Story 1. If I was that manager, I would've been like "Ma'am, again, this girl does not work here. Now you can either act like a sensible adult and leave, or I can call the police to have them drag you out for harassing a customer and causing a disturbance. What do you wanna do?" And I'd say all of that with the most condescending voice possible because I have zero patience for Karens whatsoever!
Never let karens get what they want and never let them get away with their actions. There needs to be more accountability in general but always hold people like this accountable for their extremely rude and bad behavior.
Story 5: She will not learn. The way she kept escalating indicates she is carrying a lot of anger. She is not going to learn and this will happen again.
That was the worst thing that manager could have done. Giving in to a Karen's demands only encourages her to escalate. She'll come back next week and harass another customer.
Story 3: my parents always told me to never throw the first punch. Let them throw it, then it's fair game, and you better take them down before they can take you down.
I don't know German Law as well as I do Canadian and USA Law, but here, when he picked OP up and began carrying her away, that was Assault & Battery and Attempted Kidnapping at the very minimum... OP's response to the Manager;s question should have been a resounding HELL YES I WANT THE POLICE CALLED!!! 😄😁😆😅😂🤣
What do you mean assault? He tried to buy OP for his son's Christmas present. And of course he's going to need battery. A doll that big doesn't walk and talk without any sort of power source.
The manager in the first story (from someone with over 20 years of retail management): in addition to giving him an earful of teenage rage, OP should have dumped the basket of books at the idiot's feet and informed him that yo😊u would never be back. Never accept that paultry discount card in lieu of your respectability.
Looks like a good few of us considered dumping the basket in front of him 😏 I’d be tempted to actually individually chuck them at him, but I know I’d catch a charge for it lol. So I figured it would be next best to leave a mess for that asswipe of a manager 😝
Bookstore Karen story: I would have found mamma bear, gotten the manager's name and contacted corporate myself and reported the manager! Picked up story: Sorry OP, but you should have inconvenienced the manager and had him call the police. This guy was potentially dangerous! Wrung neck story: I'm glad this worked out okay, but you really should have had either your gf or the manager to call the police to handle the situation. Lobster pate story: So has anyone besides the insane Karen ever seen a button-up plaid shirt as part of a grocery store uniform? Last story: While Karen was being taken out, you should have asked the police to have her eyes tested if she thought you were dressed as an employee. Update us if you can on what the results of her charges and your civil lawsuit against her.
@@BrokensoulRider I only disagree to the point that the assault had already ended by the time OP showed up. Keeping the guy from restarting would be acceptable, but as he was no longer "in the act" of hurting the gf, the cops should have been called while keeping everyone separate.
@@merlinathrawes746 It doesn't matter. It seriously does not matter. The assailant could have gone after her again and that's where my view comes from. The OP doing what he did ensured she was kept safe.
"You're fired..." "I don't work here, but unless you ask her to leave, I will be calling the corporate office and complaining about you allowing this full grown woman to stalk and harass a child."
In such a situation, I think I’d just yell over and over “I don’t work here, I don’t or here” until the Karen either explodes or deactivates from processing error.
I'd probably start yelling for someone who does work there to come and help whoever it is having a fit. Then when they did show up, I'd quickly ditch them both. I hate confrontations.
1st story. I'd demand a full free order. All the books I have for free. And threaten to call corporate is scream and cry. Watch momma bear come and beat the manager and Karen to a pulp
"Bullshit, I have seen you here before" How disconnected from reality do you have to be to not be familiar with the concept of shopping multiple times at the same place ? A concept this Karen is literally making use of right now, as she went there before by her own admission.
These people are so self-centered that they legit think other humans don't exist. If they see a "repeat" it must be either a friend, coworker, or servant.
People are insane. Also, if my boyfriend saw me getting harrased like that in story three. Let's just say the man doing so would have gotten thier feelings hurt. Mu future huspand really knows how to use harsh and painful words. Just as painful as hits and punches. People really just need to keep thier hands to themselfs.
That manager needed a stern talking to about who to defend. If you let a karen walk over you, then she'll just come back and do the whole routine all over again, knowing she can without consequence. And then that would be on the managers hands to deal with.
If he's not bright enough to figure out to defend the MINOR WHO IS BEING HARRASSED, then a stern talking to isn't going to sink in. He needs to be fired before his stupidity drops a massive lawsuit in his boss's lap.
@@tokonunya8301 If i was his boss, and i would hear this story, he'd be fired before the day was over. And make sure he never got hired again from my franchise (if i had one).
Story 5: Sometimes it feels like the "Karen" of the story is just looking for a fight so someone can get in trouble and the Karen would get an ego boost
Story 1: as a restaurant employee of roughly 10 years I now know why managers don't simply ban Karens for harassing other customers, and it's because corporate doesn't really care about Karen until she becomes their headache, and if corporate ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, not even you
That first story... *I* would have called corporate at that point because the manager is either delusional or needs to learn how tovheldoe difficult customers. Which customer would he prefer returning? The one buying a ton of books while being quiet, or the one harassing customers and causing a scene?
Story 2 is exactly why I absolutely refuse to visit grocery stores the week of Thanskgiving and the week before Christmas, or retail stores any weekend/holiday time after Thanksgiving (especially Black Friday and the week prior to Christmas!), through the weekend after Christmas. These days have the highest incidents of wild Karens that I refuse to deal with. What I actually really love to do is visit the grocery store on Black Friday and the day after Christmas. The aisles are almost entirely empty of people and there is an abundance of holiday food usually on deep discount. I once got a 15 lb turkey that normally sold for $56 for just $13 on Black Friday! Put it in the freezer and it made a wonderful Christmas dinner!
See had this happen in toy store. I was with my baby sister, I am 14 years older than her. Some woman comes up to us and starts in on me about being a single mom and added to the poor population. Screaming that my parents taught me no values or I wouldn’t be in public showing off my sin. Before employee could intervene, we heard “Would you like to repeat those words to those girls mother, since she is standing right here.” Woman turns around and there is my angry momma bear momma, ready to pounce. My said “That’s right I said the mother of those 2 girls right there. They are both MY daughters, now what message did you have for the baby’s mom? I mean you had plenty of words towards my 15 yo, I’m still waiting to hear how and why my youngest child is a sin and should not be allowed in public with her older siblings!” That woman was scared silent, and so were her chirping friends..
Yeah, nah, Story 3, I'd be trying my damned hardest to tear his eyes tf out. Don't care how big he is, I'll grab something as a weapon if I need to. Screw that sick thing. Strangling a girl surrounded by kids? Telling her to keep her legs closed? I would beg and plead in the afterlife to watch that a-hole go through his punishment while I went through mine. Ugh. I am disgusted.
His first response to being told no by a young woman was to STRANGLE HER. He did that to a complete stranger in public. Considering how misogynistic he was, too... I honestly think he'd be the kinda guy to unalive his partner. Genuinely bone-chilling.
@@CatLeone2003 True, however I still stand by believing that's a very startling reaction. I have anger issues and a strong PTSD fight response and I haven't ever even wanted to strangle someone when told to fuck off.
@damien678 I wasn't saying that gives any amount of justification for the sick thing's actions, just that's what happened. And I wish so bad I had been there to see it. Because I'd have kicked him in the nuts over and over and over and over if I didn't have something to use as a weapon, or I couldn't run at him and use my body weight to slam him against shelves, and that might hurt the poor girl more realistically.
I will never play the "let me pretend to fire you" game and have told off managers who tried to play it if I am a customer making me happy is also important and will not be treated like I don't matter to make a c*nt happy.
First story: To the manager: If you try and “fire” a customer, I will report you to corporate for aiding in the harassment of a customer. Story #2: Absolutely should have called the police. That was attempted kidnapping and God knows what he was going to do to you after he took you away.
That first story, he needed to hire her first before he fired her. So he should have started asking her for her particulars before hiring and firing her in front of the Karen.
Correct response for story 1: Ummm, HelloOOooo! I'm ALSO a paying customer, and I will NOT be treated with such disrespect by a manager. You need to get this crazy stalker the hell away from me NOW, before I call the POLICE!
Story 1: Doesn't sound like "Idontworkhere", sounds like Queen Karen knew it was a kid and demanded obedience, then demanded OP to be fired because a Karen cannot admit a mistake.
As a former martial artist, now retired, I take confrontation very seriously. Male, female, dog, cat, or whatever gets the same response, as appropriate: 1) Don't touch me! 2) Don't enter my personal space unless invited! 3) Don't yell unless the building is on fire! If that is not sufficient to elicit an "adult" conversation about their gripe, I will move very quickly to 4) ...It's Clobbering Time! Haven't gone to #4 in years, because most people are smart enough to stop at #1. The 1 guy that caused me to jump to #4 received a broken nose, 2 broken ribs, AND a Stern Talking to about "personal space! My thanks to my Sensai, T. Mikami, for teaching me restraint! Lesson gratefully learned, Sensai. 🥋
Story 1: that manager should have hired her, offered the employee discount before helping Karen, then fired her due to child labor laws before she could help Karen. Then turned to Karen and said “she doesn’t work here, she isn’t required to help you.”
Story two, I didn't call the police or press charges on this man and after he was escorted out he waited for me in the bushes he then picked me up bodily again except this time he chloroformed me and threw me into a van and now I'm dead because I'm stupid and didn't press charges on someone who literally bearhug walked me in a store with not a care in the world.....COMPLETELY SANE BEHAVIOR??? WTF??
Re: bookstore Karen, how about the manager turns to the Karen and says ‘Okay. You want me to fire someone, and you don’t care if it’s an employee, then you, Karen, are fired.”
Defending the actual customer always goes above and beyond the needs of a whiny Karen. 1000% Especially when you don't know the full situation. I fully expected that story to have Karen slap the kid, and at that point, the manager would be lucky to work again for doing nothing. If someone is going to have that sort of attitude in your store, it's better they never come back
This happened today. I'm a retired retail manager just to make that clear. I was shopping and out of nowhere i hear the scream of a Karen. Knowing that the mascara was hitting the fan i went looking. Karen was shaking an employee by the shoulders demanding to speak to a manager. I intervened, demanding the Karen stop assaulting the worker. This got a curled lip from the b***h and a string of profanity. My response was to unholster my cell and speed dial 911. Police arrive and they walk up calling me by my name. I gave them a report as to what I witnessed. Karen is put into cuffs and walked out. I was asked why i stepped in. "She was banned from my store for being disrespectful to me and my employees"
Karen's come from parents that thought that putting their kid in a timeout to make them think about what they did was a better punishment than taking the belt to their butts
Never had someone take something out of my cart while shopping. However, I have had a customer at a store I worked at decide the appropriate method to try and get me to move while I was setting up a display (which could have fallen over if I let it go) was to bump me with his cart multiple times. First time, I motioned him to go around. He continued, so, I grabbed the cart with one hand and slammed it back into him and told him very explicitly that what he was doing was assault and forcing me into a dangerous situation. I'm a big guy and so, I keep holding his cart while I finish with stabilizing the display and then drag it up to the front with him still holding and struggling back and flag down security. After a brief visit by security to the office, they and the manager come out and inform the guy he is no longer welcome for assaulting staff. The guy called police after trying to explain I assaulted him. Police arrived and reviewed and asked if I wanted to press charges. I said yes and the guy was hauled off in cuffs and I just finish my shift.
First story: Manager could have told Karen to step off and risked a call to corporate over a non-issue he could easily defend, but instead committed an actual offense against a customer. OP should have made good on Karen's threat and called corporate, ending Manager's tenure.
I like the upward and forward thrust of the hand striking the nose with the heel of your hand, all the while smashing the nose and forcing the shards of bone and cartilage upward into the nasal cavity. If done correctly, it should stop'em in their tracks if not take'm down to their knees.
@@tinydancer7426 I prefer going for the ears with cupped hands. Which is less deadly, but very effective. The concussive blow will stop someone quick due to the pressure. Another is a heel of the hand strike applied to the point of the chin. But also and it can very easy to miss, is simply flick the tip of the noise of one finger. That's going to bring tears to the eyes.
Story 1: I'd say as loudly as possible, "Fine! Then I'm not buying ANY of these books," and dump them all over the floor, and then go look for my mother to let her know what happened and why I'm not buying anymore books at that store. OP should have just called the cops himself and had the guy arrested for trying to strangle his girlfriend. Seriously? Who grabs a store employee by the throat because they want this or that? All these people need to be laced up in a straight jacket while sitting through therapy sessions.
Always press charges. Always. Never say no because of holiday or stress levels. The more people realizes actions have consequences (act like a self entitled and crazy loon for the simple action of bring told no, get what you deserve.), the less this will happen.
Always press charges or next time it will be worse. Honestly it was good the op didn't want to cause problems to the manager but the op wasn't responsible it was the entitled people that made the problem.
Story 5 - that last sentence, the one about how OP doesn’t like being touched. Outside of an intimate/romantic context, I’m pretty sure OP’s statement applies to, well, EVERYONE ON EARTH 😂❤
That first story? I would have fussed at the manager, asking how dare he give into peer pressure, and not defend one of his CUSTORMERS... and then told him I was going to call corporate and demand he be fired for not defending a MINOR customer in his store!!!
If that happened to me in the first story, my parents would have ensured that manager regretted every bad life choice he ever made. Both were HR managers, and hoo boy, allowing the harassment of another customer to appease another? We're not just talking being fired, but having a potential black mark that future employers will always see pop up when checking your background. That at the very least would hamper future manager-level employment prospects. As for the Karen herself, oh God if Mom or Dad were there and got a view of the harassment going on, they would regret, the regret would be legendary....
As of story 2: The story took place in Germany. That means, things work differently over here, especially police involvement. Now, I‘m no lawyer or police officer, but I know a bit about procedures. While the dude was way out of order, calling the police would have effectively done nothing. One could argue that carrying OP around is minor assault, but anything else would be a stretch. Kidnapping, for instance, would likely require the dude to actually WANTING to kidnap OP (the state of mind or better, the intention, is relevant in the German judicial system - to give an example, stealing requires the thief to actually wanting to take ownership of the item. This can lead to interesting results: If you take a car to just drive around for a bit, but you never intended to own it - possession and ownership are separate things - you could not be convicted of theft. Other crimes are likely, but not theft.). Also, it takes a lot to be actually be arrested on the spot in Germany. If there is a significant crime, or you pose a threat to yourself or others it is possible, but in this situation we‘re dealing with harassment and minor assault, maybe attempted deprivation of liberty. In this situation, police would likely identify the dude and all possible witnesses, maybe conduct a quick investigation, and then let everyone leave. In case of minor assault, it is also required to submit a demand for penalty, as it is considered an offence that will only be prosecuted on demand of the victim (or if the prosecutor sees an elevated public interest in prosecution - it‘s difficult) Later, they would subpoena the witnesses and the perceived perpetrator to make a statement, either directly at the police station or in writing (via a form they send by mail). Keep in mind, no one is under arrest. Then, the prosecutor’s office would receive the file and decide how to proceed. If they don’t see enough evidence to prosecute (or there is no demand for penalty by the victim), they would dismiss the case. Otherwise, as we‘re dealing with something minor, it‘s likely that the prosecutor offers to dismiss the case under the condition of paying a fine (that is calculated to be similar to the expected verdict). If the perceived offender declines, the verdict would certainly not involve any jail time, and therefore also not justify to put the offender under arrest at any time. So, for most minor offences, and especially those that require a demand for penalty, it‘s often too much of a hassle to even involve the police. In addition to all this, police is generally way more relaxed here. That is a result of several factors: A generally more calm society, a way less aggressive judicial system, proper education of police officers (qualification requires 3 years of training both on the job and in police academy to become a simple officer - more, including a bachelor‘s degree from police college, if you want to start at the rank of Kommissar, which is probably equivalent to Sargeant), and of course strict gun laws (and generally weapon bans, including knuckle-dusters, daggers, knives of a certain length or switchblades and several more), meaning it‘s rather unlikely for police to encounter random citizens with deadly weapons. I personally have never seen an officer actually draw his gun. The main goal of police, even if (minor) crimes have been committed, is deescalation by non-violent means rather than detaining people in handcuffs (which does happen, but only if absolutely necessary). So, the decision not to press charges or involve the police, especially on Christmas, is understandable and rather logical. By the way, I‘d expect that most of these point would also apply to most other European countries, especially in Central and Northern Europe, such as - but not limited to - Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway.
That last one is what I hate about the justice system. The way the cops just jump to conclusions about the victim being in the wrong HAS to be some sort of 6th Amendment violation.
Not calling the police and pressing charges against the man that picked you up like that simply means he may now be free to possibly commit a more serious crime afterwards. It's one thing if you're frighten to press charges another if it's due to "inconvenience".
Either that, or always carry some kind of legal tool as both utility tool and improvised self defense implement. For example a blade locking folding utility knife that's also a glass breaker and belt cutter if your work involves driving and/or servicing/maintenance/repairs. (What's legal to carry varies a LOT between countries, check first!)
Story 2 - That would lead to bites and a MASSIVE flip out from me. You pick me up, I assume I am being kidnapped and maybe killed. So I will do everything to make them inert
Never EVER give a Karen what she wants!!!! In the first story, OP or their mother should have called corporate and reported the manager and demanded that HE be fired!
