'Put your own groceries in your own car!': Young man helps older woman with her groceries, Karen assumes he works there and treats him poorly, older woman comes to his defense

Author image for Ben Weiss
Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Sep 20, 2024 2:00 PM EDT

Let this story serve as proof that having a kind, older lady in your corner is the best way to get an entitled one off your back.

Here, we have a nice young man in the parking lot of a grocery store who noticed a kind lady having trouble getting all of her groceries from her cart and into her car. She was trying to get the attention of an employee, to no avail, so the young man stepped in to help. She ended up insisting he take a $100 bill as payment, which he tried to refuse, but she insisted. One would think this is where the wholesome encounter ended, but on his way back to his own car, a cart suddenly ran into him and knocked him off his course. That cart belonged to entitled Karen, who assumed the man was an employee based on his interaction with the nice lady. Karen started giving orders and demanding that he help her, but before he could defend himself, his new friend stepped in to call this woman out.

Keep scrolling below for the full play-by-play. For more stories like this, check out this post about a micromanager who shamed an employee for wearing similar clothes to work every day.

Advertisement
  • 01
    "Young man, if you don't take that, I shall become difficult"
    via Eduardo Soares

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    I went to the grocery store today for some essentials, and tragically they were all healthy picks. Eggs, Yogurt, Spinach. Blech. Managed
    via ulfr
  • 03
    to make it in and out of the store without any unfortunate run ins with other people, and while I was walking to my car I heard an older lady trying to get the attention of a cart wrangler in the parking lot. She was a
    via ulfr
  • 04
    little ways closer to the store than where I was parked in the same row.
    via ulfr
  • 05
    She was being ignored by a cart jockey with a full carriage of groceries and an open trunk on her car.
    via ulfr
  • 06
    Didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what she wanted. So I walked over, made sure the goal was to get the stuff out of the carriage into the SUV, and did it.
    via ulfr
  • 07
    Took me about two minutes. The whole time the lady was thanking me profusely, calling me a nice young man. I'm old enough now that it was flattering rather than condescending. (Mid to late 30s. Don't rub it in.)
    via ulfr
  • 08
    When all was said and done and I'd made sure the trunk could close without smooshing anything I grabbed my own groceries and the lady grabbed my arm to stop me. She was an older white lady, the kind
    via ulfr
  • 09
    where she doesn't look particularly frail and if she wasn't white and was wearing sandals I'd be confident she could nail an evading target at 30
    via ulfr
  • 10
    yards with footwear of justice. (for those confused by footwear of justice, behold: La Chancla shoutout to u/tzar992) As it was it was quite clear that it was a good idea to stay on this woman's good side. Think matron rather than frail grandma.
    via ulfr
  • 11
    While I was not OK with being grabbed, she wagged something papery and green in front of me and said, "I was going to give it to that boy over there after he helped me but he apparently couldn't hear
    via ulfr
  • 12
    me." She said with an eye roll. Rather than try and argue, because again, this was a woman with whom one would not idly fo, I took the green paper she was waving. It
    via ulfr
  • 13
    was a 100$ bill. I was immediately like nuh uh. Dis yours. Take back. Too much. That sort of thing.
    via ulfr
  • 14
    And then she gave me a look and said, "Young man, if you don't take that I shall become difficult." the urge to cover my ears was so strong. This wasn't
    via ulfr
  • 15
    because she was shouting shrilly, it was because the last time I heard a woman speak to me in that tone of voice my ear lobe got pinched and I was dragged to the appropriate authority.
    via ulfr
  • 16
    Rather than argue, because I might have been born at night, it just wasn't last night, I took the money.
    via ulfr
  • 17
    Right after she released me I felt something heavy slam into my side, knocking me off balance but not quite tipping me over. Once I recovered my balance and looked at what hit me, which was a full cart of groceries, I
    via ulfr
  • 18
    saw a woman in her 40s wearing big sunglasses (presumably) staring at me from the back of her own SUV. "Put this stuff in there. I'm in a hurry."
    via ulfr
  • 19
    Says the woman. She then proceeds to start talking on a cell phone and avoiding eye contact, with every expectation of me doing her bidding.
    via ulfr
  • 20
    Mind you, I was in black mesh shorts and a navy blue t shirt. Folks who work for that grocery store wear white button downs and khaki pants or shorts. It wouldn't have been OK even if I did work at the store, pretty
    via ulfr
  • 21
    sure shoving a loaded cart someone's way is or something, but the sheer audacity of this woman left me stunned for a moment. My mouth
    via ulfr
  • 22
    opened and closed a few times, and I was attempting to think of how I was going to handle this particular situation,
    via ulfr
  • 23
    because I've obviously spent a lot of time in the gym and the Karen... didn't. If it escalated, which it probably would have, it would've been a really bad look. But as it so happens, I didn't need to do a thing.
    via ulfr
  • 24
    The older lady I'd helped previously walks over to the woman trying to avoid looking at me or her groceries finds herself with a face full of matron.
    via ulfr
  • 25
    "Oh, I didn't realize you'd had both of your hips replaced too!" She said brightly.
    via ulfr
  • 26
    The Karen, flummoxed at the seeming non sequitur lets her phone drop and just goes, "Um, what?"
    via ulfr
  • 27
    "Well, that nice young man saw me being ignored by an employee and just asked to help!
    via ulfr
  • 28
    Such a nice thing to see in this day and age, and mind you, I've had both hips replaced, my doctor would be MOST upset
    via ulfr
  • 29
    with me if he found out I was exerting myself that way. When did you get yours replaced? They did. mine one at a time a few months back!" She said brightly.
    via ulfr
  • 30
    The Karen replies, "Um, I haven't had my hips replaced. I'm kind of just in a hurry, now if you wouldn't mind." and she actually tries to turn away.
    via ulfr
  • 31
    Matron, sickly sweet smile on her face, "Oh, so there's nothing wrong with you? You just couldn't be bothered to put your own groceries in your own car? You're simply too good for that kind of thing?"
    via ulfr
  • 32
    She was on a roll now. "And rather than ask that nice young man, you just... gave your cart a push and hit him with it? Just said you were in a hurry?"
    via ulfr
  • 33
    The Karen "Uh, I, Uh, Well.." "And yet here we are still! It's taken even longer than it would have if you'd just done it for yourself, as you're perfectly capable of doing."
    via ulfr
  • 34
    The Karen started to puff up "Now you listen--" and INSTANTLY got deflated by an old fashioned look. Children prone to misbehavior are quite familiar with it. It is a look that quite clearly
    via ulfr
  • 35
    communicates, "We are in public. You are in trouble. Cease or the consequences will be Old Testament."
    via ulfr
  • 36
    Seeing it work on a grown > adult was a thing to behold.
    via ulfr
  • 37
    "Young man, please bring that carriage over. I think this nice young lady is ready to put her own groceries in her car." I pushed the carriage over and left it near the two women.
    via ulfr
  • 38
    "Now you run along, don't spend all that in one place." She said with a smile.
    via ulfr
  • 39
    I gave her the boy scout salute (I'm not actually a scout, don't tell anyone) grabbed my bag, and beat feet for my own vehicle.
    via ulfr
  • 40
    The Karen was actually still putting her bags into her car, being supervised by the old lady. I might've cackled.
    via ulfr

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

groceries karens entitled parents idontworkherelady karen-customer karens in the wild entitled reddit thread Reddit karen entitled people
Scroll Down For The Next Article