Prying Karen criticizes a baby-faced 20-year-old mom at the store and lectures her about 'teen pregnancy,' the mom snaps and teaches her a lesson of her own: ‘I made her regret it’

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Nov 9, 2024 1:00 PM EST

Moms are usually an infinite pit of mercy, grace, and patience, but when a new mom is just released from the hospital post-birth and some old bat at the store decides to give her a hard time about her precious tiny human, the gloves might come off a little.

Perhaps a mother's grace is earned throughout their child's life. Untrained in the ways of well-grounded motherhood, this 20-year-old mom, u/Feathers137 the original poster (OP) of this story, was in the grocery store trying to buy some formula for her newborn when an older woman came over to her. Expecting the older lady to coo over her new baby–as many older folks do–she smiled and allowed her to approach, but what this uncouth Karen said in return shocked everyone standing in Aisle 18. 

Quite frankly, if anyone said this sort of comment to me (unprompted) in public, I think I'd need to be escorted out of the premises by security to avoid some sort of physical altercation. But maybe that's because I don't possess that uber-top-secret mom patience potion yet… So when OP encountered the rudest, most shamelessly abrasive woman in the world who was fixated on forcing her beliefs on a new mom in the dairy section, she dropped an epic comeback that made this Karen cry over spilled milk.

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    Cheezburger Image 10425076224
    via Odusa Images

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

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    Karen mistook me for a teenager, I made her regret it Apologies in advance for the long read, I'm very tired and haven't really talked to anyone in over a week, so
    via Feathers137
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    I'm word vomiting on the Internet and hoping it makes sense lol. TD:LR at the bottom. So one thing I've learned to accept in life is that I will forever be mistaken as younger than I am. I loved it
    via Feathers137
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    as a kid, there were plenty of situations I took advantage of, like getting away with the "kids under [certain age] eat free" for way longer than most, but as I've gotten older it's gotten exhausting having to constantly prove my age.
    via Feathers137
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    Most people don't believe it until they see my ID, which has gotten me into a few unique situations, but I've gotten used to it and try to be understanding, laughing it off afterwards and calling it good. I mean, I get it, I'm 20, and honestly look the
    via Feathers137
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    exact same as I did when I was like, 13-14. It also doesn't help that I'm 5'0 (153 cm), so yeah, easy to mistake me as a child, or at least a teenager. Anyway, I recently had a baby, a beautiful little girl, it
    via Feathers137
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    was an amazing experience and I adore her, she's my entire world. That being said, it was also very rough on my body (one of the many downsides of being as small as I am lol). I had a
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    fourth degree tear, which essentially means I tore from hole to hole, and there was a lot of bleeding. I ended up needing a blood transfusion, spent an extra day in the hospital, and am still recovering from the
    via Feathers137
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    whole ordeal. This fun little incident took place on our way home from the hospital. I had originally planned to breastfeed but because of everything that happened
    via Feathers137
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    and the fact that I wasn't really in a state to do so, we agreed that formula was the way to go. Just one slight issue with that. We had no formula at home. Since we didn't think we'd need it, we hadn't bought any in advance. While the hospital
    via Feathers137
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    was nice enough to gave us a few quick bottles, they obviously wouldn't last. I had also decided I needed to get some Depends (adult diapers) as I was having bladder control issues. My husband had to work the
    via Feathers137
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    next day and I was definitely not in any state to go anywhere by myself for at least the next few days, meaning we needed to make a quick stop by the grocery store sooner rather than later.
    via Feathers137
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    Once inside it quickly became clear that I was not doing well. I was shaking from the pain and exhaustion, but I didn't want to return to the car. As much as I love my husband, I don't really trust him to do the shopping. It's
    via Feathers137
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    not that he can't, I'm just the type that tries to find the best deal while he's the type to just grab whatever and call it good. For both our sakes, I usually handle the shopping. Luckily I had spent the drive searching the store's app for
    via Feathers137
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    the exact items I wanted, which meant I could show my husband what to grab as well as their locations. We decided I'd sit with the baby on a bench by the bathrooms while he collected the items, return for me to make sure
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    they were the right ones, and then we could leave. Should have been simple enough, right? Nope. At least not for me. (Side note, I just wanted to mention I adore my husband
    via Feathers137
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    and appreciate the patience and understanding he has for me, he's amazing and I couldn't ask for a better, more loving partner. I'm truly blessed) My husband had been gone less than a minute when
    via Feathers137
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    some older lady starts walking to the bathrooms. I assume she originally planned to use them but got sidetracked by my baby since she walked right past them and towards me. I didn't really think much of it at first
    via Feathers137
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    since I know it's kinda a normal mom thing to have people (especially older. folks) fawn over them, which is what I was expecting to happen. As I'm sure you can guess, that's not at all what happened.
    via Feathers137
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    I smile at her, excited to show off my adorable newborn for the first time, I even turned the car seat she was in towards this woman so she could get a better look. Instead of smiling back at me, she frowns, and instead
    via Feathers137
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    of cooing over how precious she looks, this lady starts lecturing me about teen pregnancies and premarital . She tells me I should be ashamed of myself, that the youth of today is ruining America, how I should pray to
    via Feathers137
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    God for forgiveness, and a bunch of other stuff I honestly don't remember. I was shocked into silence at first, which she took as an invitation to keep going. Finally she asks me "are your parents embarrassed to have for a daughter?" a
    via Feathers137
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    Whoa. Okay, first off, there are so many other situations this could be. What if I'm just babysitting? What if this baby was my sister and I was watching her while our mom/dad used the bathroom? Or maybe she's
    via Feathers137
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    my cousin? This lady had literally no idea what the situation was, she just decided she knew and needed to say something about it. It's only after this event that I realized just how messed up her actions were, since in the moment I
    via Feathers137
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    was just taken back by her audacity. In this moment I was in a lot of pain, exhausted, and flooded with hormones. I think that's the reason I reacted the way I did. I'm not confrontational, nor am
    via Feathers137
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    I the one who usually has witty comebacks or quick on my feet in stressful situations. That's my husband. Normally I'd just tell her I'm 20, married, and to mind her own business before frantically texting him. Normally.
    via Feathers137
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    Instead, I looked her dead in the eyes, the most deadpan look on my face, as I calmly told her "This is my baby sister. Our mom just d ed giving birth to her"
    via Feathers137
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    Her eyes went wide, her face turned red, and she gapped at me like a fish for a moment before quickly turning around and walking away.
    via Feathers137
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    I immediately started shaking and crying. Luckily I didn't have to wait long for my husband's return, who was immediately freaking out when he saw the state | was in. I just quickly
    via Feathers137
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    checked he got the right items (which he did because he's amazing) and told him to pay for them so we could go home and cuddle our baby. Once we were doing exactly that I told him what happened,
    via Feathers137
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    and while he was still worried about me he said he was "proud of me for putting that b in her place". Now I just have to convince him that he doesn't need to stand guard of me whenever we leave the house...
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    ETA- forgot the TD:LR. Older lady tried to make me feel bad about having a baby, I made her feel bad for sticking her nose in other peoples business
    via Feathers137
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    Killablockingbir... 2h ago. You deserve a million gold stars. For every other parent in your position you also helped, every person ever shamed you just helped, and for making sure that boomer learned a lesson. Good for you.
    via Killablockingbird

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groceries karens baby mother motherhood moms karen-stories karens in the wild young newborn Reddit mom karen grocery store
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