‘I smiled and said, “have a great day miss!"': Karen customer refuses to trust 22-year-old bike shop manager, gets put in her place by 50+-year-old employee

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Jul 24, 2025 7:00 AM EDT

Humans have chased youth since the industrial boom—heck, probably even before that! Getting old isn't easy to accept sometimes. Wrinkles grow deeper and deeper on your face, your body aches more, and your hair doesn't have that same bounce as it used to (if you even still have it!). But that is just a part of life, and everyone ages at a different rate. It's dependent on many different factors, but some people are just born that way. Sure, many are jealous of these people who seem to have a Dorian Gray complex, but it can be frustrating for these people. For example, this guy who looks way younger than his age. This got to be annoying when he was a professional bike mechanic, had almost a decade of experience, and is still not taken seriously because he looks so young. 

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  • When a Karen came in and refused service from him due to how young he looked, he allowed it with a smile. You see, he had an older employee who was very inexperienced, but sure was older. After he struggled to help with her bike, he told this Karen that she shouldn't have judge a book by its cover, because the younger guy was actually a lot more experience. 

  • 20150 000
    via Unsplash+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "Women asked for a more experienced bike mechanic bc I looked really young."

    I was a bicycle mechanic for 7 years. I started when I was 22 up until last year. Worked on and built some high-end bikes. I look very young bc I got that Asian blod. I was working the service counter which is usually for people who are experienced enough to
    via gtino195
  • diagnose a bike. I'm maybe 26/28 at the time just before I became the service manager. In comes a middle aged woman and start to try and help her out. But she doubts my knowledge of bicycles and thought I was just a helper or something.
    via gtino195
  • She asks for someone who is older and more experienced bc she doesn't trust me with her fancy bike. It happened kinda often, and this lady was being an elitist snob. We have this newer older tech that's started with us maybe 2 years prior, and
    via gtino195
  • he's old enough where he was alive during the Vietnam draft. But he's pretty new to the industry and we're also wanting him to get comfortable working the counter when I am on lunch or if it gets really busy.
    via gtino195
  • This lady sees him and asks for him. So I smiled and said ok sure. I ask him to help the lady out and I help out the rest of the service line on a busy Saturday. The newer tech builds bikes well, but is also still learning how to diagnose problems and
    via gtino195
  • find the right parts. So naturally he's taking a longer time. In the meantime I'm helping out people left and right, booking service tickets from low dollar value to high dollar value finding everything I need. Newer
    via gtino195
  • tech would occasionally ask me questions on how to find the correct parts from our distributor or our parts shelf, and if this piece is too worn or not.
    via gtino195
  • I can see the lady is getting impatient, She then asked the newer tech "how long have you been working on bikes" and he says about 2 years, and proceeds to tell her about me that I've been doing it for a long time and that I may look young and
    via gtino195
  • inexperienced, but I know what I'm doing. Then what he said next gave me a pretty good chuckle. He said "you can't judge a book by its cover, he might just know how to fix your bike!". Idk if he overheard the lady ask for a an older more experienced
    via gtino195
  • mechanic, but I did not tell him what this lady asked for. Lady was not amused. Meanwhile I had just helped maybe 15+ customers in the what was probably an 45min, an hour, maybe an hour and a half. Time flies during the rush. I was able to do that
    via gtino195
  • number because I had other techs in the back I could send quick tube changes or minor adjustments to if the line got too long. He also liked to chat a little bit.
    via gtino195
  • After the rush was over, he was still helping her. I looked at the other tech and said I'm going to lunch. Came back from Taco Bell across the street and she was just barely leaving the store. I smiled and said, "have a great day miss". She just kept walking.
    via gtino195
  • TLDR: Women asked for the older tech bc she thought he had more experience than me, but he was actually a newer tech that was still learning to diagnose and troubleshoot. She spent a longer time at the shop than she was expecting and got impatient.
    via gtino195
  • 20150 000
    via Unspalsh+ (and Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Time-Improvem... It's one thing to prefer a grizzled old mechanic to work on your vehicle (though modern vehicles are so creepily run by computers that I'm not so sure of that stance), but a bike tech?
    via Time-Improvement6653
  • bestpotatolover Makes me think of a story I had with a friend. He has been a major boat enthusiast since he was born. Had his first boat at 13 years old, he has always worked in the industry and now has multiple boats of all kinds. Every free time he
    via bestpotatolover
  • has is spent boating or working on boats and he is pretty well known by other enthusiasts or people in the industry. He also has always looked younger than his age.
    via bestpotatolover
  • When we were something like 24, we were on one of his boat going somewhere and we heard a call from another boat asking for a towing as they had an engine failure. We were very close to said boat so naturally we went to offer our help. The lady on the
    via bestpotatolover
  • malfunctioning boat, right when we offered to tow her to dock, replied without hesitation "you can't be a good captain, you are way too young". We very swiftly left the scene and called the coast guard, indicating that they had rejected our help. It was a beautiful
    via bestpotatolover
  • evening with very calm weather, so nobody was in danger. The coast guard was busy with other calls and took their sweet time to reach out.
    via bestpotatolover
  • mkate1999 You would've loved me. When I called to bring my bike in for a tune-up, they asked me what kind of bike & without hesitation I said "green". Let's them know what they're dealing with. Lol.
    via mkat1999
  • Proud_Huckleb... That reminds me of when my boss sent me and my co-worker to a meeting with a vendor. While the vendor was pitching his products, he kept directing to my co-worker, hardly looked at me. I am female
    via Proud_Huckleberry_42
  • and my co-worker a male. We were about the same age, but I looked younger. I had more experience and was more knowledgeable, so my boss trusted my opinion. So, I advised against the products.
    via Proud_Huckleberry_42

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