'You don't see me complain, do you?': Karen librarian complains about all of her co-workers during a team meeting, gets properly shut down

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Sep 19, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Librarians are known for "shhhushing" and reading. They love books and being non-confrontational. But that is just a stereotype! Librarians can be just as feisty as anyone. Sometimes they even have to use all that book wit to clap back at an annoying Karen. Sometimes even that annoying Karen can be the librarian. Just like this librarian who had to put a colleague in her place. This particular co-worker was totally a Karen. She loved to complain about every itty bitty little mistake anybody would make on the job. It was a never ending mouthful of criticism. 

 

One day she got up in the middle of a team meeting and decided to complain about everyone in front of everyone, like she was the boss (she wasn't). So one librarian had enough. She leaned in and let her have it with one simple zinger of a line. It shocked the Karen co-worker to her core and she immediately stopped complaining and sat down. It didn't silencing her forever, but it did for that meeting and what a glorious meeting it was! 

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    via Unsplash+ (and Eliabe Costa)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • "Mom put a Karen coworker in her place"

    My mom recently retired from her job at a library office, where she among others was responsible for preparing books for the automatic book borrowing system.
    via momito-chan
  • This story happened about a year before her retirement.
    via momito-chan
  • The coworker in question, Lydia(her real name, 'cause screw Lydia) is a total narcissist, who always thinks, she is the smartest person in the room and likes to put down others to feel better about herself.
    via momito-chan
  • Her favourite hobby is to broadcast everyone's tiniest mistakes to the whole office in her loud obnoxious voice.
    via momito-chan
  • Like every ten Minutes a variation of "Coworker X did Y wrong!!!" is schrieked across the office. Super annoying
    via momito-chan
  • (Before you ask, there's been a metric crapton of complaints agains her, but management and HR hesitated to fire her, because she is a minority and they don't want a discrimination lawsuit.
    via momito-chan
  • Not that Lydia would have any leg to stand on, but yeah.)
    via momito-chan
  • Mom on the other hand is always polite and friendly, a hard worker and non- confrontational to a fault.
    via momito-chan
  • Both of them are in their mid sixties for context.
    via momito-chan
  • Z TYPA цком
    via Unsplash+ (and Andrej Lišakov)

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • One day there was a regular team meeting and the team lead asked, if anyone had something to address.
    via momito-chan
  • Lydia raised her hand.
    via momito-chan
  • Team lead: "Yes, Lydia?" Lydia goes on a long tangent about a lot of little things colleagues did or didn't do that are total non- issues to anyone but her and concludes her monologue with something along the lines of: "I'm sick and tired of people not paying attention to these things!"
    via momito-chan
  • Mom leans forward in her chair and says in a calm almost monotone voice: "I'm sick and tired of your constant yelling, but you don't see me complain, do you?"
    via momito-chan

  • As you can see, sass and Karen-tantrums can be found in any and every workplace. Yes, even the library. And you don't have to yell to dish them some karma. 

  • That shut Lydia up for the rest of the meeting and sulked the rest of that shift.
    via momito-chan
  • She was a little quieter after that.
    via momito-chan
  • Thankfully she retired three months before mom and everyone enjoyed a Lydia- free office.
    via momito-chan

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karens library tech reddit karen what goes around comes around entitled people karma pay back karens in the wild justice served entitled karen karma r-entitled Reddit karen story karma karen library employee entitled people librarians
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