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Woman tasting food from a spoon while cooking on a gas stove in a home kitchen.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Karen here is a type of person most of us have encountered at least once. She is someone who treats every situation as a stage, every relationship as a resource, and every boundary as a suggestion that was probably aimed at someone else. The puppet show's collapse was not bad luck. It was the predictable outcome of handing responsibility to someone who has never once prioritized a commitment over whatever was happening in her bedroom that day.
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Karen got(h) nothing. The birthday friend got an orange cream cake. Willow got to be the hero of a story he will probably tell for years. This is what a good outcome looks like.
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Karen Wanted Cake, I said No
Hello everyone, I’m 37, I’m part of the Goth Community and I’m still new to the whole reddit thing. This story is long, and has a backstory but in a way it’s like two stories on one!
I’ve a crazy story to share about an ex entitled friend , not using their real name so we will call her Karen. Some back story, I met Karen back in 2015 and we were friends for a year and I noticed an unhealthy pattern about her. She would take advantage of men. she would get into some very bad situations, and break commitments. I won't describe all of them because it would make one heck of a list but I’ll share the last straw that ended the friendship.
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Back story
There was an event we all signed up for. I love creating puppets and one of the facilitators at the event suggested a puppet show for the students that the event was being set up for. I loved that idea. Since I am also creative in writing I was asked to design a story, which I did, age appropriate about a Snow princess who was adopted by a polar bear. Everything was going well..Until Karen decided to get involved. Karen said she always wanted to play as a princess and self initiated herself to play the part of the Snow princess. I was against this because Karen was with her latest Guy friend. and since I’ve known her, I’ve learned whenever Karen is in one of relationships, all commitments, all promises are broken, or disrespected.
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Backstory in a back story
There was a time she wanted me to go with her to the doctor and I needed to be up by 5 am, I did so, went to her place, got a text to wait in the living room, and the door was unlocked. went in and she was having bedroom fun with her man. I wasn’t going to sit in the living room and listen to that mess so I texted saying I'm going for a walk, text when you’re ready. She didn't respond until hours later. Long past her appointment btw. No apology, just her scolding me for leaving, and that she needed my emotional support.
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I told her she had it, but I wasn't going to sit in the living room and listen to her have bedroom fun. Her response was that I was jealous. 3 hours later she said she rescheduled her appointment for the next day, she bypassed apologies, and told me a sap story. I'm the only one she has because she and her man ended it. Stupid me agrees. I wake up at 5 am in the morning and guess what? She and her man made up because bedroom fun noises were going on. I didn't stay.
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Woman smiling while stirring a saucepan on a gas stove in a home kitchen.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Now she wanted to be the Princess in the puppet show. I tried to explain to the facilitator it wouldn’t be a good idea, and if she claimed I was on board that was a lie. Karen knows how to get what she wants and a few tears, making a dramatic scene, won her symphony and the part. Puppet show day happened, Karen never practiced her script, never rehearsed how to operate the puppet, and trying to rehearse at her place was not happening because each time I went she was playing the bedroom game.
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So when she was a no show, and she sent me a nasty text explaining she didn't care about the puppet show, she didn't care about disappointing anyone she was going to spend all day having bedroom fun with her man. When the facilitator asked if I got a hold of her, I showed them the text. I told them I warned them this would happen, the puppet show was cancelled. Which was the main event to the festivities.
I ended the friendship with Karen and left the program soon after.
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Main Story
It has been years and a quarantine seclusion period since I saw Karen. All was going well in my life. It was 2026, and my best friend of many years was having a birthday and I wanted to make them a cake. They love orange cream soda so I found a recipe for an orange cream cake. I wanted to make the cake the night before but there was an issue with the online delivery and two of the main ingredients wouldn't be delivered that day, so I had to make a special trip to the store. Karen was there. As soon as she saw me she acted like nothing had happened and 11 years of no contact didn't mean we weren’t friends.
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She tried to hug me and I pulled away, yet she persisted, and I felt violated. She had a new man and this guy was trying to look at what I had in my cart while she blocked me to tell me how her life was going and how much she missed me. She asked what I was doing, and I said I was getting ready for an event tomorrow. her new man saw the written recipe which I was using as a grocery, and told her it was an orange creamsicle cake. Karen’s eyes glossed over and I knew what was coming
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Woman with tattooed arms pouring liquid into a mug in a home kitchen.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Karen immediately said she had never tried Orange creamsicle cake, she loved the popsicles, then immediately suggested I come over and make the cake at HER PLACE. Karen also said she would take no for an answer, used the 11 year gap in her narrative and made it sound like I neglected our friendship all that time and this was the least I could do. I reminded Karen I ended the friendship and there was no need to contact her at all. I also told her if no’s not an answer then she can make her own cake because this one was reserved for someone else, for tomorrow’s event!
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Karen didn’t like that response, cue the tears, tried to make a scene, but I just u-turned my grocery cart and left them in that aisle. A few minutes later Karen was back. She and her man were following me from aisle to aisle. I had a feeling she was waiting to pull something after I left the store so I sent a text to another friend. My friend circle has a special code where we text each other if there’s a crisis or emergency. I texted the code, and they responded immediately. I explained to them the situation. They had me text the store address.
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quick info
The friend I text, let’s call him Willow, is a very tall, intimidating person but is very sweet and kind, until you mess with the friend group. He texted me he just arrived at the parking lot and asked if Karen and her man were still stalking me down aisles. I confirmed, and texted the aisle. When Karen and her man see Willow they freeze. I hug this tall wonderful man and he tells me to go check out. Karen and her man stop following. Willow drives me home. I make the cake. My friend had an awesome Birthday while Karen got no cake.
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Woman with tattooed arms applying skincare in a bathroom mirror.
Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.
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Years of no contact should have been the ending. Instead it became a brief intermission before a grocery store reunion that nobody requested. The part where Karen immediately reframed eleven years of deliberate distance as neglect on the other person's part is genuinely impressive as a manipulation move. She did not miss a beat. No acknowledgment, no apology, just a full pivot into acting like the friendship was simply on pause and the cake would be a lovely way to pick back up.
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The cake demand itself is peak entitled friend behavior. It was not even asking to try a slice or suggesting they grab coffee sometime. It was a direct request to come over and bake at her place, for her, using ingredients that were already purchased for someone else's birthday. The boldness is almost worth studying.
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What actually worked here was having a friend group with an emergency code system, which is honestly a feature more people should build into their social infrastructure. Not for dramatic reasons but because sometimes you are being followed down grocery store aisles by your worst ex-friend and her new accomplice and you need a tall intimidating person to appear in the parking lot immediately.
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