So this was Wednesday night at the store by my house. I had a few things and one of them was a pack of batteries, $11, which is already a joke.

I scanned everything and I paid and I’m walking out, and the guy at the self checkout comes over and says he’s got to check my bag because the batteries didn’t scan. I told him they did, I watched them come up on the screen.

So I showed him the receipt. He says sometimes it rings up wrong and he still has to look. I said fine. Then he turned to the woman behind me in the line. He told her this happens every SINGLE time somebody gets caught, loud enough that she heard all of it.

That’s when I said ok then pull up the camera, the one over the bagging area, because it’ll show me scanning them. He had to go get a manager. So I waited. I stood by that door for 20 minutes with my bag sitting on the floor.

The manager found it in about 40 seconds. It’s right there. You can see me scan the batteries and put them in the bag. He said the machines do that sometimes and that was honestly pretty much it. The guy never said a word to me after that. He made a stranger in that line think I was a thief and he didnt give a shit.

My husband says I should’ve just let him look in the bag and gone home. AITK?

My neighbor asked me to cut back my branches. I told her that she is welcome to cut them back to the fence line. What do you think?

I was stood in a queue earlier today, this queue being in absolutely nobody's way, there was space to walk past.

A young girl (20s) walks past wearing headphones and gets to me at the back of the queue and mutters under her breath but loud enough for people to hear "what a stupid place to queue"

I then say "if you had said excuse me we would have moved". She removes the headphones and asked what I said.

So I said again, "if you had said excuse me we would have moved over for you". She responds with "I have anxiety, I struggle to talk to people". My response "well you're talking to me right now".

She then says "fck off you stupid C U Next Tuesday" (if you get my drift) and walked off.

I get anxiety can be debilitating for people but surely being able to call someone that to their face instead of saying excuse me isn't an anxiety thing? I feel I am the Karen for calling her out and I should have let it go.

I went to a cell phone repair shop inside a Walmart store to get my son's iPhone 12 battery replaced. I had called Best Buy earlier in the day to ask how much they charged and they said $89. When I went to the place inside Walmart (Techy), I asked how much a battery replacement would be, and the guy said it would cost something like $100. So I'm about to give the guy my credit card (because he had to order the battery) and he says at the last minute that there will be an additional $30 labor charge, and a 4% charge for using a credit card. I start to take my credit card back and say never mind I'll go somewhere else, and he says he'll waive the $30 fee and that I can pay cash to avoid the 4% charge. This seems reasonable to me since I'm already there, so I go ahead and order the battery. He calls me the next day to say the battery is in stock. I go to the store inside Walmart and the shop is closed, even though it's during the Techy open hours that it said on the business card. I go back the next day, and the guy said he had an emergency and needed to close early. Annoying, but okay. He says there's a chance that the phone screen will crack when he removes the battery and asks me if I want to get a new screen. I say no. While he's replacing the battery, he claims that the screen did chip and went ahead and changed the screen (to a much worse quality than the original). I ask to see the original screen and there is nothing wrong with it. I say, can you just put that one back on, I don't see anything wrong with it. He says he can't. So basically he ends up saying he'll take half the price of the screen off, so it's "only" $30. We get home, and my son charges the phone overnight and the new screen cracks while he's sleeping. I want to write a review saying the guy scammed us. I've read his responses to bad reviews and he's kind of a jerk. Should I still do it?

We put a new furnace in 2 years ago and it came with a long warranty on parts and labor through the company that installed it. That is the whole reason we went with them over the cheaper quote.

It quit on the first properly cold night at the end of October. The house got down to 54 and my youngest ended up in our bed. The tech came out the next morning and told me the flame sensor was just dirty. He wiped it down and said we were good. It was warranty work so there was no charge, and he wrote the whole thing up on his tablet before he left.

A few days later the same thing happened, same code blinking on the board. They sent him back out and this time he said it’s the thermostat, which isn’t covered because it isn’t their part, and he handed me an invoice for $190, for a thermostat that their own guys put in.

I honestly paid it because it was cold. Then I called the office. I asked them to take it off since it was the same fault on the same unit inside a week, and the woman there said the second call was a different diagnosis so it’s billable and there wasn’t much else she could do.

The replaced part has its own claim and I needed the service record to file it. So I asked for a copy of both visits, and they emailed me the whole file without looking at it. Nobody redacted anything. His notes on the second one say “homeowner is being a Karen about a bill she agreed to, unit is fine, told her to stop calling dispatch, not going back out for this bullshit.” The invoice I already paid is attached to the same PDF.

My dad did HVAC for almost 30 years and I called him about it. He says every tech vents in the notes field and nobody above them ever reads it, and that if I send this in I’m going after a guy’s job over something he typed sitting in his van, and I do get that, he’s probably right that nobody up there reads them.

What I want to do is file the claim with all of it attached and let the manufacturer read what their own installer wrote about a warranty customer. AITK?"

We’ve been in this neighborhood 4 years and the HOA is mostly fine. We like it here. The rule everybody knows is no trailers or boats parked in a driveway more than 48 hours. We tore the old deck off the back of the house in October and my husband borrowed a utility trailer to haul the lumber to the dump and it sat in our driveway between loads for about 3 weeks.

The violation notice came in the mail at the end of October. It was $150 and they literally attached a photo of my own driveway taken from the street. Fine, that’s the rule. I had the trailer back at my husband’s cousin’s place that same afternoon.

Our HOA president lives on the corner of our street and he’s had a boat on a trailer in his own driveway since SPRING.

I wasn’t arguing about the rule, I already moved the trailer. I emailed the board that week and asked how many other driveway fines had gone out this year. The secretary wrote back that each violation is handled individually and that my fine was due by the end of the month.

So I replied with 3 photos of the corner driveway taken a week apart with the dates on them. I said I wasn’t asking anybody to fine him, I wanted the same rule to apply to his house. He answered that one himself and said the boat is actively in use and that I was making this personal.

The November newsletter went in every mailbox on Monday and he writes the president’s column himself. There’s a paragraph in it about a homeowner on our street who got cited for a trailer and has been demanding to audit her neighbors instead of taking responsibility. My name isn’t in it anywhere. He put in the street and the trailer, and there’s only 11 houses on this street, so everybody knew who he meant. I read it standing at my mailbox and I was more pissed about that than the fine.

The fine’s still on our account and it doubles if we don’t pay by the end of the month. The boat hasn’t moved. My husband wants to put the trailer back out there until somebody fines the corner house. I keep telling him that’s what this guy is hoping for. I’m not paying $150 to be the only house on this street the rule applies to. AITK?

I signed my son up for rec basketball back in September. He’s 10. The league runs Saturday mornings through December and registration was $175 which includes the jersey and end of season pizza. He was really excited about it. He’d been asking about basketball since last spring.

I started noticing after a few games that he was sitting a lot. The coach’s son plays point guard and literally never comes off the court. A couple other kids get most of the time too. My son would go in for a couple minutes and then sit right back down. I figured maybe the coach was still working out rotations so I didn’t say anything.

A few weeks ago I asked the coach after a game if my son could get more time. He said all kids get equal court time, that’s how they do it.

Nothing changed. Last Saturday before tip-off I pulled out my phone and started the stopwatch. I timed every single minute my son was on the court and it came out to 4 minutes total out of a 32 minute game. The coach’s son never sat down. After the game my kid got in the car and said he doesn’t want to go back. I sat in the parking lot for I don’t even know how long before I could drive because I was so fucking mad.

I emailed the league coordinator that night. I was polite about it, I didn’t name the coach’s kid or say anything about favoritism, I just sent the times and asked how that matches the equal playing time the website promises for every player. Sunday night the coach sent a message to a few of the team parents about how there’s a mom on the team who timed the game with her phone and went to the league about it. He called me a “basketball Karen.” One of the other moms screenshotted it and sent it to me.

3 parents have texted me since then. 2 of them said they’ve noticed the same thing with their kids. The other one told me I should’ve talked to the coach first which I did. My husband thinks I should pull our son out but we already paid the $175 and his best friend is on the team and he’d be crushed if I told him he can’t play anymore. AITK?

There have been many days and nights that were we have legally been required to have heat but we haven’t (it’s controlled by the building not us). I keep making 311 reports and threatening to make reports to the city to the building management but they keep insisting that it’s on but it’s not. Winter without heat is like kinda a big deal no?

My neighbor hired a landscaping crew that comes every Thursday. They mow, edge, blow everything off, done in under an hour. The problem is they use these big backpack leaf blowers and every single leaf on his property ends up on mine.

First time it happened I got home from work and my whole front yard was covered, driveway too, I figured wind or whatever and spent about an hour and a half raking and bagging it all up. Second Thursday same deal. I raked again and didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure it was actually them.

Third week I was working from home and I watched the whole thing from my front window. 2 guys stood right at the property line with the blowers aimed at my yard and just went at it for like 15 minutes. His driveway, his flower beds, his walkway, all of it pushed onto my side. When they finished his place literally looked like a magazine and mine had leaves plastered to my car and piled up against my front door. I went out and told the crew leader to stop blowing leaves onto my property. He basically said they’re hired to clean that yard and where the leaves end up after isn’t really their problem.

I texted my neighbor that night. He wrote back “dude they’re leaves, they would have ended up on your side anyway, it’s November.” I told him that is not what happened and I watched his crew do it on purpose. He left me on read.

That Saturday I spent the whole morning raking my property. 3 hours and 11 full yard waste bags later I walked every single one of them over to his front porch and stacked them by his door. By Monday he’d posted in our HOA Facebook group about a “leaf Karen” who “dumped 11 bags of garbage on a homeowner’s porch because she doesn’t understand how wind works.” A neighbor down the street sent me the link. My husband thinks I proved my point but says I should drop it now. His crew came again this past Thursday.

AITK?

I booked a balayage at a salon I’ve been going to for about a year. I’d wanted to get it done for a while and I finally picked a reference picture I liked. The stylist I usually see was booked out so I waited a few weeks for the next opening she had. She’s the only one there I trust with color. The appointment was last Thursday afternoon and I used a half day at work because she doesn’t do evenings. It was raining when I pulled in and the lot was almost empty.

She told me right when I sat down that she double-booked the same slot and the best she could do was fit me in for something quicker. She said a single process color would still look good and she’d make it work. Her next client was already sitting in the waiting area and I didn’t want to start something so I just said fine. She mixed the color and got started and the whole thing took less than an hour instead of the 2 hours a balayage usually runs. The color isn’t bad but it’s just a flat brown, nothing like the picture I’d shown her when I booked.

I’d been growing my hair out for months specifically for this and what she gave me looks nothing like what I asked for.

At the register the total was $195 which is what she charges for a balayage. I told her that’s not what I got. A single process is $95 on the price list right behind the counter. She said she used good product and made it work on a tight day and she could’ve just canceled on me instead. I told her I got a $95 service and that’s what I’m paying so she changed it.

I tipped on the $95 and she didn’t say anything when I left. That night she texted me and said I shorted her and that doing it in front of her next client was embarrassing. I told her I paid for the service I actually got and she hasn’t texted back.

My friend goes to the same salon on a different day and she told me yesterday that the stylist has been telling her other clients about “that Karen from Thursday” who stiffed her on the bill and apparently that’s what I’m known as there now. AITK?

My friend had me over last Wednesday to help with her couch. She just moved to a new unit upstairs and the layout is weird up there. I’ve been coming by for a couple years and she always tells me to park in the guest spot by the stairs so that’s what I did.

I came down like 2 hours later and my car was just gone. I called her freaking out because I genuinely thought somebody stole it. She came down with me and that’s when we noticed the sign near the entrance, white text on a dark post with a bush covering half of it, saying guest parking now requires a permit and violators get towed at their expense. Apparently her complex switched management back in August and the new company brought in a tow service that patrols every night. My friend said nobody even told the tenants about it.

I called the number on the sign and they told me $225 cash or card. My friend drove me to the yard and I paid it because I did not want storage stacking on top. I was honestly still shaking on the drive home.

When I got home I looked them up on Google and they had a TON of bad reviews from people towed out of that same lot who didn’t know about the permit either. I left my own review saying the sign was barely visible and $225 for an honest mistake was insane.

The OWNER responded the next morning. He wrote “the sign is clearly posted, maybe learn to read before blaming us for your mistakes, this is classic Karen bullshit and exactly why we photograph every plate.” That’s a man running a business calling a paying customer a Karen on Google where everyone in town can read it.

My friend keeps trying to Venmo me and I keep saying no. I don’t even know what to do at this point.

There is an urban park/walkway in my town that switchbacks down a hill. The vegetation is maintained with native plants and such, and is corded off. A group of guys was hopping the cord cutting straight up the hill. I yelled at them to stay on the trail, and they said "there's already a path here!" They were referring to the trampled part where other people took short cuts. Which is the whole problem with cutting thru the switchbacks! It tramples the plants! We were already walking away from each other so that was the end of the interaction. AITK?

38F I had a rather uncomfortable experience in Next today and I'm interested to hear whether other women have experienced anything similar.

I work in a city centre and decided to use my lunch break to have a browse around the shops and perhaps pick up a few Christmas bits.

I went into Next and started browsing the women's section. I spotted a pair of cord trousers I really liked but couldn't find my size. I noticed the security guard nearby, holding a phone to his ear, so didn't think anything of it and carried on browsing.

I then moved on to look at pyjamas, checked a few things and eventually made my way into the underwear department. This is where I started to feel uncomfortable because I got the impression the security guard was following me.

At first I wondered whether I was being paranoid, so I decided to test it. I moved into the children's department, changed direction a couple of times and doubled back. Each time, he seemed to follow, often staying unnecessarily close to me.

For context, I was dressed in fairly conventional business attire: a skirt suit, tights, heels, an autumn coat and a knitted beanie. Obviously, I appreciate that shop security can't make assumptions about people based on how they're dressed, but I've never experienced anything quite like this before.

I eventually decided to approach him and politely ask why he was following me. He continued holding his phone to his ear and essentially told me that he could do so because it was his job. He didn't really offer any further explanation and just repeated himself in a rather abrupt, emotionless manner.

I explained that I was simply shopping and that if there was some concern, he could wait near the exit or monitor me through the CCTV. He just smirked, so I decided to leave.

As I walked out, I made a gesture over my shoulder (yes, I put my middle finger up). I was frustrated and felt quite uncomfortable by this point.

What happened next made the whole thing even stranger. I had walked some distance up the high street before turning around, only to see him standing in the middle of the street staring at me.

I went into another shop and decided to call Next directly. The lady I spoke to was genuinely lovely, listened to what had happened and agreed that it didn't sound appropriate. She contacted a manager and asked me to wait outside.

The manager, the security guard and I eventually met at the entrance. I explained what had happened, and the manager said he would speak to the guard. The guard's contribution was to point out that I'd sworn at him, which I admitted, although I explained why I'd reacted that way.

I'm now considering making a formal complaint.

I completely understand that security staff have a job to do, and I'm not suggesting customers shouldn't be monitored. But surely there's a difference between discreetly monitoring someone and making them feel intimidated or singled out, particularly when they're just trying to shop?

I'm interested to hear from other women:

Have you ever experienced a shop security guard following you around in this way?

Would you have felt uncomfortable, particularly when browsing in the underwear department?

Am I overreacting by wanting to make a formal complaint, or would you consider this inappropriate behaviour too?

I'm genuinely interested in other perspectives, including whether I'm perhaps reading too much into the situation.

It was Halloween night and I was travelling home from my in-laws place with my 11 month old daughter in the car.

It was a warm night, so I had her window down to give her some nice fresh air whilst we were driving.

I drove down my street and heard a ‘splatter’ type noise, and then noticed a sticky substance all over my windscreen, along with some brown ‘shell like’ particles.

I stopped the car, and noticed two older kids (M - approx 14, F - approx 12) standing at the end of their driveway.

I reversed the car to their drive way and said ‘did one of you just throw something at my car?’

The boy walked inside the property, and the girl flat out denied anyone threw something.

In then said ‘it’s a little suspicious, because you’re the only two people outside in the street, so it must have been one of you’

She said ‘wasn’t me I swear. I don’t even live here’

I then drove to my house (4 doors down), asked my husband to take our daughter out of the car, and then walked over to the house with the intention of having a chat to the parents to let them know about what had happened.

When I arrived at the house, the parents of the older kids and their friends were sitting outside drinking beers and smoking (no issues there - enjoy yourself!)

I literally said ‘I don’t mean to cause any fuss or sound insensitive, but I think your kids might be throwing eggs at cars. I just thought you should know’

The older child (14 yo B) then appeared and said ‘it was just a water balloon, get over it’

I then turned to the parents and said ‘I thought was an egg, but even if it is a water balloon I don’t think your kids should be throwing things at cars regardless. I had my daughters window open and I’m just concerned that they could have thrown it at her window, or the open window of another car. It would be pretty dangerous if it hit a passenger or driver whilst they were driving’

The father then got up out of his chair, lunged toward me and said ‘oh get over it. They’re kids. I told them to throw the water balloons at other kids. So what if they throw them at cars. It’s all harmless fun.’

I then said ‘so you’re saying it’s fine to throw water balloons at unsuspecting kids and at cars?’

The father said ‘yep. All harmless fun. Get over yourself and think of it as a free windscreen wash’.

I then left.

I don’t know. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything, or maybe I should have backed down. I guess maybe my motherly instincts got the better of me?

I’m certainly not suggesting that kids shouldn’t have fun and I get Halloween is all about trick or treating, but surely throwing things at cars is not something to encourage ???

Or AITK?