(Warning: Strong languages and rants ahead)
You must be wondering why in the gracious of God am I writing about this meme again. Sure, the previous piece related to this, albeit not entirely completed, but should provide you the explanation about entitlement behaviors of some members of the society, mainly white women in her 40s. But this time, I'm adjusting it to fit a certain theme, that being the COVID-19 pandemic and the current rise of the #BlackLivesMatter Movement. As we all know, it's been roughly 5 months since the SARS-CoV2 spread across the world, with over 10,7 million population infected. Now what's the correlation between "Karens" and this pandemic anyway? Well, in a nutshell, there are some people that can be called a "covidiot", but these "Karens" transcended idiocy and common sense.
I came across a video on 9gag of all sites, about how "masks kills people" in the wake of an announcement in the state of Florida, where Palm Beach County officials mandated all citizens to wear a face mask. This is totally made sense, since Florida is currently one of the worst hot spots for virus spread, with daily cases rising to over 205%. And the frontrunners of this baseless conspiracy theory? "Karens". Even one of them said (and I'm not kidding) "I don't wear a mask for the same reason I don't wear underwear: things gotta breathe." Even one of them have the guts to say that a face mask is "literally killing people". Some of them even play the religious card on this fiasco. Holy shit Karen, chill the fuck out! The move was made to ensure no further spread of the coronavirus, not to choke your shiny, white, middle aged ass! There is no evidence that a face mask has a capability to cause any medical risks, let alone death. Those thigs have a function of that of an air filter. It filters the air from possible bacteria or viruses that might be entering our system. And what these "Karens" are doing is turning themselves into a ticking time bomb of infection.
Let's not forget that "Karens" are those type of people who would play their privilege in the expense of others. With the current pandemic, it's usually those women who just won't adhere with health and safety protocols while shopping. There are countless videos on YouTube about Karens freaking out because they got rejected from the shops just because not wearing a face protector. They are also not a big fan of science, and always playing religious cards on any issues today. On the flipside, they are also not really considerate toward others, with one key phenomenon being them stockpiling a lifetime supply of toilet papers. I remember writing this thing about fecal transmission of the coronavirus being a non-factor of the spread. And remember those anti-lockdown protests? Some of the participants were Karens! One of them was named Diane, who attended such protest in Pennsylvania, who announced "What do I say to your science? I don't believe in your science." One woman in Tennessee even carried a sign read " SACRIFICE THE WEAK, REOPEN TN". Wow. you are really willing to put not just yourself, but others in danger just for the sake of you getting a fresh manicure-pedicure or a haircut.
Aside from the ravaging pandemic, the world has seen the rise of the #BlackLivesMatter movement in the wake of the death of George Floyd by the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The whole wide world is standing in solidarity with the black community, whether from North and South America, Asia, all parts of Africa, Europe, or even as far as Australia, New Zealand and The Pacific Islands. But it doesn't mean that it's "Karen-proof". This time the nickname is "San Francisco Karen", assigned to a white woman named Lisa Alexander, who, along with her husband Rob Larkins, called the police on a person of color just because the man was writing a #BlackLivesMatter stencil in his own private property. And the repercussions? Turns out Alexander is the founder of the beauty product LAFACE, and prior to the scandal, had worked with UK-based beauty product Birchbox. Since then, Birchbox officially cut ties with Alexander and would no longer associate themselves with her. Her husband also suffered the same fate, being fired from his job at Raymond James Financial Firm.
What can I say, in the times where the human race must stand together in solidarity to not just tackling a global health crisis, but also dismantle racism and white privilege, there are still some boneheaded individuals who just won't give a simple shiny fuck about these important issues for collective good. Instead, these ignorant, entitled, bigoted and privileged individuals went mad just because they have been mandated to wear a face mask, or even just to practice social distancing in public, because I can guarantee If I ever encounter a "Karen", she would most likely be standing too close to comfort, no face mask in sight while berating the cashier for rejecting her coupon (because it has expired) and demanded to speak to the manager. And afterwards, proceeded to writing a scathing review on Yelp, TripAdvisor or sites of similar function for not considering her needs (which again, is a total bullshit since the only source of trouble is the "Karen" herself). And on that note, I stress this time and time again, stay safe, stay healthy, always put yourself 2 meters apart, wear the damn mask, and always sanitize yourself.
