One of the services we provide is Wireless calling.
I am not customer-facing. Just one of the many individuals who make it all work.
I had happened to take a day off, though I did have my work phone on me, just in case.
I wanted to grab some lunch, so I grabbed a hoodie before I left.
I had foolishly grabbed a zip-up hoodie with the company logo on the sleeve on my way out the door.
While eating, I hear a Fran Drescher-eque voice somewhere behind me, "Sir, excuse me sir, Sir, Sir, SIRRRRRR!”
I suddenly feel a presence of a person behind my right shoulder.
I turn and have to look upwards to see a large Karen of about mid-40s.
Me: Yes?
Karen: Do work for [company]?
She said this while pointing at the sleeve of my hoodie.
Me: Yes, I do. Today is my day off, but I might be able to....
Karen: You need to help me right now, my lunch is being utterly ruined by my daughter's ex-boyfriend.
She then dramatically points to her daughter who is trying to hide her face with a menu.
Karen’s Daughter: Mom, please.
Karen: No, I'm going to get this stopped once and for all. It's harassment.
Daughter: Mom, please let him eat. I can handle it.
Karen: No he works for [Company], and I am going to make them stop this immediately.
Me: I'm not able to help you, I am not in customer...
Karen: I demand you block him from harassing us now!
Me: Ma'am I'm sorry you are experiencing this, but you need to call...
Karen: No! I won’t call anyone! You can do it. I need you to stop him NOW!!!
Me: Even if I was working, I would not be able to stop him from calling her. I simply—
Karen: Don't tell me you can't, and he's nonstop texting, NOT CALLING!
Clearly, my current approach isn’t working, so I need to try something else.
Me: I'm sorry that he is doing that. You should advise your daughter to block his number from her phone. It would be the easiest way to stop his communications.
This is when things take a turn for the worse.
While talking, the Karen starts poking me in the chest.
Karen: He keeps changing numbers. You –
At this point, I stand up, and the manager comes rushing over.
The Karen immediately switches gears toward the manager.
Karen: Oh, I see. Take his side! I'm a loyal long-term customer.
Karen: I'm going to call your BOSS and get you F-I-R-E-D.
Manager: Ma'am you need to return to your table and leave the other customers alone.
Karen: Oh, so, he won’t do his job, and I'm the one who needs to leave him alone!
Karen: Don't you know who I am? I'll have YOUR JOB.
To this day, I still don’t know who she is (and I doubt I ever will).
Manager: Ma'am, you need to sit down and leave my customers alone. Or, you can leave.
Karen: I will not sit down. I can’t enjoy my lunch because he (she’s pointing at me) won’t do his J-O-B.
The manager looks at me, with a "is there anything you want to say?" look.
Me: I'm sorry, Ma'am. I simply do not have access to accounts, and even if I did, there are very specific rules for making account changes.
Karen tried to interrupt but I kept going.
Me: I can’t just block someone because you interrupt my lunch.
Me: Furthermore, IF he keeps changing numbers to avoid blocks, that THAT IS harassment – a legal matter.
Me: I would suggest getting a no-contact order and recording anytime he does attempt to contact her.
While walking, she has her face in her hands, and it's clear she's embarrassed.
Karen still isn’t done yet, though. She starts cursing and yelling.
Karen: Bullsh*t!! You just don't want to do your job I know you can block him
The manager signals one of the waitstaff.
Manager: Ma'am, this is your last warning. He’s been more than kind to you since you interrupted his lunch.
Manager: I will call the police if you don’t sit down or leave immediately.
Karen: Fine! But I’m calling ALLLL of your bosses. You’re ALL going to be fired! You don’t know who you’re messing with!!
She finally went back to her table.
I move to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t sneak up on me again.
The manager apologizes and checks on my order.
In the meantime, the manager and the waitstaff are actively avoiding Karen.
Karen has started trying to rally the other customers to her side
The daughter was still in the bathroom, probably too embarrassed to come out.
Karen didn’t seem to care that her daughter basically disappeared.
The manager comes back with my food and something even better.
This is when the good stuff goes down.
The manager returns with the bartender and two uniformed officers.
See, apparently, the manager was the daughter of the restaurant owners.
They were going to remove her and permanently ban her from the premises.
The police already spoke with the daughter.
She decided to stay and wait for her dad to pick her up.
The police take this time to tell Karen that they’ll be escorting her out of the building.
On top of that, her daughter was going to stay there while she waited for her dad to pick her up.
Karen really didn’t like that.
She goes absolutely nuts at this point.
Karen: She’s my daughter! You can’t do this! This is their fault!
The police officers aren’t having any of it.
Karen gets louder and more aggressive.
She tries to fight the police officers off, which clearly helps her situation.
Nothing like getting a resisting arrest charge on top of it all, right?
This all ends with her being put in cuffs and led out of the restaurant.
The bartender got a quick picture of her before she walked out so they could ban her from the restaurant.
It was all a circus but a little funny at the same time.
The dad eventually came to apologize and offered to pay for my meal.
I declined, but he did it anyway. Talk about a win/win.
Hopefully, I’ll never see the Karen ever again.
-- MichigaCur
