First, an apology to people who are named Karen (my name is Sharon – I even get a little push back because it rhymes). I admittedly used to use the term and no longer do. Other people still do, and, fair warning, it’s used extensively in the story below.
Urban Dictionary defines so-called “Karens” as, “a mocking slang term for an entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman.”
Anyway, a while back we wrote about who won the battle between a so-called “entitled, obnoxious, middle-aged white woman” and the United 1K member. That story happened at the gate of a United flight. This story, which originally appeared on Reddit, happened a while before that, but way before you get to the gate – it was at the TSA security checkpoint.
Click here to read the story
Our take on the story
There are really SOOO many moving parts to this…and I have questions ;-).
Why was she late?
The story was originally posted on Reddit a long while back, and sounded as if, unlike now, you could get to the airport relatively soon before your flight. Was the woman just taking huge advantage of this? Or could she have gotten there significantly later than she intended? I mean, at this airport, some people were abandoning their cars in order to get to the airport in enough time to catch their flight. If it was the latter, maybe she was just so panicked about missing her flight that she went into survival mode and all sense of politeness went out the window.
Why didn’t she ask the TSA worker if she could cut the line?
Again, maybe she was just in “fight or flight” mode and didn’t even think of it. But really, if she was that concerned she was going to miss her flight, she could have asked the TSA people if she could be expedited through the line because she was at risk of missing her flight.
Not realizing that she had TSA Pre-Check
This is actually a thing, and not everyone is aware of it. There are bunches of people who get TSA Pre-Check on their boarding pass who have never paid for TSA Pre-Check. It’s called Managed Inclusion and this post explains why it was potentially going to stop a few years ago (spoilers – it didn’t pass the Senate).
How passive-aggressive was the author?
I’d give him and his friends a 10 out of 10 on the passive-aggressive scale for their moves. 😉
So yeah…LOTS of moving parts, and without hearing her side of the story, we don’t really know if she was truly a so-called “Karen” or just a panicking person who was on autopilot and didn’t want to miss her plane.
What do you think?
Feature Photo: Pixabay
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5 comments
There was an English TV show (now on YouTube) that was about people showing up late (or other issues) for EasyJet flights. It’s an eye opener how all types can be rude, and the sense of entitlement they have.
Ooooh…I’m going to have to look for that! Do you happen to know/remember the name of it?
It was a reality series called “Airline” featuring easyJet. (The US version featured Southwest.)
Up until very recently, I have worked with the public in a manner somewhat analogous to TSA. Performing a certain public service/function the result of which placed myself and my team in the position of needing to enforce certain federal and state laws in addition to regulatory agency “guidelines” and our employer policies. Sadly this behavior is all far too common and getting worse. From what I read I see:
1) “If you’re on time, you’re late.” This has been a mantra of mine for a long time (probably from growing up in a military and law enforcement household). I have been flying since the days of People’s Express. I have never gotten to an airport, any airport, less than 2 hours before my flight. I would rather find a way to entertain myself in the waiting area than incur the stress this woman was feeling.
2) “Everyone gets a trophy and is special.” People (especially Americans, but not exclusively) have a growing sense of entitlement that has them believing, falsely, that they are an exemption to almost every rule. Even rules they agree need to be in place. I have experienced quite literally hundreds of thousands of examples of this first hand. My favorite example is a young, self-entitled, woman in NYC who after having it explained to her that the action she was demanding (by cursing, berating, screaming, and spitting) my staff perform was a violation of federal law, admitted that she understood the law and understood that it was illegal but “I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY THE LAW APPLIES TO ME!”
3) “The 7 P’s” (Proper Planning Prevents Pitifully Piss Poor Performance) & “Procrastination on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” She needed to show up earlier. Period. Her frustration, anxiety, and stress was likely a reaction to a situation which she felt was out of her control. However, the one thing she did have the most control over was what time she arrived to the airport.
I would like to believe (although I am doubtful) that this individual did not normally behave like this everywhere and that the behavior was a result of extreme frustration and stress. However her failure to accept item 1 above, triggered her getting caught in item 2. Her failure or inability to accept items 1 and 3 as real produced the response described in item 2 (to which I feel many generations after Gen X have been conditioned).
Ultimately had she taken responsibility for her role in this, she could have merely said to the TSA employee as they went by, something along the lines of “excuse me. I have a little situation. I arrived late and my flight is boarding in 30 mins. I never expected this sort of line. Do I have any options to help me avoid missing my flight.” Had she calmly said that instead of ranting like a mad person, the agent would have likely said “Oh, you have TSA pre-check and can go straight ahead”. That said, any and all passive-aggressive, “airport vigilante” tactics become unnecessary and everyone has a nice day.
Gone are the days where you could show up at the airport front door about 25 minutes before take off, get to the gate at 17 minutes before take off and sit down. I did that prior to 9/11. Twice, I timed it wrong and they had to open the aircraft door for me. Once was when they forgot to close the jetway door so I walk right up to the aircraft door with the gate agent there ready to pull the jetway back. Another time, it was a Saab 340 flight where I bang on the glass door and they opened it and then re-opened the plane’s door at Chattanooga airport.
Oh – I see that the terminal was demolished in 1992, one year after I banged on the glass. https://www.sunshineskies.com/chattanooga-airline-history-5.html