America is still tripping its way through a pandemic, due in large part to the refusal by many to wear a face mask in public. These people have come to be known as Karens.
Nearly every day, a fresh Karen video hits the web, putting their stubborn selfishness on full display. In the latest of these, a male Karen compares a grocery store’s mask policy to “1920 Russia,” and nearly fights the other customers when they call him out.
The video was shared to Reddit’s relatively new but shockingly populated r/antimaskers forum this week. As it begins, the male Karen can be heard criticizing a woman who called him out for entering the store maskless.
“Jesus Christ man. Fuck’s the matter with you, this is America,” Karen says, nearly—and apparently unironically—quoting an episode of South Park. “It’s not 1920 Russia.” When other customers join in condemning Karen for potentially endangering them, he begins cursing. An employee is forced to step in, urging the other customers to ignore Karen. But Karen will not be ignored.
When a woman calls him out for his language, Karen informs her that “it’s America. Freedom of speech and expression. Don’t like it, leave.”
Soon after, he shifts to another target. After a man requests that he “put your mask on and just go shopping,” Karen shoots back to “mind your own business, chubby.”
Things begin escalating, as one of the customers chimes in with “look who’s talking.” This seems to upset Karen, who calls the room full of masked people “fucking communist nazi bastards.”
As the video reaches its end, Karen finally realizes he’s being filmed. Upon laying eyes on the cameraman, he hesitates for a moment before tossing a middle finger their way. “How’s it going, antifa white trash,” he asks, referring to the left-wing protest group.
The cameraman, chuckling to himself, replies with a simple “thanks Karen.” The insult apparently strikes home, because Karen immediately abandons his cart and makes for the camera. The video ends soon after, robbing viewers of what happened next. It’s unclear where it was filmed.
In the comment section for the upload, viewers were quick to tear into Karen. “Man is projecting brighter than a drive in movie theatre,” u/EDC_CCW wrote. It’s likely only a matter of time before the video migrates to r/fuckyoukaren, to join its fellow viral Karen clips.