KAREN

If your name is Karen, I am so sorry.  It is a lovely name, actually one my neice answers to.  Sadly it has become almost a swear word. According to the NY Times, in 1965, it was the third-most-popular baby name in the United States. In 2018, it was the 635th — and today it’s even less popular. How did Karens fall so far?

 Some think it started in 2005 During a Dane Cook Comedy Special when he said, "Every group has a Karen and she is always a bag of douche." 

Now every time a woman is caught behaving badly, entitled, or racist, she is nicknamed "Karen." There is the Central Park Karen (she was one of the first I remember). She called the police on a man in Central Park that was bird watching while black. 

Then came  Whitefish Karen, Kroger Karen and San Francisco Karen.  The latest is the Anti-mask Karen from Nebraska who coughed repeatedly on a masked woman and mocked her in a grocery store.  Fortunately, that Karen lost her job when the video hit the news.  

I really hate what the so called "Karens" are doing but also feel badly that the good, kind Karens are being painted with a dirty brush. 

I got a taste of what it is like to have your name attached to unkind people when Permit Patty called the police on a young girl selling water without a permit. Boy was I glad when that Patty kind of died down. 

When I was a child, my family called me Patsy as a diminutive of Patricia.  It all happened in high school when I heard some refer to another in a derogatory manner, "Boy, she is a real Patsy." There was no way that was complimentary so I checked around to see what that referred to.  I learned that a "Patsy" is a push over, someone easily manipulated, an easy target. Pretty much a fool.   OK, that ended my reign as Patsy. I insisted from then on to being called Pat and eventually Patti.

Now I wonder what the real, nice, kind Karens of the world can do. Go by their middle name? While it is catchy, I really do feel for the sweet, normal Karens out there. 

Is your name Karen or someone you know has that name? How are they handling it?  My brother said his daughter was unaware of the connection which is probably the best way to be.