How do you make a Karen? It might not be what we think.

Thoughts from one of Karen’s daughters

“ is a pejorative term for a white woman perceived as entitled or demanding beyond the scope of what is normal.”

A crisis of hot fudge proportions

I was trying to disappear through the floor. My initial protests had been shut down by “the look” and “the voice,” two things combined that made me stop in my tracks. I was 14, in a time well before smartphones, and holding a chocolate-dipped cone in the lobby of a Dairy Queen.

I desperately wanted to just sit down and eat our ice cream, but my mother stood a few feet in front of me, her arms alternating between her hips and crossed across her chest. She had asked to speak to the manager just seconds ago, and they were not coming quickly enough.

My mom picked up the cup off the counter, her hot fudge milkshake, and took a second slurp. She shook her head as she did it, confirming her rage that it wasn’t good enough, and slammed it back down on the counter.

The manager came out.

“This hot fudge milkshake doesn’t have enough hot fudge!” My mother started before the manager had a chance to say anything. The manager eyed my mother and took a pause.