A server at a restaurant in Ontario, Canada, was confronted by a woman who had a meltdown after apparently being told her party would not be seated in the restaurant due to pandemic health restrictions.
The confrontational customer yelled at the server and then proceeded to tear into the restaurant manager who stepped in to assuage her frustration.
TikToker @Kkillen or Kei filmed and posted a video of the customer losing it, and the clip went viral with over 1.5 million views.
@kkillen My first wild Karen #karen #waitress #okaykaren #angry #mad #karens #karensoftiktok #serverlife
"This poor woman in red is the only waitress working," read the text in the clip. "We have a party of 14 and we're the only one sitting inside for safety reasons."
People felt sorry for the hard-working server.
@kkillen/TikTok
They also commented on how the service industry is seeing a dip in employees willing to put up with combative and uncooperative patrons.
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
In the second clip, Kei explained there were no fast food places on Manitoulin island where they enjoyed a day of hiking and swimming.
So, Kei and the other 13 members of her party went to the full-service establishment, where they were seated on the first floor of the two-story restaurant. The second floor, which was a patio, was apparently already at full capacity.
Due to the pandemic, the restaurant did not allow anyone to enter through the front door, which was where the interaction with the angry customer eventually happened.
One of the two servers abruptly left when Kei's large party entered the restaurant, and the remaining waitress—who was seen in the first clip being berated by the entitled customer—was left to take care of the patrons on both floors of the busy establishment.
@kkillen Reply to @dawsizzle #karen #SHEINcares #storytime #waitress #okaykaren #karensoftiktok #serverlife #lgbtq
Kei said the solo waitress was "very sweet" and was doing her best to try and accommodate everyone.
"We felt terrible having to watch her run around and split our checks into three different families, it was awful. We felt so, so bad for her."
She went on to explain that the entitled customer entered through the only allowed entrance, the patio, and was greeted by the server who told her to wait as she was the only one working and was busy.
Five minutes later, the woman lost her patience and returned to seat herself inside the restaurant.
When the server told her she was not allowed inside since they were at full capacity, the woman snapped. That was when Kei hit record to make the TikTok video.
According to Kei, the woman barked at the server, saying, "You don't even have your mask on right, you f'king bitch."
Kei clarified the server had her mask down just below her nose as she was running around trying her best tending to all the patrons up and down three flights of stairs for the past hour and a half.
A user also noted the server was wearing glasses, so she likely pulled down her mask to prevent her specs from fogging up after running around.
@kkillen/TikTok
While the woman was subjected to lambasting in the comments, Kei and her party were equally slammed for making their server work even harder by splitting their party's check three ways.
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
But many others, including former waitresses, were quick to defend Kei.
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
@kkillen/TikTok
Kei also responded in the comments.
@kkillen/TikTok
Kei added that she and her party cumulatively paid their server $100+ in tips and also chipped in with some heavy-lifting by bussing their own tables.
