In a world gone mad, where every day seems to bring fresh horrors and new, terrifying horizons, it's good to know that some things are still consistent--like that even now, in these times, there are still people out there whose entire life goal is to just be as mean-spirited as possible.
One lady is doing her darnedest to achieve that goal: she blithely destroyed a kid's sidewalk chalk art while the kid sobbed in front of her, and it's got Redditors calling her "A Karen at her finest."
The video of the incident recently showed up in two different subReddits, PublicFreakout and EntitledBi*ch. Titled "A Karen at her finest destroying a child's chalk work," it quickly racked up more than 10,000 total comments.
And it's easy to see why because... man, is this ever mean.
from PublicFreakout
In the video, our "Karen" callously hoses the kid's chalk art off the pavement as the kid audibly sobs right beside her. "What are you going to do when it rains?" she says to the child's mother, as if that's a reasonable defense. She then insists people "don't want to look at that mess."
What exactly has to go wrong in your life for you to become this callous? The mind reels.
And who just calls a kid's artwork "a mess" to their face? Who calls a kid's artwork "a mess" in the first place?! Kids' artwork is adorable and funny and sweet and if you think it's a mess, your soul is dead. Geez.
A friend of the video's creator also posted some Facebook screenshots that provide some backstory--and it turns out this is but the climax of this "Karen's" unneighborly behavior.
Mndlssphnxxx/Imgur
And it doesn't sound like relations have improved... like at ALL.
Mndlssphnxxx/Imgur
As you might guess, Redditors were pretty firmly on Team Chalk Kid, as any normal person would be.
"I'm the President of my HOA. I recently received a complaint about kids' sidewalk chalk drawings while quarantined DURING A PANDEMIC. Technically against our covenants, sure... but c'mon. Who complains about that?" --PokieHokie
"I've seen myself doing the hopscotch on the path that a child has drawn out before continuing walking."
"I still suck at it 😂 This person is a miserable human being" --TheInitialGod
"Godddd!"
"I see a lot of sh*tty chalk pictures on the pavement in my street, but they make me smile regardless. Some kid spent ages drawing them, then proudly showing them off to their parents. It's not permanent, it'll disappear in the rain.
What kind of black, hateful heart do you have to have to go out and hose them off, let alone to do it while the kid is still there?!" --MrsMellowCake
"'This is a lockdown, children shouldn't be outside having fun on their own. They should be inside and alone like me' - that woman, probably." --alii-b
"Dude what the f*ck?! What is wrong with this woman?! The look on that girls face literally broke my heart." --flowabout
"I would have sprayed her with the hose." --thatcatchyusername
And many shared stories about how kids' chalk drawings in their neighborhoods have been brightening their days during the pandemic.
"Jeezuss - these days, the sidewalk chalk drawings by children I walk by in my neighborhood are often the highlight of my day" --awestcoastbias
"A few days ago I was walking down a sidewalk and suddenly I'm forced to play hopscotch! Madness I tell you! Evil children!" --Enk1ndle
"My kids have been going crazy with the chalk drawings and the whole neighborhood has been leaving us nice notes and twice dropped off big cases of chalk for them. We had an elderly family member pass to [the virus] and our driveway has been a week long chalk memorial." --ScratchAndDent
"This. Since 'lockdown' I've been running with my dog everyday around the neighbourhood. All the streets my usual commute would never go near. So many kids and families have been out playing and doing stuff like this and it always makes me smile." --NoOfficialComment
So maybe, given the circumstances, we can all just agree to let the kids have their fun? We've got much bigger fish to fry nowadays, KAREN.
@realDonaldTrump/Truth Social