The Problem with Being Karen

Chel Owens

Karen hadn’t asked to be named Karen. She hadn’t asked to be dressed in modest dresses, always with tights and shoes. She certainly hadn’t asked for her parents to use the sort of psychological conditioning that led to so many people saying, “Butt out, Karen!”

Once Mom and Dad passed away, Karen decided she’d finally do something about all the negative comments. She colored her hair, bought a pair of honest-to-goodness jeans, and changed her name to Kathy.

Upon leaving the Social Security Administration, she spied a couple arguing heatedly about what their married last name ought to be. Kathy couldn’t stand to see and hear such animosity between two people in love, and walked toward them. Before she could even open her mouth, however, the woman turned to her and said, “Butt out, Karen!”

 

©2019 Chelsea Owens

23 thoughts on “The Problem with Being Karen”

  7. Names are a tricky widget – I think at some point in our lives now matter what we are named we don’t like what we’ve been saddled with. I’ve just had a family member legally change their name because in school too many others had the same name so they went by their middle name. Some of the unconventional names I think are harder to ‘deal’ with because no one will spell them correctly and there isn’t a history about them. Mind you I’m not saying those odd names are bad… they just make life a little more challenging. Like Oprah Winfrey, she was supposed to have the biblical name Orpah… one of the meanings is Fawn but the relative filling out the birth certificate reversed the letters.

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    1. 😀 I didn’t know that about Oprah, and now she’s famous.

      I don’t like my name because I’ve never felt it fit me, but haven’t come up with a better alternative.

      For my kids, we’ve given them traditional names (mostly English) that can be shortened to other things if they choose. You do your best as parents and work with what you’re given BY your parents. 🙂

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      1. “Cher” was Cherilyn Sarkisian, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien = JRR Tolkien… some names can be shortened others, one is just left to wonder about 😉

        I’ve got another friend who uses their middle name. But some women like my MIL didn’t have a middle name since at the time when one married they often used their maiden name as their middle name. And I know others who use the wife’s family name as their children’s middle names. I even read once where a gent took his wife’s family name – he came from a big family but his wife was an only child – so they chose to carry on her family name. That isn’t as uncommon as it used to be. 🙂

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