Front Porch: COVID-19 rules put ‘Karens, Kens’ in a twist

I know they exist, but, quite frankly, I thought they were aberrations, rare and exaggerated stereotypes. Apparently not.

They are Karens – who, according to social media, and depending on how severely you wish to judge them, are either entitled or demanding women behaving beyond the scope of what’s appropriate or, more harshly, middle-aged white women of some means who are rude, obnoxious, insufferable, focused on getting their own way and with a penchant for complaining and threatening.

I first heard about them from one of my more-savvy-than-I-am sons and then from some younger people I know who work in service industries. One young person shared quite a lot with me, mostly because I asked, but requested that I not identify him or where he works, as the Karens out there can be vicious if they think it’s them being talked about.

Agreed. I’ve always wanted to give a “confidential informant” an alias, so I’m going to call him Mike.

First thing he explained to me is that there are male Karens, too, sometimes referred to as Kens.

Mike works the front desk at a fitness center (not in Spokane), one he describes as a midsized boutique gym in an affluent neighborhood. After the initial COVID-19 shutdown, his gym was one of the first to open in limited fashion, as allowed by the phases of reopening where he lives. Members can reserve gym time by signing up for 55-minute workouts no sooner than 20 hours before the time they wish to exercise and have to wear masks on site at all times. They are given individual sanitizer squirt bottles with a cloth and asked to wipe off their work stations after exercising.

When we last spoke, he told me they accommodated eight people at a time in the gym, but they may have since moved up to 12 by now. Once an hour, when everyone exits the gym, Mike, or whoever is on duty, goes around sanitizing the workstations before the next group enters. No showers, all equipment safely distanced, treadmills and cardio equipment surrounded by Plexiglas – all the things the owner has instituted to provide a decent exercise experience that is safe for members and workers in the current COVID-19 environment.

“Generally, people are great,” Mike said. “They follow whatever rules they need to in order to have this moment of normalcy in their lives, but once or twice a day there are people who are so completely unaware of the world around them, and in their feeling of being oppressed, just ruin it for everyone.”

The Karens and Kens try to scan themselves in without having reserved a time, thinking Mike won’t catch or stop them, lie about having made appointments or otherwise insist on entry. One Karen came in a half-hour late and wanted her whole 55-minute time, making noise when that couldn’t happen due to the cleaning schedule. She wanted to book the following hour, which Mike could do if it was open, but it wasn’t.

One Ken was so offended at having to reserve time that he came in yelling about canceling his membership. Mike provided him the paperwork, which Ken threw in his face. Well, it would have hit him in the face but for the Plexiglas shield at the front desk.

Another Ken refused to heed the 5-minute warning to start winding down his workout and kept moving to other stations. When Mike intervened, as politely as he knew how, the man puffed up his chest, threw his 40-pound barbell and went on and on about how much he paid to be a member and how he should be accommodated. Mike said he took a deep breath and then informed him that weights don’t get thrown in the gym, that members don’t get to speak to personnel in that manner and escorted him out of the gym. Calmly but not so politely this time. Postscript: That particular Ken returned another day with a much better view of things.

Mike now has to walk around the facility every 5 minutes to police the face mask policy because when people think he’s not watching, they remove masks or push them under their noses or otherwise wear them ineffectively.

He’s made a sign that he holds up against the individual Plexiglas workstation walls of offending mask-wearers. It says, in big black block letters: ”Plexiglas is see-through. I can see you. Please wear your mask.”

What Mike hears from the Karens and Kens who don’t believe rules are meant for them, any combination of the following: “I pay a lot to go here … this isn’t fair … I’ll have you fired … I know the owner and … who are you to tell me what to do.”

Mike said to me that this is who he is: the person following the proper distancing and sanitizing rules that the owner has instituted to keep members and staff safe, and also the guy who knows that yielding to their sense of privilege means that the gym could have to close. And, of course, that he’d be out of a job. That’s a lot to ask of a front-desk person at a gym. Or anywhere, actually.

Mike said it makes him wonder and kind of marvel at what other people in the service industry are going through – grocers, hairstylists and everyone else just trying to make a living during COVID-19 days.

“I just don’t understand how people will force you to risk yourself and others in order to get their way when they’re feeling inconvenienced,” he said.

Amen, young man.