Karen customer in Pennsylvania store caught on camera berating special needs employee over tiny slip up

A video showing a customer at a Sheetz store in Pennsylvania berating a black and disabled employee has created outrage online with angry viewers who have accused the entitled Karen of being racist and ableist.

In the clip, which has already gone viral across social media, the angry middle-aged man can be seen standing over the employee, who is seated. He can be heard saying, “shut the f— up, you do what you’re told.” He then goes on to accuse the young person of not being respectful and generally acting like an entitled and arrogant Karen.

You may think that the employee must have done something terrible to warrant such a magnificent meltdown but that isn’t the case at all. In fact, the older man’s tantrum was caused by something as insignificant as the employee not greeting him when he came in, “when I come in that door at Sheetz I should be greeted with a ‘hello sir how you doing,’” he tells them.

That’s right, his entire extended rant against the employee seems to have stemmed from a tiny slip up. Talk about an overreaction.

The employee was a vulnerable worker

According to African Diaspora News Channel the employee from Pennsylvania was a disabled individual, the news channel also states that the man shouting at the worker is a manager although it’s not clear if that is the case or not. Regardless, it’s not a good look for the man to be so aggressive towards the employee, that kind of entitled behavior would not fly with anyone, let alone a vulnerable worker.

Online many have shared their beliefs that the rant was also somewhat racially motivated and ableist too. One person asked, “Do you think this man would behave the same way if the employee wasn’t special needs or Black?” Another person added, “Some people just need to be humbled. Speaking to anyone like that is absurd.”

Others wanted to know how this was allowed to happen, particularly who else in the store was allowing the man to speak to them in such a manner. 

People online are angry with some believing that the individual should be named and shamed for his shocking display of rude behavior. The ironic part is that humiliating the employee and talking down to them is far more disrespectful than simply not saying hello. 

Of course, we’ve seen this type of thing play out before, knowing the internet, it’s probably only a matter of time until the man is found on social media after which his employers will likely be sent the video and he will face the consequences of his actions.