Entitled people have always existed, but in the era of smartphones and social media they seem to be more common than ever. The rise of TikTok has given them a new space to thrive, and thrive they do — just not the way they’d like.
Various breeds of entitlement have emerged over the years, from the HOA president who tries to claim control over every aspect of a homeowner’s life to the irate Karen who doesn’t want to wait in line. It seems the latter has calmed down a touch since their 2020 heyday, but we still see the occasional Karen, Sharon, or dubious Debbie occupying our FYPs.
One such sanctimonious soul recently found herself on blast on the app, where her nail tech — who goes by @clawslondon on TikTok — shared a two-minute video of her award-winning entitlement. The video begins with @clawslondon calculating the cost of her recently completed service, only to have her (seemingly satisfied) customer inform her that she doesn’t intend to pay.
@clawslondon responds in understandable surprise, but the audacity only ramps up from there. When she asks why, exactly, her client would be getting her nails for free, the client responds with a breezy “It’s my birthday,” as if that answers anything. According to this woman, the date of her birth entitles her to any range of free things, including free labor.
She even tries to rationalize the insane request by claiming she’s a friend of the nail tech, only to be shut down with an aghast “This is your first appointment.” The client even goes on to explain that she’s “confused why you’re confused,” as if @clawslondon’s reaction is excessive rather than unreasonably calm, given the situation.
The women go back and forth for an absurd amount of time as the client continues to try to talk her way out of paying. She cites a “promo” that doesn’t exist, claims that “everyone else” gets free nails — they don’t — and once again whines that it’s her birthday.
“I don’t care if it’s God’s birthday,” @clawslondon responds, before asking the woman “who raised” her to be such an entitled person. She finally manages to wear down her client, insisting that she actually pay for the service she received, and laughs off the woman’s promise that she’s “probably not going to book again” because she wanted “free sets.” Okay, honey.
The entire interaction ends there, with a quick catty back-and-forth between the ladies, and now serves as a stellar example of the entitlement displayed by some of our peers. The perception that entitlement is getting worse tends to follow entire generations as they get older, often directed at people below them in age. It is actually a trend that’s increased in recent decades, however — at least according to research from the University of Hampshire.
A study exposed that younger people are likely to score 25% higher on tests tracking entitlement as opposed to their older peers. This seems to be a trend based entirely around age and not the era you were born in, however — it seems normal that older people, wearied by the world, would be more realistic in their expectations than young people. Young people are also known to test boundaries, which in some situations would present itself as entitlement.
This isn’t something we can pin on Gen-Z, Millennials, or any other specific generation, but rather younger folks as a whole — and, of course, those few who grow up into obnoxious adults. It’s not overly common that someone makes it to 50 with that sense of entitlement intact, but when they do, at least we’re served up stellar content to cringe at and enjoy.