CraigM
5851
With you on Mary Sue, disagree on Karen.
Besides the problem isn’t Karen, its that the equivalent male term, Chad, isn’t as used.
KevinC
5852
Kevin seems to be the male version, or at least I’m seeing that usage a lot more (and I guess in Germany it is a thing?). I’ll bear that cross for the rest of us so you all may disparage the various bepenised Karens encountered in the wild or online.
I think Mary Sue has a male equivalent that is never used as well. People just have an easier time projecting their contempt onto a woman’s name, and that has just as ugly roots as the topic of this thread.
CraigM
5854
Sure, Marty Stu, and you are right that people tend to ignore it.
It’s been my own personal crusade a few times taking people to task for calling competent female heroes Mary Sue unjustified. See Rey, I got really pissy about that one actually. Oh sure, shes a Mary Sue but you have no problem with A New Hope Luke do you. Uh huh.
Also I’ve called my wife a Karen a few times, because she absolutely is at times the ‘talk to your manager’ type. And having a term for being a pushy entitled pain in the ass is useful.
I think you know this, but just to clarify for others reading, competent != Mary Sue. A Mary Sue (or Marty Stu) has no weaknesses. Everyone loves them. They always say the right thing. They pick up a paintbrush for the first time since kindergarten and paint like a great master. They always get the promotion. They cook like a Michelin chef. This often goes hand in hand with the author inserting themselves into the story.
CraigM
5856
Yup. It was a useful term that some sexist jackoffs in that early internet age decided to abuse into unrecognizable mess by applying to any female character that wasn’t a shrinking violet.
Rward
5857
How does that telephone call to the police go?
Police: hello
Hotel person: hi, I have black people in the pool.
Police: pardon?
Hotel person: I said, I have black people in the pool.
Police:… Ok?
Hotel person: I have black people on the pool and they need to be removed.
Police: why?
Hotel person: they don’t belong there.
Police: why not?
Hotel person: mumbling…
Police: if they don’t belong then have you asked them why they are there?
Hotel person: no
Police: have you confirmed that they do not belong there?
Hotel person: no
Police: have you spoken to them at all?
Hotel person: no
Police: do you think that is possibly a better idea than wasting our time?
Hotel person: no, they’re black.
Police: oh, ok, we’ll send some officers over.
Hotel person: thank you
How are the police not in the wrong here too?
What are they even doing there?
RichVR
5858
Not as wrong. But still wrong.
I suspect it’s due to these reasons.
-
The call doesn’t go directly to the cops that have to respond. The 991 operator is relaying info to them, so there’s a bit of summarizing and dropped nuance happening. Your example would probably get relayed to the cops on duty as “There’s a [number] being called in from 253 Park Place. Caller says she’s being assaulted by a black male.”
-
The person calling is never that calm. The caller is yelling into her phone and probably making it sound like she’s actively being beaten.
-
Neither the cops nor the 911 operator have the freedom to not respond unless they can ascertain in the call that it’s a hoax, not an emergency, or completely out of their lane. See point 2 above.
Menzo
5860
Yeah I think this is a big part of it. Giving 911 operators discretion about when they dispatch units seems like a recipe for bad headlines. Unless it’s an obvious hoax, they’re going to send someone.
Which is another part of the “defund police” situation. Right now every time someone is dispatched it’s a cop or two. No matter what the situation is. In situations like this it should be a social worker with a cop sitting in the car as backup.
RichVR
5861
All true. But the cops should have left after she proved that she was a guest. It seems that they didn’t. As well, she was in her car about 20 feet from the pool while her kids were swimming. There is a bit of blame to go her way as well.
ShivaX
5862
But they do. They just rarely exercise it.
Ultimately this.
None
5864
I worked in a kitchen where the name Sally was used disparagingly. At first, a cook who was perceived as weak or bad at his job was referred to as Sally. Eventually, a Sally was anyone who was found to be a pain in the ass. For instance, if referring to a guest, usually “Special Order” was said before Sally.
But we used this name not because one of us maybe knew a Sally who was a bad cook or was annoying. It was our shorthand term for the salamander, a broiler installed somewhere along the line, usually above saute, where stacked pans are kept hot. Rarely was it ever actually used for cooking anything. That is unless you had a grill cook who wasn’t any good at grilling steaks and would use the salamander to “finish” the meat. “Throw it in the Sally!”
Well yeah. Everything after they arrived on the scene is bullshit.
We can load the Portland PD on the same helicopter the Minneapolis PD gets a free ride on.
You are making a very large (and possibly incorrect) assumption that the original caller described the scene as it actually was, and not a grand exaggeration that matches what that caller thought would result in the police showing up.
Brittney should be the new Karen.
At least this Britt is on the right side of history, though.
