Devil's Advocate: "Phillies Karen"
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So, I actually just saw this today and when I first watched it, it was clear (imo) that that woman shouldn't have taken the ball from the kid, but on watching the full video a second time, you can see where she's actually in the row of seats above where the ball landed. The dad on the other hand, is right down the row with no one in between him and the ball, so all he had to do was jog down a few seats and pick it up. It's not like he even got in her way in order to grab it.
For me, this just kind of reinforced the idea that she did the wrong thing because she would've had to have gone down to the next row of seats to demand the ball. Yikes.
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That's the unwritten rule, you don't take the baseball from a kid, thankfully that family didn't leave empty handed
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Yeah you lost me at « you could tell he lost respect for his dad »
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@sbchamps17_NSW said in Devil's Advocate: "Phillies Karen":
that family didn't leave empty handed
That was my first thought. Anytime something happens to / upsets a kid when cameras are on them, they always get something 10x better.
Once again, I'm not on her side and the definitely not defending the way she handled it, however I do understand how someone can be annoyed by that. If a ball landed right in front of me, maybe even touched my hand and someone ran over to grab it as I'm reaching for it (and they weren't a kid / young person) I can't imagine I'd have a positive reaction or no reaction at all. Maybe if the dad stood his ground, I'd be more firmly on his side... but he just came off as weak and emasculated. The interview cemented it for me.
@yankblan_PSN said in Devil's Advocate: "Phillies Karen":
Yeah you lost me at « you could tell he lost respect for his dad »
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/articles/phillies-karen-caught-2-more-191136147.html
Watch the video starting around the 2:15 mark. I think the kid was more disappointed by his dad than losing the ball.
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Everytime a ball goes into the stands there is always a bunch of ppl going for it, the one who manages to pick it up is the one it belongs to, a lot of the time they wind up handing it off to a nearby kid, that lady is one of the biggest POS I've ever seen and I've worked various forms of customer service for 15 years.
It doesn't show in the videos, but about 5 minutes after, that lady got booed so bad she left the stadium (unknown if ushers actually told her to leave or not)
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It says a lot of her that she kept the ball too once she had a little time to calm down and think about what she had actually done.
And yes, I know how fly balls and foul balls in the stands go. Just because something is the way it is, doesn't mean it should be that way. It's a bad look, imo. Comes off as immature and something I expect of kids and young people. The fact that no one is considering what made her so angry is also a problem. Yes... she went further than I've ever seen anyone go in that situation... it wasn't exactly McGwire's 70th... but people need to recognize how their behavior affects others too. Even if it wasn't meant in malice.
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The amount of hate she received is also blown way out proportion. Its a fricken baseball.
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She showed a lot of who she was that day, baseball or not. I get her initial anger, but I can't think of too many people who would continue to pursue that conflict once they see a kid was involved. People generally agree you don't mess with kids or pets. If it was "Bark at the Park" and a dog scrambled to the ball first and she went after the dog, she'd probably receive the same level of hate. Frankly even if he was a single guy only there with his friends and she did that, it would still generate a lot of heat. 'Karen' is too hot of an insult right now, and her doing that on a big stage, with that haircut... people were going to go hard.
I hate being sucked into fad news stories like this and the almost forgotten Coldplay story. There are so many other things to talk about and people want to express their mundane opinions about how this lady was wrong and they feel bad for the kid but are glad he got to meet Harrison Bader + get a bat. Groundbreaking stuff... I think it's more interesting to talk about what happened to adults + dads. He ran to the ball like a 14 year old, snatched it while a lady who was right there was about to grab it and then folded like a lawn chair when she got in his face. I get setting an example of maturity for your kids, but you also have to show strength in moments like that. I just see a story about two people I really don't think I'd like or have a ton of respect for. I can't imagine any of the men in my life growing up lowering themselves to a mad dash for a baseball. Seeing class and decorum make a comeback would be amazing. Simple things like that go a long way to avoid problems with people. That said, I don't think this behavior for her is unusual at all. She seems like she'd be just awful to have around and definitely deserves the shaming. I just hate falling for this kind of "news."
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Whether it's at work where you feel like you're being mistreated or at a store where you feel you're being ripped off , you're gonna want a Karen on your side , that's why I started a new company called Karens On Demand . I will hire Phillies Karen as my spokesperson. Lol jk.
I still think the internet over reacted as much as she over reacted. -
It reminds me of the YouTube series "Cart Narcs" where the Cart Narc guy gets in people's business about not returning their shopping cart / leaving it in the middle of a space. Sure, he's focusing a lot of his energy into something many people don't view as a pressing and important need... however I'm glad someone is willing to shame people for not being a responsible member of society. It's not against the law to leave your cart out and people do it all the time... but it does say a lot about said people. Society operates a lot more smoothly when people act as they should.
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The #1 rule of catching a non-valuable baseball is that if there is a kid in the area you give it to him. Even if karen caught it, she should have given it to the kid anyway
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I'll throw in a few variables
- I have been going to baseball games since I was kid. I have never once caught a baseball. Closest I got was a screamer coming at my face in right field during batting practice as a kid, which was thankfully caught by the guy in front of me. If I go to a game after all my years of going to games and catch a ball, there's a chance I might want to keep it as it has never happened before. I'm sure I'm not alone in this.
- That's not a rule. It has become the "good-look" thing to do, as there have been a lot of viral videos of it happening. It's more of a peer pressure thing than anything else. That's not to say I don't get the thought behind this new unwritten tradition, I would have been happy if anyone gave me a ball as a kid... but I can't agree with the idea that anyone who catches a ball should immediately forfeit it to a random kid. If giving a ball to a kid is what's in your heart, that's amazing... but pressuring people to do so is not the way to go about it, imo.
- What if this lady had a young child or grandchild that wasn't in attendance? People are assuming she just wanted it for herself (which is entirely possible) but what if she wanted to give the ball to a child in her life?
Once again, she seems to be a very unpleasant person and not someone I would get along with in real life... but I understand her initial frustration with the dad. How she dealt with said frustration is where she went wrong... I just think people are oversimplifying the whole interaction.
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I would like to add that I caught a foul ball at an Orioles vs Rangers game in 2019 (thank you Pedro Severino) and it was one of the greatest moments of my life. Kids should get to experience the thrill of catching or at least taking home a baseball that was at an actual MLB game.
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@Squid_Adams_PSN I think the distinction is:
Direct catch you keep it;
Scramble with kids involved, give it to ‘em
