Devil's Advocate: "Phillies Karen"
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I normally don't like mundane subjects like this. There's too many dumb stories that get the world's attention and I feel like a sucker for paying any attention to it. That said, I'm curious to see what people here think about it. I have a little bit of a devil's advocate viewpoint on it, personally.
Off the top, I wouldn't have done what she did and think she comes off looking worse here than anybody. That said, I just got done watching the dad give some kind of interview and was cringing really hard about the whole thing and now I think my stance is that I don't like either party. I can understand the lady's irritation about a grown man running over from another section and snatching a ball she thought she was about to get. I recently went to a Double A game and during the t-shirt toss, I had one coming to me and the guy behind me reached over my head to grab it. I found that irritating and it did make me a little angry in the moment. Did I confront him about it? No, but I can imagine that's how that lady felt. As someone who has gone to all sorts of baseball games in my life, I've never caught a home run ball, a foul ball, a batting practice ball, a player tossing a ball into the stands. I think people go into their caveman brain a little and getting that ball is a huge deal in the moment. Where she messed up, of course, was walking up to the dad and son after she can see that's who the ball went to. She's the worst person in this story. However...
The interview with the dad rubbed me the wrong way, and the more I thought about it, I don't really like him either. Going to a ballgame with your son is great as it is. I'm sure the kid had a hotdog, a soda, maybe got a hat or jersey... who knows? A souvenir ball would be the cherry on top, sure, but I cringe when I see a grown adult run to a ball that is a different section than the one his family is in. There's something more likable, to me, about a man mature enough to let that ball go, since it's closer to the people it landed by and you have to run to get to it. This guy does the opposite, sprints to the ball and then buckles to a random lady yelling at him. In that moment and during the interview, he came off really weak. You could tell his son lost respect for him. In that unusual situation, giving her the ball was probably the most mature thing to do, because do you really want to be the person who is more possessive over a random baseball? But the whole situation could've been avoided if he didn't sprint to the ball like a middle schooler. What I saw is a story about 2 people lacking in class and decorum.
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She was totally in the wrong you don't take a ball from a kid, after she got the ball she went to the section next to her and started going off on another guy who tried unscessfully to get the same ball failed and went back to his seat
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@sbchamps17_NSW said in Devil's Advocate: "Phillies Karen":
She was totally in the wrong you don't take a ball from a kid, after she got the ball she went to the section next to her and started going off on another guy who tried unscessfully to get the same ball failed and went back to his seat
She then flipped off the crowd.
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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
