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In a biting column for the Daily Beast, Erin Gloria Ryan makes a compelling case that four years of Donald Trump's bullying, petulance and shamelessness has been a major factor in the rise of so-called "Karens" -- Americans who lash out in ugly ways and expose their inner bigot when they don't get their way.
While "I'd like to speak to your manager" has always been a common consumer complaint, Ryan said she couldn't help but notice that the behavior of the former president -- who is still whining, lying and lashing out because he lost the election -- is mirrored in the many videos that now litter social media of people behaving horrifically when told "no."
"For every Karen or Kevin who gets their just desserts, there are untold numbers of abusive customers, passengers, patrons, and shoppers who do get away with it, and the problem seems to be getting worse. Restaurant workers who returned to understaffed restaurants report that customer shitheadery is at an all-time high" she wrote before adding, "Predictions that the summer of 2021 would be both horny and chill have turned out to be sorely mistaken. Instead, all across the country, some Americans decided to get their pandemic ya-yas out by abusing the wait staff, flight attendants, bartenders, receptionists, baristas, nail technicians, cashiers… any worker whose job is to deal with customers, reset expectations, enforce rules."
Which, in turn, led her to remark upon the remarkable similarities between employee bullying and how Donald Trump conducts himself.
"Donald Trump's presidency damaged our standing in the global community, our public health, our government, and our democracy, but he's also done irreparable harm to the American personality, attracting people who were already kind of shitheads in the first place and encouraging them to give into their worst impulses and then cry and break things when they don't get their way," she wrote before noting "When I watch a video where a man is dragged off an airplane after refusing to wear a mask, I see a COVID-riddled President Trump ripping off his mask as he gasps for air on the steps of the White House after being released from Walter Reed. When I watch a diner screaming anti-Asian racial slurs at restaurant staff, I hear President Trump telling CBS News' Weija Jiang to 'ask China' about COVID-19. When a patron threatens to call ICE on a Texas restaurant because of its mask mandate, I hear Trump calling Mexican immigrants 'rapists.'"
Ryan goes to add that the January 6th insurrection that led to lawmakers from both sides of the aisle fleeing the Capitol to escape a violent crowd of Donald Trump supporters, angry because their man lost, was nothing less than "the ultimate Karen tantrum ....demanding to speak to the manager and then, when their demands were not placated, trying to destroy reality rather than live in it."
At the root of Karen and Trump behavior, she writes, is the inability to feel shame and belief that if you argue long enough you'll get your way.
"Trump demonstrated to this country that being an insufferable prick is a great way to get one's way," she wrote. "Once a person's sense of entitlement grows larger than their ability to feel empathy, they also inoculate themselves against shame. And shameless jerks have almost unlimited capacity to ruin everybody else's day. If you're a jerk for long enough and you don't care that everybody you're dealing with thinks you're a jerk, eventually the other party will get tired of dealing with you and give up. And you win."
Ryan concluded, "Trumpy tantrums, whether they take place in Washington or an Olive Garden in Mishawaka, Indiana, should not be tiptoed around, or given a respectful audience. Responding to these antics with anything but derision and denial teaches the fit-thrower that behaving badly gets good results. We can't let the worst customers at the restaurant dictate what's on the menu."
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Toa, the baby orca who captured hearts after he was found stranded in New Zealand waters, has lost his fight for survival, conservationists confirmed Saturday.
The killer whale, less than 2.5 metres (eight feet) long and believed to be four to six months old, became front-page news when he washed ashore near the capital Wellington after becoming separated from his pod nearly two weeks ago.
He was unweaned, and hundreds of people volunteered to assist with round-the-clock care as he was unable to survive alone in the ocean.
Conservationists, who named the orca Toa -- Maori for "warrior" -- housed him in a makeshift pen at the seaside suburb of Plimmerton, where he was fed via a special teat every four hours while an air and sea search was mounted to find his mother.
Whale Rescue, an organisation that had been helping care for Toa, posted on social media that his condition rapidly deteriorated on Friday night.
"Vets on site rushed to his aid but were unable to save him," the statement said.
Department of Conservation marine species manager Ian Angus said they were aware that the longer Toa was in captivity and away from his mother, the more likely it was his health would deteriorate.
"Toa passed quickly, surrounded by love with his last days made as comfortable as possible," Angus said.
"Throughout this amazing effort, we've all been united in wanting to do the best for Toa. Finding and reuniting him with his pod was still our goal as we headed into the weekend.
"This calf had captured hearts, and no one wanted to believe that he didn't have a fighting chance."
Despite being known as killer whales, orcas are actually the largest species of dolphin, with males growing up to nine metres.
Recognisable by their distinctive black and white markings, they are listed as critically endangered in New Zealand, where their population is estimated at 150-200.
Pods of orcas are relatively common in Wellington Harbour, where they have been observed hunting stingrays.
© 2021 AFP
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A strong earthquake shook the Philippines on Saturday, the US Geological Survey reported, but it was deep, and local authorities said they did not expect damage.
The 6.7-magnitude quake struck off the main island of Luzon at 4:48 am (2048 GMT) at a depth of 112 kilometres (70 miles), USGS said.
It was followed a few minutes later with a 5.8-magnitude quake in the same region that was also deep.
"It's very strong, we're alarmed," said police Major Ronnie Aurellano in Calatagan municipality, Batangas province, which is south of Manila and near the epicentre of the quakes.
"It's raining very hard here as well, but our people here are used to earthquakes. They're aware of the duck, hold and cover when there's an earthquake."
"We're checking low-lying areas in case there's a tsunami," he added.
The Philippine seismological agency said it did not expect damage. And there was no tsunami warning or threat, according to the US Tsunami Warning System.
"It's not as strong compared to the previous quakes here -- there's no damage reported to us," said police Corporal Bernie Faderogao in nearby Mabini.
"Our sliding door was just slightly shaken but it didn't break."
The archipelago is regularly rocked by quakes due to its location on the Pacific "Ring of Fire", an arc of intense seismic activity that stretches from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.
© 2021 AFP
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