OK... I was feeling like so many people were adding to the original Karen meme just everything they hate... (Anti-maskers claim she is a nazi hall monitor making everyone wear masks; pro-maskers claim she’s too selfish and self-important to wear a mask) but I think you may have the winning point.
But that said... Like everyone else, I worked in retail summers and after school. From a grocery store to a home goods store, I don’t think I ever encountered the Karen you describe. Not once. Maybe I was just really good at placating Karen or solving her problems. If Karen no longer bothers with the low-level staff, is that because she has learned from experience there’s no point? How many times can you get people sticking to scripts as if you weren’t even a human being before you just say it, “F*** it; I want to talk to someone who has the authority to say something other than as an NPC?”
Me going full Karen:
“I’d like to get one Whopper with no ma-—”
“Would you like cheese with that?”
“I’m sorry, you just interrupted me in the middle of a word!”
“Would you like cheese with that?”
“Does it come with cheese?” (knowing full well they charge you extra)
“Yes.”
“Cool, free cheese”
“No, the Whopper with cheese is $1.35 more.”
“You just said it comes with cheese.”
“The Whopper with cheese comes with cheese.”
“But I didn’t order a Whopper with cheese; I ordered a Whopper.”
“Would you like cheese with that?”
“Not if I have to pay $1.35 for a slice of cheese.”
“The cheese comes with the Whopper with cheese.”
“I’d like one Whopper with no cheese.” (I see another Whopper being rung up.)
“No, I’d like ONE Whopper, no cheese. You’re ringing up two.”
“Yes, would you like cheese on the second Whopper?”
“I don’t want any Whopper with cheese. Just one Whopper. No Mayonnaise. No pickle.”
“The sandwhich or the meal?”
Just the sandwich, but I’d also like one order of medium fries.”
“Would you like large fries with that?”
“Are you asking would I like large fries with my order of medium fries?”
“No, I’m asking if you’d like large fries with your Whopper.”
“No, I want one Whopper, one order of medium fries.”
(He rings me up for another Whopper and another order of medium fries.)
“Can I speak to your manager?”
And that’s Burger King. The McDonald’ses in my area never hire English-speaking people. Burger Kings hire blacks; McDonald’ses hire Latinos. You have to ask to speak to the manager to get Ketchup nowadays. (Somehow, someone decided that packets of ketchup spread coronavirus.)
Every time the minimum wage issue comes up, throngs of FReepers will point out (and rightly so) that minimum wage, entry level jobs are not meant to be career choices, but places for younger people entering the workforce to develop technical and interpersonal skills, work ethics, and an understanding of the value of their labor.
This is a great position when debating the issue of a minimum wage, but I think the test of how deeply one embraces that belief is how one may deal with an entry level, minimum wage employee.
As a customer of a business, it's not my job, nor my responsibility to train that business's employees. As a conservative, a Christian and a human being, it is my responsibility to treat them with a certain degree of respect and dignity. If, in my interaction with an entry level employee, I can coach or mentor them and make them a better employee (and they are receptive to it), I will avail myself of that opportunity. I'm not saying I'm going to stop my day and conduct a one hour business class for them, but I will give a generous tip where warranted (and more importantly let them know why). If I have a dispute over a product or service, I will rationally and politely present my case to them and engage them as to what they think the best course to resolution would be and what they would do if they were in my position.
If circumstances allow, I would very much rather get to the point where the employee says, "Let me check with my manager," or, "Would you like to talk to my manager," than for me to demand to speak to a manager.