Maybe you haven’t heard (or seen) how some poor soul dubbed “Phillies Karen” is suffering at the hands of, well, just about everyone. It’s one of those cases where everyone agrees — haven’t heard a brave peep in her defense. Anyway, here’s what happened, and why it was for me an outstanding example of GOOD parenting and child behavior.
Everyone is focusing on the brazen ass-hole-ishness of “Phillies Karen.” The lesson there is that people who act that way look really sad and stupid to to the rest of us. Unfortunately, there’s no mirror large enough reflect the depth of their behavior and its impact.
Here’s what happened. I was almost there, you might say. We toodled down to Miami Sunday afternoon to catch the final game of the Phillies-Marlins series, in Miami. By now, I had watched the viral “Karen” video several times on my phone, but hadn’t yet made the connection we were heading for the scene of the crime.
The setting: Visiting Phillies at bat. Lots of Phillies’ fans in the stands. Phillies’ batter hits a home run into the seats. There’s a jumble — wouldn’t even call it a scramble — and an adult stands up with the ball. He excitedly retraces his steps to his seat, where his 10-year-old son, on his birthday, is overjoyed to receive such a gift.
Without warning, a woman since dubbed “Phillies Karen” angrily stalked across to where the father and son stood. Her body language was loud and rude. You could smell her reek of entitlement over the fried onions on the hot dog grill. Once the father regained his composure — hang on a minute. The woman strode up to him and put her hand on him. The guy behind me is a Mets fan (we made nice) and he said he would have turned and walloped her. What you expect to hear from a Mets, fan, maybe, and what you’d hear from a Phillies fan, if we were at home in Citizens Bank Park.
The stunned father looked at his son. In that unspoken moment, they both realized what they had to do. By acting like a grown-up, he was showing his son that might wasn’t always right, even if the bullies sometimes walk away with the prize. He took, or his son handed him the ball. The father gave it to “Phillies Karen.” One lesson here: That kid showed more class than she’ll ever know.
It was a brilliant and sensitive demonstration of people who know how they should behave and how aware they are of the example they’re setting for children. It’s one thing to talk theoretically about dealing with the narcissistic jerks and to laugh in the face of their onslaught. The child and the parent were prepared to deal with a situation like this, even if it had never happened. They both showed compassion and empathy — not fear, as she might have intended. I thought of how my own Daughter would have dealt with this same situation.
Ten-year-old Daughter would have taken the same path, the higher road, joined by her Father. Uh, 18-year-old Daughter would’ve stood nose-to-nose with “Phillies Karen” and told her what she thought about the woman’s intrusion. I’ve seen this combative stance, especially in tight quarters. I also know, never in a million years, would my 18-year-old ever remotely resemble this one-dimensional person.
I need to wrap this up. Want proof of karma? No, I really don’t care what poor fortune is visited upon “Phillies Karen” as a result of her notoriety. Instead, the Miami Marlins home team stadium staff apparently watched the incident on the big screen — the camera always follows the home run ball. Next thing you know, there is a Marlins staffer standing by the boy’s seat, with a goodies’ bag full of Marlins’ ballpark memorabilia. Hey, it’s not a home run ball, but it’s still pretty cool for a 10th birthday. Not to be outdone, the Phillies staffers stepped up next. They invited the boy and his family into the players’ area under the stadium after the game. Waiting there was the Phillies’ hero who had hit the home run ball. But, now he was signing a bat and spending time chatting with the family.
Now that’s a 10th birthday worth remembering for GREAT reasons — not because you had front row seats for the jerk-of-the-year competition. Keeping it positive and making wise, even if difficult, choices. Treating people with respect, no matter how disrespectful they might be of you.
P.S. Not making this up: the CEO of Camping World says he is sending the family to the major league World Series “on him,” and is giving the family an RV.
olderdadyoungerchild 