A Karen, Ken, Crank, or Hooligan story?

[Swamp Girl]

Have you ever been on a fishing trip and encountered a Karen (an "I'd like to speak to the manager!" sort of woman), a Ken (a male Karen), a Crank (a grouchy, "Get off my lawn!" person), or a Hooligan?

 

I have a Hooligan story:

 

I was on a lake north of Lake of the Woods, musky fishing. It was a windy day and the resort where I was staying with 19 men was at the back of a narrow bay. We were waiting for the wind to abate when a boat with three teens came into the bay and started doing donuts. The resort owner politely asked them to stop, explaining that their wake was bouncing expensive boats against his docks.

 

The men and I were sitting on lawn chairs. These weren't an ordinary group of men. Two were bouncers, one was an ex-college football player, one was an ex-fighter pilot, one was a race car driver, one was a Harley guy, and so on. Well, the teens blew off the resort owner and the men with me just laughed. They knew what was coming next.

 

They all looked at the wild man in the group and the wild man smiled, walked down to his boat, gathering rocks along the way. He fired up his boat, roared up to the teens, and they gave him lip. He didn't even fire a warning rock shot. He looked like he was trying to decapitate them with his rocks, but maybe he was just really accurate and could hurl them inches from their heads.

 

A lot of teens have learned that adults are afraid of them. These teens learned that not all adults are afraid of them. I was glad the kids didn't get hurt and hoped they carried that Leroy Brown lesson through the rest of their lives. 

 

Do you have a Karen, a Ken, a Crank, or a Hooligan story? 

[Darth-Baiter]

i have been pretty isolated from such encounters.  i do feel a bit sad for anyone named those names...yeesh.  ruined a pretty name.

[N Florida Mike]

I’ve had plenty. The worst karen would be the one that kicked my jon boat when I was 17 or so. She had a chain link fence that went 4 feet or so out into the water on her property line. I had tied up to it not hurting anything. I was catching bream off a big bed that was out from her neighbors. She came out and very rudely told me to leave, because I was “hurting her fence”. I wasn’t. Because of her attitude, I didn't leave . She threatened me with her husband and the police. I was polite, but just kept fishing. Finally, she rolled up her pants leg, stepped into the water, hauled off and kicked my boat. 

That made me mad so I splashed her with an oar and she retreated. Then I left before she went and got a gun. Not saying I was right by not leaving at first , but I probably would have if she just would have been nice about it to start with…

That was me at 17. Not saying I would do that now…?

 

[gim]

I can be a “crank” with relative frequency. The holidays generally bring out an annual Scrooge in me.

[Bird]

I live in a rural area and have never encountered a Karen. 

BUT have been endlessly entertained by those who think they own the water via YouTube.

 

A Karen can be either sex ? Correct ?

[Dwight Hottle]

12 minutes ago, Bird said:

I live in a rural area and have never encountered a Karen. 

BUT have been endlessly entertained by those who think they own the water via YouTube.

 

A Karen can be either sex ? Correct ?

No a Karen is a female Karen & a Ken is a male Karen. Right Katie?

[Swamp Girl]

Yep, @Dwight Hottle.

 

@N Florida Mike, I can't get over someone sinking fence posts into a pond bottom to simply claim a few more feet of land. That woman was looking for a property line fight long before you happened along. 

[Glenn]

2 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

hoped they carried that Leroy Brown lesson through the rest of their lives. 

I love the reference! LOL

 

 

[Bluebasser86]

A couple years ago, I took both my boys out for a late afternoon trip to the lake by my parents house. It was more of a lure hunting trip than a fishing trip as it as late fall, most the leaves were off the trees so baits would be easy to spot. 

 

We showed up to the ramp with just a few hours to try to get a lap around the 400 acre lake, kind of hurrying. There was 2 pontoons on the ramp, it's a 3 lane ramp and there was one on each side, so the middle was open. I prepped my boat, prepped my boys, and neither pontoon duo appeared to have made any headway with getting their rattletraps off the ramp. I've been backing a boat trailer for 2 decades, there was plenty of room, so I lined up and guided it down right between their boats with plenty of room on both sides. As soon as I put the parking brake on and got out, one of the Ken's hit me with a "You in a *** hurry?!" Both my boys were in the boat so I was super excited to have someone cussing at me because they couldn't load a boat. I told him not to worry, I wasn't going to scratch his piece of junk pontoon and I'd be unloaded and leaving the dock before he figured out how to get his boat on the trailer. That was when his Karen decided to chime in about me being disrespectful, to which I had to respond that nothing about cussing in front of my kids and greeting me with hostility for using the 3rd lane on a 3 lane boat ramp deserved any respect from me. The other Karen and Ken decided to join in and started to say their piece about me "Disrespecting my elders". I told them that being older than someone doesn't automatically command respect, nor does it give you the right to be a jerk. Then I pointed out if they would have pulled their boat up and finished strapping it down in the parking lot like you're suppose to, none of this would have been an issue in the first place. 

By this time, I'd unloaded my boat and tied it off to the dock. I had my kids come to the truck with me instead of sitting in the boat because I wasn't sure what else they might do or say. We walked back to boat and pushed off from the dock while they were still grumbling at me. I idled out of the marina slowly and talked to my kids, both that were obviously upset about what just happened. Thankfully, a little boat driving and some sweet snacks got their minds off of it and we were able to still have a good time and I didn't have any flat tires when we got back in for the night. 

A friend of mine showed up about 45 minutes later, he said there was still a pontoon trying to get on the trailer when he got there and left the ramp. I think the guy was just mad because he couldn't load his boat and decided to take it out on me. 

[BrianMDTX]

I certainly have deer hunting but not fishing. 
 

But, a few months ago I was bank fishing and a woman walked by and asked if had any luck. I said yes. In short (long) order I learned: 

 

She was 76

She had cancer. Twice
She no longer had boobs

Her husband died. In 1975

She married a man 25 years younger

He had cancer

Her daughter lived in Seattle (she didn’t have cancer)

She was a God-fearin’ Christian woman looking for an over-70 Bible study group

 

I’m sure I’m forgetting something. I’ve never wished for a Lake Placid gator to show up as much as I did after 30 minutes of that torture! 

[thediscochef]

aw man i'm totally a 31-year old crank, i get totally annoyed when people 

[Woody B]

I've never had much of a problem on the lakes.  I witnessed a Hooligan......or just a kid being a kid that was really funny.  I was fishing a ways up a no wake cove.  There was a kid having a ball on a jet ski flitting around doing doughnuts, making waves, then jumping them.  He lived in that cove.  His Dad (I presume) came outside and saw him.  The kid went back to his dock.  The Dad yelled "if you can ride that thing you can ride the lawn mower" (with some added profanity)   The kid put the jet ski up and got the mower out.  

 

Maybe I was a crank one day.  I was skipping docks and a guy cut right in front of me 50 feet or less away at the next dock.  I didn't say anything at first.  He was burning a spinnerbait, but couldn't cast very well so he wasn't getting very close to the dock.   I caught a 4 pounder right behind him.  I held it up and yelled "Hey **** head,  you forgot this".  

 

I work with the public.  I could tell Karen stories for days......... I even have a couple Karen, and Ken co workers.  

[Bankbeater]

My dad and I were fishing at a reservoir down in southern Missouri about 40 years ago.  We were going into a cove, but there was an old guy fishing there out of a jon boat already in the cove, so we continued on down the bank.  Maybe 15 minutes later a speed boat full of young people take their boat into the cove and speed back out again.  This happened once more.  As the boat was making a third run the guy in the jon boat pulls out a shotgun and fires over their heads.  Speed boat left and did not return.

If I'm fishing a new lake I always try to be nice to the locals.  You never know how much firepower they have.

[Susky River Rat]

I think I am the crank to be honest. I just don’t engage most  people anymore it’s not worth it. I just shake my head and go about my day. 

[KSanford33]

Oh no, please don't tell me male Karens are now referred to as Kens...

 

 

I don't get involved in that sort of stuff anymore. I fish to get away from it. So if someone jumps in front of me at a fishing spot or gives me lip about being too close to their dock, I just move on.

 

It's hard to describe because I used to never back down from a confrontation, but now I just don't have the emotional energy for it.

[Swamp Girl]

8 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

I think the guy was just mad because he couldn't load his boat and decided to take it out on me. 

 

Oh, yeah.

 

My takeaway from your story is that you're a great dad, focused on your kids. You were literally surrounded by Kens and Karens, but you kept your cool, remembering the Prime Directive: Protect the puppies. 

 

8 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

I’m sure I’m forgetting something. I’ve never wished for a Lake Placid gator to show up as much as I did after 30 minutes of that torture! 

 

I love your post and literally laughed out loud.

[gim]

I used to be pretty impatient at the access when I was younger.  I had zero tolerance for people holding up the line and I let them know.

 

I quit saying or doing anything about it years ago though.  Its so much easier and less confrontational to just be patient and wait.  Even if they person is taking way too long.

[casts_by_fly]

52 minutes ago, KSanford33 said:

I don't get involved in that sort of stuff anymore. I fish to get away from it. So if someone jumps in front of me at a fishing spot or gives me lip about being too close to their dock, I just move on.

 

It's hard to describe because I used to never back down from a confrontation, but now I just don't have the emotional energy for it.

 

This is where I've landed.  I've got better things to do than get worked up about someone else's behavior.  The last minor incident I had was on the big lake here that is packed with people.  I was 20-30 yards off shore in my kayak (spot locked) and casting to the shore for a nice dropoff.  I had been there a while, certainly long enough for the guy paddling his kayak around the entire back end of the cove to see what I was doing.  No matter, he decided it was important to just paddle through right across where I was fishing.  If I didn't care about the lure I was throwing I'd have tossed one across the bow but it was my best DT.  I just moved on and chalked one to to 'should have known better' fishing that lake on a saturday.

[Swamp Girl]

@casts_by_fly, what does your moniker mean? FWIW, my moniker means nothing beyond I'm goofy. 

 

What I'm learning from this thread is that Bass Resource has a lot of cool hand Lukes, i.e. guys who keep their cool. If we gather one day, I'm bringing eggs. Lots of eggs.

 

[ironbjorn]

If my teenage son is doing donuts in a boat with his idiot friends, failing to listen to adults, and an adult hits my kid in the head with a rock I'm blowing the boat and the man up (exaggeration). Talk about big yikes. Talk about felony. My idiot son is working to pay for any damages and is in serious trouble if it was me, but a rock to the head? At the very least I'm getting revenge, an eye for an eye.

[BrianMDTX]

13 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

@casts_by_fly, what does your moniker mean? FWIW, my moniker means nothing beyond I'm goofy. 

 

What I'm learning from this thread is that Bass Resource has a lot of cool hand Lukes, i.e. guys who keep their cool. If we gather one day, I'm bringing eggs. Lots of eggs.

 

I can eat 50 eggs!

 

Quail eggs lol!

45 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Oh, yeah.

 

My takeaway from your story is that you're a great dad, focused on your kids. You were literally surrounded by Kens and Karens, but you kept your cool, remembering the Prime Directive: Protect the puppies. 

 

 

I love your post and literally laughed out loud.

I really tried to be nice. For the first 4-5 minutes of chatting about fishing and the outdoors, I could deal with it. When it started getting personal was when it got cringe. I swear, I thought she was going to pull her top off and show me that she no longer had boobs! Finally I did a <looks at phone> “Holy crap! Lookit the time! I gotta scoot!” 
 

Thank God she just hadn’t underwent a colonoscopy! 

[Swamp Girl]

18 minutes ago, ironbjorn said:

If my teenage son is doing donuts in a boat with his idiot friends, failing to listen to adults, and an adult hits my kid in the head with a rock I'm blowing the boat and the man up (exaggeration). Talk about big yikes. Talk about felony. My idiot son is working to pay for any damages and is in serious trouble if it was me, but a rock to the head? At the very least I'm getting revenge, an eye for an eye.

 

It was way over the top, for sure.  

[islandbass]

12 hours ago, gimruis said:

I can be a “crank” with relative frequency. The holidays generally bring out an annual Scrooge in me. Lately, my 4 year old boy makes my blood boil…

Ha, get used to it, lol. Unlike friends or acquaintances, family, especially kids, once they know your buttons, can push them and turn the nicest guy into a curmudgeon.??

[Dogface]

9 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

But, a few months ago I was bank fishing and a woman walked by and asked if had any luck. I said yes. In short (long) order I learned: 

 

She was 76

She had cancer. Twice
She no longer had boobs

Her husband died. In 1975

She married a man 25 years younger

He had cancer

Her daughter lived in Seattle (she didn’t have cancer)

She was a God-fearin’ Christian woman looking for an over-70 Bible study group

 

I’m sure I’m forgetting something. I’ve never wished for a Lake Placid gator to show up as much as I did after 30 minutes of that torture! 

 

I'd bet if she was here she would be commenting about the nice man she met at the ramp. You probably made her day because she needed someone to talk to and that was a good thing.

[gim]

1 minute ago, islandbass said:

Ha, get used to it, lol. Unlike friends or acquaintances, family, especially kids, once they know your buttons, can push them and turn the nicest guy into a curmudgeon.??

Well, I was never really a nice guy to begin with anyways!  My dog is higher on the list most of the time.