Have you ever been called a racist for buying toilet paper?

 

Sadly, now I can say I was.

 

I was in a shopping mall with a friend. While she was shopping in one of the stores, I was outside, sitting with her things, including a pack of toilet paper we had bought in another store, just minding my own business.

 

All of a sudden, I heard a voice asking me whether I thought this was appropriate and whatnot.

Before I had a chance to realize she was talking to me, she started shouting all sorts of things.

 

In the end, she just said, “You are a racist,” and stormed off.

 

I didn’t have time to understand what had happened, let alone respond.

The whole interaction left me confused and kind of amused.

 

I realized that…

 

…I had just been Karen’d.

 

But afterwards, I just got angry.

Angry because using a word that describes such an important issue in such a bizarre situation (from what I could reckon, it was because I had toilet paper from another store???) makes it lose its meaning.

 

Keep in mind that words carry weight. They matter.

So use them wisely.

 

Pro tip:

To this day, I am unclear what the actual issue was.

When you present your work, that is the last thing you want your audience to feel.

You want it to be crystal clear what the problem is, how you are solving it, and why they should care.