Quote · Parenting Hell with Rob Beckett and Josh Widdicombe
S12 EP48: Stop me if you've heard this one before
Where this was said
Solidarity or Solid Karen: The Beach Crying Child
At 28:23 · chapter starts 25:45
Rob revisits the 'Solidarity or Solid Karen' feature, noting a flood of requests to rename it from listeners called Karen, before reading Pete's submission. Pete was at a beach with friends, keeping an eye on four children near the sea, when another family's five-year-old wandered down, hurt themselves, and started crying. The parents noticed but simply waved the child back. An elderly couple walking past scolded Pete and his friend sarcastically for 'letting them cry it out' — not realising it wasn't their child. Pete's response — 'that's not our kid and she's not even my wife' — dispatched them swiftly. Rob and Josh diagnose the elderly couple as solid Karens: they failed to actually help, choosing condemnation over information. The correct approach, they conclude, is 'subtle shaming by looking like you're helping' — alerting the relevant parent under the guise of concern.
In rural Scotland, the dating pool is small. A listener's school had one male teacher, Mr. Simpson, who started dating James's mum. Every morning they would walk James to school and then full-on snog at the gates in front of the entire class. They eventually married and then divorced — because of course they did.
