Cruella de Phil

I wanted to write about Philly Karen, or as I like to call her Cruella de Phil, a couple of days ago but felt maybe I had lost the window. My take is a little different, and it kind of coincides with the madness in the world this week.

I watched it happen in real time and for as stupid as it was, it was distressingly normal at the same time. We watched an entitled middle-aged woman who is used to getting her way, force a complete stranger to give her what she felt entitled too. She made a nation-wide ass out of herself and to me that’s enough cosmic retribution, but there’s something darker at play, because to me, Philly Karen sadly represents today’s state of the culture.

We live in a word of ‘me.’ My politics, my viewpoints, my homerun ball. To far too many of us, ‘you’ are no longer an important part of the equation. Basically, it’s my world and you’re just taking up space in it. It’s the result of a culture that has allowed itself to be divided by those seeking political gain; it’s the result of a social media framework that values dissent and conflict over decency to sell advertising; it’s the result of a common media that values ridicule and condescension over basic humanity.

We may all have had a good laugh at Cruella de Phil’s idiocy, but to a larger extent than we may care to admit, there’s a little bit of Philly Karen in all of us. Her display of selfishness on such a grand scale has reminded me that it’s time to value human kindness and decency again.

Also, hats off to the kid’s father for showing the kind of restraint and desire for peace his son will carry into his own world when he grows up.

Also, also, as a die-hard Phillies fan, this woman does not represent me.