Bizarre video shows ‘Co-op Karen’ hassling friends buying beer as she claims to be “retail police”

A BIZARRE video shows a ‘Co-op Karen’ hassling a pair of friends attempting to buy beer as she claims to be the “retail police”.

Charlie Smith had been out buying some booze with a mate in a Co-op in Knebworth, Hertfordshire last Tuesday when a random customer approached them, accusing them of being underage.

The 19-year-old was left bewildered as the woman vehemently claimed that both of the youngsters were under the age of eighteen – despite being shown their ID – and therefore could not legally buy beer.

The footage shows the unidentified woman – appearing to be in her 40s or 50s – wearing a black floral skirt and a white fleece jumper as she confronts the duo.

The woman appears to be holding her Co-op membership card in one hand, while clutching a back handbag close to her stomach with her other hand.

The on-screen caption reads “Karen caught in the Co-op” as an automatic voiceover says: “Karen tries telling us we can’t buy beer in the Co-op and claims to be the retail police.”

The video pans over Charlie’s 19-year-old pal dressed in a black puffer jacket and carrying a crate of Budweiser bottles.

A hubbub of argument can be heard in the background as the woman, whose speech is mostly indiscernible amongst the noise, can be heard saying: “You’re not old enough.”

Charlie’s friend then says: “You need to stop being a Karen, though. I can’t lie.”

The woman protests at the name calling and continues to argue back with indistinguishable points as another customer can be seen watching in the background.

The woman then continues: “Excuse me. I really don’t appreciate–” but is cut off as Charlie directs her attention to the ID his friend is now attempting to show her.

The passport is thrusted towards the woman, proving that he is legally allowed to purchase the beer, but she refuses to acknowledge it, instead calling out for help.

She says: “Right, can we get some help? Because there’s too many people in here that shouldn’t be here.”

Charlie then laughs and questions the woman: “Have you been taking drugs or something?”

The woman sarcastically replies: “Yeah, I have. Totally.”

The pair laugh as the camera then pans onto the boy’s passport, as they plead with her again to read the ID for confirmation.

However, she again refuses twice with her arms crossed.

The camera then cuts to the woman standing at the checkout and allegedly claiming to be the “retail police.”

The boys then laugh and ask: “Retail police? The f***ing retail police?”

The woman, appearing to be in a sudden state of confusion as the boys finish getting served by the shop assistant.

She then questions “What’s going on?” as the boys laugh and leave.

The video was posted on social media by Charlie last Tuesday with the caption: “This lady is nuts.”

Charlie then added in the comments: “The passport is expired and you can’t see the numbers properly. It’s fine.

“She was just a customer and started saying we couldn’t buy some beer. She was trying to claim we were ‘underage’ even though we had ID.

“The funniest thing is I know her son. We weren’t rude to her, we just thought what she was saying was funny and wanted to prove her wrong.

“She’s jealous we got the last crate.”

The video received over 10,100 likes and more than 290 comments from users left scratching their heads by the woman’s bizarre policing.

One person joked: “She wanted that beer for herself.”

Another said: “Too many people in here that shouldn’t be? Who shouldn’t be in the Co-op?”

A third commented: “Why does she care when she doesn’t work there?”

Another added: “There I was thinking Karens were exclusively American.”

A fifth wrote: “Probably spent the whole of lockdown calling the police on her neighbours opening the window.”

Speaking to Charlie today he said: “Me and my friend went to the Co-op just casually to buy some beers because we were going to go back to mine and have a drink.

“As we went in there, my mate picked up the crate and the women in the video came over to us and started making stupid claims that we were ‘underage’ – even though my mate was showing her his ID as seen in the video.

“Then as we were finally trying to pay for them she was still harassing us and started claiming to be the retail police which was ridiculous!

“Even the guy behind the counter who was serving us had absolutely no problem with us and said the lady was mental.”