The 4KK Karen of the Year – 2026

As a filler I thought I would write a quick article about my mastermind specialist subject, which is “moaning like drain”. I initially thought I would just make a simple list of all the things that really, really grinds my gears, but after about 40 pages and having only reached c in the alphabbet, I realised I needed to narrow it down a bit, so I have homed in on just three things that annoy the hell out of me, but here’s the twist it’s three things that probably won’t annoy anyone else and I admit are things that most normal people would just let go of and get on with their life. I will let you be the judge and invite you to comment on my list, but to also add your own little annoyances too and I will decide who gets the 4kk Karen of the year award for 2026. Regular contributors will know that this is an annual competition and a tradition that goes all the way back to, yes! you’ve guessed it, 2026.

First one is people who walk on the wrong side of the pavement. Yes and in a Christian country like ours, that means people who do not walk on the left, but either wander all over the place, or worse still, blatantly disregard our cultural heritage and actually walk on the right and therefore directly against the natural Great British traffic flow. I appreciate that in a diverse City like Bath, which is also a tourist destination, it might be that some of the “offenders” are neither local, nor British, but I do not always have time to count their fingers, as they come towards me, in order to check. I think the reason it really gets to me is I walk Daisy on my left to keep her safe, but also to keep the idiots from being lunged at by a deranged dawg.

The second is people who park on the pavement and I don’t just mean those that put a couple of wheels on the pavement, to not block the road, but those that park mostly, or even wholly, on the pavement or the muddy verge ,which was once a grass verge until the anti-social dicks started parking on it. These are usually the same people who go into a pure cold rage when they see a cyclist even looking at a pavement….

My third and final one is a bit of a cheat really as it’s litter, or more to the point, littering. The cheat is that publicly at least, most people would agree with me, as everytime the subject comes up on facebook, or in the press, everyone seems to be completely outraged too. I remember the aftermath of Glastonbury and Bournemouth beach after a hot weekend, but there are many others too. It’s not just the big events either. When I walk to my local shops, about 300 yards away, I can collect at least a handful of litter every time. What I don’t understand though is if it is such a no no why does it continue to happen and on such a scale?