JANA HOCKING: Why I went full Karen and got a group of creepy blokes kicked out of a bar

Last Saturday I really kicked off, yes I absolutely lost my temper. It was public, it was loud and it was worth it. 

Earlier that day I made a tongue-in-cheek TikTok video saying I was going for a long lunch and I would not choose ‘chaos’ as the theme of the day. I failed dear reader, I failed. As we all know long lunches make for boisterous occasions, but for once I can say hand on heart, this chaos was warranted.

It all began late in the afternoon when I went to a post-lunch bar with a group of girlfriends and these older, slightly drunk men walked in. We’re talking late 40s, early 50s. They were wearing Bonds shirts and tight jeans in an attempt to make them look young and fun. Spoiler alert: they didn’t.

It was clear these guys were out to have a good time and when they clocked my girlfriends, who just happen to be gorgeous, they morphed into horny rabid dogs.

One of my friends and I were forced to walk past them to go to the bar when the smaller of the ‘gents’ reached out and felt her up while creepily telling her to come sit at their table. We’re not talking just a slimy brush of his hand, we’re talking both hands rubbing up and down her sides, from under her shoulders to her thighs, before lingering on her breasts.

The girls were having a great time – until they went to a bar afterwards and had a confrontation with a group of guys who, Jana (centre in blue) says, ‘turned into horny rabid dogs’ when they saw them. The man pictured back, second from right, is friends with the group of women and in no way related to the creepy group of men  

Jana saw red when her friend was sexually harassed at the bar, and decided to do something about it

We both froze. She tried to laugh it off and move past him, but I saw red. I couldn’t believe what I had just witnessed. It was 2023 and here was this creep treating her body like a piece of meat.

Now warning, what I said next was not pretty. I raised my voice as loud as I could and said ‘GET YOUR F***ING HANDS OFF HER YOU SEEDY CREEP!’ At first, he looked like his eyes were about to pop out of his head, and then he turned to his friends and they all laughed. Which of course only made the situation worse.

We went to the bar and my friend looked really upset. After I ranted on about it not being ok, and something I hadn’t witnessed since the 90s, and do men really think it’s still ok to treat women like that? she sighed and said it’s something she experiences all the time. Especially when there is alcohol involved.

We got back to our table and quickly realised they were sitting across from us. The short handsy one gave us a wave that was designed to provoke us and then quickly hid behind his mate, giggling like a child. Now I would like to stay I ignored it, but like I said, that day I had clearly chosen chaos, so I stood up, pointed at him and said a word that would make my Mum literally drive down from her farm and tell me off for (which I’m clearly expecting her to do once she reads this). 

I said ‘Instead of hiding behind your mate like a “big man”, how about you come over here and apologise you c***!’ I know I know, it’s a horrible word, and yes I am slightly ashamed of myself, but I couldn’t believe that not only had this guy assaulted my friend, but he then had the hide to sit across from us and taunt her.

His friend then turned to me and said ‘Sit down and calm down’. Well that was it, I stormed back up to the bar and acted like a proper Karen. I demanded to see the manager, and once he was located, I proceeded to tell him what had happened and bless his soul, just like me, he saw red. 

‘The short handsy one (centre) gave us a wave that was designed to provoke us and then quickly hid behind his mate, giggling like a child’, says Jana

‘I couldn’t believe that not only had this guy assaulted my friend, but he then had the hide to sit across from us and taunt her,’ Jana (pictured with her friends on the day) says

Fortunately, not all men are like the group who tried to ruin our day, Jana says 

He marched out with me and told the group in no uncertain terms to get out. In literally a couple of minutes, this bar owner had restored my faith in men. He didn’t ask questions, he didn’t place any of the blame on us, he just saw facts. A man had inappropriately touched a patron’s body, and had to be removed.

As they were leaving, one of the men shouted out ‘Well how about you tell them to put some clothes on!’ Yes, he attempted to dismiss their behaviour by alluding that men are unable to stop themselves from sexually harassing women because of the clothes we wear – aka ‘we ask for it’. Let me remind you, they were wearing tight Bonds tops and skinny jeans that outlined everything… and yet WE managed not to grab them. But no no no, tell us we can’t wear silky summer dresses, because eek you might get some urges.

It was a scary reminder that some men still think this way, and when I was pondering about it the next day, it genuinely made me sad. If it wasn’t for the bar owner who was as outraged as we were, I would have lost all faith. Thankfully it’s not all men.

So how do we rid the creeps from society? Is there an anti-Andrew Tate course we can send them to? I would love to know because I never want to witness something like that again. I can’t be washing my mouth out with soap every weekend – my Mum will disown me.