employees, as she looks down on or openly mocks most people she meets, even her friends. Karen is often cruel to her staff at home, training them to run when she enters a room. Other times, she berates them, but somehow this comes across as an act of affection. While being patronizing and condescending most of the time, Karen also seems to respect those that won't back down from her. When she first meets Rosario, she bickers with her after Rosario told her that no one wants to hear her whining, only to say she likes Rosario and tells her she wants her to work for her. On another occasion, she asks Ben Ducette's assistant Mrs. Freeman to pop a stamp on a letter and put it into the mail for her, only to receive a very icy look in return without touching the envelope or replying to her. After an uncomfortable pause for Will and Ben, Karen takes back the envelope and genuinely tells her she likes her. Sometimes Karen unintentionally reveals to her friends a softer side. In one such incident, Karen's husband has an apparent heart attack. Karen discovers that her friends have placed a bet to see who can get her to cry first, so she punishes each of them by leading them on to think she might break down in their presence. In the end, it is revealed that it was not a heart attack but rather acute angina. She then has an emotional breakdown over the incident, during which Grace stumbles in and consoles her. Another episode sees Karen and Jack in her mansion with her refusing to let him enter 'the forbidden room'. When Jack finally gains access he discovers it is a nursery which Karen had prepared during a pregnancy scare in an earlier season. Although she agrees to change the room into a liquor storage room, she quickly changes her mind and the audience sees her stony façade crumble. In one episode, Jack accidentally gives away her favorite shoes to charity, and she rushes to buy them back, only to find that a poor woman is about to buy them. Karen gives the woman $500 for the shoes and admonishes Jack not to tell anyone. Sexuality and gender Karen frequently implies that she's attracted to other women, and has hinted that she has slept with members of the same gender. She