A viral TIkTok video from a New York City-based creator, claiming to work security at what appears to be a Rite Aid store, shows what she called a “typical night at work”—involving a parade of people stealing items and breezing through the door.
The video comes from @indiathegoddess, who claims, via a pinned comment alongside the video, to be “security in the store.” The creator also notes, “Also, I live in a predominately black community in NYC,” with an aside that “all races, genders, etc. STEAL” and a note, “This is just what I recorded.”
The viral video, showing five different people walking out of the store with pilfered items, has drawn more than 1.9 million views on the platform in its first four days.
“Typical night at work,” the text-to-speech reader narrates from the on-screen caption, as the montage of theft starts up. One of the people leaving the store waves to the person filming the video upon leaving, leading the same automated voice to comment, “It’s the wave goodbye for me.”
The creator went on to explain, responding to queries as to why her role as a security guard didn’t allow her to be more proactive in stopping the thieves, “I am not to touch, grab, pull ANYONE even if their (sic) stealing.”
The videos, she went on to clarify, were to show the police as part of an “observe and report” policy to respond to the theft.
A number of people commented on the policies that allow the theft to take place. One commenter observed, “For people working retail, this is a regular thing and there’s no reason to stop them. The company make (sic) more money than what they lost from theft.”
Another concurred, adding, “Right, they put money aside every year in the budget for this. I don’t risk my life.”
And another chimed in, speculatively, “And that’s why prices keep going up.”
The person who waved to the camera captured a lot of commenters’ imagination, with one noting, “At least they waved goodbye. Good manners.”
Another observed that the person in question “had such an attitude about being recorded.” That led the commenter to reveal, when recording that person, “I was told I was being spicy.”
Race did enter the conversation. The creator made a follow-up video responding to a comment that argued that it was a “black thing.”
That video, showing security footage of a white person leaving the store, was presented with a caption using a mocking type style to denote, “iTs a bLaCk tHiNg” along with the comment, “Welllll, looks about WHITE too me.”
That video included the creator claiming in the comments section to have more videos, indicating that further follow-up videos may be on the way.
The follow-up video also led one commenter to offer, “Wow, y’all need a security guard.”
The creator responded, “Lol I am girl.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to the TikToker and to Rite Aid for comment.
