In a viral TikTok video, a former Walmart door greeter says he would not stop customers who stole expensive childcare items, like baby formula or Pampers.
Brandon Tamayo (user @brandontamayo02) stitched a video from user @commlion, including the audio, “If you see anyone stealing, no you didn’t.” He then goes on to share his experience working as a door greeter at Walmart, someone who greets customers as they enter and exit, and checks receipts as they leave.
“Every time I saw a customer, mostly a woman, and I checked the receipt, and I saw Pampers or baby formula that was not on the receipt, I just said, ‘Have a great day,’” Tamayo says.
He explains that he never stopped these customers because childcare products can often be difficult for people to afford. Walmart also did not offer any rewards to employees who stopped customers from stealing.
“Why? Because they’re expensive and kids are expensive, in general,” he says. “And my store, and the company in general, we didn’t really get a reward for the amount of stuff we caught people stealing.”
“Did I care? No, because I was making $11.50 at that time,” he says.
His video received over 1.4 million views and sparked debate about stealing in the comments.
Many users praised Tamayo for avoiding customers who stole baby products.
“Not all heroes wear capes,” one user said.
“We need to nominate you for the Nobel peace prize lol,” another said.
Some users echoed Tamayo’s sentiment that employees are not paid enough to deal with people who steal items.
“Walmart employees don’t get paid enough to fight with people who are stealing,” one user said.
“When I work for Walmart I didn’t care about it because I didn’t get enough money for that,” another said.
However, one user said they were fired from Walmart for doing the same thing. “They fired me for this but idc worth it,” they said. Tamayo said in a comment that he was never fired because he was one of their most reliable employees.
Others argued that Walmart, a company that made $559 billion in 2020, would hardly be affected by stealing.
“If every single person who walked in Walmart stole something, they would still make billions of dollars,” one user said.
“Walmarts rich anyway,” another said.
On the other hand, some users noted that theft could increase the price of a product for those who do purchase it.
“A can of formula for my baby is 44$. There is no reason it should cost this much,” one user said.
“Theft raises the costs for those of us not stealing diapers and formula. Business owners will get their money one way or another,” another said.
Others argued that stealing is wrong regardless of a person’s situation.
“I understand children are expensive but there is no excuse for stealing. Just my humble opinión,” one user said.
“Stealing is wrong period. There are plenty of government programs that can help you pay for these things if you can’t afford them,” another said.
Tamayo made a follow-up video in response to these comments. He notes that, depending on the state people live in, food stamps and government assistance can be difficult to access.
“If you live in a conservative state, like Indiana where I used to live, it can be kinda hard to get on food stamps, even if you have a few kids,” he says.
He also notes that people are often not given enough food stamps to be able to afford expensive child care products.
“If you make under a certain amount of money, they can literally give you $50-$100 a month of food stamps,” he says. “That literally cannot support a family, especially if they have a newborn baby.”
Update April 5, 6:14am CT: When reached for comment, Tamayo told the Daily Dot via Instagram direct message that it “broke [his] heart” when he “would see parents crying in front of their children and begging asset protection (AP) not to press charges” after they were caught stealing.
“One day, I decided that if I saw a customer with at least one box of diapers or a can of baby formula that wasn’t listed on the receipt, I would act like I saw it on and tell them to have a great day,” he said.
Tamayo said he received a lot of criticism in the comments section of the video.
“But I don’t care because the people who tend to speak negatively never walked in someone else’s shoes to understand what situation they are dealing with,” he said. “I do like how the comments have started a conversation about the cost of raising a family in this country.”
He urged viewers who want to help to “vote for people who advocate for families struggling with the necessities to survive.”
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