A TikToker’s trip to Foot Locker took an irritating turn when she was allegedly mistaken for an employee, despite looking nothing like one. Her rant about the mix-up has since gone viral on the platform.
TikTok user Kat S. (@quxxnkat) posted the video on Dec. 22, and it has already racked up over 88,100 views. The clip begins with @quxxnkat venting her frustration about the incident that took place mere seconds after she entered the shoe store.
“I’m sorry, this [expletive] be irritating the [expletive] out of me,” she says. “I’m sitting here in Foot Locker, right? I just walked in here not even 20 seconds ago. Why the [expletive] someone came up to me and asked me, can they get a size 8?”
To emphasize how little she resembled a Foot Locker employee, @quxxnkat took a moment to showcase her outfit in the store mirror. She was sporting a navy blue sweater and joggers—a far cry from the signature black-and-white striped uniform donned by Foot Locker staff.
“Y’all, this is what I’m wearing,” she continued. “Do I … look like I … work at … Foot Locker? Like, I just had to look at her and walk away because I was gonna be so damn rude because be … serious. Do I got all some goddamn stripes to you? What? Like, I look like I’m on the clock right now? Damn.”
@quxxnkat People be blowwwwiinnngggggg me omg #fyp #christmasshopping #wtf ♬ original sound – Kat.The.Rine
Commenters say they’ve faced similar issues
In the comments, fellow TikTokers shared similar stories of being mistaken for employees at various stores. “I used to get asked in tj Maxx if I worked there,” one of them wrote.
“Everywhere I go Walmart Ross marshals people ask me for help idk what it is !!” another chimed in.
“I was wearing my scrubs in Barnes and Noble and got asked if I worked there,” one more shared.
So what’s the common thread? Several users pointed to the lanyard with keys @quxxnkat can be seen holding in the video. “It’s the lanyard. once I got rid of it, no more questions,” a user advised.
“It’s the lanyard & all them damn keys…” echoed another.
One TikToker even admitted, “I took my keys off my lanyard cuz I was tired of this exactly.”
A common mixup
While worker uniforms are designed to delineate between workers and customers, they often aren’t enough. These kinds of mixups are apparently so common that there’s an entire subreddit dedicated to swapping stories of being mistaken for store employees.
There’s a thread on the r/IDontWorkHereLady subreddit titled “What makes people think you work at a store?” Redditors shared theories about why this happens so frequently.
According to one Reddit thread, the difference between being mixed up for a worker isn’t limited to what you’re wearing but also how you carry yourself. “Shoppers meander. Workers march,” one Redditor wrote.
“If you’re in a hurry and know where things are, you’d probably set off that radar,” another added.
A third Redditor jokingly referred to the phenomenon as “resting competence face.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Foot Locker via its media relations email and to @quxxnkat via TikTok comment.
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