Toronto-based music artist and TikToker Meg Ecliptic (@meg.ecliptic) uploaded a tense video where she recorded a stranger who had allegedly been following her on the street.
Distressed, she enters a local restaurant, recording the man the entire time.
Throughout the duration of the clip, the man acts erratically as Ecliptic speaks to a store employee about her fear of the individual while she places an order at the restaurant.
@meg.ecliptic As a mix indigenous woman i don’t f*ck around to find out #scary #scarytiktoks #stalker #creepy #nativetiktok #native #mmiwawareness #mmiw #staysafe #safetytips ♬ original sound – Meg Ecliptic
Ecliptic begins her video by looking into the camera while wearing sunglasses. She writes in a text overlay in the video, “What it’s like walking in Toronto as a woman.”
The clip then transitions to show a man standing at the entranceway of Egg Club restaurant. She adds, “I was followed for a block so I went in a restaurant I’m a regular at.”
The man gesticulates for a bit before gesturing to the woman. In the text overlay, she explains she was “asking if he’s hungry before I do anything to see if he’s just in need, to buy him a meal.”
“I’m waiting somewhere,” the man responds before adjusting his clothing again. At this point in the clip, she informs a staff member at the store that she’s being followed by the man.
An employee tells her that there’s a security guard in the vicinity. “He can help us if you like I can get him,” he says.
“Yeah,” she replies.
The clip then transitions to the woman receiving her order as she continues to record the man standing behind her. She informs the employee that she’s going to wait a while longer, presumably because she doesn’t feel safe leaving the store.
The stranger constantly looks back in the woman’s direction and back out the window.
She continues to record the man as the employee tells her that the restaurant will have to call the police in the situation. They ask Ecliptic if she would like to do that.
“OK, I’ll see if I can talk to this guy,” she replies to the worker. “I’ll ask him first to stop following me.”
“OK,” the worker says.
She approaches the man and says, “Um, sir, if you keep following me I am gonna have to call the police.”
“Oh, I’m not following you,” the guy replies.
Ecliptic continues, “So if you stay here and I leave we’ll be OK.”
The man responds but it’s difficult to discern what he’s saying. He does seem to mention that he’s going to exit the store and walk in a different direction, to which the TikToker replies, “OK, if you go that way I go this way we’ll be OK, all right, thank you.”
The man then exits the store and the employee apologizes to her. The two of them watch the man walk away.
“Yeah, like I feel bad for the guy I asked him if he wanted some food or something I don’t know what he’s up to,” Ecliptic says.
The employee responds, “These days we really don’t know.”
The TikToker thanks the employee for helping her and upon exiting the store, she records behind her which reveals that the man was only waiting a few steps away from the restaurant. The employee walks outside to stand in front of the restaurant as she heads in the opposite direction.
One TikToker commended Ecliptic for the way she handled the situation, stating that she was happy to see she was first concerned for the safety of the man following her, even if she was initially creeped out by him.
“I love that you first asked if he was hungry to see if he was in need you handled this perfectly,” they wrote.
Another found the worker’s attitude and willingness to help in the situation to be admirable as well, saying, “The employee at the store handled this so well too!”
However, another viewer urged Ecliptic to not be apologetic in situations like these, sharing, “Don’t apologize for setting boundaries ever.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Egg Club via email and Ecliptic via Instagram direct message for further comment.
