As the threat of a recession looms upon us, people have started to notice strange behavior coming from others. One such incident happened to a woman shopping at Walmart when a man decided to comment on how full her shopping cart was.
A TikToker who posts under the handle YT: OneSexyBBW (@onesexybbw_) warns people in the caption of her post.
“They are watching us! The job losses and recession got people acting crazy!” she claims.
As she’s “hiding in the aisles,” the woman explains what just happened to her at the Walmart store.
“Two people approached me on some weird [stuff],” she says.
Before going any further, she shows viewers exactly what she has in her cart.
“Dog food, two cases of water, it’s not even a lot of food,” she says panning her camera around the cart.
With a carton of eggs, a container of oatmeal, two pre-packaged salads, and some packaged desserts, she admittedly does not have a lot of food in the shopping cart. It just appears very full because of the large packs of water.
“So I am picking up stuff to put in my car … and this guy is like, ‘Must be nice,’” she says.
When she asked the man what he meant by the comment, she says that he responded by saying that she must be blessed because of her full cart.
Confused because her cart was not that full, the shopper says she continued on her way. But an aisle away, she says another woman made a comment about her cart.
“‘My gosh, your cart is so full,’” the TikToker claims she said.
The shopper adds, “I know we’re going through a recession … but that was so scary. Be careful, they’re watching your carts.”
Viewers are not surprised by this behavior
The TikToker received 444,800 views on the post. Many commenters were unfazed by her observation. Several even had a name for this unusual behavior.
“Be careful!! People are beginning to get desperate and they ARE pocket watching,” one person said.
“Def pocket watching,” echoed another.
What is pocket watching?
Pocket watching is a term used to describe those who monitor others’ spending habits. This behavior usually comes from a place of envy.
In a market downturn, and especially during an all-out recession, people become more cautious with their spending. But if someone sees another person continue to flaunt their wealth, it may lead them to speculate and obsess over the other’s financial situation. However, this rarely results in an accurate picture of the other person’s finances.
Not only is pocket watching an unhealthy behavior, it is an unreliable gauge of how much money other people have. While there are many seemingly successful people showing off their wealth, especially on social media, the facades people present can be extremely deceptive. The reality could be that many of these people are actually drowning in debt.
The safest thing to do in any state of the economy is to focus on your personal financial goals and work toward them.
@onesexybbw_ They are watching us ! The job losses and recession got people acting crazy!!!!! #fyp #fy #recession #jobloss ♬ original sound – YT: OneSexyBBW
Commenters warn each other to stay alert
While there are mounting fears of a recession hitting the economy, the reality is that the U.S. isn’t currently in one. Regardless, commenters on the video warned each other to be safe from the evil eye of strangers.
“Monitoring spirits… an next time say yes I am blessed by my Lord and Savior He is my provider,” one person wrote.
“That is creepyyyy! Since having kids I do curbside pickup because no way!” another said.
“You be careful and you carry a weapon on you and you keep everybody at arms distance which will give you enough time to react and don’t let nobody walk behind you,” someone else said, possibly overestimating the threat level of shopping at Walmart.
The Daily Dot reached out to the TikTok creator via TikTok direct message and to Walmart via online contact form.
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