A woman says another Walmart shopper asked if he could go in front of her at the checkout because he didn’t get a shopping cart. TikTok user Lauren (@lauren1xoxo) posted the video detailing the situation on June 18.
“What in the actual [expletive] is wrong with people?” she asks to start the video. “I come to Walmart to pick up a couple things for dinner, and they are busy, as usual.” Lauren says due to the volume of customers, the store was restricting self-checkout to individuals with 10 items or less.
Unfortunately for Lauren, she had 14 items, so she waited in a regular line. She says she was next in line after she had waited about seven or eight minutes. “I was the next person to be able to go up and put my stuff on the conveyor belt, and this guy walks up, and he’s like, ‘Hey, can I go in front of you?’” she states.
How did the exchange go down?
Lauren acknowledges that it’s common courtesy for people with a lot of items to let a person with one or two go ahead of them in line. “But this was not the case,” she says. “This guy walks up with an armload of [expletive] and he’s like, ‘Can I go in front of you?’” Lauren says she referred the guy to the back of the line and also to the self-checkout, but the man responded that he had 11 items and couldn’t do so.
After a back-and-forth, she says the man decided to just cut in front of her without permission. To make matters worse, Lauren says the man’s card repeatedly declined when it came time for him to pay. She adds that the man proceeded to argue with the cashier for a minute and ultimately put a few items back. According to the TikToker, the payment finally went through for $17 worth of merchandise.
“Why do people act like that? If you are a person who thinks it’s OK to act like that, I’m here to tell you that it is not [expletive] OK to act like that. That is my rant. Thank you for listening,” Lauren says to end the video.
@lauren1xoxo It’s the entitlement for me…Side note: My son saw me editing this video and said “Mom I bet your video is going to get 20K views, I believe in you!” **SO SWEET!** #walmart #rude #customer #shopping #rant #storytime #viral #viraltiktok #foryou #foryoupage #fy #fypシ゚viral #fypage #fyppppppppppppppppppppppp ♬ original sound – GrungeKitty
Viewers react to the man’s behavior
The video has amassed more than 281,000 views as of Friday morning. In the comments section, viewers questioned the man’s behavior and said what they would’ve done in Lauren’s situation.
One viewer wrote, “I would have paid for his things…. THEN TOOK THEM HOME WITH ME.”
A second viewer said, “He was probably waiting for someone behind him to step up and pay for it. Also, I think the checker should have stepped in and said, ‘No, you need to grab your things and go to the back of the line.’”
A third viewer suggested, “After working in customer service I have come to realize most people think they are the main character in this existence we all share and their wants and needs are all that are important.”
Is Walmart limiting self-checkout?
Limited self-checkout at Walmart is indeed a thing. According to an April CBS article, Walmart and other major retailers are reexamining their strategies surrounding self-checkout. That includes, in some cases, limiting self-checkout to customers with 10 items or less.
The Daily Dot reached out to Lauren via TikTok comment and direct message. It also reached out to Walmart via website contact form.
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