A Walmart employee’s name tag sparked a wave of speculation.
Walmart customer and TikToker @mikeseason986 shared a video featuring the worker’s name, and it garnered 3.4 million views and nearly 2,000 comments.
“Out of all the names in the world,” text overlay in the video reads before the camera zooms in on the Walmart employee’s name tag. The name tag reads: “Taco.”
It appears that Mike is pretty convinced the worker’s real name is not Taco, as he wrote in a caption for the clip: “She knew what she was doin.”
A number of viewers offered up speculative comments, with some of them rooted in experience. “When I worked in retail everyone used to put random names on their name tags so when customers complained they never got the name right,” one popular comment from @_jcla read.
“I saw someone named Chinchilla,” another person wrote, giving further credence to the theory that the Walmart employee in question was giving a fake name.
@mikeseason986 She knew what she was doin 😭😭😭 #fyp #foryou #funnytiktok #foryoutiktok #viralvideo #VozDosCriadores #screammovie ♬ What Was I Made For? [From The Motion Picture “Barbie”] – Billie Eilish
The idea of using pseudonyms while working retail jobs is a topic that was broached in this Reddit post. A redditor shared the many benefits of doing so, like being able to avoid criticism or possible unsavory interactions with a patron outside of the store. “When being hired in a retail job, retail workers should be able to pick out a fake name (the store would know who it is if they get a complaint or compliment) so customers do not know our real names,” the redditor suggested.
The redditor also said that they’re not a fan of having their name displayed while working in retail, which allows shoppers the chance to scope them out on social media. “I[‘m] tired of getting Facebook friend request from people I have to pretend to like because of my job, & I’m tired of being out somewhere & being recognized. It would be great if a regular recognized you outside of work & tried to talk to you & you being able to say ‘Oh there must be some mistake, I’m not John,’” they shared.
A Dollar Tree worker very recently complained about having to wear a name tag, arguing that it gives customers too much information. A female gym worker also advocated for no name tags after a customer found her on Instagram and sent her an unsolicited direct message.
Back in 2015, the Independent reported that London transit workers adopted the practice of allowing its employees to brandish name tags with inaccurate names “in order to feel safe at work.” “Though the measure has been in place for 15 years, the rise of social media has been blamed for increased fears of stalking and harassment among Transport for London (TfL) workers,” the Independent reported at the time.
Female workers, in particular, were reportedly being harassed by customers.
“Sometimes when a tube station closes for the night we have had male passengers try to follow a female member of staff home to try to find out where she lives. There have also been times when passengers have tried to track staff down by searching for them on the electoral register,’” the assistant general secretary of the National Union of Rail, Maritime, and Transport Workers, told the Guardian, per the Independent.
Although there are safety and privacy implications that could very well be a part of the Walmart employee’s decision to go by Taco—if that’s not her real name, of course—some TikTokers who responded to the viral video had other ideas as to why she was rocking Taco.
One seems to think that the employee’s name tag is her approach to customer service interactions. “I dont wanna tacoabout it,” they wrote in what became one of the top comments on the post.
Others speculated that Taco is simply the worker’s nickname and that everyone is reading too much into it. “It’s probably a nickname,” one plainly said.
“Thanks that’s my nickname it’s actually Tacoyia but I go by taco because it’s the first 4 letters in my name,” another claimed.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Walmart via email and Mike via TikTok comment for further information.
