In Walmart’s eyes, “floor walkers” — the practice of employees tailing customers they deem suspicious —might sound like an ingenious loss prevention tactic. But for some customers, it’s just plain discrimination.
“I’ve literally never stolen anything in my entire life because I’ve always been terrified about going to jail,” shopper Candace (@candacecreatscontent) shared in a new TikTok. “So I always get such a kick out of it whenever I go into retail stores and they find me suspicious.”
Via on-screen captions, Candace revealed that she was recording this video while browsing the aisles of Walmart, during which, she claimed, a Walmart employee was following her.
“As someone who actually worked in retail for many many years I get such a kick out of this because you’re following the wrong f*cking person,” she continued.
According to Candace, there were two tell-tale signs which, she claims, make it obvious that she’s not actually stealing anything. The first is what she describes as her “teeny tiny purse” which, she purported, couldn’t fit any stolen goods in. And the second is the fact she’s shopping in the clearance aisle.
@candacecreatescontent Its always an adventure at #walmart ♬ original sound – Candace – Career Advice
“Who takes their time to steal clearance items, people?” she asked. “Let’s follow the right people around the stores, not rush to racially profile people or judge people because you think that they look young or you think that they don’t have no money.”
Candance then explained how she made workers tailing her more “fun” by deliberately acting more suspiciously.
“You want the drama, I will provide you with the drama honey,” she said. “So I’ll look through everything. You’ll come up to me you’ll ask me if I need a size? Absolutely. As a matter of fact, can you check for me if you have a size in the back?”
She concluded, “Let’s catch the people who are actually stealing.”
The video amassed 576,700 views as of Sunday, as commenters shared their shock over the situation.
“Hope they saw you,” one commenter wrote.
“One time the self checkout attendant stood right behind me and watched me scan everything,” another added. “I was thinking, ‘Damn you wanna scan it for me?’”
How to deal with being followed
Across TikTok, creators who have dealt with the same thing as Candace shared their own tips about what to do if someone follows you around the store or accuses you of stealing.
Simone (@thesimoneestelle) shared how her favorite trick was to take items from the shelf right next to where the retail assistant was and to put the products back messily to see what the assistant would do next.
While Neek (@neekdagemini) shared how she liked making store assistants her personal shopper if they kept following her around the store in a Hobby Lobby.
“Pov- you’re black and all of the [white] workers keep following you around so you make them hold all of your items,” the TikToker writes in an on-screen caption.
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