In a viral TikTok video, Avery Circle (@averycircle) tosses his work uniform shirt to a platform above the exit door at Best Buy. “Leaving Best Buy in 2020, my dad threw his shirt in the same spot when he quit over ten years ago,” the video caption says.
Circle told the Daily Dot that his father worked at Best Buy from 2004 to 2009 and that he worked there from 2017 to 2020. Best Buy was first founded as an audio store in 1966.
Circle told the Daily Dot that while he loved his job there, he decided to quit due to negative experiences with new management. He said employees who had been working at that store for 15-plus years and worked with his father also quit due to the new boss.
@averycircle I worked at the same Best Buy my Dad worked at when I was a kid ? fyp dad
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The comments were a wave of support for the TikToker’s decision.
One user commented, “There’s probably a lot of shirts up there!” Circle responded, “Oh yeah, there definitely is! Been years of people leaving and doing it.”
Another user commented, ”I just quit today too.” Circle responded to this comment saying, “Ayooo! Good stuff, congrats I know it feels awesome.”
Some users gave hints that throwing a shirt or name badge upon leaving is something that has been done many times before. Circle also confirms this.
One user commented, “The Best Buy way.”
Circle explained in a comment that “it’s just a tradition at this store, people have always done it since it opened, I was just carrying on with it.”
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 47.4 million U.S. workers have quit their jobs in what’s been called “the great resignation.” According to American Progress, workers are quitting their jobs for better pay, benefits, and working conditions.
Bloomberg also reports that although frontline jobs have been in high demand, many workers do not want to “subject themselves to difficult working conditions and potential safety risks for the low wages that these jobs have historically offered.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Best Buy via email.
