An ex-Walmart door greeter has gone viral on TikTok after revealing that he would not stop customers from stealing expensive childcare items.
Brandon Tamayo - who goes by @thatssoobrandon on the social media platform - used to work at Walmart, where he'd welcome customers arriving at the store as well as check receipts of customers leaving the store.
Recently, the TikToker has sparked a debate by revealing that he wouldn't always check customers' receipts as thoroughly as his employers might have liked.
Brandon stitched a video from user @commlion, in which they say: "If you see anyone stealing, no you didn’t."
He then goes on to share his own experience of letting people get away with theft - and why he doesn't feel guilty about it.
"Every time I saw a customer, mostly a woman, and I checked the receipt, and I saw Pampers or baby formula that was not on the receipt, I just said, 'Have a great day,'" Brandon recalled.
The ex-Walmart employee explained that he didn't stop these customers because he knows how expensive childcare products can be, and because calling them out wouldn't benefit him at all.
Check out Brandon's video below:"Why? Because they’re expensive and kids are expensive, in general," he said, adding: "And my store, and the company in general, we didn’t really get a reward for the amount of stuff we caught people stealing."
"Did I care? No, because I was making $11.50 at that time," the TikToker added.
Brandon's words clearly resonated with a lot of people. His video has been viewed over 1.4 million times and racked up thousands of comments, with many debating whether he was right to look the other way.
Many thought that he was absolutely in the right, writing: "We need to nominate you for the Nobel peace prize," and "not all heroes wear capes".
Others pointed out that childcare products were unreasonably expensive, and that Walmart - which made $559 billion in 2020 - wouldn't notice the effect of petty theft.
"A can of formula for my baby is 44$. There is no reason it should cost this much," one person commented, while another added: "If every single person who walked in Walmart stole something, they would still make billions of dollars."
However, other users made the point that theft drives up prices for everyone else, so those pinching baby products were actually making life harder for others in the same position.
"This also makes prices high to reflect the rate of theft which makes it more expensive for people who pay for the product," one wrote, with another adding: "Wow and you wonder why prices are so high."
And one user left a comment claiming that turning a blind eye to theft was immoral for no other reason other than that "stealing is wrong."
"There are plenty of government programs that can help you pay for these things if you can't afford them," they added.
Brandon addressed this particular criticism in a follow-up video, where he noted that food stamps and government assistance are not always accessible.
"If you live in a conservative state, like Indiana where I used to live, it can be kinda hard to get on food stamps, even if you have a few kids," he said in the TikTok.
"If you make under a certain amount of money, they can literally give you $50-$100 a month of food stamps. That literally cannot support a family, especially if they have a newborn baby," he added.
The Daily Dot reached out to Brandon and asked what prompted him to begin looking the other way when parents stole baby products. According to the outlet, he responded via Instagram direct message, explaining how it "broke [his] heart" when he "would see parents crying in front of their children and begging asset protection (AP) not to press charges" after they were caught stealing.
"One day, I decided that if I saw a customer with at least one box of diapers or a can of baby formula that wasn’t listed on the receipt, I would act like I saw it on and tell them to have a great day," the TikToker said.