A TikToker got emotional relaying a story about a blind man reaching out to her for assistance through the Be My Eyes app.
The online mobile tool allows blind people to reach out to assigned, sighted volunteers with photos or videos to allow for live chat assistance when facing a predicament.
Airica Marie—a.k.a. TikToker @mrsstealyostew—who has the app on her phone, was contacted by a blind shopper who thought he was being conned out of exact change from a cashier after paying with what he was sure was a $100 bill for his $8 purchase.
"I just got someone fired from their grocery store job this morning, and I don't feel one bit bad," said Marie.
The text overlay in the video read, "Sometimes I'm too anxious to answer a Be My Eyes call. Today I wasn't," referring to her being apprehensive about responding to a distress call where she wouldn't be able to help, fearing they could "be in a bad situation."
"That wasn't the case this morning," she said.
Marie explained she was gardening when the Be My Eyes notification popped up. She answered and learned that the individual at the grocery store was unsure after giving the cashier what he believed was a $100 bill for a transaction totaling just over $8.
"The cashier, I don't think is being honest with me," the man told Marie.
She continued:
"This man, the blind man, apologizes to the cashier and says I'm so sorry if I'm wrong but I'm on a fixed income and I have to be sure."
"That I paid you with the right, correct, bill. He tells me that he had a $100 bill in his wallet. And could I please go through the bills with him?"
Marie was impressed by how organized the man was when she was shown the bills arranged in his wallet.
"And this man has his wallet set up meticulously. Right, and I could just tell he made a mistake. Because we went through every bill and there's no $100 bill in his wallet."
"So I ask him are you sure that you didn't spend that $100 bill. There's a $50 in there. So maybe, did you spend that $100 and get change?"
Holding back tears, Marie said the man explained to her that he hadn't spent that amount of money and that he just received the $100 the day before.
"I haven't been anywhere with it," he said.
Marie responded:
"I said, well, there's no $100 bill in your wallet. So, I think you should probably go to the front desk and ask to speak to a manager."
"This man was so nervous and I said, 'Honey, there's no hundred dollar bill in there. You only have $73 in there.'"
"And, so he goes to the front desk and he waits forever. We're on the phone, he waits forever. And finally a manager comes over."
Marie recalled hearing the interaction between the man and the store manager who eventually offered:
"Well at the end of the day we can [check] if the drawer's over."
The TikToker wasn't going to stand for the laid-back approach.
"I said no absolutely not...let me talk to the manager," said Marie, and suggested the manager to do a drawer audit for the cashier in question.
Marie said she was familiar with the protocol since she used to work at a grocery store herself.
"You need to switch out his drawer and do a drawer audit right now. Because that's not acceptable."
"I'm telling y'all, I was shaking, I was so mad," she recalled and continued:
"I was like, I wanted to ask him where he lives so I could just come up there. Imagine if he's just right down the road at my Kroger. It didn't look like my Kroger."
Sure enough, the drawer was $91 over, which unfortunately meant that the cashier noticed the customer was blind and wanted to take advantage of his disability by shortchanging him.
Thankfully, Marie was just the right volunteer available on the app to intervene.
"That little f**king a**hole was trying to steal from the blind man," Marie said, getting choked up with frustration.
The clip that racked up over 1.2 million views ended with Marie giving a special message for the cashier who might be watching. "I hope you know...f**k you."
TikTokers thought her commitment to the cause was highly commendable.
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
@mrsstealyostew/TikTok
Thanks to her unwavering assistance and pushing through her own anxiety, justice was served.
Well done, Airica!
