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A former door greeter at Walmart recently shared when customers left his store with childcare items not on their receipts, he would often look the other way.
Brandon Tamayo, who goes by the TikTok handle @brandontamayo02 shared his experiences in a video which has gone on to receive over 1.4 million views.
The 45-second video began with a clip from a video from fellow TikToker @commlion, showing her spliced in front of a case of locked baby formula and mouthing to the audio:
"If you see anyone stealing, no you didn't."
@brandontamayo02 #stitch with @commlion #walmart #foryou #fyp
The video then cut to Tamayo, who shared how he once worked as a door greeter at Walmart.
Tamayo said his job was primarily to welcome guests upon their arrival and wish them a good day and check their receipts upon their departure.
Tamayo revealed on multiple occasions he would find customers with childcare products in their bags which were not on their receipts.
But rather than report them, Tamayo shared he chose to overlook this.
"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'."
Tamayo cited the rising costs of these products—primarily formula and diapers not to mention the cost of raising children—as his decision to overlook these cases of shoplifting.
He also shared how there was little to no incentive for him or his fellow employees to report shoplifters at his store.
"And my store, and the company in general, we didn’t really get a reward for the amount of stuff we caught people stealing."
While Tamayo acknowledged his actions didn't go unnoticed by his supervisors, he didn't give it much thought.
This was because he was making $11.50 an hour.
Tamayo's story caused an ethical debate in the video's comment section.
Several found Tamayo’s actions admirable, including a few former Walmart employees who revealed they did the same.
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Many pointed out how a few missing items would barely make a dent in Walmart's healthy annual profits and claimed Walmart doesn't pay their employees enough to make them enforce this.
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But others couldn't condone Tamayo's actions, however honorable, feeling shoplifting shouldn't be tolerated under any circumstances.
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Tamayo responded to those who criticized his actions in a follow-up video.
@brandontamayo02 Reply to @abdellsamra #welfare #welfarecheck #baby #government #fyp #foryou
With a comment criticizing his choice to enable shoplifting included in an overlay, Tamayo told viewers how he was excited for comments criticizing his decisions, claiming it allowed him to "use [his] degree, finally."
Tamayo first expressed government assistance could be difficult to get depending on the state you live in.
“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."
Tamayo also pointed out families are often not given a sufficient amount in food stamps to feed their whole family, making it all the more difficult to afford essential baby needs like formula and diapers.
“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.”
Tamayo's video prompted several TikTokers facing those problems to come forward and share their story.
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However ethically questionable Tamayo's actions may have been, one can’t deny his heart was in the right place.
Both of these videos added fuel to a much needed discussion about child poverty and hunger, which has sadly been going on for years in the United States.