Racial profiling at grocery stores has been a hot topic, so when a video from a California Safeway started circulating, you can guess how most folks reacted at first. It looked like another situation where a customer was unfairly targeted. But this time, things went in a different direction, and the comment section wasted no time making that clear.
The video shows one of the women speaking loudly, right at the security guard. Apparently, the guard had pointed out an item that hadn’t been scanned, then stood close while the women kept checking out.
Soon, things got heated. The women accused the guard of racism, being “passive-aggressive,” and trying to intimidate them. But viewers pointed out that the guard stayed calm the whole time.
“You’re standing here watching me scan my groceries, telling me I forgot to scan my apple juice,” the woman says. “You can clearly see we’re still scanning groceries.” The guard keeps calm and asks if she is okay, and the woman comes back even harder: “What are we talking about? Are you okay?”
She calls the guard passive-aggressive over and over, tells her to stop, shouts “Racist!” and finally adds, “I could show you aggressive.” The guard never raises her voice, at least from what’s visible in the clip.
Internet Reacts To California Women’s Safeway Self-Checkout Confrontation
The comment section moved fast and landed strongly on one side. “Usually the one who is the maddest and loudest are guilty. They were doing something and got mad because they were being watched,” one person wrote. Another was more direct: “Standing near someone at checkout is now passive aggressive? That’s a wild leap.”
Several people pointed out the obvious.“That’s her job to stand, watch, and survey the store,” one comment read. One response offered a more measured take on how to handle the situation: “I would just check out and go, that’s all I’m worried about. She can be a Klan member for all I care, as long as she’s not stopping me from getting my stuff and leaving or trying to falsely accuse me of stealing — she’s a nobody to me. All the extra stuff is unnecessary.”
One comment introduced a wry angle on where things ended up: “These ladies are one ‘unscanned item’ away from starting a GoFundMe for emotional damages.” And one person, while showing some understanding, still couldn’t fully get there: “Listen, I get what they are saying — but I don’t think this is one of those times.”
California has had its fair share of racial profiling incidents at stores. This history makes it tough for some viewers to just accept what they see in the Safeway clip. But in this case, someone scanning groceries and a guard pointing out an unscanned item, that’s pretty much exactly what a loss prevention guard is supposed to do. It’s their job.
