Woman thanks Target employee who saved her from being followed

A woman has expressed her gratitude for a Target employee who stopped her from leaving the store due to concerns about her safety.

Nina, who goes by the username @ninasotom on TikTok, shared a video to the platform last month about her recent experience at a Target, in which she claimed the store’s security “literally catches everything”.

In the video, she then recalled an incident where a Target employee had informed her that she could not leave the store after helping her take the alarm tags off of her items while at the self-checkout section.

“She was like: ‘You can’t leave, you have to sit right here,’” Nina recalled. “And she was very adamant, she was like: ‘You have stay here and you have to wait for me.’”

The TikTok user noted that, when this occurred, she was in her “gym clothes, sweaty, and just wanted to go home”. She said she proceeded to grab her receipt and check it while waiting to leave, in order to make sure that the employee didn’t think that she was stealing.

According to Nina, even when the self-checkout Target employee went on to help another customer, they still turned to her once again and said: “You can’t leave.” She noted that, at this point, her “heart rate was out of its chest,” and that she had a fear of “getting arrested”.

She said she continued to hold her receipt out when the self-checkout employee walked over and started talking to another Target employee, who introduced herself to Nina as Target’s security. The security guard went on to explain why Nina couldn’t leave, with the employee revealing that a man was following her in the store, according to Nina. The Target employee also claimed the man was now waiting outside, Nina recalled.

“She just turns to me and says: ‘No ma’am, there’s been a man following you around for the last hour, and he’s been taking pictures of you. I’m so sorry I didn’t catch it earlier, I would have thrown him out. But by this time he is outside,’” Nina recalled. “He was waiting by his car.”

Nina then noted that the Target security proceeded to “walk [her] to [her] car” and “watched” her enter it, with Nina going on to praise the employee for her kindness.

“She was so sweet, and so apologetic for a situation that was not her fault, at all,” she said. “If anything, thank you.”

After noting that the experience was “confusing and shocking” for her, Nina said that she didn’t get the name of the security guard. However, she thanked the Target employee again and added: “You’re dope, and I love you, and I would love to send you a fruit basket or something.”

She continued: “This video is not supposed to be ‘Oh my gosh this happened to me.’ But more like, that’s amazing that Target has those things.”

She concluded her video by giving another shoutout to Target for the way its employee looked out for her.

“I just have to emphasise this one more time: ‘Shoutout Target, shoutout worker,’” Nina said. “Even if the man was just being creepy, taking pictures and sending it to someone random. It still makes me, as a woman, feel so secure and so safe to know that other people are watching out for me. And it’s just me looking out for me.”

As of 11 July, the video has more than 2m views, with people in the comments praising the Target employee, while also acknowledging how frightening the experience must have been for Nina.

“Wholesome plot twist but that’s scary man,” one person wrote, while another added: “Huge shout out for that Target employee.”

A third wrote: “Wow that’s awesome, I was not expecting that outcome!! So glad to hear she was just trying to take care of you!”

However, others claimed that the Target employee could have saved Nina from worrying while waiting in the store by handling the situation slightly differently.

“She should have immediately said: ‘you’ve done nothing wrong but please wait here for a moment,’” one person suggested.

“I tell people all the time ‘you NEED to tell me I’m not in trouble or I’m going to have a panic attack,’” another added. “This is so wholesome though.”

The Independent has contacted Nina and a representative for Target for comment.