‘Who do you think you talking to?’: Ross loss prevention worker quits on the spot. Then a customer defends him to his manager
Working in retail can be mentally and physically draining. If the job is a toxic environment, it can further exacerbate these feelings. All of the pressure from management, co-workers, and customers, coupled with heaping doses of belittlement, impossible expectations, and without any reward, is suffocating. Inevitably, it pushes anyone over the edge. From what a Florida-based woman witnessed, it drove a Ross loss prevention employee to a point of no return.
TikTok creator Shatarian (@shayythirstyy) stands inside the store in front of the register where the event took place.
“So, I’m in Ross and the lost prevention guy just literally quit,” she says. “Took off his jacket, left the walkie-talkie and everything but I think he left for a great reason.”
Then, she sets the scene of what she observed as a bystander.
How It All Went Down At Ross
“I was standing right here when I came in,” she says, walking toward the other side of the register’s tempered glass display. “When I came in, I started talking to him, letting him know that I believe I left an item behind because I [didn’t] have it home.”
Since the now-former employee had to move a cart out of the way, he offered it to her, and she accepted. Before resuming the story over 406,000 viewers, she pauses as someone off-camera interjects. Immediately, the content creator defended the employee’s actions.
“Well, he was upset because the lady that got my receipt [was] a bit rude to him,” Shatarian tells the person. “I was standing in his spot. I’m guessing this is the spot he’s supposed to stand in but when I was coming inside the store, he was moving a cart out of the way but when I was coming in.”
As soon as the manager noticed the employee ‘abandoned his post,’ she allegedly scolded him.
Ross Manager Enters The Discussion
Yet again, she had to stop mid-sentence, but this time, the manager decided to hop in.
“It doesn’t matter,” the female manager says off-screen dismissively. Shatarian refused to back down, putting the manager in her place.
“No, ma’am. Your approach was rude when he was off of his post because he was moving a cart. I walked in and stood right here,” she retorts. “When you walked up just like, ‘You’re not in your spot. You need to tell her to move.’”
Despite the content creator defending the employee’s honor, the manager still deflected blame onto him. “He had a different thing going on today. He had nothing to do with today,” the female manager replies.
Once the conversation ended, Shatarian had to embark on another journey through Ross to search for the original item.
Final Thoughts On The Incident
Once the manager was out of earshot, the content creator resumed her original monologue, shifting to the topic of the workplace.
“People already show up, having to work long hours underpaid, and it’s higher management who micromanage you who don’t know how to speak to you,” she says, strolling through the store. “That’s exactly why a lot of people don’t like to go to work.”
This is why she believes side hustles have become the new trend. “They start their own thing on the side and make money because having to come in and submit to horrible leadership, it’s discouraging,” she says.
In fact, Shatarian would’ve hit her boiling point in the same shoes. “But she was rude to him. I would have [done] the same thing. Like, who do you think you talking to?”
She reiterates the incident in the caption, “Management can be so rude at times which makes people don’t even want to work.. he literally walked out and quit his job [because of how] he was talked to. She tells him to tell me to move so he can stand on his post.”
Viewers Virtually Applauded
Nearly everyone in the comments section cheered Shatarian for standing up for the Ross worker.
“Glad you advocated for him,” one viewer commended.
“Thank you for defending that man!” another praised.
“I love the way you spoke up for him,” a third complimented.
In addition, others echoed their agreement about the workforce sentiment.
“Bad leadership can ruin a workplace,” one commenter stated.
“People don’t quit jobs, they quit management,” a second remarked.
“And what leadership does not understand is they too can get fired. We are all just trying to make a check to pay our bills and take care of our personal needs. Belittling someone is crazy to me,” a third concurred.
Why Are People Quitting Their Jobs?
Before, there was ‘quiet quitting’ where workers (mainly Millennials and Gen Z) only did the bare minimum. As times shift, a new form of quitting is born: ‘revenge quitting.’ We’ve seen it depicted in entertainment of the unappreciated and overworked employees at their wits’ end who abruptly resign from their positions. Now, it’s happening in real life as Shatarian saw at Ross.
California Post validates that those who feel stuck and have pent-up resentment toward their current employer are the driving factors of this phenomenon. Forbes states that a way to solve or at least mitigate this is for leaders to reflect and reshape their workplace culture.
@shayythirstyy Management can be so rude at times which makes people don’t even want to work.. he literally walked out and quit his job because how he was talked to. She tells him to tell me to move so he can stand on his post ?
♬ original sound – Thirsty I Am
The Mary Sue reached out to Shatarian via TikTok comment and direct message as well as Ross via media relations email.
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