Viewers are locked into an argument over what constitutes inappropriate behavior after a Best Buy employee says he was put in an uncomfortable situation by customers.
“Two Saturdays ago, this couple asked me if I’d be interested in coming home with them,” TikToker Dallas (@dallas_ponzo) explained in a voice-over.
The interaction started innocently enough, with Dallas helping the two locate a specific GPS tracker sold at the store. But things took a turn when they noticed a pineapple plushie sitting on the counter.
An upside-down pineapple can be used as a symbol among swingers, and the TikToker said one of the customers asked if that’s why it was displayed at the store. He noted that other people had made similar jokes about the toy in the past but explained it was just something that had been left by another customer over six months prior and that he and his fellow employees are not swingers.
“He looks back over at me and says, ‘Oh, well, you know I was just asking because I was in, uh, that industry for about 15 years,'” Dallas recalled. “It made me kind of uncomfortable, and I didn’t really know how to respond, so all I said was, ‘Damn, that’s almost as long as I’ve been alive on the planet.'”
But clarifying that he’s only 23 merely led to the man telling his wife that he’s “old enough and he’s handsome.”
“At that point, I felt completely violated,” Dallas admitted.
However, he said that dropping the subject as he walked the customers to the item he had been helping them locate didn’t deter them. When he asked if they needed help with anything else, it was made clear that the “anything else” they wanted help with was of a sexual nature.
“The customer looks around and says, ‘Yeah, but it wouldn’t be here. What are you doing tonight? Do you want to come home with us?'” Dallas said. “My heart sunk, and I really questioned if it was real life or not, but I looked at him, stone-cold face, and said, ‘No. Have a good day.’ And I walked away.”
@dallas_ponzo From GPS to MMF
♬ original sound – Dallas
Whether it’s ever appropriate for customers to make advances on an employee—and if so, how to do so without putting them in an uncomfortable position—frequently comes up in conversation on social media. The argument against it maintains that creating an uncomfortable situation at someone’s workplace puts them in an awkward position, while others think it’s not that big of a deal.
A similar back-and-forth played out in the comments section of Dallas’s TikTok.
“Some people seriously have no idea of what boundaries are…” wrote @thatstrangetiktoker, while @userh02aiwsqnb insisted that it “sounds like more of a compliment than anything else.”
“He’s 23, he was hit on,” @aaronconnell2 replied. “He’s not a victim.”
But another viewer countered, “It’s not normal for a couple to approach a person at work and proposition them for sex,” reminding people that this went beyond just asking someone out on a date.
“Retail be WILD sometimes,” @eric6six added. “Poor guy was just trying to do his job.”
The Daily Dot contacted @dallas_ponzo via TikTok comment and Best Buy via email for further information.
