At some point or another, we’ve all been asked to make a charitable donation at a store’s check-out. Some may even argue that the frequency with which we are asked has bordered on the absurd. Spend a few dollars on a Coke? Well, prepare to get asked to donate money to a Polynesian poodle rescue.
And in a recent TikTok, Publix employee Danayja (@livingitupwithnay._) said she felt “embarrassed” asking customers to donate to “their scams.” As of Wednesday afternoon, her video had over 78,200 views.
@livingitupwithnay._ I be so embarrassed asking these customers to donate😭😭 #fypシ゚ #viral ♬ i dont wannaaaaa leave – renny
In the short clip, Danayja filmed herself waving around Publix’s newest donation “scam.”
“When my job got me being a bum asking these customers to donate to another one of their scams,” she wrote via text overlay.
Danayja doubled-down on her frustrations in the accompanying video caption. “I be so embarrassed asking these customers to donate,” she wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Danayja via TikTok comment and Publix by email. As of publication, it was unclear how Danayja knew that the store’s latest donation ask was a “scam” nor what the store specifically wanted from its customers.
But Danayja is not the first Publix employee to say that they’re fed up with doing the store’s dirty work. In a 2018 petition to Publix, workers there complained that “it is harassing the customers to push for donations on EVERY SINGLE transaction.”
“The customers don’t like it and the grocery already donates all discontinued, crushed, dinged, damaged, close to expire date foods, hot, cold, deli, and writes it off their taxes,” the petition read. “They give enough. Most customers give at church, school, work, etc.”
Another Publix employee posted on Facebook that they, too, were annoyed by the grocery store chain’s claim that it supports many charities.
It probably comes as no surprise, then, that Danayja’s followers also took issue with the number of charities Publix reportedly asks its customers to donate to.
“Was literally at Publix 5 minutes ago and the cashier asked me to donate. I kindly said no,” one commenter said.
“My Publix too!!! I hate doing it omg,” another echoed.
“& they keep telling me NO we tryna steal their money,” a third viewer wrote.
And not every commenter was aware that the money they donated was going toward an alleged scam.
“Sooooo this whole time I been donating y’all was scamming?!???” one viewer questioned.
“Bruh… I just donated two dollars the other day. Out of pressure, too, damn,” another admitted. “I should’ve just stuck to saying no like I normally do.”