A woman’s complaint about families bringing their children shopping has sparked an unexpected backlash.
In a viral TikTok stitch that has garnered 4.1 million views and over 185,000 likes, TikToker Antonia Commack (@alaska.mmip) responds to Tori’s (@thatmomtori) now-deleted video. and gave her opinion on how to deal with shopping when children throw tantrums.
“I will never understand why families would bring their screaming children to Costco or any other shopping trip,” said the text overlaid on Tori’s clip. “Let one parent stay home with the kids and enjoy free samples and $1 pizza.”
In the video, Tori appeared to be sitting in the wholesaler’s dining area, eating a slice of pizza.
“You leave the kids with dad and you come by yourself,” she said, taking a bite of her slice. “You can’t bring your family to Costco when your kids are screaming.”
Mr. Commack jumped on the screen and replied.
“I just went to Costco and now I’m sitting in my parking lot waiting for my son to wake up from his nap there,” she began.
She then shared a story that she thought was relevant to the situation.
“My son has been shopping with me since he was a toddler, so he’s usually well-behaved,” she said.
But one day while shopping, her 3-year-old son threw a tantrum and she still had to finish the errand, she said. Despite her noise, she said her employees and other shoppers supported her during her meltdown.
“I finished shopping and arrived at the checkout aisle,” she continued. “The woman who was testing me and the other women behind me were like, ‘Mom, you’re doing a great job.'”
She said she had never had herself treated the way Tori decided to deal with parents with crying children at Costco.
“If I did that, I would probably beat them up,” she said. “No, probably not, but I’m not very nice.”
In the comments section, viewers agreed that no one should be policing who can and cannot shop at Costco.
User ToriKing wrote, “Oh yeah, Costco is famous for being a public store that doesn’t allow children.”
“I took my kids to Costco and we all screamed together,” user Loila said.
“She’s confusing Costco with the library,” added another woman.
Another viewer pointed out that not all families have multiple available parents.
“I was a single mother,” they write. “I don’t have a family. I didn’t have the option of leaving my baby with ‘dad’.” ”
However, some viewers agreed that parents should be careful about their children’s behavior in public.
User Erin wrote, “No, I agree with the pizza guy.” “Wherever you go with your children, please be considerate of their behavior and avoid being offensive.”
Another TikToker, @thunderb4lightnin shared Recording of update videos since deleted A post by Tori, who goes by the name “Costco Karen” on TikTok.
“Do I have an obligation to explain?” Tori asked viewers in the video. “I don’t. But I feel like I’d better deal with it.”
In the first part, she said that she is grateful to know who she is because of the negative comments she receives on her videos. The clip then cut to a follow-up video in which she said she put the video about her situation in private mode because “the comments went too far.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Commack via email and Costco via contact form for comment.
*First published: March 20, 2024, 3:00 a.m. CDT
Tiffany Drayton
Tiffany Drayton is a geek culture and lifestyle reporter who covers everything from gender and race to anime and Xbox. Her work has appeared in Complex, Salon, Marie Claire, Playboy, and more.
