Black man sees an elderly lady waiting an hour for help at pet store. The moment he steps in, workers suddenly appear: ‘its only been 2 mins’

A Black man says he stepped in to help an elderly woman at a pet store after he confronted staff over what she said was a lengthy wait for assistance. Ojani Moncrieffe, who posts under the handle @officialojanimoncrieffe, shared the incident in a TikTok clip that has gained 16 million views, 3 million likes, and 27,200 comments. 

On-screen text that frames the video reads “POV: You see an elderly lady in the pet store who has been asking for help, so you decided to get it for her. And the worker came right after within seconds.” Ojani appears to be looking up and around, seemingly searching for a store employee, while an elderly woman’s voice is heard off-screen. He asked the off-screen elderly woman, “You say you been waiting here for a hour?” The woman replied, “Oh, half an hour.”

Ojani Moncrieffe said, “Half an hour.” The woman added, “Yeah. At least.” He then shouted loudly, “WHO THE F–K WORKING HERE?” The elderly woman quickly responded with a soft “Shh.”

Ojani Moncrieffe comments on the staff and apologizes after calling out in the video

Ojani continued, “Nah, ’cause girl, you waiting, let these h–s know, come run these fish out the tank.” The woman pleaded, “Oh, please.” He then said, looking towards the woman off-screen, “But my bad. Apologies. Grandma, but yeah, thank you.”

The elderly woman expressed, “No, I, I feel so bad.” Ojani Moncrieffe stated, “I don’t feel bad, these h–s is lousy.” The woman then added, “They know you’re helping them, but you know.” The on-screen text in the video states that the worker came right after, within seconds. The elderly woman’s distress highlights a difficult social moment, similar to when a Missouri woman at Aldi tried to help an elderly shopper. 

Viewers left comments about the video. Some comments focused on the elderly woman’s wait time and her possible reaction. One commenter wrote, “She regretted telling you.” Another commenter wrote, “Her knowing its only been 2 mins.” A commenter stated, “As an introvert, people like you are literally angels lol”

One person wrote, “This is how I want people to step for my gramma when I’m not around.” Another added, “I know she giggled about this for days after the shock wore off.” One commenter wrote, “She ain’t never gonna ask anyone for help again.” The frustration with how customers are treated can extend beyond this incident, as seen when a woman confronts a Goodwill manager after employees publicly shame a struggling man over shoes. 

A viewer stated, “And this why you can’t be telling me about yo problems. I’ll make a whole scene out of it just cause.” Another commenter wrote, “Grandma definitely regrets telling you knowing d–n well it probably was only 5 minutes they be dramatic sometimes”