A Chicago shopper says a routine trip to Target turned uncomfortable when an employee allegedly began making unwanted comments about her appearance and pressuring her to go out with him. The worker reportedly continued despite her lack of interest, eventually making explicit remarks about her body while she finished scanning her purchases.
TikTok creator Serenity (@serenityxrose21) described the alleged encounter in a video. She claimed she had stopped at the store for a quick errand when an employee working near the front approached her at the self-checkout. At first, Serenity said, she took the worker’s comments as ordinary compliments and thanked him. “So basically, he was like, ‘Oh, you look so beautiful today, just wanted to tell you.’ I was like, ‘Oh, thank you, I really appreciate it,’” she claimed.
The conversation allegedly shifted when he asked whether she had plans after leaving the store and said he would like to take her out. She claimed she declined the invitation, but the employee reportedly continued trying to persuade her.
He apparently continued following her
Serenity recalled that she turned back toward her items to finish the transaction while the employee moved behind her checkout station. She then alleged that he made more explicit comments about her appearance: “I was facing away from him, he was behind me, and then he was like, ‘Oh, let me see more of you, beautiful. Turn around. Let me see more of that body. You look amazing.'”
She asserted that she was shocked that other employees and customers appeared to be within earshot but did not step in. “And I’m like, oh my god, nobody is saying anything. There are no employees saying anything to this man,” she recalled.
After paying for her items, she reportedly hurried out of the store and went to her vehicle. The employee allegedly continued calling after her as she left. She also said the experience made her avoid that Target location for an extended period.
The lack of intervention from the nearby workers and other shoppers could be explained through a phenomenon of the bystander effect. According to Psychology Today, “bystander effect occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation, against a bully, or during an assault or other crime. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is for any one of them to provide help to a person in distress.” It also states that people are more likely to intervene in less crowded spaces.
Published: Oct 30, 2026 01:30 pm