A customer with Tourette Syndrome took to TikTok to accuse Tim Hortons workers of discriminating against him, saying they ran away after seeing signs of his condition.
In a viral TikTok posted by the man (myfamily_withtourettes,) he blasted the workers in the store who allegedly ran away from the counter, refusing to serve him. A single employee then came out to the front to help him.
“They all ran away and sent out a young man instead. In front of my kid,” he wrote in text over the clip, which amassed 19.5 million views.
“Hey guys, hey guys, that’s not cool,” the customer said in the video. “That’s not cool, I have Tourette’s and she wants to not serve me she wants to send you? Like that’s crazy, man.”
He then moved the camera around the restaurant, as the employee asked the TikToker what he can get for him. “An apology,” he replied before the video cut out.
The customer with Tourette’s wrote in the video caption: “Seeing staff run away and point and laugh at you is an awful feeling. I hope none of you have to feel this kind of hate. Really messes with you over time. Tim Hortons please do better.”
Many TikTok users in the comments sympathized with the content creator.
“I’m so sorry that happened that was so wrong,” one user wrote. “Sorry you had to go through that, hopefully they learned from this experience,” another commented.
Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates on Esports, Gaming and more.
“Man I’m so incredibly sorry you had to go through that. It’s unbelievable that people are like this,” a third shared.
Others defended the worker that didn’t serve him, and thought that the whole situation was a misunderstanding.
“I’m assuming it was handled poorly but I have no context and everyone is dealing with something and it’s likely her thing clashed with yours,” one said.
“This is fast food and that’s a teenage girl for all you know it was just a weird situation so she sent the manager up front,” another wrote.
“Sorry you had to experience that. Though, some people aren’t familiar with Tourette’s & find it alarming/scary at first,” a third added.
For more TikTok news and other viral stories, make sure to check out our entertainment section.