Trending
TikToker divides opinion as she cries after stranger refuses her offer to pay for their groceries
By Joanna Sarah-Freedman
26 Apr 2023
3m
A TikToker has divided the crowds after filming herself offering to pay for a stranger’s food shop – and then proceeding to cry when they said no.
Amelia Goldsmith, from London, decided to capture her recent trip to Sainsbury’s, where she thought it would be nice to make someone day by paying for their shopping trip.
“I’m nervous,” she told viewers as she headed to the store. “I just hope they don’t look at me thinking I’m some weirdo.”
You can watch the clip here:
@millyg_fit in hindsight i can see why people can react differently to this, but my intentions were purely to brighten up someones day💕 i’m still super happy with what I ended up doing and i’ll do more of it for sure #storytime #vlog #makesomeonesday #foodshop
READ MORE: Cake Gate 2023 is rattling TikTok – but what actually is the drama?
The camera then panned to Amelia in the supermarket, searching for somebody to cheer up.
She’s visibly still worrying about how she’ll come off, but takes the plunge and eventually approaches someone.
Turning up at the till whilst a man is paying, she says: “Excuse me, this may be really random but I’d love to pay for your food shop today.”
“Why?,” he replies.
To which she says: “Just because I want to.”
“No, no, no,” the man says, clearly a little perplexed.
“I do this thing where I want to do something nice every day…,” she tried to explain.
But the shopper interjects: “I really don’t need it.”
The influencer offered to foot the bill (Credit: Alamy)
At this point, the TikToker includes a caption to tell viewers that the man is looking angry, although we can only see her face as she films.
She then attempts to pay for the next person in line, only to be rejected again, and told: “There’s a lot more deserving people, but thank you. I feel too guilty for taking it.”
The TikToker eventually resorted to buying pasta and sauce and putting it in the food bank instead, because nobody would accept her offer.
She acknowledged that the responses she received were valid and she understood their reasons, but it was clear she was a bit emotional about the whole thing.
The influencer went to a Sainsbury’s in Balham (Credit: Alamy)
“That was really stressful,” she said afterwards. “I was expecting the first person to be like, overjoyed and grateful and happy for me to pay for their shopping, but obviously that didn’t go down well.”
“Weird turnout, but I’m still really happy that the food can go to those who really need it.
“I’m just really overwhelmed right now, I don’t know what’s going on.”
Taking to the comments on the influencer’s TikTok, many commended her generosity, but others thought the gesture would have been more meaningful if she wasn’t filming it.
There were some who also pointed out that the influencer visited a Sainsbury’s in Balham, which is a particularly affluent area of London.
Reaction to the gesture was mixed (Credit: TikTok)
READ MORE: The best TikTok food trends from the last year – and the ones we wanna forget
“Lovely gesture, but remember you don’t need to film a good deed to be valid,” said one person.
“Think where the disconnect is that [you’re] doing something nice with the expectation of huge gratitude or thank you. So who is it really for?,” someone else added.
A third chimed in: “Because it’s not genuine when it’s done for likes on social media. These people feel used, and so would I.”
As a fourth agreed: “Pro tip if someone’s already at the store, they’re probably fully capable of paying for their groceries. Food banks will appreciate you more!”
Despite her approach, several people believed that the influencer genuinely did want to do something nice.
“You should be so proud of your pure intentions, no one can take away your intentions from you,” one wrote.
What do you think? Would you accept this offer from a stranger, or would you politely tell them to put their camera away?!
