Customer abuses shoppers for 'talking about sex in public'

Three women have been verbally abused by a customer in a department store, who accused them of discussing sex in public before launching into a racist attack.

Facebook user Lena Jones posted a video to Facebook of the altercation in a Target in Nashville, US, on Friday, before deleting the footage, but it has since been shared across Twitter.

“This woman [literally] approached us, told us our brief reference to Eartha Kitt in Boomerang was an inappropriate conversation and asked us to leave,” Lena wrote alongside the video.

“We shouldn’t be talking our personal lives in public. ‘You people are trained liars and perfect for the court system’ and other racial comments. I wish I’d taken my phone out sooner. Oressa handled it well.”

During the encounter, an unnamed customer wearing a NASA sweatshirt told the women, “You were talking about sex in public — are you having sex in public? Because that’s what you screamed out loud.”

“That is not what we said,” corrected one woman, as her friend explained that the word “sex” was uttered in reference to the 1992 film Boomerang.

One of the women then said they should stop engaging with the customer — even turning her back to avoid further discussion — however, the woman refused to walk away.

“I understand you’re an abuser,” she continues in the video. “I understand you’re abusive and you make up lies. Keep telling me I’m ignorant … personal attacks … I also didn’t realise that talking about sex was normal.”

The woman also told the friends, “I know you’re trained on lying, you’re trained liars. You’re perfect for the court system.”

When two employees, one of whom reportedly named Oressa, spoke separately to each party, the woman said that the friends were “causing problems.”

A woman in the group (who asked that her name is withheld for privacy reasons) tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the encounter was unprovoked.

“My cousin and I were visiting my best friend from out of state and we stopped by Target to buy a phone charger,” she says.

“I told my friend to try on a hat that looked like something Eartha Kitt’s character would wear in the film and she said no because her character had sex with a younger man,” she says.

The customer allegedly popped her head over an accessories display. “She told us, ‘You shouldn’t be talking about sex,'” the woman tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “We were confused — then, she came around the corner with her shopping cart and started ranting, ‘You don’t belong here’ and calling our conversation inappropriate.”

The devout Christian says she could understand if the woman had a child in her presence, but she was alone. “I live in the South and have never experienced something like this,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

“You never think it could happen to you. We’re educated women — we are not aggressive people and we avoid conflict.”

The male employee tried to calm the woman down, but she was uncooperative and refused to leave. The other employee allegedly helped the friends with their purchase. “When we left, the woman was still speaking to the employee and playing victim,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle.

The woman is pleased with how the store handled the matter and she plans to send a thank-you card to the employee who assisted her group. “The employees could have easily kicked us all out of the store, but they took the time to listen.”

When contacted by Yahoo Lifestyle, a Target representative did not provide comment.

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