Black Friday shopper grabs item from woman's cart, says it's fair game because she's not holding it: 'Is this woman just uniquely shameless?'

Author image for JR Atkinson
JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Dec 1, 2025 10:00 PM EST

Black Friday is a wild holiday, full of surprises. The deals used to be good, but now it's all smoke and mirrors. The prices are inflated anyway, so the discounts seem negligible. But that doesn't stop people from beating down the doors of big box stores and trying to grab what they can while the getting is still slightly good. It's also the time of year when the worst kinds of shoppers come out. The ones with entitlement coming out of their ears. They want what they want, and they will step on anyone in order to get it. They want their flatscreen TV, and they don't care that you're looking at it too. They will fight you tooth and nail until they get it. 

We love these kinds of stories in this country. They remind us who we are: people who will wake up at the crack of dawn on a holiday to wait in line at Walmart. We tell ourselves stories in order to live. The woman in this story couldn't believe how entitled this woman was, whom she encountered while out shopping on Black Friday. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • A young woman pushes a grocery cart in a store.
    via Unsplash+ (Getty Images)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • There is entitled, and then there is reaching into someone else's shopping cart entitled. Everyone knows that the stuff in your cart belongs to you, for the time being. If it's in your cart, it's as good as yours. Read on to see what happened in this story and what commenters had to say about it. 

  • Woman grabbed item from my cart at Black Friday and said "you weren't holding it so it's fair game"

    I was shopping on black friday and had grabbed a few things I wanted. Put them in my cart and kept browsing the same aisle. This woman walked up, reached into my cart and grabbed one of my items and walked away with it. I stood there stunned for a second then caught up to her and said "excuse me that was in my cart."
    via u/Sad_Schedule6621
  • Her response? "you weren't holding it so it's fair game" like wtf
    via u/Sad_Schedule6621
  • I argued for a minute but she acted like I was being unreasonable. Like the cart doesn't count as possession somehow. Eventually I just gave up because it wasn't worth the energy but I'm still annoyed about it. Since when is someone's cart just open inventory for anyone to grab from? Is this some unwritten black friday rule I missed?
    via u/Sad_Schedule6621
  • I was sitting outside later with a cigarette still replaying it in my head and wondering how someone can be that confidently entitled. Has anyone else dealt with this? Or is this woman just uniquely shameless?
    via u/Sad_Schedule6621
  • A woman scans the aisles at a grocery store.
    via Joshua Rawson-Harris

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Commenters agreed that this was outrageous behavior.

    123_LGB • 19m ago You're a bigger person than I am and that's all I have to say about this
    via u/123_LGB
  • jayhof52 17m ago This woman is uniquely shameless I was browsing - at Toys R Us when they were going out of business (I had a toddler and was teaching fifth grade at the time), and the one I was in had lots of random carts all over the place with overflow stuff.
    via u/jayhof52
  • I was in line and saw what I thought was one of those near the register so I checked out something on the top I thought my son was like - as soon as the owner of the cart said, "Excuse me!" I immediately got embarrassed, apologized profusely, and explained why I was confused.
    via u/jayhof52
  • Rubycon_ 17m ago She's just making her own. rules up as she goes along. You could have matched energy and said no the fuck it's not and put it back.
    via u/Rubycon_
  • ogmouseonamo... 14m ago Shea confidently entitled because she gets away with it. Case in point
    via u/ogmouseonamouseorgan
  • Anastasia Octavia 16m ago . Am old high school friend of mine is/was a newspaper reporter. He got bit by an old lady and had to go get rabies shots. Thankfully he okay but people be crazy
    via u/AnastasiaOctavia
  • Paige121315 • 17m ago . You are better than me bc I would have not reacted so kindly
    via u/Paige121315
  • nektross 13m ago Na.. people Like you only enable this Type of behavior.
    via u/nektross
  • rjtnrva 10m ago Fuck that giving up shit. People need to be taught pro-social behavior, and letting them get away with bad behavior is not the way.
    via u/rjtnrva
  • . Upper_Ad9839 · 8m ago OK this is one time where being a Karen and asking for the manager is okay. Head her off before checkout
    via u/Upper_Ad9839
  • REALBECSISBLO... . 6m ago Why do people let other people step all over them? Stand up for yourself, jeez!
    via u/REALBECSISBLONDE
  • bookworm1421. 6m ago Oh no see - fuck that shit. I'm not arguing about it...I'm just snatching back my belongings. I'm not giving up...I'm getting back what is rightfully mine. You shouldn't have backed down. Now she thinks she can get away with that type of behavior.
    via u/bookworm1421
  • Wondercat87 · 6m ago Carts are definitely NOT fairgame. This lady was delusional and entitled. Sadly, I've had people grab things from my cart before also.
    via u/Wondercat87
  • 3_Lil_Birds1982 • 5m ago People act like this bc they're entitled asshats. People CONTINUE to act like this bc people (like you, for instance, don't put them in their place and show/tell them that they're wrong
    via u/3_Lil_Birds1982
  • • Separate-Mouse-... 5m ago I would make a scene. In a very loud voice I would ask those around me how they would respond to her "theft" and in an even louder voice ask who else has she stolen from and what else has she stolen in this store. Public shaming. I would hope the situation would get people to whip out their cell phones & would attract the attention of store staff.
    via u/Separate-Mouse-766
  • LieutenantLilywh... .5m ago They act like this because normal people refuse to make a scene and let them get away with it, every time.
    via u/LieutenantLilywhite
  • FA20bxr 1m ago Curious how old you are? There were fist fights on Black Fridays of yore if you wanted something. Thinking you got off easy with a conversation??
    via u/FA20bxr
  • SailorSpyro • 1m ago This is why when I got the last Airpods they had in stock, I kept it hidden under other items in my cart. My husband kept moving stuff in the cart and revealing it and thought I was being extra, but now I feel justified.
    via u/SailorSpyro
  • Recent Gas4203 .1m ago Reminds me of the episode of Friends where some rude woman moves Rachel's laundry basket and takes her machine and says "No suds, no save." Crazy
    via u/Recent_Gas4203

Want More? Follow Us and Add Us as a Preferred Source on Google.

Tags

talesfromretail shoppers beware FAIL retail shopping shopping cart black friday reddit story karens in the wild story entitled reddit thread Reddit karen story karen entitled people
Scroll Down For The Next Article