Woman praises stranger for his reaction when she asked him to be her husband at Walmart
He may have saved her life.
A woman and her fake husband shopping at Walmart.
TikToker Julie Sivia recently found herself in a scary situation while shopping at Walmart. A creepy guy followed her around the store, even coming as close as peering over her shoulder as she shopped. So, she found a man in the store called John, wrapped her arm around him, and asked him to pretend to be her husband.
“I just want to say thank you to the man named John that I walked up to in Walmart,” she said in a video with over 800,000 views. “I grabbed your arm and told you to act like you were my husband because there was a strange guy following me.” After the two linked up, John confronted the stranger who got scared and walked the other way. Sivia was shocked at how aggressive her fake husband was in Walmart.
“He turned around and looked at that guy and asked him, ‘What the [expletive] was he following [for]?’” she remembered. “He raised his voice and that guy, God, I wish I could have caught it on video,” Sivia said in a follow-up video. “He was like, ‘No, man, no, no, no.’ And turned around and went in the opposite direction.”
John chalked up his heroic behavior to doing his husbandly duty. “Well, if I’m your husband, I have to defend you,” he told her. “And I would ask that guy why he was following my wife.” After the confrontation, John and Sivia checked out together, and he walked her back to her car. “He said he couldn’t wait to tell his wife this story, that she would appreciate it,” she said.
@jewels35_85 There r good men out there ladies that will step up and make you feel safe !! #walmart #danger #John #ThankYou
Sivia thought more women knew the technique she used to scare away the Walmart stalker. However, many women in the posts’ comments had never considered that idea. “I swear, I have never thought to do that when I didn't feel safe. Thank you for this,” Susan wrote in the comments.
To help these women out, Sivia created a follow-up video explaining the concept of “get safe,” which encouraged her to approach John. She also said that the number of good guys ready to help vastly outnumber those who aren’t safe to be around.
Warning: Graphic language.
@jewels35_85 Replying to @Susan thank you so much for leaving this comment. You are exactly who I made this video for!! The point of the video. IF U FEEL UNSAFE GET SAFE.!! #men #bear #walmart #stories
“I don't think a lot of women realize that there are safe people around you at all times. There are more people like you in your reality than sh**bags,” she said. “There are more Johns than there are sh**bag weirdo guys. And if you don't feel safe, get safe.” She also encouraged women to feel comfortable confronting people in public. “Do not be afraid to be seen. Do not be afraid to be heard. If somebody is making you uncomfortable, make them uncomfortable. Turn the spotlight right back on them.”
Sivia’s videos are important because the majority of women will, at some point in their lives, be sexually harassed by someone in public. A report published by Tulane University found that 73% of women and 24% of men have reported harassment in locations like streets, parks, beaches, gyms, stores, buses, or subways. Being harassed can cause people to panic or even freeze. By teaching tens of thousands of people a safe tactic to use when being followed in a store, Sivia may have saved countless lives.
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An actual beaver dam on the now-thriving Price River
Not just coworkers—family, friends, strangers, kids… 
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Anything hobbit-esque can't be wrong. 
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Honestly…where's the lie? 
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Urgent dash to the bathroom! 🚪🏃♂️
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There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
A woman in black long sleeve shirt stands in front of mirror.
Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."