Woman Gets Heated After Watching A Mom 'Doing It All' In The Grocery Store While Her Husband Stared At His Phone
The incident she described seemed to resonate with many other women.
A woman admitted that she recently saw a scene unfold at a grocery store that made her quite frustrated, and highlighted the disparity between the responsibilities that mothers and fathers decide to take on.
In a TikTok video, a content creator who goes by the handle @awalmartparkinglot revealed that she had been grocery shopping with her boyfriend when she not only noticed a couple with a baby, but how only one-half of the couple was doing all of the work.
She expressed frustration with seeing a mom doing it all at the grocery store while her husband stared at his phone.
"So, I saw something today at the grocery store that really filled my body with thousands of years worth of rage," she began in her video. "My boyfriend didn't understand why I was so angry at something that had nothing to do with me, but I know y'all would understand."
She explained that she'd noticed a mom in the grocery store holding her baby, who looked to be around seven or eight months old. Not only was she holding her baby, but the mom was also pushing the cart full of groceries, looking at the list on her phone, and doing everything else that she needed to do to make sure they had enough groceries.
"She's doing everything. She's crushing it," the woman continued, gushing over the anonymous mom in the store. "Like she's overall just checking all the boxes and doing amazing. And there's a man behind her that looks exactly like the baby. So I'm going to presume it's the baby's father."
She immediately noticed that the woman's partner was trailing behind her and watching YouTube videos on his phone while she did all of the work and handled their baby. "What is wrong with you? Why are you here?" she ranted. "Why aren't you sitting in the car?"
In the comments section, many people shared the same irritation about the incident and claimed that things like the one described by the TikToker seem to happen quite frequently.
"I see this all the time at our pool, moms have all 4 kids trying to sunscreen them and get the snacks ready and dad is just on his phone," one TikTok user wrote. Another user added, "I'm a flight attendant & very often I see moms carrying all the bags and kids getting off the plane & the dad has one backpack on." "Omg!! Thank you!! My husband stands and watches me unload the entire cart at Costco. Humiliating."
In the United States, most household responsibilities are handled more by women than men.
The reason why this video resonated with so many people, especially other women, is because it taps into a broader societal reality. In the United States, as in many other places, household responsibilities are often disproportionately shouldered by women.
According to Gallup, although women comprise nearly half of the U.S. workforce, they still fulfill a larger share of household responsibilities. Women in the relationship shoulder primary responsibility for doing the laundry (58%), cleaning the house (51%) and preparing meals (51%). At the same time, men continue to take the lead in keeping the car in good condition (69%) and doing yardwork (59%).
From data acquired by the Pew Research Center, about half (54%) of parents in households where both the mother and the father work full-time say that, in their family, the mother does more when it comes to managing the children’s schedules and activities; 47% also say this is the case when it comes to taking care of the children when they’re sick.
Women, in addition to having their own personal and professional commitments, often find themselves carrying the lion's share of the caregiving and household responsibilities, which does nothing but negatively impact their overall well-being.
However, in the case of the grocery store incident, it's hard to pass judgment on a random couple when only seeing a quick glimpse into their lives. Maybe that couple's baby is only able to be calm when held instead of sitting in the shopping cart, or maybe the woman's partner had spent the entire day before the grocery store caring for the baby.
As we continue to navigate these conversations around gender roles and responsibilities, it's also important that we recognize how unique some people's relationship and parenting journeys may be.
Nia Tipton is a Chicago-based entertainment, news, and lifestyle writer whose work delves into modern-day issues and experiences.