'Target Tammy': Customer scolds shoppers for 'talking about sex in public'

Three women were verbally attacked in a Target store by a customer who allegedly told them, “You don’t belong here” and accused them of discussing sex in public.

“We just had a BBQ Becky experience! This was just the last 3 minutes of it, but this woman [literally] approached us, told us our brief reference to Eartha Kitt in Boomerang was an inappropriate conversation and asked us to leave,” Facebook user Lena Jones posted Friday with currently deleted footage of the altercation in a Nashville, Tenn., Target. “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.

The women stated that they wanted to stop engaging with the customer — and one even turned her back to avoid further discussion — however, the woman refused to walk away. As heard in a video, she says, “I understand you’re an abuser. I understand you’re abusive and you make up lies. Keep telling me I’m ignorant … personal attacks … I also didn’t realize 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.”

She tells Yahoo Lifestyle that 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 says.

The woman tells Yahoo Lifestyle that she is pleased with how Target 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.

The masses have named the customer “Target Teresa,” “Target Tammy” and “Racist Beckery.”

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

• North Carolina law students demand expulsion of classmate who used the N-word on Facebook

• ‘Canvassing while black’: Woman says neighbor called police on her for campaigning in gated community

• Woman accused of threatening black women in Charlotte is missing, police say

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