Influencer left in tears after strangers refuse her offer to pay for their food shop
The act of kindness didn't go as planned
A TikTok influencer was reduced to tears when her plan to pay for a stranger's food shop as an act of kindness didn't work out.
Amelia Goldsmith seemed so excited when she walked into Sainsbury's in Balham, London, planning to surprise a lucky customer but she was quickly shut down.
The TikToker hoped that she'd be able to 'cheer someone up' from their mid-week slump by paying for their groceries.
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Filming herself walking into the supermarket, she admitted that she was' nervous' and hoped she wouldn't come across as a 'weirdo'.
Unfortunately, Amelia's giveaway didn't exactly go to plan.
Walking straight to the supermarket checkout, Amelia tells a customer with a big food shop that she'd 'love' to pay for it.
But they tell her: "No, no, no. I really don't need it."
When she tries it with other shoppers, she's shut down again and again.
"There's a lot more deserving people in the world but thank you," one woman tells her.
"I feel too guilty for taking it."
Eventually, Amelia decided to instead do her good deed by filling up a basket with pastas and sauces and donating it to the food bank.
When she finally left the supermarket, Amelia admitted that she wasn't really expecting to be rejected and struggled to hold back tears.
"That was stressful, guys. That was really stressful," she told the camera.
"I was expecting the first person to be, like, overjoyed and grateful and happy for me to pay for their shopping, but obviously that didn't go down well.
"He was a little bit angry. I was a little bit taken aback and then - I'm gonna cry, to be honest - the second person, she just sort of looked at me like I was some absolute idiot weirdo."
She continued: "Weird turnout. But I'm still really happy that the food can go to those who really need it.
"But I'm just really overwhelmed right now. I don't know what's going on.
"Also, that was a big challenge for me because I just find social situations really quite hard. Especially stuff like that where I'm bringing a lot of attention to myself."
Viewers reassured Amelia that there were a few different reasons why the customers might have rejected her offer.
For example, she opted for a Sainsbury's in Balham, a more well-off area in London where people probably don't need help paying for their shopping.
"I think you went to the wrong type of shop if you know what I mean," wrote one viewer.
"It probably didn't work because of the type of clientele that particular area has. People in my area would be extremely grateful for this," commented a second.
Others noted that, the fact that Amelia was filming while offering to pay for a stranger's shopping probably turned people off accepting it.
"I personally wouldn't like it either, the filming puts me off but also I'd think, 'Oh, do I look like I'm poor,'" wrote one user.
Another agreed: "I think people know you're recording them and doing it to go online. Seems ungenuine and people can sense it straight away."
Amelia added in the video's caption that she could now see why people didn't accept her act of kindness.
"In hindsight I can see why people can react differently to this, but my intentions were purely to brighten up someones day. I'm still super happy with what I ended up doing and I'll do more of it for sure," she said.
Ali Condon