A young woman has unleashed a tirade at a petrol station worker for making her 11-year-old brother cry by treating him like a thief.
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander woman Sari-Ella Thaiday went to an Ampol service station in Queenslandwith her brother on Wednesday night.
In a video shared to TikTok on Wednesday, Ms Thaiday explained she waited outside with her dog as her brother went inside to buy a chocolate.
The woman said the boy left the store in tears after the petrol station worker had grabbed him and said, 'I'm watching you'.
In the video posted on her account justanotherblakgirl, Ms Thaiday confronted the man.
'Did you just grab my brother saying, "I'm watching you"? I'm standing here, I have a dog, I can't come in, I sent him inside to find something to eat,' she said.
The man replied his comment 'wasn't meant that way'.
Unsatisfied with his reply, Ms Thaiday fired back demanding the worker apologise to her little brother.
Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander woman Sari-Ella Thaiday confronted the Ampol worker in a video shared to TikTok and demanded he apologise to her little brother for making him cry
'He's come out here upset, do you want to go say sorry to him? Tell him you didn't mean it like that, because he's really upset,' Ms Thaiday said.
The man claimed it was only a joke and that if he believed the young boy had stolen something then his words would have been more severe.
'Buddy, I was only joking with you. Don't take offence to that,' the man said.
'I thought you were going to steal something. If you had I would have said something a lot more.'
The Ampol worker, who said the servo was beset by stealing kids, did not know the young boy was accompanied by an adult as he did not see Ms Thaiday outside.
'You don't treat people like that just because there's not an adult here, there's one standing right out here,' Ms Thaiday said.
'You don't talk to a little kid like that, that's what I'm saying. You need to work on how to act your bloody age, that's what you need.'
After the Ampol worker explained that many children stole from the store, Ms Thaiday interjected: 'He's not one of them. That does not mean you generalise him.'
The Ampol worker told the woman he was 'joking' and that he told the boy 'I'm watching you' because he thought the boy was going to steal something from the store (stock image)
The man replied: 'Get off your high horse' as he retreated back into the store.
Ampol limited told Daily Mail Australia that it was aware of the incident and has is investigating the matter.
'Ampol is looking into the matter that occurred... and has reached out to the customers involved to understand their perspective on what occured,' Ampol said.
Social media users praised Ms Thaiday for looking after her brother, with many claiming she managed the situation calmly.
'I’m sure he already knows but Tell your brother that he is blessed with a big sister that will walk through fire for him,' one person wrote.
'Good on you, no kid deserves to be treated like that,' a second person commented.
'Nah, good on you for standing up for your brother, dude knows he’s in the wrong and is trying to justify his actions,' a third chimed.
A fourth added: 'I get nervous sending my 14 yr old son in anywhere at the moment. Poor kids don’t deserve to be treated like this because of a minority of young people doing the wrong thing.'
Other commenters who have experience as service station workers claimed shoplifting was rampant among children.
'Nah, I work in a servo, all little kids rob us constantly,' one commented.
'This is why I’m glad I got out of the servo we had more thieves that were 8 yrs old then actual customers,' a second chimed.
'I started treating every person the same. I loathe myself.'
A third wrote: 'You get to the point of thinking every single person is bad and it makes me sick thinking I judged every person the same'.
