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On Sept. 2 TikTok user @yikesbanana posted about her negative experience at the 26 Dundas St. Tim Hortons location. The TMU alumni and community member expressed concern after being asked by a Tim Hortons employee to spit in an empty coffee cup for an alleged “experiment.”
“The guy gives me my drink and then when nobody else is in the store, hands me my drink and slides me a small paper cup,” she said in the TikTok post about the Aug. 22 incident that occurred around 6:40 p.m.
“Are you in a rush? I’m doing this experiment where I collect people’s saliva. Can you spit in this cup for me?” @yikesbanana alleges the employee asked her.
She did not do as he asked, but concerned about the interaction, she threw out her coffee and called the store to speak with the manager.
According to @yikesbanana, the Tim Hortons’ supervisor agreed to review the security tapes and after confirming he saw the interaction on camera stated that he believed it would be hard for the employee if other people found out about the incident.
“It’s not acceptable, of course, but could you spare him for this time only?” The manager can be heard asking @yikesbanana in the recorded phone call posted to TikTok.
“The manager took very little accountability and couldn’t give me a straight answer when I asked him what he could do to prevent the employee from doing it again,” @yikesbanana said in an interview with OTR.
An update on the situation was posted to @yikesbanana’s TikTok on Sept. 10 after escalating the situation to the Tim Hortons head office where they stated there were discrepancies between the employee’s description of events and her own. According to @yikesbanana, the camera footage was not reviewed by this team.
“I’m not sure what resolution would make me feel better. I just want to know that there are appropriate measures taken by the company to make sure that stuff like that doesn’t happen again,” @yikesbanana said in an interview with OTR.
“I don’t think the kid should be working there anymore,” she continued, “I felt bad for him at first because I thought maybe I was overreacting but what happened to me was harassment and the fact that he’s doubling down on it by being completely dishonest about me is just an indicator of who he is and what he is capable of.”
@yikesbanana’s initial TikTok video has 603,000 views and 55,000 likes with many comments detailing similar experiences at the same location.
One user stated in the comments that around two months ago she was also asked by an employee to provide a saliva sample while another had her hair touched by an employee.
User @_yxllhr_ commented, “They touched my hair and asked if it was real and then casually said ‘Can I have a piece of your hair for an experiment?’ I genuinely thought It was a joke.”
Other comments suggest students and residents of the area choose other nearby coffee shops to avoid similar interactions.
“I’m mostly concerned for women because in my comments it seems like these experiences are mostly happening to them. I’m now scared to walk by the location and I have been made to feel unsafe in that area because of the staff. I’m also concerned for safety standards at that location so I won’t be going back to Tim Hortons,” @yikesbanana added in the interview.
Although the Tim Hortons at 26 Dundas St. is not on TMU property, other students feel as though their safety in that area is not the institution’s first concern.
The issue seems to be so apparent that some first-year students are already concerned about their safety on campus only two weeks into the school year.
“I never go in there because I’ve heard bad things and it feels like a bad area,” said Alexandra Savona, a first-year sports media student at TMU “A lot of areas near the Victoria building I think are not very safe.”
OTR also reached out to the Media Relations Central Communications Office at TMU for comment.
They said, “The Tim Hortons at Victoria and Dundas is not on TMU property. That being said, if a student experiences an incident at this location, we encourage them to reach out to resources on campus for support, including TMU Community Safety and Security, who can take a report and offer referrals to the Toronto Police Service as well as safety planning and other support.”
TMU Security can be reached by calling 416-979-5040, by e-mail at security@torontomu.ca, or through the TMU Safe app.
If you or anyone you know feels unsafe on campus the office also suggests other TMU safety resources such as the Centre for Student Development and Counselling, Office of Student Care and the WalkSafe Program that are available to provide a uniformed security member to escort students to locations on and around campus. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
The WalkSafe Program has faced some scrutiny as a few students, like Savona, share similar opinions about the program.
When speaking about the WalkSafe program Savona said,
“I don’t feel comfortable doing that because I wouldn’t want someone I don’t know walking me somewhere. I can appreciate the idea of having someone take you around campus, but I don’t know them, even if they are registered by the campus.”
OTR reached out to Tim Hortons for comment on the incident but did not hear back in time for publication.
Joëlle is a Toronto-based Journalist, actor, singer, performer and multi-media content creator. She is currently completing her Bachelor of Journalism with a minor in Acting and Dance at Toronto Metropolitan University.
Writing her first song at just six years old, Joëlle has had a profound love for music, writing and the arts for as long as she can remember. Later Shaping itself into a love for English and Literature, Joëlle's education through the International Baccalaureate and extended French programs in high school led her to the top journalism school in the country. She has been a contributor and a published journalist on a variety of TMU and Canadian based news outlets including her current position interning at Maclean's Magazine and working with On The Record News. Her written interests lie mainly in arts and entertainment news, but she considers herself multifaceted as she enjoys exploring various topics and themes in her writing and loves the challenge that accompanies each new story.
Joëlle has been performing since she was 9 years old but discovered her love for the stage on the floor mats at her local gymnastics club. She trained for 12 years as a competitive artistic gymnast competing at a level 6 and trained level 7. She continued her stunt, lift, acrobat and gymnastics training with cheerleading in high school for another 3 and a half years. with her team, she travelled to Florida's ESPN Wide World of Sports winning second in the nation and third in the world at the 2020 Varsity World Cheerleading Championships, two weeks before the COVID- 19 global pandemic shut down public spaces.
Throughout her career, Joëlle has performed on various stages across Toronto including Harbourfront Centre's Studio Theatre, The Canadian National Exhibition and Hart House. Joëlle has had the privilege of working on various original works as well as theatre classics, like South Pacific and her own favourite, Legally Blonde throughout the city.
In her spare time, Joëlle can be found writing, running away to New York City or spending her summers in Rome with family. Joëlle continues to train her craft and finds every opportunity to learn something new. You can find her on Instagram @JoelleArianna_ !
