An Oklahoma dad was confronted by an angry customer and was forced to face the cops when he took his two young daughters into a women’s restroom at a gas station.
Tyler Brodsky was traveling back to Oklahoma from Florida over the weekend when he stopped at a QuikTrip in Alabama so his daughters could use the bathroom, according to a now-viral TikTok video he posted Monday.
Brodsky said he took the girls into an empty women’s restroom rather than bring them into the men’s room.
“I’d rather do that than bring two little girls into a men’s bathroom full of grown men and dirty stalls,” Brodsky wrote in the caption of the TikTok, which has more than 13 million views.
The situation escalated when another customer confronted him after his wife and “very ill” mother-in-law reported that a man was inside the women’s restroom.
Video showed the man arguing with Brodsky and calling the police while the dad helped his daughters wash their hands in the restroom.
“There is a man with two little girls using the women’s bathroom,” the customer complained. “He’s washing his hands with his daughters right now.”
Brodsky’s daughters were crying over the customer’s behavior as a QuikTrip worker stepped in, shut the door on the man, and apologized to Brodsky and his girls.
The customer argued that Brodsky should’ve let the female QuikTrip worker take the children into the bathroom and that the dad had “no business” in the women’s bathroom.
In a follow-up TikTok on Tuesday, Brodsky said three police officers responded to the scene and told him he had done nothing wrong.
“The officers let me know I was OK, I didn’t do anything wrong,” he said.
“Taking two little girls into the men’s restroom could be viewed as negatively as me going to the women’s restroom with my girls,” he added.
Brodsky said officers eventually asked the other man to leave the gas station.
“The officers ultimately asked the man to leave the store,” he said. “What happened next is what I’ll remember the most.
“The officers came, talked to my girls, made sure they felt safe. They put a good image of police officers for my girls growing up. The QuikTrip employees gave my girls free ices, which is very kind of them.”
Brodsky said his daughters are now “safe, happy, and doing great” and added that the online response showed him that many parents and caregivers have faced similar situations.
“This video brought to my attention something bigger than this incident,” he said. “I’ve received thousands of messages from moms, grandparents, caregivers who have been in similar situations.
“This isn’t about one argument in a gas station. It’s about the fact that parents are often put in situations that aren’t comfortable. We’re simply trying to take care of our children and keep them safe.”
“As a dad with two little girls, I made the decision that I felt was best in the moment,” he continued. “I want to be clear about something: I don’t support anyone harassing anyone involved.
“I’m simply sharing what happened to my family and I hope the man that did this will come across this video and realize what he did was wrong and not do it to anyone else.”
“Hopefully it’ll bring attention to people that feel the need to berate a mom or dad trying to take care of their kids,” he added.