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Asian H Mart manager and 'a** whooping ajummas' tackle White anti-masker in viral video

The 'ajummas,' as Korean middle-aged aunties are called, stood up to the White customer, alongside the H Mart's Asian store manager in Arcadia, LA County

A viral video caught a recent confrontation between an H Mart store manager and an anti-masker. In the video, the anti-masker first tries to intimidate the Asian store manager after being asked to leave the store, and later tries similar tactics on the other customers who supported the manager for standing up to the yelling man. The incident reportedly happened in the H Mart Arcadia outlet and a bystander's video shows the Asian manager trying to calm down the White customer, whom social media has now accused of going into the Korean-American supermarket chain with the intention of creating a scene.

The verbal spat between the two middle-aged men began when the unidentified Asian manager requested the White man to leave the supermarket's premises for not wearing a mask. Coming amidst a spate of ongoing anti-Asian hate crimes in America, and a bunch of anti-mask, anti-vax 'Karens' going wild this video went viral. It showed how the White man immediately employed shouting and stare-down intimidation techniques at the Asian people inside the outlet. Applauding the store manager for standing up to the customer, Twitter is abuzz with users also lauding the 'ajummas' or Korean middle-aged aunties who stood up to the customer with groceries in their hands. 

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Originally posted to user @emilieeetan's Instagram stories, and later tweeted by popular Asian American blogger Phil Yu, the viral video has already been viewed 1.5 million times in one day. In a text overlay, user @emilieeetan shares how the white man refused to leave the store before yelling and threatening to sue the manager. He even allegedly rammed a grocery cart into the manager when a group of Korean women stood up for him and shouted at the customer to leave the store. The man then began stepping toward the women, at which point the manager got in between and spread his arms out to shield the ladies from the brute customer.

“Mr. manager did such a great job at deescalating and making sure the ladies were behind him,” the overlay text shares without revealing the name of the manager, as the video continues to show the customer still yelling. “You’re breaking the law," says the White man to the Asian manager, wagging his finger at him. One of the Korean women behind the manager then speaks up, asking, "Why are you yelling at him [the manager]?” The White man claims the manager assaulted him, but the ladies refute his words saying they witnessed the entire altercation. “No he didn’t,” one of the woman says, adding: “You’re the one who doesn’t want to wear a mask right now. We’re all wearing masks. We’re all complying."

While there's no context to what happened before the video, but it seems like the shouting began when the patron refused to wear a mask inside the store. Los Angeles County, where Arcadia is located, still has an indoor mask-wearing mandate regardless of age or vaccination status. This has further led Internet to accuse the maskless man of heading into the store looking to fight, as H Mart regulars known the store ettiquettes. “This is my local H-Mart LMAO it’s located in Southern California in the SGV (Los Angeles County),” one person tweeted, adding: “I’m pretty surprised it happened here since majority of the population here is Asian and we’re serious about wearing masks. That guy prob went there LOOKING for confrontation” Another claimed "He deliberately went there to start something. They were ready to finish it for him."

Others applauded the Korean women inside the store, dubbing them fierce forces to be reckoned with. "MVP: Ajumma ready to kick his ass while still holding a bunch of green onions," wrote one. Another quipped: "H Mart, come for the best produce of any major supermarket chain. Stay for the ass whooping by the Korean aunties. Love it" Local shoppers were full of praises for the manager too, as one wrote: "This is our local H Mart … Bravo to this manager who handled the situation well." Another offered to even pay for the manager's raise, tweeting: "Where is this H Mart? I live in the Valley but will drive just to spend my money here so they can give the manager a raise.