A TikToker’s prank on the New York subway has led to intense backlash

Essential workers have enough to worry about at the moment – intense pressure on their day to day responsibilities, not enough personal protective equipment, and in many cases, a lack of proper hazard pay.

That’s why some stunts on social media are even more annoying than usual. On TikTok, a user uploaded a video of himself spilling cereal and milk all over a subway car.

Josh Popkin is a prank TikToker – he usually uploaded videos of himself doing pranks to TikTok and has over 3.3 million followers. His most recent video was this video which he posted this past week. In the video, a lot of people in the same car are wearing masks, so the video was obviously filmed recently. It seems to since have been taken down.

He pours himself cereal and milk into a large crate, before knocking it over onto the floor of the car. In the clip, he says "I got the munchies on the subway today, so I pulled out some cereal and started chomping away.”

“I asked if anyone wanted cereal, and that's when it all fell. Everyone started getting mad at me."

The video has over 3 million views, and people in the comments on the video said his behaviour was selfish and reckless. Others pointed out that he was making a mess for essential workers to clean up, as the end of the video shows him leaving the subway car with his crate.

He also put up another video of the prank, which got a similar amount of views.

On Twitter, people asked whether the prank was even funny and why he was riding the subway if he wasn’t an essential worker. Other people asked whether no one had taught him manners.

Someone else also pointed out that the same TikToker had filmed a prank where he walked up to essential workers at supermarkets, without a mask (in many states in the US, masks have become mandatory). Others asked TikTok to suspend his account.

Even the Metropolitan Transit Authority in New York got involved, saying that his behaviour was "despicable".