Filipino American Nurse Claims Woman Cut in Line, Spit on Him at Anaheim Walmart

Ben Kadalim, who works as a psychiatric nurse, recalled how the woman and her male companion swooped in and pretended to know the man in front of him, casually asking “How’s the family?”

“The guy in front of me looked confused and did not even talk back. So then I asked him, ‘Hey, do you know them?'” Ben recalled. “The guy said no.”

Ben then called the pair’s attention to inform them that the line starts in the back and that the man they walked up to does not know them.

“This lady then started cussing, saying, ‘How the f*ck do you know?’ Then she just talked to her male companion and laughed it off,” Ben noted.

As the pair approached the entrance, however, a female staff member reportedly stopped them for crowd control and social distancing reasons. Ben seized the opportunity to inform the staff member that they cut the line.

“At this point, the rest of the people behind me all shouted in agreement with me,” Ben recalled. “They all said ‘Yes, they cut in line’ and ‘Yeah, what’s that about?’ They just cut in front of all of us.”

Both the staff and security told the pair to go to the end of the line. Then, the situation escalated.

“This lady started acting out. Shouting at the staff. I could not recall word by word, but as I recall, it was somewhere along ‘How the f*ck do you know? We’re with him (guy in front of me). He (referring to me) doesn’t know sh*t. You believe this ASIAN GUY who told you we cut in front of the line? Did you ask anybody else?'” Ben quoted the woman as saying.

The rest of the line reportedly all shouted “YES, YOU CUT IN LINE!”

However, the woman continued her tirade against Ben.

“‘You know what, this guy (referring to me) doesn’t know anything. You would believe this ASIAN GUY who probably has CORONA who probably got us all infected. And you know what, I researched it. There is no such thing as Corona Virus (I know, she didn’t make any sense),'” Ben recalled her saying.

At that point, Ben decided to film the situation as he felt “something was about to happen.” The woman then walked toward him.

“Watch, I know where your car is motherf*cker. I see your f*cking car,” she stated.

Fearing for his safety, Ben stopped filming and told the woman, “Don’t touch me.” Instead, she spat on his face.

“She then SPAT at the left side of my face. Good thing I was wearing a mask,” Ben recalled. “But at that point, my psych nurse-instinct kicked in and I grabbed her shoulder ready to take her down (CODE GRAY mode), but then I realized I was not in the psych unit and I was paying more attention to her male companion, making sure he does not do anything to me.”

The woman, however, was not done with him yet.

“So as I looked back to her companion, she then punched me in the back,” Ben alleged. “People in the line were already shouting at them saying ‘get thef*ck out of here.’ They left.”

Ben recalled a woman behind him offering him wipes and sanitizer after the encounter. Another Walmart staff also offered Lysol wipes.

“Physically, I’m fine. I really didn’t mind the punch at all,” Ben told NextShark. “It was the spit that affected me so much, given the pandemic right now.”

Ben pointed out that he is no stranger to aggressive behaviors, especially from patients at his workplace. But dealing with them outside is a totally different story.

“I’ve had my share of patients attacking [me] here and there. But when this happens outside the workplace, it hits you differently,” Ben said. “I don’t go out and buy groceries thinking that someone will be aggressive toward me. Your walls are down.”

Ben has since reported the incident to the Anaheim Police Department. In a Facebook update on Wednesday, he announced that the woman had been identified, but no arrest has been made yet.

He also pointed out that the woman’s male companion did not do anything to him. “If anything, the guy looked embarrassed that his female companion was making a scene. But both DID cut the line,” he told NextShark.

In his post, Ben thanked everyone who stepped up during the incident.

“I would like to thank the people in line and Walmart staff for backing me up. They all stepped up and said they would witness for me if they have to. Sadly, I did not get any of their numbers,” Ben noted. “But the Walmart staff were all there and saw what happened. Also special thanks to Anaheim PD for responding quickly.”

Ben told NextShark that he feels better now. However, he remains upset about racists who only make the pandemic worse.

“Emotionally, I’m better now. But on that day, I really was shaken up. I just feel sad that there are people like that out there,” he said. “Not only do we have to deal with the pandemic, but we also have to watch out for racial hatred like that. I’m sure she got mad at me for calling her out for cutting the line, but when she started saying those racial comments, I thought to myself, ‘Wow, as if we don’t have enough problems already.'”

Feature Image Screenshots via Ben Kadalim