Man With Tourette's Confronts Security Guard for Following Him In Bathroom

A man with Tourette's syndrome is going viral for a video where he confronts a security guard who followed him into the bathroom.

The video was posted to the account @myfamily_withtourettes on May 15 and has received over 7.5 million views and 1.2 million likes. The roughly two-minute clip is captioned "He really wanted to use those hands?" on screen, and shows his confrontation at the security desk.

"Security came into the bathroom after me - interrupted me midstream. And then addressed me in the foyer, until this conversation happened," @myfamily_withtourettes wrote alongside the post.

Tourette's syndrome is a motor condition where people with it have uncontrollable tics. In popular culture, this is often illustrated with uncontrollable swearing, though in real life, that is just one type of tic that can manifest. On his profile, @myfamily_withtourettes says that though he does have a swearing tic, he also will "bark like a dog," and examples of both can be seen in this video.

In the clip, he urges the security guard to Google "Tourette's syndrome," as the guard seemed unfamiliar with the disorder. But the guard is on edge, and immediately asks why the man is recording their conversation.

"I'm videoing you because you came in while I was urinating and you accosted me," @myfamily_withtourettes says, before asking "But have you ever gone in and offered to help someone pee before? Besides me?"

Though the guard's side of the conversation is harder to hear, it seems as if he was alerted by @myfamily_withtourettes' audible tics, saying that if he hears a noise, he has a right to investigate it.

"This is our building," the guard says.

"I get you have a right, but I've been here for about 20 minutes and I haven't had any problems, so I went to pee. And you came in after me while I'm peeing," he replies.

The two argue a bit more, with the guard threatening to call the police, but @myfamily_withtourettes eventually leaves the area.

A 2016 article for Bustle by Katherine Burns looks at things people with Tourette's syndrome wished the world at large knew about. The top item on the list is pushing back against that aforementioned stereotype that those with the disorder just shout curse words—in reality, only one in 10 with Tourette's have the swearing tic. Also high on the list was that Tourette's often comes with other disorders including obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention-deficit disorder.

Burns reveals the upsides to Tourette's as well. She says that many people with the disorder are creative. She cites her own experience where singing helped with reducing stress and tics, leading her to take voice lessons.

Singer Billie Eilish recently spoke about her Tourette's syndrome on David Letterman's Netflix program My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. In the clip, she talks about how most people don't realize she has Tourette's.

"What's funny is so many people have it that you would never know. A couple of artists have come forward and said, 'I've always had Tourette's.' And I'm not going to out them because they don't want to talk about it but that was always actually really interesting to me," Eilish said. "I actually really love answering questions about it because it's very, very interesting. And I am incredibly confused by it, and I don't get it."

Comments on @myfamily_withtourettes' post were on his side.

"he should be so embarrassed... once you told him what was up... he should have moved on," @lisa.8805 wrote.

"can he not get into trouble for coming at u while peeing?" @tiffylove1324 wrote.

"Fellow TS-er here, so sorry this happened to you. It's so frustrating to see people not even remotely try to understand. All my love! Keep ticin'! :)" Songwriter Dylan C. Brady wrote.

And one comment even led to its own followup video.

"I wonder if he ever sneaks in an insult on purpose," @shabazzvs asked.

In the video, he explained that this isn't the case.

"I think this kinda comes from this romanticized, you know, idea of Tourette's. Like 'Oh, I wish I had it so I could swear.' So yeah, no, nope, I don't do that," @myfamily_withtourettes said.

In the caption to the post, he added, "no hate. People [without] TS don't understand what it's like to be [robbed] of little moments throughout the day. How they all add up. I cherish every word that I get between tics."

Newsweek reached out to @myfamily_withtourettes for comment.