School warns mom about ‘strange man’ picking up daughter, not realizing it was her without a wig

Editor's note: This article was originally published on March 28, 2022. It has since been updated.

One of the scariest experiences a parent can have is to be told by school authorities that a stranger picked up their child from school. Shanta, who goes by @heyshantaq on TikTok, revealed that she got a similar call, sending shivers down her spine. School authorities alerted Shanta that a mysterious man was picking up her daughter every day from school. They went on to describe the person and Shanta realized she knew someone who matched the description. 

While the video is sinister-sounding, it's actually hilarious and liked by many on TikTok, garnering more than 1.3 million likes. It all started after the school contacted Shanta to inform her about an unknown man picking up her daughter from school every day. “Saying that she had been leaving the school with a strange man every day — and it was not her dad," explained the mom in the video. She panicked, as any parent would. "I was trembling. My heart was beating outside of my chest," she added.

She had already told the school to alert her if something like this had happened. "I’ve always made it a point to tell the school that if my daughter leaves with someone outside of ourselves, that they need to contact us immediately," she said. She wanted to know who it was and asked the school authorities if they knew anything. They described the stranger to her. “He was tall, stubby, looked like he was out of shape, his hair was fragile, he had a light mustache,” she recalled them telling her. "I asked them did they have any proof. They sent over a photo. My heart started beating. I started whimpering. I was shocked."

She dreaded looking at the photo of the man who was visiting his daughter at school and picking her up every day. She took a good look at him and she definitely knew him. "It was ME without my wig! It was ME y’all!" she exclaims in the video. She couldn't have been more relieved. The video has been watched by more than 4 million people and everyone found it hilarious. She was also immensely relieved.

The replies reflected the edge-of-the-seat narration from the concerned mother. "I went from concerned to dead in 10 seconds,” commented one person, while another wrote, “The way my hand clapped over my mouth I’m dead.” It was all good fun though. One person wrote, "This is why they don't want you on your phone while driving.. almost drove off the road cause I was crying laughing! Another person joked, “I was ready to send out an Amber Alert.” While the story was certainly hilarious, everyone was thankful her daughter was ok.