‘Some heroes wear hi-viz’: Morrisons security guard praised for sheltering dog under umbrella in rain

‘How people behave when they think nobody is watching is a sign of the person they are’

(Mel Gracie on Twitter (@MelGracie_))

A Morrisons security guard has been highly praised online for sheltering a dog under an umbrella while on duty, with several people calling for the company to recognise him for his good deed.

On Sunday 28 June, Mel Gracie, a tattooist from Glasgow, spotted a security guard keeping a dog dry from the rain while the pet’s owner shopped in the supermarket in Giffnock.

After capturing the moment on camera, Gracie decided to the photograph on Twitter alongside the caption: “Shout out to this @Morrisons security man keeping this good boy dry. He said, ‘Well you never know how dogs feel about the rain.’”

The tweet quickly gained traction, with thousands of people commending the security guard for carrying out such a simple act to keep the dog from becoming sopping wet.

By the next day, the tweet had garnered more than 13,000 retweets and more than 100,000 likes.

Several people left praiseworthy comments for the security guard, with one person saying: “How people behave when they think nobody is watching is a sign of the person they are.”

“You can tell a lot about someone by how they treat animals,” someone else wrote, while another Twitter user stated: “Some heroes wear hi-viz jackets.”

Following the attention the initial tweet received, Gracie revealed that she had discovered the identity of the security guard, a man called Ethan Dearman.

Dearman retweeted Gracie’s photograph, writing: “Looks like I made a lot of people happy today.”

Speaking to The Independent, Gracie said that she frequently sees Dearman working at the Giffnock Morrisons branch.

“He always has a chat with customers in the queue which is lovely – especially right now when some people might be quite isolated,” she said.

“I shared this hoping Morrisons would see a staff member’s nice deed but I have no idea it would go this far!”

The official Twitter account for Morrisons shared a tweet in response to the picture, describing it as “adorable”.

A number of Twitter users expressed their hope that the supermarket will show Dearman additional recognition.

“Can this employee be recognised for going above and beyond?” one person asked.

“Give this lovely gentleman a bonus!!!” another stated.

A Morrisons’s spokesperson told The Independent that umbrellas are being distributed to customers during the rainy weather.

“It’s going to be a wet week so we’ve issued 9,000 Morrisons umbrellas to keep our customers – and their dogs – dry,” they said. “It’s good to see that it is already happening in our Giffnock store.”