Crotona Park bodega worker goes viral on TikTok for challenging customers' math skills

A Bronx bodega worker has gone viral on TikTok for testing his customers’ math skills.
If the customer gets the math problem correct, they have five seconds to grab whatever they want and they can keep it free of charge. In one video, a customer goes for the bodega cat.
“Not my cat,” Ahmed Alwan said to the customer. So, the customer goes for a hookah and a whole rack of snacks instead.
Alwan told News 12 that he wants to show everyone that education is key. He hopes that when kids see the videos on TikTok that it will inspire them to stay in school and do good for their communities.
 
Alwan’s father has owned the bodega on the corner of Southern Boulevard and Freeman Street for more than 10 years and Alwan works behind the counter when he can. He knows all his customers by name and he said he does whatever he can to help from behind the counter.
“I said, ‘let me entertain people and help people at the same time,’ because I see a lot of homeless people in the streets and the train,” Alwan said.
Alwan’s friends say that he is a good-hearted person who takes care of others. When News 12 asked Alwan if his father is OK with him giving away free merchandise, Alwan said that it all comes out of his paycheck.