A Reddit confession from a bank employee who said they use treats to subtly retaliate against rude customers has gone viral, sparking laughter and relatability among thousands online.

Posted by u/constellationmurder in the r/confession subreddit, the post titled “I work at a bank, and I give people different flavored lollipops on purpose” has received more than 41,000 upvotes since it was shared on March 28.

In the post, the bank worker describes how they deal with impolite parents by using lollipop flavor combinations to sow chaos among their kids.

“Remember when you were a kid and your mom would drive through the bank, and you got lollipops? I know my brother and I always used to fight over the flavors, especially blue raspberry or cotton candy. And we hated root beer and butterscotch,” the poster wrote.

In cases where a parent is especially rude, the employee said they deliberately hand out mismatched lollipop flavors in a bid to cause fights later among their children.

“If I have a parent come through my line and they’re particularly rude, I will give them two (or whatever amount) differently flavored lollipops. I hope their kids fight over them. I gave someone a root beer and blue raspberry combo the other day. I want to see the world burn,” the bank worker wrote.

This form of subtle sabotage aligns with findings from a March 2021 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, which examined how mistreatment by customers can drive employees toward retaliatory behaviors.

The study found that “dysfunctional customer behavior increased the incidence of employees’ service sabotage,” a term used to describe deliberate employee actions that disrupt service quality.

The researchers cited the “frustration-aggression theory” as a framework for understanding this response. “Customer-contact service employees who experience unfair events in their workplace behave aggressively by eliciting deviant behaviors, such as service sabotage,” the study explained.

Though the term originated in manufacturing, the authors emphasized that the damage from service sabotage is broader, noting that “these actions harm both the service company and its customers, whereas industrial sabotage only harms the firm.”

‘Brilliant’

The bank employee in the viral post, while mischievous in intent, acknowledged that some might enjoy the flavors they weaponize. “I’m sorry to all the butterscotch and root beer lovers. you’re seen and you’re valid. I love you—kids these days just don’t like them unfortunately,” they added.

The post struck a chord with many Redditors, some of whom admitted to similar acts of workplace pettiness.

“When I worked at McDonald’s as a teen years ago, and someone ordered two chicken nugget happy meals, I’d put four nuggets in one, and cram like ten in the other, just hoping to set the world on fire!” said Reddit user u/Aggressive_Day8081.

Another commenter, u/Mental-Ship-1030, wrote: “I did the same thing and also made sure that the toys were different, especially if they were rude and when they would come back sometimes and ask for the same toys…Sorry we can’t do that.”

Others were mostly entertained, with many commending the bank worker’s ingenuity.

“I literally laughed out loud watch the world burn over lollipop kids…” said u/Artistic_Ad_3267.

Another user, u/keksmuzh, remarked: “I’ve worked in banking for years and never thought to do this… brilliant.”

U/Upbeat_Rough_7431.praised the method as a kind of balanced mischief, describing it as “Chaotic neutral at its finest. You’re not robbing the bank, but you are robbing parents of peace. Respect…”

Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.

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