How One Landscaping Crew Gassed Up Their Own Brand of Petty Revenge
If you’ve ever worked in landscaping, you know the struggle: you’re just trying to keep the lawns green and the hedges trimmed, but some folks can’t resist helping themselves to whatever isn’t bolted down—especially those pricey gas cans. But what happens when the thieves pick on the wrong crew? Well, a recent tale from Reddit’s r/PettyRevenge shows us that sometimes, vengeance is best served… “premium unleaded.”
Imagine this: you’re cruising in your shiny new Cadillac, feeling invincible, until your engine coughs, sputters, and dies. On the side of the road, with a trunk full of purloined gas cans, you watch as the landscaping crew you robbed earlier that morning slows down, waves, and drives on by—with the smuggest grins you’ve ever seen plastered across their faces.
Let’s dig into how this revenge was engineered, why it works so well, and why it’s oddly satisfying to see a little poetic justice unfold—especially when it smells like gasoline.
The Great Gas Can Switcheroo
Our story’s hero, Reddit user u/crankyvet, was running a landscaping crew plagued by a persistent problem: thieves snatching gas cans right off their trucks. If you’ve never bought a commercial-grade gas can, here’s a reality check—they cost around $60 a pop, not including the fuel. That’s not chump change, especially when you’re talking about multiple cans per truck, and multiple trucks in a fleet.
Enter the “petty” part of the revenge: after replacing a batch of stolen cans, the crew decided to fill the diesel cans with gas and the gas cans with diesel before loading them back onto their truck. For the uninitiated, putting diesel in a gasoline engine (or vice versa) is the automotive equivalent of feeding a dog chocolate—it’s expensive, messy, and almost always ends with someone crying. In this case? The tears belonged to the thieves.
Sweet, Sweet Instant Karma
A couple of weeks later, the inevitable happened: the crew’s gas cans vanished once again. But this time, the stolen goods would become a Trojan Horse of sorts—one that would soon bring a shiny new Cadillac Escalade to a sputtering halt in the middle of the road.
Picture the scene: the landscaping crew, on their way to the next job, spots their own gas cans abandoned on the roadside, empty and discarded. Then, just down the road, there’s the Escalade—dead and going nowhere fast. The crew simply picked up their cans, gave the stranded thieves a friendly wave, and went on with their day. No shouting match, no confrontation—just a delicious, silent serving of karma.
Why This Revenge Is So Satisfying
There’s something universally appealing about a story where the bad guys get exactly what’s coming to them—especially when it’s delivered with a wink and a nod instead of a fist. The brilliance here isn’t just the switcheroo itself, but the way it flips the script. The thieves, expecting a free ride (or at least a free tank of gas), instead end up with a repair bill big enough to make their eyes water.
Even better, this wasn’t a one-off. According to u/crankyvet, the crew took to switching labels and mixing up cans regularly, sometimes even leaving a can filled with “something really bad” in a highly visible spot for the especially audacious. As word got around (and engines got ruined), gas can thefts dropped—proving that sometimes, the best deterrent is a little unpredictability.
Lessons (and Laughs) from the Lawnmower Mafia
Is this technically legal? Let’s just say it’s a gray area best left to the professionals (or the especially bold). But as a case study in creative problem-solving, it’s hard not to appreciate the ingenuity. The next time you’re tempted to take what isn’t yours, remember: sometimes, the bait is set just for you.
So here’s to the unsung heroes of the landscaping world—armed with nothing but their wits, a can-do attitude, and the occasional can of mystery juice.
Have you ever pulled off (or witnessed) a perfectly petty act of revenge? Share your stories in the comments below—because nothing fuels a good day quite like a little justice served cold (or in this case, diesel-swapped).
Got your own tales of triumph over petty theft? Drop them below, and let’s keep the stories rolling!
Original Reddit Post: Revenge on the thieves