Mum praised for ‘petty revenge’ on ice cream man who scammed her child

When you’re a child, there’s nothing more exciting than hearing the ice cream man’s tune bellowing down the street. But one girl will never view the ice cream man the same way after being scammed out of her hard-earned pocket money.

Sharing the situation on Reddit, her mum said: “My kid ran outside to get an ice cream from the ice cream man. Kiddo returned a little sad. I asked what was wrong. She said, ‘I asked the ice cream man for my change. He gave me this lollipop and drove off before I could say anything.’

“My kid doesn’t like lollipops. Even if she did, it wouldn’t have been a fair trade (not by a longshot).” With that, the mum drove over to Costco and bought a few boxes of ice cream. Throughout the next few weeks, she started handing them out to all the children in the neighborhood for free – putting the ice cream man out of business.

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She added: “My kid made some new friends, and no one on our side of the neighbourhood bought from the ice cream man during that time. When we ran out, other parents started chipping in and provided snacks for the kids who played outside.”

While most users praised the mum for their ‘genius’ idea, others slammed the ice cream man for pocketing the child’s change. One user said: “Yikes, that guy’s a jerk. But it sounds like you\ve made some friends in the neighbourhood pitching in on treats and sharing with each other.”

Another user added: “When I was a little kid, I heard the ice cream truck, so I stole $20 (£15) out of Mom’s wallet. The ice cream man put the change in an envelope for me to take home.” A third user said: “When I was a kid me and my siblings/friends chased the ice cream man for three whole blocks. I know he saw us, but refused to stop and did not stop anywhere else on those blocks.

“A few weeks later I heard my mom and neighbour talking about how the guy had been arrested for selling drugs out his truck. You and your neighbours did good!” One more user added: “Love it. The Ice Cream man is a rip off. I hope he learned a lesson!”

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