Man’s petty revenge after racist Facebook message

An Australian man has creatively avenged a lifetime’s worth of casual racism after being tipped “over the edge” by a Facebook Marketplace user.

When the man offered a seller $75 for a pair of AirTags advertised for $90 – the same price as the Apple store – the response he received left him seeing red.

Not only did the seller call him a “loser”, he told him to “go bargain on your country”, presumably meaning to write “in”, not “on”.

The racist comment led the man to plan an act of revenge.

“I’ve been called a lot of names before and have faced aggressive as well as passive racism all my life and have mostly taken it on the chin, but with all the stress that’s happening in my life at the moment, I’m not sure what came upon me,” he recalled in a post to Reddit on Tuesday.

He messaged the seller from a different Facebook account, offering $90, before agreeing to collect the AirTags in a public park.

Wearing a mask, beanie and sunglasses, he asked to hold the AirTags so he could “have a look” at them.

Without hesitation, he then “flung them straight into some very dense bushes”.

“He went looking for them but I doubt he found it and I went home,” he recalled.

“I know I shouldn’t have stooped down to his level but I’m just tired of constant casual racism at workplace, the stress of travel (not a holiday), and then this just tipped me over the edge.”

The man sought feedback from Reddit users on his approach after it occurred to him he could have landed himself in trouble with the law.

He told readers he felt bad after the stunt, which he said wasn’t “something I’d want my kids to do”.

“But then again, I’ve just been through so much of this that I just couldn’t help it so I feel kind of good too. I know it sounds contradicting but yeah, not sure how to explain it,” he wrote.

“I’ve been the bigger person every time I’ve faced casual racism but this one just caught me at a bad time in my life.”

He said the seller had since blocked him on both Facebook profiles.

While some argued the act could see him prosecuted, others were supportive of the “petty” move.

“I doubt anything will be done about it. What you did was petty, but I have to admit it made me laugh,” one person responded.

“Racism is the lowest form of intelligence. Well done for standing up to it. I realize as a white man I will never be able to fully comprehend what you battle with daily, but know I am behind you and the vast majority aren’t d***heads like this,” someone else wrote.

“Racism should not be tolerated. Great that you stood up for yourself. I bet it felt good,” another said.