Video shows a man deliberately blocking shoppers at a mall escalator exit, and commenters are sharing bizarre revenge fantasies: ‘What would you do?’

A man’s odd action, which appears to be done in the name of “trend,” is spreading on the social media. According to the Daily Dot, this man blocked the exit of a mall escalator and maintained his position. As a result, shoppers on this escalator had to squeeze between the sides to get off.

The video shared on Twitter/X by @Sofia50020Sofia gives insights into this scene. It lasts about 20 seconds, and a man can be seen holding his position at the exit of the mall’s escalator while someone records him. A group of shoppers can be seen traveling down, and the man appears to deliberately stand in their way and smile. Once the shoppers reach the exit, it looks like he continues to stand while they squeeze through the sides.

The man can also be seen stretching his legs to block the remaining spaces, but later he appears to move away and let people through. The user who posted the footage claimed in the caption, “It’s become a new ‘trend’ to turn off elevators and stand there blocking them.” They also questioned their audience, “What would you do?” To which they apparently replied in the comments.

Viewers seemed to share their revenge stories

There’s no sign of tension sparked by the “trend,” as the footage ends with the man letting the remaining shoppers through the exit. It appears to have gained significant attention, garnering about 1.7 million views, and many users have answered the question, “What would you do?” One of them said, “How do people resist the urge, you know, after he spreads his legs.” They also added, “No camera would be able to stop me.”

“No one is beating his a**. Interesting. They should at least use this footage to charge him or his parent with something. Or he’ll simply do it again.” Wrote another. While one said, “I would push past him.  If he tries to use force my response will be 5X as much.” In the clip, one of the shoppers is also seen making eye contact with the man; a user wrote about this interaction, “He folded real quick when the dude gave him the eyes.”

These opinions seem to be sarcasm. The identity of the man and the real intention behind his actions remain unknown.