How A Man (And A Forklift) Conquered A Vending Machine, Then Lost His Job

We’ve all been there, the utter disappointment of having your candy bar stuck in the evil teeth of a vending machine. The sweet treat hanging by a thread, mocking you from the top rows. How far are you willing to go to satisfy your sweet tooth? For one Iowa man scoring his treat cost him a job.

It all started last fall when the man put a dollar in his company’s vending machine to procure a Twix bar, The Des Moines Register reports.

Unfortunately, the candy bar was snagged by a spiral hook on its journey through the machine.

Not one to be deterred, the man pounded the machine and then shook it back and forth in an attempt to dislodge his snack.

When those methods didn’t work, the man took a more sure-fire approach. He used an 8,000-pound forklift to lift the machine 2 feet from the floor before letting it drop. According to unemployment compensation records he repeated the move six times and eventually dislodged three candy bars.

When confronted by a supervisor, the man allegedly said he was trying to get the candy bar he paid for.

He was fired five days later.

A claim for unemployment benefits was denied when a judge found the man had demonstrated a willful disregard for his employer’s interests. The former employee contends he used the forklift to simply place the machine back in its original spot after shaking it with his hands.

The man told The Des Moines Register that he heard the company now has new vending machines.

The Twix bar, the forklift, and the fired Iowan [The Des Moines Register]

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