High school students gather and socialize together as they eat lunch in a high school cafeteria lunchroom.

A janitor recently took to Reddit to complain about cleaning programs being scrutinized in their school, specifically during lunch periods. The post outlines that in most schools, there's anywhere from 2-15 minutes between lunch periods. During that time, janitors much empty trash, clean up messes, sweep, and wipe/disinfect surfaces. 

To tackle the workload, this janitor consolidated/dumped trash into one centralized bin (leaving liners in the secondary bins) and disposed of that, then swept around kids as they were filing in. Evidentially, one of the lunch ladies took exception to the techniques and filed a complaint.

According to Newsweek reporting, the complaint resulted in a process change where the janitor was instructed to only clean during the break between lunch periods and when students were absent from the space. The result was a lunchroom that became increasingly dirty with overflowing trash bins and unswept floors — and more complaints.

In the end, the janitorial worker was told to go back to doing what they thought was best to keep the space clean, but the whole interaction created animosity and sparked back-and-forth complaints between janitorial and the food service workers. 

Reddit users were quick to chime in on the story. Many supported the need for additional janitorial staff. Others hailed school janitors as underappreciated heroes. More still shared stories of their beloved school janitors who left a lasting impression.