A Manurewa woman who took her son to the laundromat to dry clothes was shocked to find a man getting high there.
Inside one of the industrial-sized dryers was a young man, crouched down and huffing petrol from a jerry can.
"I hear some voices and some yelling, I got a big fright," Sharona Kopara wrote on Facebook on Sunday.
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"I yelled at him 'what are you doing?' [and] he just stared at us. Everyone [was] too scared to tell him to leave, what's this world coming to?"
Comments on the post are split between anger at the man and compassion for what he is presumably going through.
"Hope you gave him a telling off and told him to get out! Little shit!' wrote one woman
But another said they felt sorry for him.
When the post was shared on to a local Facebook page, one woman said he was clearly in need of assistance.
"A lost soul, a child screaming for help and guidance. This breaks my heart, whanau where are you?"
More pictures of the man showed him sleeping inside the dryer.
Police said they were aware of the incident but no report was filed.
Breathing or huffing petrol can cause respiratory irritation, loss of consciousness, and in serious cases coma or death.
Newshub.