Menstruation is one of the most natural bodily functions in the world. Yet it still grosses people out; even its byproducts can be “a problem.”

At the end of 2020, Reddit user DrMedBay found herself in an awkward situation. Working in healthcare, a sector where every minute counts, she started keeping a box of tampons in her locker. It sounds silly as I type this, but one of her male coworkers wasn’t happy about it and complained to the higher-ups that he could see the box whenever the locker was open.

So DrMedBay’s superior calls her in and tells her to take care of the situation. Not to spoil her story, all I’ll say at this point is that she told this story on the subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance, so that in and of itself should tell you that she found a way to follow and disobey the order at the same time.

Continue scrolling to learn how she did it!

Image credits: Zinkevych (not the actual photo)

Don’t get the wrong impression, not everyone who works with DrMedBay is like that. On the contrary, she said her colleagues are incredible, hardworking people. “I can’t count the number of times they’ve covered shifts, come in early, skipped lunch, and helped out in departments that weren’t theirs,” DrMedBay told Bored Panda. “I love them so much.”

By now, her entire department has heard about the tampon incident and they’ve all been incredibly supportive. “One coworker of mine even gave a character reference in front of the committee board for me and it means so much to me. The male coworker who complained has moved to a different shift where he has less patient contact and little to no contact with me at all.”

Once the committee board passed the petition to supply feminine hygiene products in the staff bathroom all the ruckus went mostly away. “I still haven’t received the ‘letters of apology’ from my boss and coworker that HR told them to write and I have no clue if they completed their sensitivity training,” DrMedBay said. “But my boss hasn’t had any contact with me since and actively avoids me. I have no clue what will happen when I have to ask for time off or anything else that has to cross his desk, but for now, it’s alright.”

Some men have tried to avoid similar situations by tracking their colleagues’ periods with apps. A woman talking to news.com.au, for example, said her male colleagues began keeping an eye on her cycle after an argument at work. Fortunately, most of these apps have been shut down and are no longer available.

As for DrMedBay, she still keeps the tampon box in her locker and has received Snickers and thumbs up from her female coworkers who know about what happened and see it in her locker when she has it open. DrMedBay also had a male coworker put tampons in the breast pocket of his lab coat and go talk to the coworker who complained specifically to annoy him and make her laugh. So she’s fine!

Here’s what people said after reading the story

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