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Folks Online Are Cracking Up Over This Employee’s Petty Revenge On A Colleague Who Exposed Them For Arriving A Few Minutes Late
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Folks Online Are Cracking Up Over This Employee’s Petty Revenge On A Colleague Who Exposed Them For Arriving A Few Minutes Late

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At the end of the 19th century, the great German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck said his famous phrase about people who are more Catholic than the Pope. In those days, the quote referred directly to the Holy See in Rome, but almost a century and a half has passed – and we use these words to label literally any person who is determined to not only perform their immediate work functions, but also constantly go beyond them.

“But a proactive employee is great!” you may say, and you will not be entirely right, because proactivity is one thing, and toxic behavior in a team is completely different. It’s no wonder that when employees like this, who are found in so many companies, get some instant karma, their colleagues secretly rejoice, and we all love to read beautiful stories about such cases.

For example, like this tale by user u/Apprehensive-Arm-614, first published in the Reddit Malicious Compliance community, which has gained over 24.1K upvotes and about 1.1K comments in a very short time. This story has it all – a mean colleague, their innocent victims and their just retribution. So, let’s figure it out together.

More info: Reddit

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    The author of the initial post had been working in a company with an extremely toxic colleague

    Image credits:  Binyamin Mellish (not the actual photo)

    According to the author of the original post, they love their job very much, but lately they are occasionally late once or twice a week. Not by much – about five minutes, and not entirely through their own fault, because over the past year, four bridges located directly on the way to work underwent repairs at once. As a result, traffic jams periodically occur, and the Original Poster arrived at work later than necessary.

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    Image credits: Apprehensive-Arm-614

    The coworker kept reporting the author for being late by just a few minutes, not by their actual fault

    However, this is life, and no one is immune from force majeure. Yes, but unfortunately, not everyone agrees with this. For example, in the company where the OP worked, there was another employee who constantly complained about coworkers to their superiors for their slightest mistakes. In general, as the author of the post says, this colleague’s behavior was extremely toxic even in everyday communication, and once even played a big role in not having a seasonal employee rehired the following year.

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    Image credits: Apprehensive-Arm-614

    And so, the toxic worker’s new target was the OP and their lateness. The colleague made comments to the author of the post several times, and then even began to harass the head of the department with reminders of this, so finally, the OP’s supervisor reluctantly wrote them up. Needless to say, the author of this story was not at all happy to have such a colleague. And what could be done here? After all, the snitch actually acted in full accordance with corporate rules.

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    Image credits: Apprehensive-Arm-614

    One day the author just decided to arrive earlier than anybody – and take the snitch’s wonderful parking spot instead

    However, an idea came to the Original Poster one day, and it looked absolutely beautiful. The author noticed that the snitching employee regularly arrives at work about ten minutes before the start of the shift and constantly parks their car in a very convenient spot, right in front of the entrance to the building. However, this was not their dedicated spot – just at the moment when they arrived, the perfect spot was always empty. Not for long…

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    Image credits: Apprehensive-Arm-614

    So, the author of the post decided that they would simply get up an hour or so earlier before work. Yes, it turned out to be quite difficult – but now the OP got to work literally before everyone else, sometimes even forty minutes before the start of the working day. And this, of course, gave a unique opportunity to be the first to choose a spot to park their car. Now, please, guess which place the Original Poster has been constantly choosing?

    Image credits:  Charles Kettor  (not the actual photo)

    The colleague got terribly mad at this, yet they could do nothing as the author didn’t violate any rules

    The colleague was, of course, beside themselves with anger, but they could not do anything – after all, they were actually repaid in their own coin. The Original Poster didn’t violate anything, arrived at work before everyone else, and the fact that now the mean employee had to look for a parking place for a long time – well, no one said that karma is a pleasant thing for everybody!

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    Most of the people in the comments simply praised the Original Poster for being so inventive. According to commenters, there’s no shame in the OP’s game at all. Someone simply went out of their way to put the author down, folks online suppose, so the OP just didn’t hesitate to give the snitch a dose of their own medicine, which turned out great and fair.

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    Image credits: Alexander Cruzado Abanto (not the actual photo)

    People in the comments praised the employee for being so inventive and were also glad the snitch got instant karma

    According to most of the commenters, this one is really good and not petty. Just making sure the Original Poster’s doing what the puritan moral guru so kindly escalated, people in the comments claim. “This is awesome! Keep taking that parking spot every damn day!” another commenter states.

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    For some reason, we are almost sure that you have also encountered this kind of employee in your own work, so please feel free to tell us how it was and how it all ended for both sides of the conflict. Well, in case nothing like this ever happened to you, just please tell us what you think about this particular tale.

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    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    Read more »

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    Read less »
    Oleg Tarasenko

    Oleg Tarasenko

    Author, BoredPanda staff

    After many years of working as sports journalist and trivia game author and host in Ukraine I joined Bored Panda as a content creator. I do love writing stories and I sincerely believe - there's no dull plots at all. Like a great Italian composer Joaquino Rossini once told: "Give me a police protocol - and I'll make an opera out of it!"

    Saulė Tolstych

    Saulė Tolstych

    Author, Community member

    Read more »

    Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

    Read less »

    Saulė Tolstych

    Saulė Tolstych

    Author, Community member

    Saulė is a photo editor at Bored Panda with bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Computer Design. The thing that relaxes her the best is going into YouTube rabbit hole. In her free time she loves painting, embroidering and taking walks in nature.

    What do you think ?
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    POST
    Ryan-James O'Driscoll
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I manage a team and if a team member started moaning at me about how another was late, I'd tell them to wind their neck in. It's my job to set expectations around availability and to monitor that. It's also my job to decide for myself what I consider acceptable when managing a team of grown adults. So long as no one is taking liberties, I really don't care if they are a few minutes late once in a while.

    pug nose curly tail
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You leave an hour and a half earlier yet get to work only 15 to 45 mins earlier? Something isn't adding up here. So you could get to work on time for revenge but not for actual work? Glad you're not my coworker.

    Rachel Ann
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I live in NJ, 5-10 mins really can make a huge difference, especially during the school year or with sun glare. Honestly, if you're not relieving somebody for a shift, I don't see what the big deal is over 5 mins, it can be made up at the end of the day. Who actually leaves on time, anyway?

    Load More Replies...
    Phil Vaive
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So you're usually 5 minutes late, and in order to offset that you have to leave your house an hour or two earlier? That's not how this works. If you're consistently 5 minutes late, you should leave your house 5 minutes earlier.

    The frustrated Scientist 🧬
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well in cities with traffic jam, it can be how this works. When I was in uni, I had 20 mins drives from home, but to be in uni in time for the start of the classes at 8, I had to leave at 7:10, and be then 30 mins early (because at 7:10, there was nobody on the streets) if I would leave at 7:15 or later, I would not make it in time to 8:00 because there was so much traffic jam as everybody was getting out to work at the same time that the trip was significantly longer.

    Load More Replies...
    Trista Weidenborner
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Had a coworker at a previous job who would go by when they saw you as your arrival time, so if we were at work by 11 am and they just didn’t bump into us until 11:20 they would assume we just got there and would go to management to complain about us being “twenty minutes late” and would not drop it unless boss said “I saw them come in long before that”. We all got in the habit of greeting the boss both to be polite and as an alibi whenever that person was working.

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are some negative replies to my comment. I wasn’t saying that the person who was late didn’t have a reason to be. What I am saying is that most jobs require you to clock in and clock out at a certain time and they don’t have flex hours. At my job you can be laid up to 13 times per year and that is up to seven minutes late from your starting time or seven minutes late back from your lunch time. You also get paid overtime for any time that you stay after your schedule time. At my job I open the place and I open with a partner. We are customer facing and we do have to be punctual. Because we have customers waiting on us at open time. One of my coworkers used to continuously be late because of traffic. We found out she was actually taking the longer way because she didn’t want to get on the freeway at all and actually cost herself about 30 minutes a day. She did end up getting fired because she was late 25 times in one calendar year.

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sidenote, I’ve been at my job for 14 years and I love it! There are set rules and they are strict but they are super easy to follow, The benefits are amazing and the pay is higher than most places around where I live

    Load More Replies...
    Jay Walsh
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'd be like, "Yeah, I don't manage peoples time, but their work product. Your seems to be lower, maybe you should focus on that rather than monitoring other peoples arrival times.

    Brian Droste
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At my place if work I have a unofficially signed parking spot I park in. All the regular employees knows that is my spot. Even If I don't show up or if everyone knows that I am not going to be there I believe no one parks there. Even when I run a little bit late or coming in at the last minute, no one parks there. When someone does park there I get a little irritated.

    Roland
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dwight Shrute is that you? :) - not OP, but the annoying coworker for clarity

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Late is late at my job. Doesn’t matter. If this person worked where I worked they’d be fired. Also even if funny retaliation will also get you fired and that’s what that person did by bragging to coworkers. Just be to work on time an no issue. That person probably is fed up picking up your slack with you being late. Funny how when you managed your time and left earlier, you weren’t late.

    BlackestDawn
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If being occasionally 1-5 mins late creates that much slack that early on in the morning that actually needs to be addressed right then then the company as a whole have other issues that needs to be addressed. I would agree with being that hard on being on time if you are working shifts (thus probably relieving someone else) or work in a public facing position, outside of those flextime should be the norm. Maybe it's just because I live in a place with very good public transport but the notion of having to be up to 45 mins (maybe even more) early to make sure you are on time is just ridiculous to me, that's more time than I use between waking up and leaving for work.

    Load More Replies...
    Ryan-James O'Driscoll
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I manage a team and if a team member started moaning at me about how another was late, I'd tell them to wind their neck in. It's my job to set expectations around availability and to monitor that. It's also my job to decide for myself what I consider acceptable when managing a team of grown adults. So long as no one is taking liberties, I really don't care if they are a few minutes late once in a while.

    pug nose curly tail
    Community Member
    Premium
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    You leave an hour and a half earlier yet get to work only 15 to 45 mins earlier? Something isn't adding up here. So you could get to work on time for revenge but not for actual work? Glad you're not my coworker.

    Rachel Ann
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I live in NJ, 5-10 mins really can make a huge difference, especially during the school year or with sun glare. Honestly, if you're not relieving somebody for a shift, I don't see what the big deal is over 5 mins, it can be made up at the end of the day. Who actually leaves on time, anyway?

    Load More Replies...
    Phil Vaive
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    So you're usually 5 minutes late, and in order to offset that you have to leave your house an hour or two earlier? That's not how this works. If you're consistently 5 minutes late, you should leave your house 5 minutes earlier.

    The frustrated Scientist 🧬
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well in cities with traffic jam, it can be how this works. When I was in uni, I had 20 mins drives from home, but to be in uni in time for the start of the classes at 8, I had to leave at 7:10, and be then 30 mins early (because at 7:10, there was nobody on the streets) if I would leave at 7:15 or later, I would not make it in time to 8:00 because there was so much traffic jam as everybody was getting out to work at the same time that the trip was significantly longer.

    Load More Replies...
    Trista Weidenborner
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Had a coworker at a previous job who would go by when they saw you as your arrival time, so if we were at work by 11 am and they just didn’t bump into us until 11:20 they would assume we just got there and would go to management to complain about us being “twenty minutes late” and would not drop it unless boss said “I saw them come in long before that”. We all got in the habit of greeting the boss both to be polite and as an alibi whenever that person was working.

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    There are some negative replies to my comment. I wasn’t saying that the person who was late didn’t have a reason to be. What I am saying is that most jobs require you to clock in and clock out at a certain time and they don’t have flex hours. At my job you can be laid up to 13 times per year and that is up to seven minutes late from your starting time or seven minutes late back from your lunch time. You also get paid overtime for any time that you stay after your schedule time. At my job I open the place and I open with a partner. We are customer facing and we do have to be punctual. Because we have customers waiting on us at open time. One of my coworkers used to continuously be late because of traffic. We found out she was actually taking the longer way because she didn’t want to get on the freeway at all and actually cost herself about 30 minutes a day. She did end up getting fired because she was late 25 times in one calendar year.

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sidenote, I’ve been at my job for 14 years and I love it! There are set rules and they are strict but they are super easy to follow, The benefits are amazing and the pay is higher than most places around where I live

    Load More Replies...
    Jay Walsh
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I'd be like, "Yeah, I don't manage peoples time, but their work product. Your seems to be lower, maybe you should focus on that rather than monitoring other peoples arrival times.

    Brian Droste
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    At my place if work I have a unofficially signed parking spot I park in. All the regular employees knows that is my spot. Even If I don't show up or if everyone knows that I am not going to be there I believe no one parks there. Even when I run a little bit late or coming in at the last minute, no one parks there. When someone does park there I get a little irritated.

    Roland
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dwight Shrute is that you? :) - not OP, but the annoying coworker for clarity

    You're Gonna Need A Bigger Boat
    Community Member
    1 year ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Late is late at my job. Doesn’t matter. If this person worked where I worked they’d be fired. Also even if funny retaliation will also get you fired and that’s what that person did by bragging to coworkers. Just be to work on time an no issue. That person probably is fed up picking up your slack with you being late. Funny how when you managed your time and left earlier, you weren’t late.

    BlackestDawn
    Community Member
    1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    If being occasionally 1-5 mins late creates that much slack that early on in the morning that actually needs to be addressed right then then the company as a whole have other issues that needs to be addressed. I would agree with being that hard on being on time if you are working shifts (thus probably relieving someone else) or work in a public facing position, outside of those flextime should be the norm. Maybe it's just because I live in a place with very good public transport but the notion of having to be up to 45 mins (maybe even more) early to make sure you are on time is just ridiculous to me, that's more time than I use between waking up and leaving for work.

    Load More Replies...
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