We’ve all seen an upstart trying to challenge a master. They believe that the master’s way of doing things is outdated, slow, and entirely unnecessary. Little do they know that experts do things the way they do them because they know best, usually from personal experience.

Reddit user u/evidently_apostate shares his own story of malicious compliance at his workplace. His coworker thought he could steal his position as a heavy load rigger by being faster, but he was in for a ride. A literal ride, in this case, as his incompetence sent him flying.

More info: Reddit

Competition at work may be a good thing, but there is a limit before it becomes too much

Image credits: ume-y (not the actual photo)

The poster starts his story by saying that he’s a rigger working with natural gas turbines

Image credits: evidently_apostate

His job was making sure that loads being raised into the air were secure and he would take his time at work, but safety was his priority

Image credits: evidently_apostate

Image credits: Western Area Power (not the actual photo)

The poster of this story, whom we’ll refer to as OP, was working as a rigger. For the uninitiated, a rigger is in charge of things lifted by a crane. If something breaks, snaps, if the crane’s load teeters – it’s their fault. It’s a very responsible job, as you may be in charge of not only the crane’s load, but also many lives around you.

He also had a coworker who he referred to as Larry in this story. Larry wanted OP’s job so badly, even going so far as to say: “I love you, bud, but I’m cutting your throat,” when he managed to usurp his job while he was away. The only reason why Larry succeeded in stealing his job was that he was buddy-buddy with everyone else in the workplace, including the superintendent. On the other hand, the poster was professional, reserved, didn’t cuss, and had no vices to speak of, which made it difficult for him to fit in his work environment, giving Larry a baseless advantage. Larry, opposite to OP, liked doing things quickly – a bad trait for a rigger, whose job is to account for so many variables and ensure the safety of everyone on site.

When told “do what Larry tells you” by the superintendent on the day of a big job, OP did exactly that. He made sure Larry was strapped in safely and refused to tell him about a critical fault in his rigging. With no one around who could get hurt, he had the chance to show what would happen if Larry were to continue working as a rigger. When the crane operator started to lift the weight he had rigged, it suddenly tore away with Larry and OP on it, crashing into things, but causing no more harm besides that.

OP was promptly reinstated as the rigger in the workplace, with Larry being demoted and put in his place by the superintendent. The story happened years ago while both were still wet behind their ears. According to the poster, they even later became close friends at the job, despite the disagreement.

A coworker wanted his job badly and by getting on the good side of the supervisor, he managed to replace him as the rigger

Image credits: evidently_apostate

The coworker who replaced him would work fast, but would gloss over important details frequently

Image credits: evidently_apostate

Image credits: National Interagency Fire Center

For this article, Bored Panda got in touch with the OP of this story to see how he was doing more than a year down the line. The poster is no longer working in the industry, even though he has the chance to do so. He mentions leaving it as it’s a difficult industry to stay in if you want a career and a happy family.

Describing the industry as rewarding, OP nevertheless mentions that it’s a young, single person’s workplace, not for people who have families that would rather have you home for the soccer games instead of you raking in the cash.

As for Larry, OP says that they still stay in touch, even if he has left the industry. He says that Larry is “a good family man now,” thinking that he’ll follow suit soon and settle down closer to home with his family.

OP further says that the hardest parts of his job were being away from family for so long. And if not that, the poster emphasizes that 84 hours of physical and mental labor every day, for weeks on end, is very taxing.

Finally, the poster says that it may not be apparent from the story, but there are too many things to list that he’s refused to do on a job for safety reasons alone: a good reminder not to compromise anything for work safety. The job will get done no matter what, but one safety slip-up may cost you a lot more than a day’s pay.

The coworker was doing his new job when the poster saw that he had made a critical mistake that would send them flying in the air

Image credits: evidently_apostate

The poster decided he would let his coworker make the mistake as it wouldn’t endanger anyone, but would show what could happen if he remained in that position

Image credits: evidently_apostate

Image credits: darkday (not the actual photo)

OP’s comments reveal more details untold in his story. Many comments had called him out for acting unsafely and unprofessionally just to school someone. 

The poster defends himself by saying that, first of all, all of this happened long ago, while they could still be considered “hotshot, know it all” apprentices. They’ve both grown a lot these days, according to OP. Additionally, he mentions that he ensured that everything was in check, there was no one around who could have gotten hurt, and both of them were strapped in safely.

He also mentions that he chose this course of action to school Larry in a safe way rather than him working independently and inadvertently hurting someone because of his incompetence or worse.

Another story with Larry from work is hidden in the comments. That day, it was 35 degrees Fahrenheit (2 degrees Celsius) and raining. They were going to lift a rotor weighing 144000 pounds (more than 65 thousand kg). They had new, freshly inspected slings to be used for lifting the rotors. Instead of rushing the job, as Larry would have done, OP took his time, reinspecting the slings. 

Even though the supervisor told OP to hurry it along, he still completed a detailed inspection and found that they were defective at one point. If he hadn’t diligently inspected the straps, they would have failed, dropping the entire load. The poster was praised and congratulated for his cautiousness. Even Larry came up to say that he would have used the slings without checking them so carefully. The poster only replied with: “I know, Larry. I know.”

The crane ripped the roof off the construction while the poster and coworker were standing on it, both of them being sent flying with the roof

Image credits: evidently_apostate

The supervisor found the coworker, started berating him and demoted him on the spot, reinstating the poster back to his post

Image credits: evidently_apostate

The comments appreciated the poster’s story and shared similar situations they’ve been in at work, in similar industries

OP’s story received almost 10 thousand likes, with almost 350 comments. People shared their own stories in similar industries, many of them appreciating OP’s writing style. Some were surprised that OP and Larry became friends, but it turns out it’s hard not to become friends when you spend almost all of your waking hours working with someone. Additionally, OP specified in the comments that he is an ex-Jehovah’s Witness member, thus explaining his social differences when compared to his coworkers. What are your thoughts? Have similar stories? Make sure to share them in the comments below!

Image credits: Garry Knight (not the actual photo)

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