However, we’re all human, which means that when you’ve been following one protocol for what seems like forever and then get told that you must dump everything out of your bag for the X-ray screening, there’s a chance that you might get a little cocky and just maliciously comply. 

This employee always followed the same set of rules when it came to emptying their bag for the X-ray screener

One day they get told that they need to empty “everything,” so they maliciously comply

“Empty everything from my bag? You got it!” – this internet user took to one of Reddit’s most favorite communities to tell its members a tale about the time they got even with their work’s X-ray screener by taking their sweet time while emptying their bag and ultimately holding up the line. The post managed to garner over 4.6K upvotes as well as 261 comments discussing the situation. 

Have you ever happened to get lucky and follow an order from your stuck-up superior, or perhaps just an absurd rule in general, knowing it’d probably mess things up big time or at least cause a minor inconvenience that’d give you a chance to utter a triumphant “Ha! In your face”? You know, just to be bitter. No? Me neither, but folks that resort to Reddit’s “Malicious Compliance” community have plenty of stories to share! 

Now, while being salty about things is in our nature, most of us know that letting anger get the best of us and opting for petty revenge to teach the culprit what some might think is a well-deserved lesson is a bad idea – however, sometimes you just can’t help yourself and do something that’ll undoubtedly lead to regret later. 

But sometimes, life itself ends up being the best revenge, and all you need to do is comply and wait for the universe to do its thing.

Chances are, the majority of you have a certain someone at work that you can’t help but mildly dislike: maybe an overly competitive coworker that has never actually done anything to you but still somehow manages to strike a nerve, a gossipy receptionist that hasn’t got around to spreading rumors about you (yet), or, like in the case of today’s story, a security officer that suddenly decides to take their job seriously. 

Whoever it is, work is definitely not the place for revenge or any serious altercations, really – at the end of the day, you gotta stay professional, even if, at heart, you love nothing better than calling people out on their nonsense! 

They take their sweet time and get chewed out by the security officer for holding up the line

Ultimately, the author of the post stuck to the same idea when they had the pleasure of talking to their work’s X-ray screener. 

The thing is, the OP works in a transportation facility that requires all the employees to go through a security checkpoint. As per usual, they need to remove stuff from their bags and then send it through on the trays – however, they’d been told that they could leave their hand tools in the bag and only take out the wires and all the electronics and whatnot. 

r/jumbofrimpf does that for months until the screener decides that there’ll be no more indulgences and that, from now on, everything has to come out. 

No problem.

When the next morning rolls around and the OP sees that the same person is running the X-ray again, they do just that. Tissue pack, quick wipes, pens, candy wrappers – every single item that occupied the bag made its grand escape onto the tray! Needless to say, they took their sweet time, during which a fairly sizable line started forming that, of course, tickled the patience of the screener.

What’s better, though, is that others began to follow the OP’s lead in order not to get in trouble and started unloading all of their belongings too.

The worker finished their business with the X-ray, packed up, reminded the screener that they had, in fact, told them to unload “everything” and, perhaps it’s safe to assume, with a smug face, left to tackle their workday. 

A beautiful story, isn’t it?

Fellow online community members shared their thoughts and opinions on the situation