'I caught her in a bold-faced lie': 20 Incompetent coworkers who are impossible to work with

Some disgruntled workers are spilling the secrets of their worst coworkers ever. 

Some folks just aren't meant for work environments. It seems like there's at least one person at your job that makes you wonder, "How did this person ever get hired?" If they're anything like the people in the stories below, they have myriad little tiny ways of getting under everyone's skin. 

At times, people just aren't aware of how other people may interpret their actions — like the people who love to microwave smelly food and let the aroma flow through the whole office. Others are more malignant, and will purposefully do their job so poorly that everyone else has to work harder to keep up with them. Management tends to be blissfully unaware of these people! So if you have a terrible coworker that you have to deal with, know that you're not alone — clearly, tons of other people are rolling their eyes at their fellow workers' antics as well. 

After that, check out a petty revenge story. 

'My husband hadn't checked in at all': Husband goes to college reunion, his phone dies during a family emergency, wife loses it

The selfie from the husband's friend was definitely the straw that broke the camel's back! This thread was posted to Reddit's r/AmITheA**hole subreddit by u/PrettyHateMachinexxx, the mother of a one-year-old who stayed home one weekend while her husband was in another state partying with his college friends. Granted, this was planned months in advance, and her frustration was not a result of her husband's choice to attend his college reunion.

 

No, her frustration instead began after he neglected to check in with her despite knowing before he left that her grandmother had to go into emergency surgery. On top of that, his phone died and his friend sent a tone-deaf selfie to the Redditor. Let's just say that if this guy wasn't expecting an earful in the morning, then he's officially a moron. Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say in the comments.

 

For more stories like this, here's one about a messy office after the cleaning lady quit.

'I've usually got like 40 missed calls': Coworkers guilt-trip employee who refuses to answer boss's calls on the weekends

This company pulled a classic bait and switch on this poor employee. 

Some companies will do anything to appear like they're treating their employees well, while in reality, the employees are pretty miserable. One example is the "unlimited vacation" benefit that some workplaces offer. They lure you in during the hiring process, telling you you can take as much time off as you please. But in reality, you still have to get the time off approved by your boss, and face the guilt-tripping they'll try to do in the meantime. 

This employee faced a similar situation at their job. While in the hiring process, the OP, u/freeefinally, was told that workers never had to stay late or work outside of the usual 9-5. But as the OP quickly realized, their boss was not abiding by that rule at all. Now they're stuck in an awkward situation with their coworkers over the boss's nonstop phone calls. 

Next, check out this week's moments that were just a tad bit annoying. 

'He's a compulsive liar': Coworker always one-ups everyone else in the office, gets caught in a lie, HR intervenes

We all have that one coworker... you know who I mean. The one whose stories seem so heightened they can't be real. The one who constantly has to make their social life seem better than yours. Or if you're having a bad day, they're likely to step in and make it clear that their day is ten times worse than yours. This useless competitive attribute is likely a symptom of blind narcissism, extreme insecurity, or, if the coworker you're thinking of is anything like this Redditor's coworker, they could be a compulsive, pathological liar.

 

In this instance, we have a coworker whose lies became so transparent that the other folks in the office had to call him out sooner or later. It was almost inevitable at this point. So when OP was sharing with his coworkers that his nephew is a nationally ranked wrestler and the entitled coworker insisted that his nephew was even better at wrestling, well, let's just say the claws came out and HR had to step in.

 

For more stories like this, here's one about a messy workplace after the cleaning lady quit.

UPDATE: ‘I got fired’: Boss fires employee for refusing to come home early from vacation, despite TO being initially approved

The restaurant industry is known for being fickle; if a few coworkers call in sick, you're gonna find yourself in a bit of a pickle… that is, as a manager. But as someone in a management position, that is your problem; not the other employees' issue. In this case, OP's boss initially approved their vacation but quickly backpedaled when it became apparent that they had granted time off to too many other employees, meaning that now they were short-staffed. Tough luck, as OP was already on their vacation…

Regardless, OP's boss told them that they 'had to work or get their shift covered', as it turned out they had scheduled OP to work that shift… despite OP getting approved for vacation beforehand. The saying, 'You made your bed, now lie in it' seems to apply quite well here. OP uploaded a series of posts to Reddit, giving updates on the situation.

Instead of taking accountability, OP's boss did the exact opposite. When OP looked at the schedule, they realized they had been removed from all their other shifts, besides that one, as if to say 'You better come in to work, or else'. To say this is unfair would be a massive understatement. There are 4 parts to this story, all of which you'll find below in neat form.

For more, here are some top-tier Karen memes to keep you entertained as you deal with customers that make you wanna quit.

'I'm going to need you to step up': Manager demands worker comes in despite already having plans with family

People have a habit of deflecting their own problems onto other people. If you own a business and don't schedule or hire enough people for a holiday weekend, that's probably your own fault—and your own problem to resolve. Still, it's pretty common for business owners and managers to turn around and blame workers for not being available at the last minute when they already have plans.

This worker shared their experience on Reddit's r/antiwork subreddit, sharing screenshots of an exchange that occurred between them and their boss. Their boss had texted them, asking them to come to work the following morning when it was already 8 PM the night before—on a holiday, nonetheless. When the worker responded that they would be spending Memorial Day with their family… multiple states away. Their boss tried to coax them into coming in, telling them that they needed them to "step up" and saying that it was "unbelievable" that they wouldn't come in. 

Readers of the thread were shocked and shared their thoughts and advice in the comments. Read on to see the original text exchange and reactions below. Next, check out this IT guy who quit and scheduled a scathing email to the entire company.

'I just quit my job on the first day': Underpaid employee receives no training or oversight on day one, he quits while he can

If you sense red flags on the first day, you should know that things are unlikely to improve. In this case, we have an employee who was only getting paid $10/hour and who was told that his first day on the job would largely consist of training videos. However, none of that happened. Instead, he described via this Reddit thread that he was thrown into the deep end, so to speak, and was given no guidance on actions as simple as clocking in and out. At that point, he knew what he had to do: get lost before they suck you in, before it's too late.

 

This language might sound hyperbolic to some, but no matter what industry you work in, you know that sometimes there is no better solution than to leave while you still can. Clearly, this Redditor is not alone, as many folks in the comments went on to tell similar stories. For more, here's a post about a messy workplace after the cleaning lady quit.

'You Should Be Banned; Unmatch Now': Top Dating App Flops This Week (May 30, 2023)

It is a common belief that the dating pool gets smaller as time goes on, but does it really? Yes, the older you get, the more married people you're gonna find on dating apps, but the unfortunate truth is most people break up, so it's not that there aren't enough people in the dating pool, it's just that they're all very emotionally… unaware. When you date over 30 you'll quickly realize that most of the people you meet are either emotionally unavailable because they are going through a breakup, or they were always emotionally unavailable and haven't been in a relationship since the age of 16. Furthermore, you're gonna find that the algorithms are designed to make you fail at this already tough game, so even if there are some eligible people you could seek out, they make it nearly impossible for you.

To make matters worse, your parents (or friends) are always on about, 'When will you bring someone for Christmas dinner?', or 'Who will be your plus one to my wedding?'. Being single is constantly thrown in your face, and you wish you could force everyone to use Tinder for at least one week so they'd know what you go through on a daily basis.

Below you'll find people who are in a similar predicament… people who are navigating these tough times with high-ish spirits. Today we bring you the best dating app flops of the week. For more, you can check out last week's collection here.

'It was a white lacy knee length dress': Internet backs bride for photoshopping white-dress-wearing niece in her wedding photos

This niece fell victim to one of the classic blunders… The most famous is: Never get involved in a land war in Asia. But only slightly less well-known is this: Never wear white to a wedding! (…or go in against a Sicilian when death is on the line.)

It's always surprising to see stories about people wearing white to a wedding; you would think that people would know (and obey) such a universal rule. Your job at a wedding is to blend into the crowd. There's nothing else that you need to do other than eat the food and drink the drinks that the bride and groom have paid for. At no point should you attempt to make yourself the center of attention; the day isn't about you—the one exception here is if you're the best man and giving an embarrassing speech.

Still, people continue to wear white to weddings, flagrantly wearing white and lacy dresses that could easily be mistaken for a wedding dress—or otherwise will keep the bride's dress from standing out in pictures.

This bride chose not to confront the issue on the day, instead ensuring her niece's "wedding" dress didn't stand out in photos by photoshopping her and earning her the rage of her sister-in-law, the niece's mother. She then turned to Reddit's r/AmItheA**hole community to see if she was in the wrong for doing so.

Read on for excerpts of the thread that the bride's post spawned. Next, check out this bride who demanded her sister remove the Disney memorabilia from the sister's own home for her wedding. 

'[She] showed me the texts': Dude gets petty revenge 5 years in the making on a fake friend

High school can be the best times of your life if you have the right friend group. But as we all know, teenagers can be fickle with their friendships. Sometimes a group of friends who have been close for years can all turn on one member of the group to kick them out, which is quite painful for the person stuck on the outside. 

However, this r/pettyrevenge poster is still stuck in his high school days, even five years later. He's thinking of their high school friend, who ended up having a lot of nasty things to say behind his back. The OP, u/rav_dog, shared the tale of his former best friend Gary turning on him after he left school for a while, then returned to find his friend group rejected him from their hangouts. OP believes that as the group's "ringleader," Gary was instructing the others to avoid him, and as the OP ended up seeing for himself, Gary even lied to avoid seeing him. 

Next up, check out these entitled people who think the whole world revolves around them. 

'It would be better for everyone if I quit': Boss threatens to fire employee all year, employee finally quits, boss tries to get him back

Every so often, we come across a satisfying story about a boss getting what he deserved! Sometimes, you have to be willing to walk away in order to truly make your point known. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit by an employee who shared that after messing up over a year ago on the job, his boss was still threatening to fire him constantly. 

 

It got so bad that the Redditor went ahead and applied to a much better company. When he got the position, he first felt guilty about leaving during a busy time for the company (thanks for that feeling, capitalism!). However, those feelings went away when his boss decided to threaten him yet again. This was when the Redditor came clean about the new upcoming position and when his boss immediately tried to backpedal. Too late! You can only threaten your employee for so long before it comes back and bites you on the butt. Keep scrolling below for the full story!

 

For more work drama, check out this post about an employee who found a loophole in his company's sick day policy. 

'[He] created a mass corporate email with various screenshots': IT guy quits and schedules scathing tell-all email about his Karen boss

When someone has done you wrong, the best thing to do is to walk the other way with your head still held high… but it's certainly more satisfying to scorch the earth behind you as you go.

When faced with the bullying behavior of their Karen boss, this IT guy realized he had enough and quit, seeking greener pastures—but, he also decided to (metaphorically) set fire to the building on the way out the door, scheduling a mass company-wide email to be sent from his boss's email address that exposed her secrets. This email was scheduled to go out on Memorial Day, after his last day.

Read on for this post that was shared on Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit and stay tuned because, hopefully, we'll have an update from the Original Poster on this one soon.

Next, check out this dude who automated his boss's job and boss's boss's job and got both of them fired. 

'Our cleaner quit': Boss tries to convince employees to assume cleaning lady's duties, frames it as an 'exciting opportunity'

This must be a particularly messy office. The fact that the cleaning lady didn't last more than three months says it all. This is likely a disgusting group of individuals who refuse to clean up after themselves and who make a mess everywhere they go. So you can imagine how people responded when their toxic boss tried to convince his employees to take on their former cleaning lady's duties in the workplace while framing it as an "exciting opportunity."

 

The short answer is they did not respond well to this so-called proposal. As one person in the comments suggested, one has to wonder what they did to this poor woman to make her leave. Furthermore, the offered "bonus" for taking on these extra responsibilities sounded absolutely insulting. Clearly, this is a poorly run office that doesn't even deserve a site manager at this point.

 

For more stories like this, check out this post about a manager reaching their breaking point at work.

‘My company skimmed by bonus; I stopped generating revenue’: Employee's quiet quitting leads to 80% drop in revenue

Call centers often demand employees hit a certain number of calls per day, even when that isn't the actual goal of the company. In this case, OP was working at a call center for a collection agency, whose main target was to collect debts, generating revenue for the company. OP was doing really well, but sometimes they missed the daily target, and managers would dwell on their call count, instead of taking a look at the numbers OP was generating for the company.

OP found out that the company was grossly skimming his and other employees' bonuses that OP's department's client had been providing them as a reward for successfully collecting on these debts. The under-appreciation OP was receiving from his company in literally every form made him decide that enough was enough… OP began quietly quitting, and soon enough, the company was losing a lot of money as a result.

Management noticed pretty quickly, as OP's revenue dropped by a whopping 80%. But hey, at least he was hitting his daily call targets, right? Management approached OP with quite a few questions, but OP's malicious compliance was well thought out, and management couldn't quite pinpoint what was going on.

Scroll down to read what happened next. For more, here is an employee who got their boss fired during a disciplinary hearing that was actually designated for the employee himself.

'Now you wait ten minutes': Guy gets cut off by smug driver, cue petty revenge

There's drama going down at the Wawa air pumps (and if you live in New Jersey, it's just another day). This driver shared their story of their run-in with an utterly infuriating woman who felt entitled to skip waiting in line. 

U/turtlesh0es wrote to r/pettyrevenge with an excellent tale from the air pumps at a store nearby. They went to fill up their tires — although the OP had an air compressor, they didn't want to wait for the slow machine, and chose to go to the gas station instead. While at the Wawa, two other drivers pull in beside the OP, leading to the wild story below. 

After you scroll through this dude's perfect revenge, read the commenters who were absolutely loving this story. Next, check out these snobby folks who think the world revolves around them. 

Top Dating App Pickup Lines of the Week (May 29, 2023)

At this point, "you up?" is more desirable than half of these! These pickup lines were compiled from Reddit's iconic r/Tinder subreddit. Keep scrolling below for this week's most wild pickup lines. When you're finished, check out these top tales from the front desk!

'Overstay your welcome?': Roommate's boyfriend keeps hogging the bathroom in the morning, cue petty revenge

We have all had to deal with having to deal with a roommate's significant other. Sometimes, he's totally fine and there are very few complaints. Sometimes, he takes constructive criticism and makes sure to stay out of everyone's way and to avoid becoming an inconvenience. And other times, he is none of those things.

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/Fickle_Fennel_, who decided that it was time to rebel. Apparently, her roommate has to frequently get up early for work at 5 am. On those days, the Worst Boyfriend Ever proceeds to get up leisurely at around 8 or 9 am before taking a long hot shower that uses up all the hot water and forces the other roommates, who actually pay rent, to be late for work. Well, it was time to see if turning off the hot water for this guy will wake him up to his ridiculous behavior. We'll keep you posted if there's an update on his response!

 

For more stories like this, here's one about a girlfriend's petty revenge gone wrong.

'My boss could barely look at me': Boss begs worker to stay and train supervisor just before their final day after they fail to replicate their work

It's often said that you'll only be truly appreciated for your work long after you've left the job; this is owing to what little visibility upper management has into your work or what little understanding they have about what it is that you actually do. Unfortunately, rather than being missed or celebrated, it's more likely that you'll be blamed for things that had nothing to do with your role (or even happened after you left.) In most workplaces, your boss will be shaking their head and muttering about something you failed to do or how you left them hanging, with no continuity—no matter how much effort you put into the handoff.

The ironic thing is, as most of these stories go, all the employer had to do was put a little bit of thought and consideration into the employee's reasonable request for a raise. Inflation and cost of living are rising, and things are getting tough out here; it stands to reason that the cost of labor should increase too.

Keep reading to see this thread, which was shared on Reddit''s r/antiwork workplace subreddit community. The worker shared how their boss asked them to stay on and train their supervisor, who was struggling to grasp and take on their tasks. Next, check out

'I got sent home early': Boss complains about overtime after forcing employees to skip their unpaid lunch break

Some people want to have their cake and eat it too. But it's really not so much about the cake itself as it is the control over that cake; they want the cake to submit to their authority and stop questioning it all the darn time. The thing is, this cake-haver probably isn't qualified to tell the cake what to do, which is why they're so darn insecure in the first place… I don't really know where this is going or what this metaphor is supposed to mean, but people aren't cake—and you shouldn't try and eat your employees.

Digressing back to the subject at hand… Sometimes your boss just wants a reason to complain and someone to blame—because even the laziest and worst managers have to look like they're doing something to justify their paycheck. When this boss demanded that their subordinate shorten their unpaid lunch breaks, they didn't even pause to consider the consequences. Their subordinates had been taking these longer breaks as a favor to the company in order to cut down on unnecessary overtime. This rule change left the workers with but one option… Charge the time instead, which they were happily obliged to do. 

Next, check out this company that forbade workers to use their phones while on the job… and paid the price.
 

'My director [...] is going absolutely nuts': Engineer transitions out of the company, boss finally discovers how doomed they are

"You don't know what you've got till it's gone!" Except in this case, we're not talking about a parking lot. We're talking about this Redditor, who worked as an engineer for several years before putting in his three months' notice. Yes, that's right. Three Entire Months. That, of course, is more than generous.

 

The worst part of this story is that during OP's final week on the job, he got conflicting directions from his supervisors (who wanted him to leave a detailed document outlining how he did his job for his future replacement) and his boss's boss (who kept throwing new tasks in his direction). Clearly, the higher-ups at the company are only just now gaining an understanding of how valuable OP always was to the company. Well, guess what?! As JoJo would say, it's just a little too late!

 

For more stories like this, check out this post about some neighborly revenge on a Karen and Kevin.

Top 28 Karen Customer Memes for Employees Quitting The Day After Tomorrow

Karens have a remarkable ability to transform even the most mundane of shopping experiences into an epic battle of wills… armed with a demanding demeanor and an unwavering sense of entitlement, Karen customers have become the bane of many a retail worker's existence. There is a reason they've made such a name for themselves, a reason they are so widely feared. Armed with a barrage of complaints and a truly uncanny ability to spot the tiniest flaws, Karens set out on daily noble quests to make employees' lives miserable, and unfortunately, many times they are successful.

Why has this coupon expired in 2012? Why do coupons expire at all? How come the sale from last winter is off? Why has this item gone ten cents up in price? And where, for the love of all that is right in the world, is the manager? We know Karens got questions, but they should try trivia, instead. A quick shoutout to everyone who works in customer service… you are doing a noble job. Below you'll find an array of 28 Karen customer memes that may hit a little too close to home.

For more, here are the top unpopular opinions of the week. We bet Karens would have a thing or two to say about them.

Top Tales From the Front Desk (May 28, 2023)

Welcome to the lobby of a hotel, where folks working the front desk have all had to deal with some ridiculous behavior. These stories were compiled from Reddit's r/TalesFromTheFrontDesk subreddit, and let's just say that some deal with entitlement, some deal with unfortunate smells, and some deal with shady guests. At the end of the day, though, the moral of all these stories is to respect the people checking you in. You don't know what kind of a day they've had!

 

Keep scrolling below for a look at the top Tales from the Front Desk this week. For more, here are some top restaurant memes!

'She told me I could have first dibs on what gift to get her': Wedding planner discovers his ungrateful sister wants an extra wedding present

No one knows how to push your buttons better than your own family members. It starts when you're children, but even once you're grown up, the same people who you love more than anything can still get on your last nerve. 

This wedding planner found himself quite frustrated with his sister as she planned her dream wedding. Like lots of creative jobs, his sister seems to be under the impression that his job is easy and inexpensive, when in reality it's just the opposite. This guy helped her choose themes, a venue, and even helped out with organizing some catering for her. She basically just assumed that he was helping for free, as if normal clients wouldn't pay for such a service! In the comments, people shared lots of ways the OP could get back at his sister. Perhaps he'll take their advice and send a nice note or invoice as a reminder of all he did for the big day.

Next up, this birthday host invited a bunch of teens to a restaurant — then decided they should actually pay for their own meals. 

'My manager collected donations for me but kept it all': Boss collects donations from coworkers under the guise of helping with a personal tragedy, dips with all the money

If we're taking bets for the worst thing a boss has ever done, my money is on this; using someone else's tragedy for your own gain is a specific type of evil with no moral restitution. Somewhere in a locked room, this boss has a portrait of himself with a curled, deformed hand and demonic visage. 

This heartbreaking workplace story was shared on Reddit't r/antiwork subreddit, with the original poster sharing how her former boss had scammed her coworkers into giving him money, which was supposed to be passed on to help her after a tragic personal loss which resulted in out of pocket expenses and also resulted in a loss of income due to extended time off work.

She was unaware of this until she was speaking to a coworker after returning to the office; during the conversation, the coworker asked if the donations had helped. The manager had been going around claiming to be collecting donations to help her with costs, but the money had never made it to her, and the manager left the business a month before she had returned to the office.

After contacting HR and being told there was nothing that could be done, she turned to Reddit's r/antiwork workplace subreddit community to share her story. Readers sympathized with her experience and shared their thoughts and advice in the comments, and our hearts go out to this worker for their horrific experience.

Read on to see screenshots of the original Reddit thread. Next, see this worker who was unexpectedly fired one month after starting her new job.

'They had their chance': Post-resignation, boss begs his employee to stay longer to train his replacement, gets denied

Managerial hubris is one of the reasons employees hate their jobs. Not only are we lacking in pay, but we are enslaved to the most incompetent group of overinflated bimbos who could easily be replaced by AI– at least the replacement would have more charisma. But these types of managers will deny your raise and then come begging for your help. Which is it? Do you value my hard work or not? 

In this case, OP had finally had enough of the dance of the salary-increase and the payday waltz, and asked his manager for a well-deserved raise to cover inflation and the rising cost of rent. Unfairly, the manager said a raise wouldn't be possible for another year. So OP did what any desperate person would do and turned in his two week notice after lining up a higher paying job.

The real story begins as OP started to train his replacement. Disaster struck when, only 36 hours before his final day on the job, OP's boss came running to his side with desperation in his eyes and a fearful plea. 'Please don't leave'… Too little, too late, if you ask me. For the full story on how OP reacted to his boss's request, keep scrolling. 

For more tantalizing tales of managerial incompetence, check out this story about how a boss's boss pwned a haughty manager who thought he had it all figured out.

'Enjoy the bunnypocalypse': HOA demands 9-year-old get rid of her pet rabbit, cue neighborhood-wide malicious compliance

I bet this HOA jerk was hopping mad over the "bunnypocalypse" he caused! 

Home Owner's Associations are meant to keep neighborhoods looking orderly and neat, but for some reason, the members seems to feel entitled to make crazy demands. One of those great examples is this "HOA a-hole," as u/shuckaladon called them in their post to r/pettyrevenge. This HOA person interrupted a neighborhood with his demand that a child get rid of her pet bunny. Why? All because the rabbit was a "non domesticated pet." He even threatened to fine the family of the 9-year-old if she didn't comply! The levels of entitlement here are off the charts. 

Scroll down to read the whole story — the OP dropped by to answer questions and comments. They write that the rabbits still roam the neighborhood, and enjoy sleeping on warm gravel. Good for you, rabbits! 

Then, get some creativity brewing for your next DIY project with these baking and building experiments that turned out…well…see for yourself! 

'My cowokers... [are] gossiping about me and how I "overreacted"': Restaurant owner instructs servers to give up their tips to save his establishment

This restaurant owner broke a cardinal rule of waiting tables, and it's wild that so many of his employees actually went along with his plan. 

It's a hallmark of American life that waiters and waitresses work mainly for tips. Over the years, tip prices keep rising higher as minimum wages have stagnated, and that has started frequent debates over tipping culture. 

In a story shared to r/AmItheA**hole, this desperate restaurant owner found a way to put some more cash in his own pocket. He shared the idea in a group meeting, and surprisingly, the OP writes that the other members of the staff seemed to go along with it! The OP didn't care for that, and got angry over the owner's suggestion. The OP was concerned about acting angry, but it seems like they were caught off guard, and reacted naturally as one would to being told their hard-earned tips are going to be taken away. 

Up next, check out another funny story. 

'I'm thinking go from $500 to $950': Real estate agent accidentally sends tenant email meant for landlord with plans to price him out

Well, if this tenant is pursuing a case, he certainly has enough evidence. He received an email sent by a real estate agent that was clearly intended to be written to his landlord. The email was shared and posted to Reddit's r/facepalm subreddit, and let's just say that this guy now has plenty of ammunition to prove that there has been some serious wrongdoing.

 

Firstly, the real estate agent refers to the tenant in the email as "high maintenance" just because he frequently requested for his A/C unit to be fixed because, well, that's supposedly included in the rent. It shouldn't be that much of an ask. A better solution to plotting and scheming would be to, I don't know, fix the A/C unit. What a groundbreaking thought!

 

Keep scrolling below to see what people had to say in the comments section. For more stories like this, here's one about a DMV fiasco. 

‘Bank Robber (texting via my phone): Your employee is tied up right now’; Workers share the best excuses they have actually had to use for not coming into work

We have all had to call out of work for whatever reason. Maybe you're not feeling well so you call in sick. Or maybe you're just feeling the pressures of capitalism and need a mental health day. Or maybe you missed a flight. Whatever it is, you tend to keep it brief and hope for the best. At least that's the usual consensus. However, there are some employees who work for toxic managers who don't trust their excuses and pry for more and more proof of why they are missing work. 

Well, when they do that, you just gotta give them what they want. You've got food poisoning? Don't hold back on every detail about it. One Redditor posted a question asking what has been the craziest line people have used to call out of work and boy to some people have some wild stories. From quitting on the spot to gross details, some people really let their managers have it. One guy was literally being held hostage during a bank robbery and the robber took his phone to text his boss he was "tied" up. (We hope pun intended…)

Check out some of our favorite responses to the question below!

'[Now] she can't check out anything until the fine is paid': Karen messes with the wrong librarian, who rediscovers $450 in old unpaid fines

It's always important to be polite to the customer service worker who is handling your request, even if that request involves negotiating a tricky situation, chances are you'll get a better result if you treat that person like an actual human being. Usually, the sheer bureaucratic inertia of a large corporation or a government entity will mean that if you're rude to the wrong worker, you're going to be stuck in bureaucratic purgatory for a frustratingly long period of time. Or, worse, they may connect dots that need-not have been connected that result in you needing to address long-forgotten fines before your current issue is capable of being resolved. This kind of petty malicious compliance is usually reserved for the worst customers.

This Karen sought to resolve her long wait for a high-demand library reservation, for which she was far down on the list, by using sheer brute force—issuing demands and using rude language in order to get someone to cave to her demands. This backfired when she crossed the wrong librarian…

Next, check out this person who was rude to a DMV worker and had a similar result. 

Top 30+ Unpopular Opinions of the Week

Browse the web at your own risk; lest you be attacked by a sea of anonymous piranhas who are obviously leading such miserable lives that the only comfort they can find is being rude to strangers over the internet, hiding mysteriously behind a screen, donning a Reddit avatar. You think Karen customers are bad? Try those infuriatingly self-righteous people who are pro-cancel culture. It's well known that cancel culture is vicious; god forbid you don't agree with social norms. Free speech who? Free speech what? Free speech… where?

People like to blame Gen Z, but cancel culture is nothing new. It's just gotten the spotlight lately after becoming a hashtag. Well, u/unpopularopinions is a relatively safe haven for those in search of a place to express their less favorable outlooks on certain touchy subjects. We've gone through the trouble of selecting the ones we think you'd enjoy the most.

For more, here is a company that revoked employees' rights to use their company phones when off the clock, and suffered a major drop in production due to their own idiocy. The employees had a field day via malicious compliance.

'Call you as soon as I leave the ER': Contractor fakes injury using a photo from the internet to avoid working, gets fired

Contractors have a certain reputation, and while that might not be fair to all contractors and may have more to do with the complicated challenges of sourcing the correct materials in reasonable timeframes, this stereotype exists for a reason. Everyone has had that experience or knows someone who has had that experience with a contractor who repeatedly fails to meet deadlines, fails to communicate, and sometimes just plain fails to show up when everything is already ready to go. Some contractors will famously go to any length and procure any excuse in order to avoid getting the work done on the day.

This exchange, shared on Reddit's r/quityourbullsh*t subreddit, went viral after screenshots of an exchange between a client and a contractor went viral. The screenshots show the client (the original Reddit poster's coworker) trying to get in touch with their contractor, wondering why nobody had shown up to complete the work on their home. The contractor responded with a wild excuse about how they had not been able to show up because of a dramatic injury… using a viral photo shared on Reddit. A quick reverse image search revealed the deceit, and the coworker fired the contractor. 

Read on for the screenshots of this exchange and the reactions from the Reddit thread where they were shared. Next, check out this contractor who got revenge on an entitled client. 

25+ Food-Related Memes for Fast Food Consumers

There's nothing like a meme to make you reconsider your relationship with food.

 

Keep scrolling below for this collection of food-related memes and fails. When you're finished, check out these server memes. 

'I finally got one over my bro': Guy uses Doctor Who to get petty revenge on brother for scaring him all the time

All those Doctor Who fans out there are going to be fans of this one. Here, we have a petty revenge story that serves as a reminder of the highly competitive nature of sibling rivalry. This thread was posted to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/norsewolf98, who recounted a story about how he finally got his brother back for provoking countless jump scares.

 

Inspired by a then-new monster on Doctor Who known as The Silence, the Redditor saw his own brother get scared in real-time while watching the show. At 10 years old, how could you not draw inspiration from this scene and recreate it as the perfect piece of petty revenge? This kind of reenactment, if done successfully, is more rewarding for a 10-year-old than just about anything else (and that includes cake). Keep scrolling below for the full play-by-play. For more revenge tales, check out this story about a sister using her son's name as revenge against her own brother.

'I blocked her account': Librarian gets revenge on a rude patron, unearthing a $480 late fee that had been previously waived

If you've ever worked in customer service, you know you have dealt with some dicey patrons. Not everyone has the guts to do what needs to be done with every customer confrontation and most folks lean on their one sassy manager who walks fast, talks loud, and shuts down every local Karen before they can get too ramped up. However, as a librarian, you can't necessarily strong-arm every bad patron with your big voice in the 'Quiet Reading' section. With insolent library-goers, you're playing chess instead of checkers.

That's exactly what happened to this librarian who was forced to handle a rude patron using nothing but her well-trained customer service voice, unwavering nerve, and detective skills. One day, a person called to complain about the library's free wifi box service, they were fuming that they had to wait so long on the waiting list to borrow one of the modems. Even though the library had free 24/7 wifi access on site, apparently the customer had no interest in going out of their way for free Internet– they wanted their modem and they wanted it now. 

After being screamed at and cussed out, the librarian decided she'd had enough. She looked through the disrespectful patron's account and noticed an enormous outstanding late fee that was big enough to shut down the patrons entire account. Read on for this epic tale of pettiness and revenge as shared by the librarian herself, u/Colt_kun. Next, check out another person who got revenge on an unstable Karen. 

'Update: I broke up with him': Woman takes internet's advice and breaks up with her boyfriend over rent-payment disagreement

Sometimes you don't know how good you have it until it's gone… and sometimes, you're stupid enough to think you're holding a winning hand when you've been dealt a 2-7 offsuit. If you're 'Josh' right now, you're probably listening to sad Charlie Brown music and wondering how it all went so wrong. 

What started as a simple dispute over housing costs erupted into a relationship-ending disagreement after this woman turned to the internet for advice and to have them weigh in on the argument. The gist is that this younger breadwinning girlfriend was looking to have her single-dad boyfriend move in with his daughter into the house she owns. He's currently paying $1800 in rent for his current rental, and after the couple discussed him moving in, she agreed but asked that he contribute $700 a month towards her mortgage. He has objected to this, expecting him and his daughter to stay in the house for free, leading to a series of events that saw the original poster returning to share that she had split from her boyfriend.

Read on to see the original post, reactions, and update edit from the original Reddit thread. Next, check out this girlfriend who was roasted online for eating all the toppings off her boyfriend's pizza.

Top Tier Coworker Fails In The Form Of Memes (May 24, 2023)

Workplace environments can leave you with a bitter aftertaste at the end of the day, and make you wish you never even applied. Your boss may be condescending, your coworkers may not be the brightest, and the actual work you do is just overall frustrating combined with the habitat. The dark circles under your eyes become more apparent, your laugh lines slowly turn upside down, and one can just tell you're not having a good time. Karen customers are just the tip of the iceberg.

Whether you're working an office job, or dealing with problems that only retail workers understand, life becomes a dull, gray color. The clouds are looming, and they're full of rain. Luckily, we've got some memes to brighten the day. Below you'll find this week's collection of hilarious coworker fails in the form of memes. Need some serotonin? Want to procrastinate a bit? You deserve it. Scroll down and enjoy.

For more, here you can check out some more coworker memes for the tired soul.

'My boss puts applesauce on his pizza': 20+ Crispy, crunchy crimes against pizza

If you thought pineapple on pizza was bad, you ain't seen nothing yet. These are some cosmically cursed pizzas, chock full of odd ingredients. 

On the r/PizzaCrimes subreddit, folks from around the globe gather to share the most cringe-worthy, disgusting pizza pies they've ever seen. Some appear to be innoccent mistakes, such as the people who accidentally left their pies in the oven for hours longer than they were supposed to. But others, such as the "fan pizza," or the "peep-za," are just too disturbing to be of this world. We've entered a portal into pizza purgatory. I applaud the chefs for their creativity, but I do wonder: do they eat their own pizzas? 

Next up, this woman is newly wealthy, but she's having trouble getting her husband and her in-laws to stop begging her to foot the bill. 

'Why was my flight canceled?' Woman's credit card gets hacked, cancels flight booked by alleged hacker, he reaches out asking why

Travis may not be the brightest bulb. On the one hand, he could be an innocent victim of the real hacker. If that's the case, the real hacker probably sold him his air travel tickets via the Redditor's email for half the price or something much cheaper. Still, it's extremely fishy, and as annoying as it is, this is just further justification that you should always book your air travel through actual airlines. 

 

The other possibility here is that Travis was the real hacker and genuinely was confused as to why the Redditor canceled his flight. If that's the case, then the fact that he emailed OP with his name and number is truly baffling. Our sense is that it's more likely that the first scenario is the truth, but OP seems insistent that Travis is the hacker. Keep scrolling below to see what other folks thought. For more stories like this, here's one about an atrocious DMV experience.

'They will expect you to be the family piggy bank': Entitled in-laws expect DIL to pay for everything after receiving inheritance

Wealth makes people move differently, as this woman found out in an unfortunate rift with her husband's side of the family. 

Everyone wants money, and they can never get enough. You always need more and more cash, especially as the cost of living goes up. But you can't just demand it from people, even if they are significantly more wealthy than you are. 

This woman's in-laws did just that — they not only demanded their DIL's money, but randomly expected her to pay for an entire meal for their family. The OP shared that since she's received an inheritance due to her mother's passing, the family around her have been treating her differently. They're acting like she's entitled for not funding their lifestyle! Her husband is also treating her like the family piggy bank, and wanting her to fund basically everything he does. 

In the comments, helpful Redditors pointed the OP towards divorce proceedings and mentioned how she could protect her assets — hopefully after she finds kinder friends and family to surround herself with. 

Click here to read about one entitled mother who demanded a seat on a metro, and swiftly regretted her demands. 

'I'm going to need you to fix that': Karen and Kevin demand that neighbor's cat tower left for trash pickup be cleaned, daughter enacts petty revenge

Karen and Kevin clearly only deserve the cat tower as is. Thankfully, this isn't another story where a Karen or Kevin throws a tantrum and doesn't get the comeuppance they very much have earned. Here, it wasn't even the Redditor that delivered the final blow. That would be the Redditor's daughter, who enacted some dumpster-related petty revenge that proves she was raised correctly.

 

This thread was posted to Reddit's r/pettyrevenge subreddit by u/JynxMama, who recounted that he and his family replaced their cat tower and left it on the curb for pickup at the end of the week. At this point, the old cat tower was torn up and also had some dried vomit on it. Clearly, it was time for it to go. Well, when this Karen and Kevin couple decided they wanted to take the cat tower from them, the Redditor said "by all means," but it wasn't until they requested that it be cleaned that the conflict really began. Keep scrolling below to see how it all turned out. For more stories like this, check out these top Karens of the week.

'Garlic is toxic to cats!': Internet condemns friend for feeding woman's cat toxic food and refusing to stop when asked

It's adorable how some folks treat their animals as humans—personifying them and giving them a voice and thoughts as if they can understand every word we say. 

I don't mean to sound cynical here. It's beautiful to see people treat their animals like family—they are—and where would mankind be without the companionship of pets? But, the personification should stop here; unfortunately, too many pet owners take personification a step too far and begin treating their pets in a way that doesn't suit their biology, feeding them food that is undigestible—or straight-up toxic.

Your cat, dog, and (insert other animal here) did not evolve to digest a human diet, so you need to be extra careful what you're feeding them daily; it's always best to stick to a diet that caters to their specific nutritional needs. Now, that's not to say that you can't occasionally give your dog a piece of cheese when he has been a good boy.

Breaking this rule occasionally is one thing when it's your pet, but it's another thing when an outside party repeatedly feeds your pet food that it shouldn't eat and refuses to listen when you ask them not to. Unfortunately, that's what this woman has to deal with from her husband's friend, who has repeatedly fed her cat "human food." Things reached a boiling point when he tried to feed her cat garlic bread, refusing to stop until she had physically revoked his meal. She then took to the internet to share her account of the resulting confrontation and see whether or not she was in the wrong.

Readers were quick to condemn the friend in the comments. Read on to see screenshots of the owner's account of events and the responses from readers in the ensuing thread. Next, check out this woman who stole her roommate's cat and wondered if she was wrong.

'My girlfriend sold my car [...] I am now suing her': Woman sells generations-old car because her BF didn't take care of their cats enough

Sometimes, people take petty revenge ever so slightly too far.  Here, we have a relationship that is clearly dysfunctional, and it's definitely the fault of both parties in different ways. Sure, the girlfriend's accusations that OOP doesn't take care of their cats enough is one layer, but then there's also this guy's potentially backward view of gender dynamics within their relationship (the number of times he says breadwinner is certainly eye-roll-inducing). But whatever compelled this lady to sell her boyfriend's generations-old car for just $400 and not expect any serious consequences as a result of these actions is baffling no matter how much we may empathize with her situation. 

 

This original post and its updates (screenshots included below) were compiled and posted to Reddit's r/BestOfRedditorUpdates by u/LucyAriaRose. Keep scrolling for the full play-by-play and to see what people had to say in the comments. For more stories like this, here's one about an employee calling out their former boss for lack of proper compensation.

'I Blocked Him': Top Dating App Flops (May 24, 2023)

Our society is under steady scrutiny, as we are being constantly studied by algorithms whose only objective is to get us to spend as much time on whatever app it is they work for, as possible. So if you've opened Tinder and realized that slowly over time, your options seem to deteriorate, then just know, that makes total sense. They are experts at getting you to keep swiping, in hopes of greener grass, yet always fail to deliver. We're not saying that the algorithm hasn't made mistakes… after all, sometimes people do get married and live happily ever after.

But most of the time, we're the rule and not the exception. The actual swiping isn't even the worst part, it's the unmatching, ghosting, and blocking that happens after the fact that has got us all riled up. When making first impressions, you've gotta be extra careful; after all, you don't know the person you're meeting for the first time, and neither they you. So one off-hand joke and you're diving off the dating cliff.

These dating app flops below serve as a great reminder that we're not alone in our struggle. Scroll down, and enjoy! For more like this, here is last week's collection of funny dating app fails for some extra serotonin.

'I feel taken advantage of': Car owner refuses to lend his vehicle to single mom after she dents it, neighborhood turns on him

Always be cautious who you let drive your car. Vehicles are pricey not just to purchase, but also to maintain. After that initial purchase, you still have to fill it up with gas and deal with any fender benders that might occur. That's enough for one person to deal with, but this guy lent his car to his neighbor, and she is far from gentle with his car. 

The OP shared the story with r/AmItheA**hole, seeking judgement for if he's been too harsh about revoking this woman's car privileges. However, it was a near-unanimous vote of "not the a**hole." This guy should definitely enlist his other neighbors to help this woman out next time she asks to take his vehicle out for a spin. Other folks in the comments pointed out that she's even a liability for the OP, since she's proven to be reckless behind the wheel. 

Next, these bosses told the tales of their employees' craziest reactions to being fired. 

'I absolutely think it’s tacky': Birthday party host asks teenagers to pay separate bills

Customs and etiquette change over time, but this mom is pretty sure this party host is being super tacky. 

There are all types of parties, from simple to extravagant. For smaller events, it can be great to host your family and friends at your home for a backyard BBQ, which is casual and cost effective. Other people love to spend big money on their kids parties by renting entertainers or bouncy houses, or hosting the event at a restaurant or play zone. As a kid, you have a wonderful time regardless of which party you go to! But that might not be the case if you were expected to pay just to go to the event itself, which is what happened to the OP's kid.

People in the comments left helpful advice for the OP, u/momtechteach9. She also left edits with additional information about the party host, noting that she's not exactly strapped for cash. 

After you read this party drama, check out this employee, who quit immediately after management shared their personal info with the entire company. 

'You can't use your work phone unless you're on the clock': Company suffers drop in production following employees' conformance to new guidelines, HR fails to mediate

It's quite something when incompetent leadership and management destroy initiative and morale. In this case, OP was working at a job that required a lot of communication and coordination. Often, a lot of things required from them were time-sensitive. The employees all had a work phone, which they would use for work calls outside of work hours, as well. One day, the company decided to forbid its employees from using their work phones outside of work. They would use scare tactics to make sure the employees complied with this upper management decision, calling and texting them off the clock to see if they answered.

As you can imagine, this resulted in fury, disappointment, and some good old malicious compliance. In an act of defiance, the employees decided not to use their work phones outside of work hours at all. Things quickly began to fall apart, and things got so bad that the company's clients began complaining, resulting in a loss of revenue.

The CEO teamed up with HR and called an emergency meeting, to which all the employees' arrived, smirking. OP and the other employees told management that they had warned them but to no avail. The CEO and HR were utterly exasperated, unsure of what to do. Scroll down to read what happened next.

For more, here is a customer who lost thousands of dollars thanks to their own lack of skills in the communications department; the customer complained about a designer item that had arrived in 'terrible condition', to which the retailer replied that they were willing to give them a full refund. Nevertheless, the customer decided to file a chargeback, leading to a whole other variety of issues.

'That would be to expensive': Boss boasts about his standing desk but won't let anyone else have one

Standing desks may have become all the rage, but some people can't stand them. Being on your feet all day can be tiring and result in aches that can't wait to be eased by a well-deserved rest. Just ask anyone who works in retail, nursing, or the service industry and has to be on their feet all day. Workers from these sectors are probably permanently bewildered by office workers' obsession with standing. 

My own experience with standing desks has led me to believe that their sole reason for existence is to annoy your coworkers—the dramatic whirring determination of the motor letting them know that you've decided to swap from sit to stand, then stand to sit—and back again… for the fifth time in twenty minutes. For the person with the standing desk, it's amazing. Having the flexibility to swap from standing to sedentary whenever you please. Still, whatever your feelings on standing desks themselves, it's always frustrating to have double standards in the workplace, with rules and policies blatantly benefiting senior management at the expense of everyone else. 

This worker shared their experience of this, telling how their boss had been gloating to the workers about his new standing desk and the health benefits it offered. When questioned about whether or not everyone else would be receiving one (if the health benefits were really so grand) the boss replied that it was simply not in the budget. 

If this boss was truly a stand-up guy, he would have offered his workers the option of a standing desk too.

Read on to see screenshots of this thread and the responses that it generated on Reddit's r/antiwork workplace subreddit community. Next, check out this worker who was fired a month after starting her new job.

'Am I really being neglectful?': Man discovers grandfather's dooms day bunker and turns it into his man cave, pregnant wife threatens to seal it

When you agree to becoming a husband and, especially, a parent, then you no longer get the luxury of having alone time whenever you feel like it. Yes, it is important to find some time to yourself so you can center yourself, decompress, and be the best husband and father you can be. But if the kids need care, your partner needs help with the chores, or anything, you have to be able to drop everything and put yourself 100% into that. This isn't a hot take, this is just what you agree to when you say "I do" and when you say yes to parenthood. 

So when this Redditor posted a question trying to defend his "man cave" over spending time with his pregnant wife and toddler son, the internet was not having it. This guy was gifted his grandfather's old house, which had a hidden dooms day bunker on the property. He discovered the buried bunker and transformed it into his "man cave." He says it is 100%, where as the house was mostly decorated by his wife, so he deserves this space. However, how is being able to decorate the shared common space where you cannot lock out your family to have alone time equivalent to a man cave? That's the question many Redditors are commenting. 

Fortunately, the man who posted the Reddit thread seems receptive to the harsh reality many commenters are showing him. He is being called the AH, but he seems to be open to change that. Will he seal the bunker or make it another shared space for him, his wife, and his family? That seems to be the common suggestion, that or to create a "she shed" for his wife to also have her own private space. That way the mental load of raising a family can be shared rather than solely put on the wife. Do you agree? Read the story yourself and see what other people think about it below!  

20+ Relatable parenting moments for frazzled parents with crazy kids

Parents, you deserve a nice break. You work so hard to keep your kids fed and cared for, and yet kids don't show much appreciation in return. There's no instruction manual attached to your child — you just have to figure it out as you go along. With advice from other parents, it helps to realize that you're not alone. Lots of people have kids just as crazy as yours! And they're all unique in their own quirky ways. 

Take a moment away from picking Cheerios out of the couch cushions and wiping markers off the walls, and check out these parents below who also need a break. 

Next, this dude got some amazing revenge on a neighbor who stole a parking spot… while this dude was still digging it out of the snow.