Wednesday, August 16, 2023

'That weekend [...] doubles as our vacation': Bridesmaid wants to bring her boyfriend to bachelorette party at bride's sister's expense


Ladies… leave the fellas at home—really. And this statement applies to anyone prone to bringing their partners to traditionally spouseless events. It doesn't matter if you're attached at the hip for every waking moment of your life; otherwise, when it comes to something like a bachelor or bachelorette party, your spouse should not be involved. 

Leave the ol' boy at home and go have a night out on the town with the girls. This really shouldn't be a conversation in the first place, but—if it comes down to it—this goes double if someone else is financing the trip.

This disgruntled sister is financing her sister's bachelorette party, paying for accommodation for all of the bride's broke friends who "all have some kind of financial hardship." Rather than watching the possibility of a bachelorette party fall to the wayside, the sister offered to pay for everyone's rooms. Of course, when choosing beggars are presented with the offering of something for free, they have to take every opportunity to make the offer work as much in their favor as possible to suit their ends. It wasn't long before one of her sister's friends was talking about bringing her partner along, calling it "[their] vacation" and making plans for him to attend—violating the entire premise of the weekend the sister was financing for them.

The sister shared screenshots of the subsequent exchange that took place between herself and the bridesmaid/friend on Reddit's r/ChoosingBeggars subreddit, asking readers whether or not she was in the wrong (AITA?) for her response to the bridesmaid. Readers were split on the issue, with most taking the original poster's side but some insisting that the original poster had overstepped and was too rude with their response to "a simple question."

See the messages below as they were originally shared with Reddit, followed by some comments from the original poster that clarify their position and reactions from readers.

'It’s now 15 days late': Ex-boss refuses to send final paycheck to former employee, employee considers filing class action lawsuit


One of the joys of the Internet is the ability to learn all about someone's problem and see how they handled it and what their options were so that if you were in a similar situation, you would know exactly what to do. This is especially true of workplace drama, where social taboos around money and work can keep employees and coworkers from communicating with one another when something is up. But that's where the Internet steps in, and in this case, we have a Reddit story that maps out just what your options are when a former employer refuses to send you your well-earned final paycheck.

 

This Reddit thread serves as further proof of the fact that some employers think they have way more power than they actually do. Here, we have an employee who was fired for constantly calling out wage theft and who still has not received their final paycheck. Now that it's over two weeks late, the Redditor is considering filing a class-action lawsuit, per the advice of many folks in the comments section, because their ex-boss keeps coming up with ridiculous excuses about why that final check has not yet arrived. 

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions and advice. Let this post serve as a friendly reminder to remember your rights and get your well-earned money! For more stories like this, here's one about an employee who was denied a promotion and told they were not smart enough for the position.

'Tell me how you provide value to the organization': CEO confronts employees in the elevator as layoffs approach


Having a conversation with your CEO is not necessarily easy, especially if he's asking you to defend your presence at the company during an elevator ride. It's not the kind of conversation that inspires confidence, loyalty, or a morale boost. But that doesn't seem to be this CEO's methodology, as he seems to enjoy terrorizing the underlings who are anxious about upcoming layoffs.

 

This Redditor has tried to explain that despite being fully aware that this is a toxic work environment, they are living in a small town with minimal quality job opportunities so it's not like there is a plethora of options at their disposal. Unfortunately, they're left feeling like they need to beg and grovel in order to stay at the company, and their CEO is loving every minute of this. It's a pretty ruthless way to lead, and as some folks explained in the comments section below, leaders should feel like they have done a poor job when the company is on the brink of layoffs. However, some people seem to live off the fear and trepidation of others. 

 

If you were in this situation where you were tasked with giving a literal "elevator pitch" about why you deserved to stay at your company, how would you go about it? Would you attempt to give a genuine response? Would you quit then and there? Or would you turn the tables around and ask your boss to explain why they should remain as CEO?

 

For more stories like this, here is one about a boss who unfairly announced an employee's departure. 

'I call the department manager, who is equally confused': Manager shows customers dictionary definition to convince them he's not trying to fool them


This department store employee spent a lot of time working with this couple, who just don't understand what they're asking for. 

Before online shopping was everyone's go-to, people used to go to department stores in the mall to do certain types of shopping. One thing these department stores were great for was large electronics. If you needed a stove or a laundry machine or a refrigerator, you could head to the mall and look at a nice selection of machines. You could check out the latest models and talk to sales staff about the specifics you need for your house. It definitely helps to know what you're actually looking for, though, unlike this couple who came into u/Rhewin's store. 

It seems like the couple misunderstood a deal that was going on. Instead of listening to the OP's explanation, they immediately started accusing the OP of trying to bait them into buying a higher-priced machine. OP tried to instead tell them they really weren't trying to make them pay more, but this couple thought that if they raised their voices, it would get them what they wanted. They pushed the issue way too hard, and the OP was forced to shut them down. 

Next up, these people shared the silliest solutions they know to solve common problems. 

'[I can] quit whenever]:' Contractor quits after boss snubs him on benefits, costs company over $2k and 25 days of lost productivity


There is a distinct different between working for a company and working independently. They both have their ups and downs, but it's a career choice many people make with very clear intentions on why. So when this contractor, who very much worked for a legit company, was getting treated financially as if he were an independent contractor, he decided to act accordingly. 

This contractor shared his story on Reddit and said that his boss was snubbing him on benefits. His boss made it very clear that he wasn't going to pay out on any benefits, that means he wouldn't get paid overtime, PTO, anything. He tried to fight him on this, but his boss did not budge. So what could he do? Well, when you're working for a company, there will usually put in the contract how much advanced notice you need to give if you were quitting. In this case, OP says it's supposed to be 2 months advance notice. However, that was only if you were not working as an independent contractor. Since he was being treated as one, he figured he might as well act like one. So he called up his boss and said this was his finally week and so long, jerk!

His boss couldn't find a replacement for him for almost a month, costing the company thousands of dollars in lost productivity

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

'She wouldn't stop spraying us!': Karen neighbor wages water war with family BBQ


Living next to neighbors offers a great sense of community along with lessons in mutual respect and reciprocation, but—depending on whom you're residing next to—it can also be a living nightmare. Getting stuck next to the wrong individual can be all it takes to turn a peaceful life upside down and send it on a one-way fast pass to Suffertown.

It doesn't matter how peaceable of an individual you are: days, weeks, months, even years of living next to inconsiderate neighbors is enough to send anyone careening into feuding behaviors.

The final straw might come in the form of the most innocuous event, like a relatively casual outdoor barbeque in which loud drunken voices carry for hours as bleating children savage each other unnoticed as if reenacting a new-aged reboot of "Lord of the Flies."

You might find you—yourself—that once reasonable person, wandering out in the backyard, muttering maniacally as you grab the garden hose and set the nozzle to "jet." Now, you wouldn't normally water your plants with jet, but today you're going to, and you're going to specifically focus on that ivy that stretches along the length of the fence—the ivy that wouldn't normally even need watering, doing a fine enough job on its own of spreading and taking over everything in its path.

With a half-twisted smile, you begin to spray, ensuring to spray at the top or just over the top of the fence pickets to best simulate the effects of rain on the thriving plant… definitely with no ulterior motive.

Screams answer, along with a surprised bellow as your neighbor, Big Tom, tips backward, collapsing his folding camp chair, as the first blast catches him square in the back of his enormous, shining bald globe-like head. His wife, Trish, is the next to fall, catching a spray of water square in the chest; a yell of shock and arms flailing as the cold water sends her sprawling. Their guests begin to panic, seeking refuge outside of the lengths of your watery blast, grabbing their children as they flee, who have frozen in the midst of their feral game, mouths gaping. Big Tom is on his feet now, preparing to charge. He gathers speed, propelled by sheer mass and will, reaching the fence with another roar, clumsily grasping the top of the pickets as if to climb them. 

Another blast of water catches him square in the face.

. . .

By no means am I suggesting you solve your neighborly issues with a spray from a hose; that would likely create only more issues and bad blood. What I'm saying is it's never cut and dry over who the "bad guy" is in these situations. While it's possible the hose-wielding neighbor is completely in the wrong, it's more likely that a thousand small cuts from these loud neighbors finally sent her over the edge. 

It stands to reason that any time we see recordings painting one party to be the villain, this doesn't automatically mean that the recording party is heroic.

'I was done': Woman gets even with cheating ex, moves out and takes everything except one roll of toilet paper


This is what happens when you take advantage of your relationship. In an ideal partnership, each partner gives their fair share. Of course, not everything under the sun can be 50/50; that's unrealistic given the state of the job market. However, a good partnership requires compromise and a fair breakdown of each individual's contributions. We know that most partnerships do not function like this and that when these ground rules are never set up, oftentimes the whole partnership ends up on uneven, unequal ground. 

 

In this relationship, which was described by the Redditor in the r/pettyrevenge subreddit, OP's girlfriend made more money but was irresponsible. She contributed next to nothing to their apartment, and it turns out, she was duplicitous in other ways. OP caught her girlfriend in a lie and discovered proof that she was cheating on her. So what did OP do? She moved out and took absolutely everything with her except a roll of toilet paper and plastic cutlery. 

 

Why is it that the people who cheat are also the people who contribute the least emotionally (and in this case also financially) to the relationship? Our take is that they were subconsciously selfish and uninvested the whole time or they were never wired to know how to give enough to be in a successful relationship in the first place.

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story and the best reactions in the comments section. For more, check out this compilation of petty revenge stories.

‘I got rid of it’: Flight service manager removes passenger's suitcase from aircraft


There are plenty of pros and cons to being a flight attendant. Let's begin with the pros, shall we? No management on the job, routes are pretty chill, and you have the freedom to explore new places on someone else's dime. Your schedule is pretty flexible. The travel benefits are pretty great, plus you get to meet a lot of new people. Now for the cons… you also meet a lot of demanding travelers who think they deserve to be worshipped. You work with new people, often. Days are long, layovers are sometimes short. Pay isn't the best, and you're tired ALL of the time. Did I mention pay? Yes, but I'll mention it again because it sucks.

So, as previously stated, not all travelers are the kindest bunch. In this case, OP was working as a flight service manager, when he stumbled upon a male Karen if you will. Let's call this Karen, Ken. This particular Ken was well-dressed, but bad-mouthed. He was extremely rude to the flight attendants after an incident regarding the aircraft happened that was out of their control.

OP, as manager, saw fit to get back at this awful passenger, in whatever way he could, while still maintaining a semi-professional attitude. You can read exactly what this revenge entailed below. Next, the funniest and most ridiculous stories on Reddit by employees who were fired on the spot.

'Is there any way I can tell him no?': Micromanaging boss wants remote access to worker's personal computer


Your personal devices are exactly that: personal… and shouldn't be confused with tools that were provided to you by your workplace for—well, work... 
That's not to say you shouldn't ever use your personal devices for any work-related reason—but this should only be done on a case-by-case basis and shouldn't ever extend to allowing your boss remote control over your personal computer.

At any rate, you'd probably expect your management role that requires the use of a laptop and a cellphone would provide you with—well, a laptop and a cellphone… When you ask about these devices upon their mention during training and are met with a surprised laugh from your new manager, who then responds that you will be using your own phone (on your own plan) and your own laptop—that's a huge red flag that shouldn't be ignored. You should definitely not spend a further two years of your life working for that company and be repeatedly surprised and disappointed when they refuse to provide meaningful support and continually cut costs at your expense.

This worker was faced with a challenging situation when their boss requested the ability to remote access their laptop in order to go over the project they were working on. The manager was insistent on this method, refusing to access the project themselves through a shared drive. 

Reading through other contexts provided by the original poster in the comments leads us to an even more puzzling situation. As the original poster explains, they have been provided with a work laptop; however, it isn't up to the tasks required to complete their job. Unusually, a worker in this situation would just be stuck with a less productive machine until it died and needed to be begrudgingly replaced by IT, but this company instead allows workers to use their own personal machines. This would be an insane risk for some organizations to take, opening themselves up to security breaches through unsecured personal machines accessing the company's network.

So, the worker has elected to use a personal machine but has done so because an adequate one has not been provided, which leads us to a less cut-and-dry scenario when it comes to the boss's request for access. Although, I still feel that the worker should not have to provide remote access to their boss. 

What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments, and please like and subscribe for more.

'I do all of their work': Boss takes credit for employee's work, CEO tells employee she is making no impact on the company


Imagine learning that your boss has been taking credit for all of your work and that the CEO of your company has absolutely no idea what you do on a day-to-day basis. We all know that when situations like these arise, the truth is often the exact opposite of what the CEO has seemingly gathered. The truth is probably that the employee's day-to-day is filled with fulfilling not only their personal job responsibilities but also with picking up the slack as a result of the subpar work of everyone else on the team, including their boss's work! The truth is that the employee is probably a team player and doesn't spend so much energy making sure everyone knows how good they are at their job; they just get the work done. The truth is that the employee's boss has been misrepresenting the employee's contributions in order to cover their own behind.

 

This Redditor experienced this phenomenon that, unfortunately, so many employees experience at work. Her CEO sat her down and told her bluntly that she does not feel that she has made any imprint on the organization as a whole. Ouch! We have a couple of suggestions for what the employee should do next. As some folks in the comments suggested, receipts speak louder than words. She should send the CEO proof of all the reports she made that her boss took credit for to set the record straight. Then, she should confront her boss about the fact that she wants to be CC'd whenever her work is being sent around to the CEO so that she can step in and make it clear that the work is hers and so that this never happens again.

 

Keep scrolling below for the full story from OP's perspective. We'll keep you posted if there's an update to share about what the employee did next. For more stories like this, check out this post about an employee who shut down a manager after they already quit.

'My vacation time for my sister's wedding was denied': Man questions whether or not he should quit over rejected PTO


Being in attendance at a family member's wedding is beyond important. Weddings are significant and should be treated as such. A Redditor named 
u/OfficerJayWalker shared a cringe-worthy story online about the way his job is handling his PTO request. He's the type of worker who goes above and beyond for his company. 

He's been loyal to his security job for seven years! As a single parent, he's always taken his work responsibilities seriously. He claims, "I show up on time, I wear my uniform, I do my job with professionalism, I do overtime when I can, and I am more knowledgeable about this place than a majority of our guards." 

Despite what a good worker he's consistently been, his PTO request to attend his sister's wedding was still denied. Now he's trying to figure out what his next move should be. Should he quit the job ahead of time because they're being unreasonable? Should he wait until the day of his sister's wedding to drop the bomb that he's done? He put in the request for time off two and a half weeks early, which should have been more than enough time for his management team to find coverage. Instead of working with him, he's now tempted to get out of there altogether.

Monday, August 14, 2023

'I guess you're going to need a to-go box?': Guy exploits "no takeout" Taco Tuesday dine-in loophole


People love tacos… and people love a deal. So, it stands to reason that people would be willing to go to extraordinary lengths in order to get a deal on some tacos. This poster's story is exactly that, with the original poster sharing how they maliciously complied with a restaurant's requirements for their "Taco Tuesday" deal.

It may only be tacos, but you can't help but wonder about the taco ethics of this story. Restaurants and bars run these deals as "dine in only" in order to get butts in seats and mouths drinking alcoholic beverages. Restaurants don't really make much money off of food anyways—with slim margins and intensive labor requirements—there isn't much money to be made… So they'll often run deals on food as a loss-leader to get people there eating and, more importantly, drinking, which is where all the money is to start with. You'll usually even see these deals as advertised as "with purchase of beverage" to avoid the types of pedantic interpretation and malicious compliance that OP pulled in their original post. 

Maybe it's on the business for not using stricter terms when advertising this loss-leading deal—maybe OP is in the wrong for the way they went about ordering, although at least it seems that they were decent to the wait staff—hopefully, they tipped as if they were dining in…

See their story as it was originally shared with Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit, along with a selection of reactions from the original thread.

'They may have fired me, but I can still access the account': Social media manager keeps 'working' after being replaced by unpaid teenager


This person couldn't believe their eyes when their job position was suddenly taken over by a volunteer. Not just any volunteer — a nepotism hire, thanks to their boss. 

U/fjewioafjksldfhe created a throwaway account to tell r/pettyrevenge seekers about their crafty payback on their former boss. Social media is everywhere, and posting to various accounts in brand voice is a real and important job. Still, as with many types of undervalued jobs, like writers or artists or photographers, some bosses do not take social media management seriously at all. In fact, this boss had such a laissez-faire attitude about it that he decided to save money by letting his niece volunteer to do the job. 

It probably would have ended badly even without OP's interference. But still, they had a crafty plan to get back at this boss. Some commenters cheered the OP on, while others warned them against this plan. As the OP wrote, "You get what you pay for." I bet that boss is looking for a new social media manager right now, but it's too late to undo the damage that's already been done. 

Check out the entire story down below, plus the comments from well-wishers and haters alike. Then, these people told the stories of the most memorable times they were able to get even (or get pay back). 

'I've already filed the divorce papers': Husband wants wife to make him sushi, she divorces him, then learns just to make him jealous


Apparently, revenge is a dish best served cold, raw, and wrapped in rice. This woman was taking a week-long sushi cooking class and neglected to eat what she made at the end of the day, which made some of her classmates curious. When they asked why she hadn't eaten her sushi (and probably wanted to eat some of it themselves), they were not prepared for this lady's story.

 

The Redditor recounted how this woman never enjoyed sushi and was merely taking the course because her husband is obsessed with sushi and kept pestering her to take this class so she could make him sushi for dinner all the time. In case you hadn't figured it out at this point, this was a very backward marriage. However, the lady complied, albeit with malicious intent. She took the sushi-making class, but only after she handed her husband signed divorce papers. She wasn't divorcing him solely because of his constant sushi craving, but clearly, she knew that if she took the course anyway and flaunted photos of all the sushi was making that he couldn't eat, it would drive him crazy. Honestly, this is the kind of A+ petty revenge that requires too much follow-through for someone like me to pursue, but as a consumer of this kind of entertainment, I am forever grateful for this woman's commitment and sacrifice.

 

Keep scrolling below to see what folks had to say in the comments. When you're finished, take a look at this post about a passenger's petty revenge on a 12-hour flight.

30+ Stories of how "that one guy" got fired


There has been a lot of discourse online (and, specifically, on this site) around workers who have been mistreated by their employers, amid shared stories of toxic workplace cultures, hostile work environments, and even workers telling how they were wrongly fired from their jobs. But what about the other side of it? We're all the heroes of our own stories, but surely every story we read online, shared by a purportedly exploited worker, isn't being told by a reliable narrator. After all—we've all had terrible coworkers and seen people get fired in a wildly dramatic number of ways. So where are all these people? Surely some of them are sharing their stories, painting themselves to be the victim, when really there are specific important details they're leaving out.

These people shared stories of—well, those people—that guy… the one who got fired and well and truly deserved it. 

See this collection of stories below, shared across a range of online threads, all asking the same question… Why was that one guy fired from your workplace?

'I cost the property management company over $500k': Property owner gets back at scammy apartment management company for messing with his tenants


It's not often you'll find people rooting for landlords; there's not exactly anything about a group of people who have a reputation for milking their tenants for cash, increasing rent for improvements and repairs that they never actually completed, and taking deposits with little-to-no justification, that inspires people to root for them. It's worth recognizing, though, that this generalization doesn't remotely cover every landlord out there. There are plenty of landlords out there who are renting out homes for perfectly good reasons other than the pursuit of pure personal profit through the exploitation of people who can't afford to buy one.

The same can't be said for management agencies, who manage buildings on behalf of building owners purely as a for-profit operation, usually finding ways to scalp both tenant and landlord for extra coin. So, the fact that this story centers around a property management agency and their site manager not doing their job will come as little surprise to any of us.

Luckily, before he brought this property management agency on board, this landlord received some sound advice from some close associates, which protected him when the agency neglected to do their job and gave him an avenue for revenge by encouraging his tenants to see restitution. 

See the building owner's story below, as shared with Reddit's r/NuclearRevenge subreddit, along with a selection of reactions from readers of that original thread.

'I couldn't train them': New hires don't take printing job seriously, printer room shuts down, company loses over $20,000


Training new employees, teaching them the terrain, and getting them used to their new work habitat is often like taking toddlers to a playground and explaining how a slide works, or monkey bars. New hires are either energetic, upbeat, and willing to learn, or they are lazy, entitled, and demanding. Let's assume the latter, and let's imagine you report your new hires' lack of care to upper management. Let's go one step further and say that upper management couldn't care less. What would you do? If your first thought is to comply maliciously, then you and OP have a similar outlook on life.

 u/ActualMis shared their story on malicious compliance via Reddit. Back in the 90s, OP was working at a large company, in charge of a printer room. The company shipped a lot of products, and all those products had to have printed labels/documents. Without the paperwork, nothing could be loaded onto the trucks. When OP's coworker quit, the company found themselves in a bit of a jam and decided to fire OP and make them train their replacements.

Even though this was less than ideal, OP didn't really have a choice, as they needed a good recommendation for their next job. A dilemma arose when OP was attempting to train the new hires… which presented itself as laziness. It seemed that the new hires didn't want to work, and as they had connections to the head office, they weren't ashamed to show it.

Things quickly went downhill, and although OP did their best to inform upper management of what was going on, their warnings fell on deaf ears. You can't force someone to listen to something when they don't want to hear it. So, to put it lightly, chaos ensued. Scroll down to read how exactly these new hires ended up costing the company tens of thousands of dollars due to their own entitled, lazy attitude, and refusal to learn the basics of their new job.

Next, a boss who told their employees that they were under no circumstances allowed to discuss their wage with other workers.

Sunday, August 13, 2023

'The company I work for won't buy us pens': 20+ Cheapskates who couldn't resist saving every penny


There's being frugal, and then there are these people, who have let their penny-pinching get a bit out of hand. In a thread started by u/curcigm, more than 17k people shared their funniest stories of "levels of cheapness" that astonished them. The OP started it off with their own eyebrow-raising story — their GF's mom revealed that her birthday dinner was going to be year-old leftovers from a rehearsal dinner. It's one thing to eat very old food, but it's a whole other thing to brag about it and tell your guests just what they're snacking on. 

For people who grew up during or just after Depression times, saving every penny was very important. But it can lead to some quirky habits that can quickly spiral out of control. I've had my own experiences eating very out of date lunchmeat and cheese (as a kid I didn't notice or care…but I do now!). Some people really do go by the edict of, "If it's not moldy, it's okay to eat," which is safer for some foods than others. 

Check out these people's most eye-opening stories of frugality that pushed the limit. Up next, this person revealed the one thing you should never say while talking to customer service representatives. 

'[My] friend wraps what’s left of Karen’s hair in a towel': Customer insists hairdresser style her hair, is infuriated when her hairdressers' warnings come true


Hair stylists do an amazing job at making you look your best, but they aren't miracle workers. Not every hairstyle can be accomplished in one day, as this customer found out. 

Apparently, one recent hair trend has been women who want to have Kim Kardashian's long silvery-gray hair. What they don't know is that it's most likely a wig…and their own hair will take a lot of processing to achieve the same color as Kim. 

At least these women know what style they want for their hair! It's always good to show up with a few photos of hairdos. That way, you and your stylist can be on the same page about how to get that new 'do. 

Hair stylists can perform wonders — the right haircut really is transformative. But even with their best efforts, they can't make jet black hair become bottle blond in a single day, nor would most recommend doing that transition at all. Even if you really want blond hair, is it worth it to sacrifice the health of your hair? You can have that blond look, but if your hair looks and feels like dry straw, you might not get all those compliments you were hoping for. 

Up next, this person planned way ahead for a double birthday set at a restaurant — but the place still didn't have a reservation for them when their party of ten arrived to celebrate. 

'My job took away our chairs': New manager reprimands employees, makes them stand for full eight hour shifts


It should be required to permit sitting down when needed for any and all jobs. Let's just get that out of the way first. Most corporate employees do not understand the concept of what it means to be on your feet for eight hours at a time with minimal to no breaks. In this case, we have employees at a gift-wrapping store who only really needed to be standing when they were actively working with customers. That requirement is understandable. However, requiring employees to stand the entire time, especially when there are no customers in sight, is ridiculous and borderline unsafe. How do you expect employees to interact well with customers when they're physically exhausted from having to stand for no good reason?

 

This Redditor explained that a former coworker with serious back problems was able to negotiate chairs for everyone once upon a time. However, after that coworker left, management at the store changed and the new boss felt that employees were abusing this privilege and should be using downtime between customers to reorganize and restock. OP made it clear that employees were already doing those things; there is only so much to reorganize and restock in a gift-wrapping store. Still, the manager would not budge and moved forward with his plan to remove any and all chairs.

 

Keep scrolling below to see how the Redditor and folks in the comments section responded to this ruthless act. When you're finished, here is another story about the downfall of a manager who did not allow employees to discuss wages.

‘I was fired on the spot’: Top Reddit Stories of Employees Getting Fired


If you've never gotten fired, have you even lived? I remember the absolute shame and frankly, heartbreak (I was 16, and very dramatic) I felt when I was called by a manager and promptly fired after being accused of fighting with his wife on the job. The story goes as such: I was looking for a job while I was in high school. I was not a very good student and didn't attend any of my classes, so there were weeks I would stay at home, instead of going to school, and boy was it boring. Eventually, I looked for a job, so I could earn a little cash. I got an interview at a fish restaurant and was overjoyed, but also super nervous. One of my friends was working there, so I thought we'd have a blast. I was interviewed by a lady who I got a feeling didn't like me very much and was told that because I was still in high school, she didn't want to hire me. 

Take in mind A. my friend who was also in high school was working there and B. she agreed to interview me whilst knowing I was in high school. I think it's safe to say that my suspicion that she didn't like me was all too correct. After being rejected, her husband, the owner of the restaurant, gave me a call and invited me in for a few shifts. When I showed up, she was there, and asked me, 'What are you doing here?'. I blubbered some sort of response, finished my shift as she glared at me the entire time, and then received an angry, rude phone call that blew my mind in the evening, where the owner was telling me off for arguing with his wife, which I definitely didn't do. Long story short, one decade later, I still hold a grudge. Scroll down for similar, infuriating stories. Next, an employee whose pay was docked, then filed for unemployment.

'I told you to give me a different room': Front desk worker maliciously complies with rude guest's room request


Traveling can take its toll on the senses. After twelve hours cramped into a flying tube net to a snoring odorant stranger, you arrive at your hotel only to discover that you've been booked into a room next to a family of unruly children whose shouting and banging on the shared wall threatens to sever your last thread of sanity. To make matters worse, you're right across the hall from the ice and vending machines, and each time either is dispensed, it's as if each cube of ice, each soda, is dropping directly into your brain. It's enough to make even the most reasonable of us unreasonable and the unreasonable—well, more unreasonable still. 

Front desk workers have long had to endure the meltdowns of weary travelers who are barely hanging on to reality, and they've seen behavior that would make the tantrum-throwers mother's blush.

This worker shared how they maliciously complied with a rude guest's aggressive demand that they be changed into a new room… by placing them into the one directly beneath it instead.

Read on to see their account of events as they originally shared it with Reddit's r/talesfromthefrontdesk subreddit, along with reader's reactions below.

Saturday, August 12, 2023

'Get your kids out of the way': Wannabe mom-fluencer gets banished from the park after dominating the playground for her own personal photoshoot


Mom-fluencers are objectively the worst. Half the time, they're the type of parents that film their child's tantrums to teach their 20,000 followers how to manage meltdowns, but in real life they're forgetting to give their kid any genuine attention, they're late to pick them up from school because they were live-streaming at Target, and they're the parent that would rather get those likes instead of putting a bandaid on their kiddo's scraped knee. A mommy influencer is always hunting for their next viral post…

That being said, one woman recently encountered a Karenish mom-fluencer in the wild. At a children's park, OP was observing her kids playing on a play structure alongside all of the other parents that day. With 30 kids running around at the peak time of day, there were a lot of parents there on the bench enjoying the day. In walks a mom-fluencer with a 6 month old baby in her arms, flaunting fake flowers and other props for her photoshoot. Nobody really paid any attention to the wannabe mommy-and-me until she started barking orders at the kids, screaming at them, and taking over the playground slide.

Keep scrolling for the full tale on how the parents at the park totally pwned the mom-fluencer monster and saved the park from her Godzillian takeover. For more out-of-pocket stories from the playground, check out this tale of an after school teacher suffering from the flu who was forced to come to work because her boss thought she was bluffing.

'Phil Collins sang like every fourth song on the radio': 30 Memes that only Gen Xers will understand


Gen X, these memes are just for you. You're in the baby bust generation, sometimes called the MTV generation, of people who were born between the years of 1965-1980. Your boomer parents probably raised you to be independent and take care of yourself in life, allowing you to spend all day outside with your friends. You came home when the sun set — no helicopter parenting for your generation! 

Now that Gen Xers are in their late 30s to 50s, they're becoming parents and grandparents themselves. Things are so different for kids today — they love things like Fortnite and Tiktok and internet celebrities you've never heard of. Not to judge kids these days too hard, but the young people are very into iPads. You can't pry it out of their hands. They'll want to show you their Minecraft worlds… and it just makes you recall building pillow forts and having an imaginary world made up in your head. 

Up next, this administrative assistant stunned their oblivious colleagues by pointing out that not everyone makes $100k per year. 

'My date asked if we knew each other': Guy goes on cringe first date when he discovers his waitress is the other girl he was messaging that day


It's not exactly easy to play it cool in a situation like this. Picture this: you wake up one morning and you scroll on social media for a bit. Then, you complete your lazy morning routine by checking out your dating app matches and messages. You start to message someone new, you exchange witty texts, and you agree to catch up later because you both have to get ready for work. You then check in with the person you had already been messaging for quite some time now because the two of you have a first date scheduled for this evening and you want to confirm that it's still on.

 

Fast forward a few hours and it's time for said first date. It turns out she's just as kind and chill as she seemed when you were messaging, which we all know is not always the case. Then, the waitress comes to take your drink orders. Uh oh… doesn't this waitress look a little familiar? Yes, she does. She's the other woman you just matched with this morning. And is it obvious that you're on another date right now? Yes, yes it is. 

 

It's not like there was any wrongdoing in this situation; it's simply a funny, unfortunate coincidence. The best thing one could do in this situation is laugh and be honest about the whole thing. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions in the comments section. For more, here are some top dating app flops. 

'I went full Karen': Job applicant rejects hiring manager's process, contacts HR, manager gets reprimanded


Job applicants often forget that they have more power than people think they do. In this case, we have a candidate who was lucky enough to be in a more choosy position with their job search. For instance, if a potential employer refused to disclose important information like salary from the get-go, this Redditor would withdraw their application immediately. Power to you, sir!

 

Here's where things got messy. This one hiring manager had been messaging the applicant and requesting more information following the job application that the applicant felt was not necessary to disclose until after a job offer was put forth. The manager said this paperwork was important to see if the applicant would be a good "culture fit," but the applicant felt that their interview and resume/cover letter should be sufficient. So the applicant called off the process and asked to remove their name from consideration. You would think the exchange would have ended there, but unfortunately, the hiring manager continued to press further, which set the applicant off and sent them into full Karen rage mode. 

 

Keep scrolling below to read the sassy exchange and to find out how the head of HR got involved. When you're finished, take a look at the top Karens of the week!

‘The difference is massive’: Senior employee finds out a coworker is making $16K more than them, asks for a raise which they are denied


Coworkers talk. And I am a firm believer that this is a good thing. It's your right to keep your salary to yourself, but I think there isn't anything wrong with sharing how much you make with fellow coworkers. Companies should have to deal with the repercussions of giving one employee way more than another, despite them both having the same qualifications. In this oh-too-familiar case, OP found out that they were making a whopping 16 THOUSAND dollars less than one of their coworkers, who was working at the company for half the time they were. OP was employed for three years, whereas this coworker was only there for one and a half.

Now, OP wasn't mad that this coworker was making cash… rather, that they weren't making the same amount. Moreover, OP had asked for a raise multiple times after receiving their performance review, which was excellent. So what was with the holdup? This other coworker also asked for a raise, and got a stipend while they waited for HR to 'sort things out'.

What are you going to do in such a situation? Reddit has all the answers, per usual. Scroll down to read OP's entire, detailed description of what was going on, and then the replies that followed. Next, a landlord who lost a lot of money after refusing to pay his tenant's parking ticket after he gave him an expired permit.

‘I got offered my old job back with another $1.50/hr thrown in’: Bartender quits on the spot when his approved vacation time gets revoked, management begs him to come back


Money is the only reason that people are grinding everyday at work– and what's the best thing to spend that money on? Traveling. When you get that paycheck every two weeks, it's hard to stop yourself from imagining a beach somewhere with your name on it– or in this case, it's tough not to imagine two tickets to see your favorite sports team with your long-distance girlfriend. 

This debaucherous tale of bosses doing what they do best (messing things up), starts with a barman and loyal employee putting in notice for an upcoming vacation. After months of enduring a long-distance relationship with his college girlfriend, OP saw an game coming up for her university's team and decided to book travel and buy expensive game-day tickets to enjoy a nice romantic weekend together. That, of course, was after he got his time off approved at work. 

Scroll for the full story of how this barman got the rug pulled out from under him when his boss decided to revoke his vacation leave, giving him an ultimatum that ended up becoming an incredibly profitable win/win situation. For more real life accounts of bosses who weren't treating their employees right, here's a story about a traveling salesman who got forced to fly coach, then watched the company burn.

Friday, August 11, 2023

'He woke me up from a nap': Top 20+ Petty Breakups


There are many justifiable reasons to break up with someone: lying, cheating, manipulation, etc. Much to the chagrin of some of you folks, breaking up with someone because they're a bad texter is not exactly the same thing. The same goes for being woken up from a nap or not liking that they're a Julia Roberts fan. 

 

We love the concept of having high standards in theory. Of course, settling for just anyone will only lead to disaster. However, to that end, if you spend the entire time that you're seeing someone searching for flaws and red flags that aren't glaring ones, you're just asking for the relationship to end. Perhaps subconsciously that's what you wanted the whole time. In that case, maybe just don't date for a bit? Because you're clearly not ready for a serious relationship.

 

That being said, if you all didn't have these problematic reasons to break up with your significant others, then we wouldn't have nearly as much fodder for second-hand amusement. So for your own benefit, you should probably reevaluate your approach to relationships if you're one of these people. But for our benefit, keep 'em coming because there is nothing more entertaining than drama that doesn't affect us personally. Keep scrolling below for these petty reasons people broke up with their exes. When you're finished, here is a list of the top Karens of the week!

‘I made sure it fit their diet… on the outside': Vegetarian roommates eat flatmate's food, flatmate plants meat in pizza crust


Food is a topic people always bicker over. Parents, siblings, roommates… the closest depiction of reality I can think of at the moment in order to give a proper example of what I mean is Joey, from 'Friends'. He doesn't share food, and most people wouldn't appreciate having their own scrumptious morsels being taken out of the fridge and plopped into somebody else's mouth, either. Especially if that somebody didn't ask for permission. 

u/BotsAnonymous expressed his disdain for their vegetarian roommates, who would consistently take his food without asking. There are fewer things as frustrating as the entitledness these roommates seem to portray. It all started a few weeks ago when OP had gotten some cheese bread and placed it in the fridge, saving it for later. Later came and went, and with it, the cheese bread.

As if that wasn't infuriating enough, the roommates had only one excuse to give when confronted… and that was, that they were 'tipsy'. Wow, good one. Why didn't I think of that? So original. But hey, points for admitting to it, right? This became a thing, and the pattern began establishing itself. OP got food, OP was left no food. On and on it went, until one day, OP had had enough and decided to enact some petty, sweet revenge on his vegetarian roommates.

He made sure that they were not as vegetarian as they would have liked to be, although, with their morals, I wonder if they even cared. Scroll down for the full story, and next, check out this retired engineer who used his skills to masterfully get back at his own neighbors, who were causing quite the ruckus, and using their pool for parties late into the night.