This HOA member had a personal vendetta against her neighbors. It seems like this is one of those stories of neighbors who have bad blood. Oftentimes, a small issue will spark an argument that goes unresolved. Then, over years or even decades, a feud between neighbors begins until eventually they're nemeses. These fights can get so personal — because they're your neighbor, they probably know your work schedule, who you live with, and any number of other personal tidbits about your life. The sto…

Quite some time has passed since I've last been fired, but the mortifying memory remains carefully carved into my awkward brain, still causing me to shudder when I think about it. I'm sure I have told this story before, but for those of you who are new, I shall suck up the embarrassment and retell it. Back in my tyrannical teenage years, I was looking for a job. Sixteen at the time, I wasn't actually all that tyrannical. I liked to think I had the guts to do anything, but the truth is I was act…

Sometimes, you're forced to take the long road in order to get even with those who have wronged you, going full “Count of Monte Cristo” All we're saying is that you should be careful how you treat people who are on the way up… because you might see them again on the way back down. This worker shared that they once worked for a senior sales team as a junior salesperson, but unfortunately, they experienced mistreatment at the hands of the head of sales and their hard-earned bonus was stolen. They…

Sometimes doing what's convenient for a coworker is not necessarily what's fair to you. It's time to stop adjusting your needs to the needs of folks around you, especially when you gain nothing from adjusting said needs. This employee was recently encouraged by her boss in a team meeting to show up five to ten minutes early to shifts so that the handoffs from one coworker to the next would be smooth and easy. Luckily, this change didn't affect the employee's schedule very much, so it was an eas…

Sometimes having a thorough knowledge of the law can work in your favor. Actually, come to think about it, I can't imagine a time where it wouldn't be handy to be well educated on the laws are you… (I will be Googling some things after this.) You never know when someone might be trying to pull a fast one over you and make you think something is the law, when, in fact, it is not and they are just using “the law” as a tactic to do whatever they want. A retired detective recently shared a story of…

Huh

Unfortunately, after long years of service with an organization, all it takes is a singular change in leadership to bring everything crashing down. New managers come with new ideas and processes, bringing things with them that they've made a part of their playbook—eager to shake things up and leave their mark on their new organization. While these ideas and processes may have been successful at a previous job, they can seem wildly misplaced at the current one. With things like introducing open…

“I mean, it was a true answer, just not what I was looking for,” one teacher admitted.

One of these days, it'd be nice to step into the shoes of a real-life choosing beggar. Before you judge me, hear me out. As someone with very little audacity, it would be a fulfilling experience just to walk in someone else's shoes for a day and feel entitled to everything I wanted. I'm not saying I'd like to live like this for the rest of my life. If I did, I'd probably end up alone, embittered, and with no friends. However, just for a day, I want to know what it's like to walk into a room and…

A family friend had a huge overreaction to a potato salad. If someone is kind enough to invite you to their house for a meal, you often bring some nice drinks or a plate of brownies or a bouquet of flowers. What you don't do is insult the food that your hosts have made for you — no matter how much you dislike it. Most of us are taught that as toddlers. We're told, "If someone gives you a birthday present, and you don't like it, what do you do?" And then you learn to say "Thank you!" for what yo…

There's a certain kind of satisfaction that comes with giving demanding customers a hard time, but there's also the satisfaction that comes with giving them exactly what they asked for. It takes a specific kind of person to order food at a restaurant and immediately threaten the server before they've done anything wrong yet. It's as if they're asking to be messed with in some way, which is exactly what happened with this demanding customer who we will refer to, unsurprisingly, as Karen. Karen i…

When working on massive, expensive building projects, oftentimes, the office salesmen get a little too big for their britches because of the promise of a sweet commission check. In the heat of the moment, a greedy salesman might even throw out quotes and numbers that are vastly off-base in a desperate attempt to secure a client and pocket a little bonus check for themselves. However, things can go horribly wrong when that flippant boardroom negotiation actually hits the streets.

In today's edition of “We offer no flexibility but expect flexibility from you in return."

Ask and you shall receive. When this company representative decided to make empty threats, I'm sure he thought it would make him look tough and professional. Instead, it backfired spectacularly on him. This malicious compliance story takes place at a small family-run company that specialized in trucking. This person knew that relationships with their clients were important to the company's long term success. So when they encountered another business's representative who rubbed them the wrong wa…

You might have heard from a wise person once that the golden rule of life is: “Don't be a jerk." Well, we agree with that person and is applies to many other life experiences. For example, flying. When you are going on a trip and have to fly, going to the airport can be stressful for everyone involved. You don't know the situation of each passenger or employee. So, it's best to approach it with kindness and patience, or else everybody, including yourself, is going to have a bad time. A perfect…

Residing next to a challenging neighbor can be an absolute torment. These individuals tend to derive pleasure from causing distress to themselves and those in their surroundings, sowing chaos and watching it grow for sheer spite. The mere presence of even one of these individuals has the potential to ruin an otherwise pleasant neighborhood. Through 20 years of a peaceful existence, these neighbors, a couple and an elderly couple, shared a driveway that ran right between their two houses, provid…