Wisdom is knowing when to let people make their own mistakes . That's especially true in the workplace: knowing when to mind your business is crucial. This grocery store manager , u/SerphynaZee, has a coworker who's an annoying dude. The original poster of this malicious compliance story is stuck with one of the worst kinds of coworkers---the kind who love to boss everyone around, acting like they know the job better than everyone. There are a few ways you can treat a peer that acts this way. Y…

Every new boss likes to demonstrate their particular way of doing things to their team, but blindly enforcing those rules can lead to unexpected consequences. If you're new to any company, whether you're in a position of power or if you're in an entry-level position, you have to take time to learn and adjust the current system before making suggestions that would radically change things for everyone else. Sure, new voices can be instrumental for productive change, but it's pretty self-involved…

The two words that every employee fears are 'company policy'. You can be certain that the context won't lessen the severity of the assignment or the punishment. The story below is an account of a frustrated employee. The original poster (OP) had been employed by the same business for a considerable amount of time. He is reimbursed for the petrol he consumes and is permitted to use the company vehicles. Therefore, one can only imagine how taken aback OP is to receive a letter warning him about h…

It's ironic how the cubicle was the symbol of working-class oppression in the 80s, 90s, and 00s, with countless references in popular culture using it to establish the character's insignificant overlooked place in society. The cheap grey carpet and the temporariness of the fabrication reflected how the organizations viewed their lowest productive workers—too expendable to bother placing in an ordinary office.

Being overworked and understaffed, working long hours at odd hours, is no way to live your life. Still, many of us are doing so in order to eke out a living in this wild world. It can even seem manageable while you're in it, grinding out the hours to keep up with an ever-increasing workload to keep the bossman happy while seasonal demand runs its course or to cover for that vacant role that they've yet to see fit to fill. The reality is, by trying to do the right thing and keep everyone happy,…

For these office workers, spending a Sunday in the office felt like the last day of school before summer break. Remember how great the last week or two of school was? Chances are your teachers had a few tests or quizzes for you, but they were winding down their lessons for the end of the year. They'd let you bring in cards or board games, maybe let you watch TV for a while, and some would even bring in treats or let kids wander to other classrooms. It had this wonderful feeling of freedom. Thes…

A neighbor can be your best friend or your worst enemy, depending on the situation. Then, what would you do if your neighbor ‘demanded’ that you remove or replace your fence? Which would you do—give in or stand your ground? The story below is an account of a frustrated neighbor. The original poster (OP) has been living at his house for a while. Soon after moving in, OP and his next-door neighbor erected a fence between their two homes without consulting a surveyor. Living in a peaceful area bro…

Instead of getting to know his new coworkers, one new manager thought he had a better approach. According to u/atomb*mb1945, he started “getting into things that weren't his business and things he didn't know about.” That's exactly what you don't want to do as you're starting a new job. It isn't going to make a good impression on the current workers if the newbie comes in on day one and starts telling them they don't know how to do their own jobs.

Traveling for work is a way of life in many careers. Jobs often tell you this when you apply for the role, specifying what percentage of the time you'll be on the road. For many workers, this setup is a great way to see a little bit of the world, or just keep them from getting bored of their hometown. This person, u/Bibby_M, has a great setup with their job. Though they live about 38 miles from their job, they only live about 5 miles from the nearest airport. That means that even though they tr…

It's a common misconception that cutting overtime hours can be a structurally sound decision for a company. This boss told a call center manager that management was no longer allowed to work overtime. Now despite this new bogus policy, he didn't say anything about the employees that report to management. At the end of every day, this manager tends to check up on his team to help them wrap up their calls and get them out of work on time. This often results in him having to stay after for a littl…

It's crucial to draw boundaries between life and work, no matter how hard your employer tries to overstep said boundaries. This employee made a simple request for a company phone to use for weekend calls, since it was starting to become quite common that he needed to take work calls outside of normal work hours. His boss denied the severity of the situation and refused to give him the phone. Well, since answering these work calls during unpaid hours was really an act of generosity, the employee…

The mandatory trivia will continue until morale improves! There are differing schools of thought on how much fun employees should really have at work . There are the types of offices that bring in foosball tables and nap pods, and as nice as that sounds, these places tend to overwork their employees. Other workplaces have occasional days out to baseball games, or full-day employee BBQs. These events can be nice for team building, but it requires that the employees take time out of their persona…

Never underestimate your opponent. Whether you're a professional boxer in the ring or an unwitting grocery shopper passing a Girl Scout cookie table, this is an important shred of wisdom to remember. Those Girl Scouts may look cute and naive, but they're plotting to cash in on your underestimation of their formidable wit.

The real boss of an office isn't the president or CFO, it's actually their assistant . While higher-ups get all the glory of that job, they spend a lot of their days taking phone calls and meetings. Their assistants are often the ones organizing these, as well as writing follow-up emails, answering the office phone, ordering their lunch or coffees, and possibly even managing parts of their personal life. These administrative assistants are a force to be reckoned with: they're organized and cool…

It's pretty common knowledge that you shouldn't totally trust someone who is trying to sell you something. Even if they seem genuine and hold what they consider to be your best interests at heart, at the end of the day, they're still there to do the job of making sure you walk out with an item in your hand. Out of the sheer bias of the situation, they're not going to tell you to walk away empty-handed if they don't have the exact right product in stock. Of course, this is in the best-intended i…

Imagine what would happen if you just showed up to the airport without reading the rules . In current year, there are an absurd amount of really specific airport rules that every passenger has to follow. Your carry-on luggage and checked luggage each have weight limits and have to be under a certain dimension. For carry-on luggage, it's got to fit under the seat in front of you. Then there's the issue of liquids, which all have to get smushed into one quart-sized bag. There are things you can a…