As a working adult, there is one lesson about work you usually learn the hard way, which is to never let anyone push you into doing work that is not part of your job description. If you agree to even a small job that is something you are not getting paid to do, you will probably end up doing a lot more, without being rewarded for it. This is why the OP in this Reddit story was probably not in a rush to do what a customer asked for. That and the fact that the customer was incredibly entitled and…

Say it loud and proud. These people are fine with sharing their thoughts and feelings at top volume. When people state something with confidence, we have a tendency to assume they're correct. We think to ourselves, “Surely this dude wouldn't be loudly telling everyone in a 20-foot radius about his plan if he wasn't correct.” But it turns out that these people are wrong kind of a lot. Then, people who are actually knowledgeable stay quiet on the subject. They don't want to be loudly wrong, so th…

Working in graphic design means paying close attention to numerous small elements that come together to form a polished result. The manager in the story below is in complete shock. As a BigCo, OP is in charge of a few dozen agents. For quite some time, OP had been in need of a skilled graphic designer; therefore, when an opportunity arose and a qualified candidate was found, OP quickly hired her. As a modest thank you for joining the company, OP provided the new graphic designer with access to…

When we usually think of “quitting the gym,” it's usually nothing like this waking nightmare…

Startups will make up any excuse to be unprofessional, unreasonable, and so unserious. This job candidate found themselves in an interview with an arrogant, toxic boss who made work-life balance seem like a lazy outlook on life. Thankfully, they had enough experience in the startup world to know that when everyone is asked to work overtime throughout the weekends, there is a good chance that they are not being adequately compensated for that extra hard work. So when the candidate asked the inte…

At certain times in your life—particularly when things have gone sideways—it's important to take ownership of the fact that your own actions and decisions are the things that got you there. Unfortunately, most of us struggle with this and, as a matter of self-preservation, will seek to displace blame towards anyone or anything that we can point a finger at. Sometimes, this displacement is plausible, reasonable even, but at other times, it can get unreasonably ridiculous… Tell me again, Carl, ab…

Why does IT always get blamed? Employees always expect them to read minds, to predict the future… But they're humans with a lot on their plate, and they don't bow to snobby managers from various departments who are trying to cover for their incompetent employees. One such employee approached OP (who was working in IT) after she failed to receive emails. OP immediately began troubleshooting and found the problem relatively quickly. The issue was a rule that she had set up, and OP pointed her to…

While all customer service is tough due to the challenging task of dealing with the unpredictable members of the public, delivery drivers have it particularly rough, owing to the fact that they have to consistently interact with these same people whose absurd entitlement is amplified by the proximity of their homes. If you thought that Karen was a doozy to deal with at the customer service desk at Home Depot, just wait until you see how she treats the poor bloke who has to deliver something rig…

Working in any industry for some time can be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, you come to understand the ins and outs of said industry. On the other hand, sometimes understanding the ins and outs of an industry is not all it's cracked up to be. Because then you have to live with that knowledge for the rest of your existence and that could certainly change the way you go about your business. For instance, when I learned what goes into managing a box office for an entertainment venue, I g…

After an 80-hour work week with nothing to show for it but bags under your eyes and a dusty, unchanged salary check, overworked employees can start to unravel, like the worker in our next story.

This new boss was surprised that some older employees knew better than he did. That was hardly a surprising outcome to the employees, but new managers often feel like they have to make a good impression by bossing everyone around. After all, if they're hired to lead, they think that the most visible way to demonstrate that is to make changes to their workplace immediately. In reality, if they just spent a few minutes talking to their most dedicated employees, they'd probably find out which chan…

This worker shared a day in the life of their job as a library assistant . Though it seems like a whimsical job, there's apparently much more to working in a library than meets the eye. This person writes that they had jobs at two different library branches. One of these jobs was a piece of cake, while the other was home to some rather haughty trustees. As u/localanimenerd shared in their malicious compliance story , they've realized that one trustee in particular seems to dislike them. The sto…

This boss confused everyone by writing up her employee for “overperforming.” If your boss doesn't like you, they might let you know it in a bunch of little ways. Maybe they try to embarrass you by pointing out if you're 30 seconds late, or they might try to get you to work late by guilting you into it. Other bosses start to micromanage your work.

Like all satisfying quitting stories, this one centers on a mistreated employee who woke up one day and realized they owed their employer absolutely nothing. Now, it should come as no surprise that working on the administrative side of higher education can be a draining existence depending on what you do. This employee claimed that they were treated with less respect than the average undervalued and under-appreciated administrative assistant. She posted the following thread on Reddit , which in…

People, and particularly the woefully ignorant, generally only listen to what you tell them if it costs them something in some way, particularly if it's your boss and the thing being costed is their own money. Thankfully, there's nothing to teach common sense quite like the wasted money of a stalled production line with a bunch of workers standing around waiting to be told what to do by their boss who is stuck in a pointless morning stand-up meeting. In this story posted to Reddit's r/Malicious…

When faced with the dilemma of health and safety concerns in the workplace, employees have to look out for each other– because their boss certainly isn't.