The phrase “you have no power here” is often used when someone is confronting an entitled person who's trying to exert power over a group of people. But isn't it nice when you finally have the right to put an entitled egomaniac in their place?
Well, if you like the taste of justice, then you're going to love these stories that massively blew up. Some of these "you have no power here" moments took place at work, but others happened right in people's own homes.
Grandpa Rocks
“My parents were yelling at me and then my grandpa walks over and tells them both to sit the hell down. They both shut the hell up and sit their butts down on the couch. It was by far the most powerful thing I've ever seen him do lmao.” Story credit: Reddit / abeast0333
Company Decisions
“I was working as a consultant for a company, there was a bit of a competition between me and this guy, company starts to have some financial issues so I leave and start working for a client of theirs.
Shortly after joining they bring in this guy I was competing with at my old job, he was technically my equal except now I was employed by the client and he was just a consultant.
He was trying to one-up me during meetings and my boss told him that decisions are made by the company not the consultants. It felt good.” Story credit: Reddit / kaxobixo
The Bonus
“New CEO came to our deparment on the 1st day of his work. He didn't have a pass card yet and a lower level employee told him that he can't enter without pass card. CEO got upset and ordered a worker to let him in, but the worker insisted: show me the pass card, or you're not entering.
Few days later this worker got a bonus.” Story credit: Reddit / Nathaniel66
Set Free
“When my crappy father kicked me out of the house and then demanded he have access to my bank to "control my financial situation" and I got to tell him "you have no control over me anymore. You set me free when you kicked me out and now you can't do anything” Story credit: Reddit / Wolfsbane776
Do Not Copy
“Some secretary of some branch of a state agency would go on a power trip and stamp, "Do not copy" on things that she sent to local agencies. Well, I work for an oversight agency and I needed a copy.
Locals were terrified so I rolled my eyes and called to explain that the locals and I were basically the same entity. Woman started to have a conniption fit, but she got real quiet when I cut her off and said,
"Fine, I'll issue a subpoena. What's your name and job title?" She answered, and the sheriff served her a subpoena for what I wanted. Guess she wasn't used to that.” Story credit: Reddit / Arcangelathanos
Not Your House
“In my first apartment, my parents came to visit, and I said "F***!" when I hit my head on the open door of the freezer while standing up from grabbing something from the fridge.
My mother said "You can't talk like that in my hou..." and stopped midsentence.” Story credit: Reddit / epidemica
The Money Maker
“I had a rough childhood with a drug addict father. My mom struggled to make ends meet and my first job was paying for the mortgage. After several months of working (again at my first job) I finally had some money to spend on myself and decided to get a computer and a decent internet connection.
At the time the best internet I could buy as part of a dish combo package. I bought a dish and brought it home to install on the house. During this time my dad was still living at home with us but he was hardly there and my parents had all but separated at that point.
My dad promptly asked me what I was doing putting a dish on his house. I let him know that I pay the mortgage now and I make the decisions on what we do with the house.” Story credit: Reddit / whyd-eyed
Overdue Books
“I wasn’t good at returning library books when I was a kid. I got lectured by my school librarian about it a lot. Fast forward twenty years and I’m a supervisor at the local public library and my former now retired school librarian goes there.
One day I see her sneaking around the front desk instead of coming back to say hi to me and I immediately figure something’s up. I go up to say hi and she acts exasperated and tells me she was trying to avoid me because she had overdue books.
So I put on my reading glasses, pulled them down over my nose, and delivered the same lecture she’d given me countless times about being responsible and turning in books on time.” Story credit: Reddit / daecrist
Angry HR Lady
“We had an HR lady who was extremely power hungry. She is walking around with the president of the company who flew in from Japan. She rushes him through the warehouse. Just spits out “oh these are the warehouse guys we don’t have to stop and talk to them.”
He stops walks over and starts talking to me about my last vacation. How buying my house went. You could just see her fuming behind him as we talked for almost 45mins. I’ve had multiple meetings with him we knew each other really well.
I don’t think he liked her and drug it out on purpose but I was thrilled to see her just standing there bored as hell.” Story credit: Reddit / Varvatos_Vex
The Dictators
Pretty much every time my in laws come over. For over twenty years they have attempted to dictate how I should live my life, raise my kids, dress, cook, etc. I always just nod and say, "I'll consider that",
But not in a genuine way, in a condescending "damn you" way. When they press it, I simply say, "You may leave my house now". Story credit: Reddit / TigerTownTerror
Mall Cop
“I worked at a movie theatre and some customers were adamant that a staff member had stolen their wallet after they dropped it. They got irate with literally everyone, from the mall security to the managers to the staff.
Mall security finally said “get the hell out” and the customers went “you can’t say that! This isn’t your theatre, we’re customers.” Mall security guy promptly said “this is my mall, and I can do whatever the hell I want.”” Story credit: Reddit / DefinitelyNotMrSteve
Messy Customer
“Not sure if it fits but during an insanely busy weekend before Christmas, a Karen was complaining to every associate about how messy our store was. The manager had relieved the girl at the fitting room and was helping to hang stuff.
Karen pulled her crap and was trying to make a point that we were messy and a horrible place to shop. At this the manager told her roughly, "Ma'am we're messy at the moment because we're a popular store.
And the biggest reason we're messy is because of woman like you who can't be bothered to pick up after themselves. It's not the associates making the mess. It's people like you. Your type have us outnumbered." First time I actually witnessed someone deflate.” Story credit: Reddit / rancidquail
Enforcing the Law
“Some White House lady sat at my bar and tried to get a drink without ID. She pulled out her White House ID card which had no DOB. "I work at the White House".
I told her that her bosses would be very proud of me enforcing their laws when I didn't serve her a drink.” Story credit: Reddit / yowzersinmetrowzers
Green Card
“So my uncle is a deputy sheriff, and one time he was at an airport talking to my aunt over the phone in Spanish. Once he got done with his call some nearby Karen that overheard him went up to him and started demanding to see his green card (uncle has an accent too).
Uncle decides to mess with her and tells her he doesn't know what a green card is and has never heard of one. She gets more mad and keeps demanding to see it.
He messes with her some more then eventually he goes "Well I don't got a green card but I got this" then takes out his wallet and shows her his badge. She immediately walked away while my uncle laughed his butt off.” Story credit: Reddit / ElTacoWolf
Impeachment
“I taught my 6th grade students about democratic processes, and we ran a simulation. Without fail, every one of my classes tried to impeach me.” Story credit: Reddit / mywifemademegetthis
Not a Threat
“When an unhappy client threatens to go hire a better lawyer. They don’t seem to get that this isn’t a threat when they aren’t paying me...” Story credit: Reddit / cthulhus_tax_return
Cannabis Hater
“My wife and I moved to WA state and my MIL tried to tell me that she was going to call the police because I had pot in the house.” Story credit: Reddit / tylrmhnn
The Ex-Popular People
“At my university, it was always fun to watch the people who had been High School Popular People think that this sort of popularity would just naturally carry over and that on this campus of thousands, they'd be a big shot or something.
Was always fun to see just how many people could not care less about their attention-seeking.” Story credit: Reddit / Raetekusu
Just Say No
“I worked at a grocery store for five years putting up with crazy customers and their awful attitudes.
At the end of my tenure our store was set to be closed, and for the last month the store was sold to a liquidation company. Meaning we were no longer under our parent company's umbrella and were no longer concerned with retaining customer loyalty.
I got to tell customers "no" and respond with every bit of sarcasm and disdain to every Karen i encountered for one month until the store officially closed.” Story credit: Reddit / mbattagl
Mean Toad Woman
“I have a job, but I will still do interviews every couple years. This means the script is flipped. They have to convince me to work there. Anyway I got to town early so I stopped at a bakery. Then this toad of a woman walks in, yells at me to get her order and then yells at me for not getting up right away to serve her.
When I point out that I do not in fact work there she goes off me about how important she is. I go the interview. Head of IT and the toad woman walks in. She has this evil grin on her face. I stop everything.
I point at the toad woman and I say something like "I have seen how your managements treats people, and I have no interest in working for you" and I take my resume out his hands and walk out. The look on her face was priceless.” Story credit: Reddit / goblinmarketeer
Bye Mom
“The guy that I'd gone on a few dates with introduced me to his parents, things went well, or so I thought. He drives me home, we end up talking and drinking a few beers, I didn't want him on the road with any alcohol in his system, so we end up hanging out until 3am.
His mom starts demanding that he comes home, so he drives himself home to find that he's been locked out. His mom said that he can sleep outside, he shouldn't be spending time with someone like me, and that i'm "just another stop on the train". He tells her not to talk about me like that, to which she says,
"When you're under my roof, i'll say whatever i want about whoever i want!" so he picks up his phone, calls me, asks if he can stay at my place for a little while. It's been seven years, we're engaged, have a dog, a cat, and a happy life.” Story credit: Reddit / bootylikepoww
No Yelling
“Had an old boss who was a complete and total jerk. He was actually my boss’ boss, and wasn’t supposed to interact with us, but he just loved trying to make everyone under him squirm. One day, I get a call at home from him and he just starts unloading.
After a couple of minutes, I just looked at my phone and hung up on him. The next day, I get called into a meeting with his boss, who basically wants to know who the heck I think I am hanging up on this guy. I calmly explain that no one gets to yell at me on my time, in my home, on my phone.
You have to wait for me to be on the clock to pay me for that privilege, and I’ll gladly take that money- If I’m busy being yelled at, I’m not busy with anything else. Seemed to work.” Story credit: Reddit / blind30
First Class Nightmare
“A co-worker friend of mine was flying back from a sales conference in Vegas and he was able to upgrade to a first class seat. We had this bratty sales VP that was on the same flight.
She sees him in a first class seat as she is making her way to coach and asks him how he got that seat (he used points to upgrade). As people are getting settled in, she makes her way back up to the first class cabin and asks to speak with the lead flight attendant.
She tells him that one of her underlings is sitting in first class, and that she needs to switch with him since she's higher on the corporate ladder. She won't take no for an answer. Finally he tells her she has to go back to her seat, or she will be escorted from the plane.” Story credit: Reddit / doctor-rumack
Hit Me
I was about 12 years old. Often had been forced to stay with my Moms friends when she'd go out of town. The father was.... An abusive prick. He literally tortured me every chance he'd get. Anyway, we went out to dinner one night.
I don't remember what preceded it, but he said "go ahead tough guy. hit me as hard as you can right in the gut" thinking I wouldn't do it because I was scared of him. But this was my moment and I knew it. And I pulled my fist back and belted him in the gut with EVERY ounce of strength I could muster.
He immediately doubled over. He tried to turn it around on me, but his wife shut him up instantly. "You told him to do it. If you 'weren't ready' it's your fault, not his". One of the most satisfying moments of my life. Story credit: Reddit / 8string
Internally Giggly
I work at a hotel. We have a very desirable parking lot, and when people poach it we boot them. I love enforcing these because I don't have to apologize, as they aren't guests. Girl parks, and walks to neighbor hotel. Our gm happens to be in the lot, and says this is parking for x hotel, not z hotel.
She proceeds to flip him off. I giggle, grab the boot and slap it on her car. She comes back screaming. I tell her the cost is $200. She refuses to pay and storms off. I get a call requesting the manager. I speak with the girls mom. She is trying to say "oh my daughter didn't know, she was there for a job interview."
I let her go on, and I tell her that her daughter flipped off the gm, and there is no way the boot is coming off without payment. She hangs up, the daughter comes back and silently hands me 200, with a look of rage on her face. Story credit: Reddit / Drew-
No Bullying Allowed
“I worked in management at a theatre for a while. If the concession counter was slammed and I was able, I’d leave my post and help them sling popcorn. One night while helping out, a particularly belligerent man started cussing out a 16 year old girl on a cash register for being too slow.
It was pretty disgusting and I felt so bad for the girl, I stepped in and told the guy that our employees have the right to refuse service to customers who harass them, empathized that the lines were longer than usual, and suggested he should apologize and move on. He was so mad.
Anticipating his next move, I went back to my original post that night - as manager of the customer service kiosk. Oh boy, the look on his face when he saw me. (Didn’t want a refund of his tickets though so I assume he watched the movie, without popcorn).” Story credit: Reddit / dendriticbranch
Worst Parents Ever
“When I was still a child I saw how abusive my grandparents were to my parents when they used to stay in their house during their early years of marriage when they were broke. Once they have enough money to leave my grandparents they moved to a small rented house.
My grandparents came for an unannounced visit and berate my dad for living in such a shanty house and how ungrateful he was for leaving their home. My dad was silent until they start blaming my mother for being a wife that brought "bad luck" to my dad and how she "poisons" him into moving to a new home.
My dad wasn't having any of their bile anymore and kicked them out. They stop talking until my grandfather was dying of leukemia. My mom was the one who persuaded my dad to see him before he passed.” Story credit: Reddit / ilhamalfatihah16
Demoted
“I worked at a Walmart as a cashier, and the assistant manager there was a jerk, he would insult everybody working there and forced us sometimes to do work above our pay grade.
6 months later me and him got transferred to another Walmart that was just built and they needed to pick a manager and assistant manager. Some random got manager but I got assistant manager (I guess all the complaints on the assistant manager basically gave him a demotion).
So one day he was ordering the other cashiers around then I pulled him to the side and told him that if he kept pulling the same crap around he would be out of here.” Story credit: Reddit / greasedlightning343
I Don’t Live Here Anymore
“My mother made my childhood hell (unpredictable moods, yelling and abuse got so bad I got panic attacks and nothing was done about it, random beating, crying, insults, very controlling, went through my letters and diary, the works)
After what seemed like ages of struggling, I finally managed to move out at age 21, to an address within the same city. Her whining continued. Why would I not give her keys to my apartment? Why did I not phone in every day? Where was I, who was I with, what was I doing at every time of the day?
I must hate her! I tried to not react and give her more ammunition, but when she ended up asking at some point "Why are you not coming by and visiting us every day??", I finally replied "because I don't live here anymore", and it shut her up.” Story credit: Reddit / rou_te
Not in Command
“I worked at the flight service station in Yellowknife, Canada. There we have a control tower and FSS. Tower had the radios at that time of day. Pilot reports smoke in the cockpit, declares an emergency.
He was 20 minutes out, and there's nowhere else to land, so he just continuing to come here. In the interim, emerg procedures put in place, Airport Firefighters are out in force. And out comes captain jerkface from the cops. BANGING on my door.
There's really nothing he could possibly do except make noise and be in the way. Not long after he stomps back down and I hear him radio some nonsense about "who do they think they are? IM IN COMMAND!"” Story credit: Reddit / Marilius
Impersonating a Veteran
My dad and I went to lowes one time, and the guy helping us had on a veteran hat and a few pins kept trying to insinuate we didnt know what we were talking about, and that we didnt need what we were there for, and kept trying to argue about everything.
So my dad asked what service he was in trying to break ice, and the dude said he was in team 6 1970-1974 in Vietnam, and trained in Great lakes. Which was the wrong answer.
So my dad asked if he meant seal team 1 or 2. the man recognizing my dads service ring immediately buffed up on my dad and tried to assert dominance as a superior. My dad immediately called the guy on his shtick for stolen valor and threatened to turn him in for it. Story credit: Reddit / nowforever13
Tore Him a New One
“I joined the Army Reserve in 1983. Going to drill one weekend and we were doing war games with another reserve unit. They mailed everyone a letter with the challenge and response to be let in to the unit. As a lowly private, I was standing guard at the entrance and had to say the challenge.
Everything's going good until a city police car pulls up and the cop is a new lieutenant. I give the challenge and he just looks at me. He said to just let him in because he didn't know it. He starts getting belligerent and I ask him to turn off the car and step out. He gets out and starts yelling at me.
The Sergeant Major heard the commotion and comes over and tears the young lieutenant a new one. It was very satisfying to watch and I learned that even though a 2nd lieutenant outranks a sergeant major, it really doesn't matter because the sergeant major had been in for 20 years.” Story credit: Reddit / s14sher
Culture Shock
“I was working a lab assistant shift receiving specimens, when a doctor phoned the lab. He was very upset that there was a test that was taking too long. I said okay, and asked what the test was. A fungal culture takes at least two weeks to see if anything grows. The patient was in the ER.
I politely told him the test was a send out and they generally take about about two weeks depending on the fungus. He got all huffy and asked why it took so long and is there a way to speed up the process. I chuckled a little because this is a common problem with cultures, we can't just make them grow faster.
He then asked for a lab tech because I was just a lab assistant. I then let him know I was a lab tech with experience in microbiology and I can tell him that fungal cultures are some of the slowest cultures and assured him that if anything comes of it, we'll let ER know.” Story credit: Reddit / texasbornandraised95
Account Cancelled
“That would be a customer we had named Nick. He would e-mail us and always cc [email protected] and most of his e-mails were things like "NOTHING FREAKING WORKS".
None of the national newspapers responded, I imagine some underling just rolled his eyes and deleted them. Finally, he said, fix this in 5 minutes or I cancel. My manager says "let me see that e-mail".
He responded "Thank you, I cancelled your account. We don't want customers like you anyway. If you want to contact the media, that's your call, I'll happily provide the months of threatening e-mails you sent to my staff". He gave us months of headaches over a £45/quarter account.” Story credit: Reddit / zerbey
The Podiatrist
I was responding to a call with our volunteer fire dept a couple years ago. It was a single vehicle that rolled and they were all immigrants from the Pakistan region. A doctor from the same region had stopped to lend a hand. I had assumed she was the eighth person in the van.
She started to try to order me around and tell me I only needed to know certain information about the patient she was with. That’s when I figured maybe I should ask what kind of doctor she is. She tells me she’s a podiatrist. I gave her my best look of trying to be nice but their feet are fine right now.
When doctors or nurses show up on scene, they ultimately can trump EMS. As soon as I asked her to sign the paperwork and ride with us to the hospital she realized she was out of her knowledge area and disappeared. Story credit: Reddit / medicff
Not for That Price
“A few years ago a guy stopped me in the hardware store and asked if I was a painter. I said, yeah I do historical restoration work. He asked how much I charge per hour, and when I told him, he immediately told me I was too expensive and dropped my rate by 25%.
I had already given him my number, but he kept belittling me. I just told him that I already had a full time job, and this would be in my off hours, so it needed to be worth my while. Eventually I recognized his number and stopped picking up.
He would have nitpicked absolutely everything, and probably not paid me at the end anyway. But he was so certain he'd have power in the situation, that he didn't seem able to comprehend me not wanting to barter with him.” Story credit: Reddit / Hopefulkitty
No More Drinking
“A guest came into the bar after having been refused service at our sister hotel down the road. He was very drunk and had been rude, abusive and threatening to the staff. We refused, but offered him some water and suggested he go up to his room.
He then went on about how he had nearly bought our hotel and that he was practically our boss so we should serve him or he’d have us fired. We refused. He told us he was a very rich man and would tip us hundreds of pounds if we served him. We refused.
Many of them got back to us and said they had been offered money, been threatened with losing their jobs and also told the story of the mayor. All of the pubs stuck to their guns and refused to serve him. Eventually, he came back to the hotel and went to his room.” Story credit: Reddit / CurlyWhirlyHedgehog
Stand Up
“My dad is 6'3". I'm 6'10". Sometime in my early teens, I shot past him. Dad was a yeller. Not doing what he thought I should be? No discussion, just yell. But I realized at some point that he wouldn't yell at me if he had to look up while he was doing it.
I don't remember what our last argument was about, I just remember that I'd sort of caught on at this point. So I'm in my room in front of the computer, Dad comes in and starts yelling at me. I eventually stand up and start yelling back. Dad makes an excuse to leave.
Dad comes back about a half hour later and starts yelling again, but at this point, it's all I can do to not just laugh. I know that the instant I stand up, the argument will end. It actually wound up being really good for our relationship.” Story credit: Reddit / jsabo
Former Boss
One of my new employees came from a competitor who is, shall we say, not as put together as we are. Her former boss had actually called me to yell at me about "poaching" his consultants. Which, in and of itself, is weird enough. However, a few weeks after she started the dude rolled up to our office.
He had apparently been calling her to get her to finish an analysis for him and she just ghosted him. I went to the lobby to see what the heck he was doing here. I didn't fully understand the conversation but at one point he literally "demanded" she do this analysis.
She just said, "or what?" and waited a few beats before turning on her heels and walking away. I did the ol' hand on his back point to the door universal symbol for "leave or a large security man will make you leave.” Story credit: Reddit / voice_of_craisin
Rebel Subway Employee
“I used to work at a few Subways. Thing is, the owner inherited them when she already had a busy and lucrative career elsewhere. One time, she was in the back when she heard me interact with an angry customer.
Afterward, she came out and said, “You know you don’t have to take crap like that. I trust you, you can use your judgment and just toss anybody out who talks to you like that.” After that I wouldn’t take any crap from anybody.
Slightest hint of backtalk to your Sandwich Artist, and you were out on your butt, still hungry. It was so much fun. The sheer indignance of an entitled customer when you don’t bow and scrape before them is really something to behold.” Story credit: Reddit / Bradddtheimpaler
Not Paid Enough for Opinions
Property manager - the owner was an absolute prick. He was heartless and rude and I loathed him. I was applying daily to my dream company in hopes that eventually I’d be accepted. Every time I complained or mentioned something to my supervisor I was told to shut up and get on with it.
“He was paying me too much to have opinions.” Three years after, we were a small office and the receptionist and assistant prop managers had quit. I finally got accepted into my dream company and happily put in my two week notice.
In desperation, he offered me more money, a higher position, better benefits (which were laughable). When I said no, he asked why. I have never felt more gleeful than the moment of when I said “I don’t know, I’m not paid to have opinions here.” Story credit: Reddit / croix_v
8-Hour Shift
“IT services for a client of mine. They paid for me to come to their office and address a problem. 8 hrs minimum time. The issue was resolved in about 45 minutes, they'd set up something incorrectly and it was pretty obvious once I got into the system.
I was packing up to leave and the client stopped me. "What are you doing?" "The system is fixed so I'm headed out back to my office."
"No, I paid for 8 hours, you'll do your 8 hours. If I tell you to wash my car for 8 hours that's what you'll be doing." "Right...so anyway, I'm leaving. I'll notify the office to send you the invoice and in all likelihood we'll no longer be working with you and withdrawing your lease on our equipment."” Story credit: Reddit
Soaking Dad
Due to the bad economy and poor money management, my parents have moved into the spare room of the house my husband and I bought a year ago. The other evening I was out gardening, and I thought I had gotten the hose twisted, as it kept getting stuck.
This went on for a bit, when I realized that it wasn’t stuck, but being pulled. I looked into the dim area just past the illumination of the street light and spied my father, crouched over and tugging the hose. Well I did the only reasonable thing to do, and I sprayed him. He yelled and ran inside with me chasing.
Then he goes “You can’t get me now! I’m inside!!” In that father-to-daughter-don’t-you-make-a-mess tone. I readied my hose and said, “It’s my house.” And let loose with the hose. He was soaked. Worth cleaning up the mess for that moment of true fear in his eyes. Story credit: Reddit / pumpkinspicepiggy
Banned for Life
When I was working for a restaurant delivery service I had a customer send in a complaint about hair in their food. The hair was sitting on top of the food. I check their account, and they had ONE order on their account, which is a red flag.
I check their phone number and find multiple accounts, ALL of them complaining about hair in the food. I deny a refund because the customer has actually used the same identical photo before. The customer tries to argue with me and threatens to never use the service again.
Eventually the customer gives up and ends the call, then immediately tries again. I see who it is, then deny the refund again. The next day she calls back and demands to speak to a supervisor. The supervisor banned her from the service. Story credit: Reddit / Sarchasm-Spelunker
Love Conquers All
I worked for a company in Germany that was bought by a US company. One of the first actions was a mandatory HR meeting. Here are some of the highlights: We are not allowed to accept tickets for the Super Bowl. Utterly confusion - 90% of the people had never heard of the Super Bowl.
We are not allowed to have relationship with anybody within the company. Uproar in the room: This is against the German constitution - what you do in your free time is none of their business. The discussion gets heated. The Americans on the line are very confused why...
Management tried a couple of other stuff - at will employment (against the law), cutting vacation (against the law), canceling bank holidays (against the law). Make people work on vacation days (against the law) and a couple more. It was a prime example of cultural ignorance. Story credit: Reddit / wine_and_book
The Senior-Level Position
I interviewed for a job that was labeled as a senior-level position, which is my level of experience. Shortly after the in-person interview, they call me and say that I would be a great fit. However, they thought I was "a little too green" for the senior-level position, but they have an opening for the junior-level position.
I kindly told them that I wasn't going to take a step backwards in my career. I also let them know that trying to trick someone with senior-level experience into taking a junior-level position by stringing them along through interviews and a job offer was deceptive and unethical.
There was silence over the phone for a moment and then the interviewer said in an offended tone, "Well we've all had to make sacrifices for company name!" To which I replied, "You may have had to, but I don't make sacrifices for anyone." Stunned silence. Story credit: Reddit
Sticking To His Department
I worked at a warehouse club selling computers. My job was to stay in the computer department. Well, one of the shift managers didn't like that, and insisted that I needed to go fold clothes. The store manager had instructed me never to leave the tech department, but he insisted.
This went on for several weeks. The store manager showed up one weekend when both the power tripping shift manager and I were working. Store manager slaps a stack of greenbar paper down onto a shelf and points to some highlighted numbers.
He tells him, "This is our average tech sales numbers for the weeks you are on shift. And this is our average tech sales numbers for weeks you are not. It would be more cost effective for me to simply fire you." The guy stammered like a toddler caught bullying a kid on the playground. Story credit: Reddit
You’re Fired
I worked for 8 years servicing communications equipment on-site. Most of my team were pulling 12+ hour days and we were struggling to hire people quick enough. One day, the CEO texted and said he hired an assistant manager for me. The moment he got in the truck, he immediately started talking crap.
I just sat and mostly listened. He obviously didn't know anything about my industry and every time he would say something wrong, I would try to politely correct him and he'd insist that I was trained wrong.
When I sat down at my desk, I called for a taxi, filled out a notice of termination, and handed it to him. He looked absolutely shocked. I can teach anyone how to service equipment, but I don't have a clue how to teach someone to not be a jerk.” Story credit: Reddit / Nevermind04
Have a Nice Flight
We had one plane that had an issue on takeoff and veered off the runway, it totaled the airplane but fortunately the pilot was not serious injured. I hopped in the airport car with one of the rampers and drove out to the plane with a radio to inform inbound planes to use the other runway.
On the way to the runway I called the airport manager and he made a phone call to officially close that runway. About 30 minutes later a metric ton of DPS officers showed up and immediately tried to close the whole airport, treating it like a giant crime scene.
As I was hopping in a plane, a cop said to me, "you aren't going anywhere!" I looked to the airport manager and he said "have a nice flight!" You could see these cops fuming that they didn't have the authority to close down an airport because one plane went off the runway. Story credit: Reddit
Catering Company Owner
In college I worked for a small catering company that was started by a guy who was barely much older than college age himself. One day we were working an outdoor black-tie wedding reception and it was a scorcher out.
A nightmare aunt is in young bossman’s bar line, and loudly complaining the whole time how long it’s taking, and she shouldn’t even have to be waiting in a line anyway because she’s the bride’s aunt, just making a huge stink. When she got up to the head of the line, she said,
“You’re nothing but a bunch of dumb kids! I want to talk to someone who’s an adult.” A huge grin washed over the owner's face as he replied, “I am the owner of this catering company, if you would like for me to go, then this reception will have no food or beverages or bar service.” Story credit: Reddit