Claymore

Working at a register in any workplace environment can be a stressful experience. Anyone who has had a job standing behind the counter can share moments where the line would just get longer, and customers get more and more impatient, and working through that becomes more and more difficult.

One of the most annoying scenarios that can happen to an employee working the register is a malfunction that they cannot fix. The cash drawer is stuck, the screen is frozen, or the receipt printer ran out of ink. It can be a 30-second fix, but it can also cause an actual holdup that leads to a huge line. And who are the customers going to blame for the issue? The person behind the counter. They don't care what is causing the holdup; they just want to get checked out and go home.

When the library employee in the story below was told that a new policy states that they must give printed receipts to every checkout, they knew this could only lead to a stressful experience like the one described above. Unfortunately, there was not much they could do about it. If management wants them to print everything, that is what they will have to do.

It wasn't long before this new policy led to chaos in the library. One guy checked out 47 items, which forced the employee to print out two full pages of receipts, and by noon, it was clear that the printer was not handling the extra workload very well. When the line in the library got so long that everything was overflowing, the employee knew it wasn't their fault, but it was still an annoying position to be in. They could only hope that the fallout would convince management that their new policy was bad news, and that things were working perfectly fine the way they were before.

They were correct. The same day, the city office got involved to understand why people were complaining about the service in the library, which led management to take back their demands and restore things to the original state.

Sometimes, the best way to show someone how bad their idea is, is by simply following through with it…

One of the work tales that is as old as time? A new higher-up joins the team, only to overturn and upend the entire working system because they can't comprehend how other companies run if they are following a protocol that is different from theirs. There is an influx of new toxic managers every year, whether that be because they are formerly scorned subordinates or have toxic rule-enforcing virtue. The corporate world fails to penalize and discipline crooked managers and other higher-up roles because the system works against calling them out. Being a manager means not only knowing your industry, but also knowing how to be an effective leader to a group of equals who are likely just as smart as you. The new manager featured in the story below fails to understand this, and this leads to the eventual resignation of a top-performing employee who brought in nearly a quarter million in profit in the last year.

The sales world isn't for the faint of heart. Knowing how to transform a sales schedule and lifestyle into something that works for you is the first step to attaining the work/life balance everyone so seeks. The employee who shares this story explains that they found a system that works for them, which, of course, includes remote work. This is the future, but toxic corporate soldiers with old-school mindsets refuse to wake up and smell the computers. Scroll below to read about how this employee chooses to know their worth instead of taking the heat from their new manager.

Adulting involves a ton of unexpected curveballs, but having to deal with your roommate's kid stealing your food should not be one of those issues. 

This 26-year-old had only been living with her roommate, a 30-year-old single mother, and her roommate's 6-year-old son for less than a year. The young twenty-something previously had been living with someone else, who seemed to be a closer friend, until that person had to leave. In other words, it sounds like her new roommate was a last-minute replacement and not someone she knew very well beforehand.

At first, there were no major issues. In fact, their work schedules were the complete opposite of one another, so there was not much opportunity for conflict. That all changed when the 26-year-old began to notice that her food was going missing. We're not just talking about the occasional ingredient; we're talking about entire Tupperware containers full of leftovers. 

After monitoring the situation for some time, the author figured out that the leftovers that would go missing would often be the meals she prepared that did not include any vegetables. This became the clue she needed to confirm that her roommate was feeding the author's leftovers to her 6-year-old son, who abhorred vegetables.

So this year, the author decided to combat this problem by eating healthier… and forcing her roommate to find a more appropriate solution for feeding her own kid.

These bosses were pretty sure that they made the right choice when firing their best employees, but that doesn't mean they don't have regrets about it. 

No one is perfect, even when they're trying to a professionals in the workplace. Even the best employee in the world will have a flaw or 2. Maybe that worker is great with coworkers, but their hot temper makes them a risk when they're talking with customers. Maybe the worker is very technically skilled, but has such poor communication skills that their coworkers despise them. And sometimes that worker isn't even necessarily flawed — they just make a huge mistake that ends their career on the spot. 

Whatever the reason may be, these bosses had to fire some of their A-team workers, and they weren't happy to see them go. One manager shared a funny story in which they had to say sayonara to a worker who was caught by a secret shopper. What was he caught doing, you ask? Ah, well, he was digging for gold in his nose, as the secret shopper claimed. The employee ardently refuted that claim — he refused to sign any write-ups about the supposed incident.  Since he wouldn't sign it, he was let go. What would you do in that situation? Would you admit to doing something humiliating that you didn't even do if it meant keeping your job? It's hard to say… but it depends on how much you value your dignity, I suppose. There are always better jobs out there — you just need the right push to start looking. 

One surprising story isn't so funny. One person shared that in 2008, they had to watch as 100 people got laid off on the same day. They described the workplace as a "ghost town" after the HR dude had laid everybody off. Then, in a cruel twist of fate, the very same HR person got fired himself. What a terrible day for all involved! I can't imagine the feeling of firing numerous people in the company that you care about. However, subsequently getting fired might even the playing field a little bit… not that it's any consolation to the HR person himself. 

Keep scrolling below to check out a bunch of intriguing stories from the bosses who were bold enough to tell their tales. 

No one wants to feel like they are actively being replaced at work. 

This employee figured out that her boss had already made a job posting for her current position without even getting the approval of human resources. Thankfully, the author was already keeping a detailed list of grievances and actions performed by her employer that she could potentially use to her advantage when the time came. Well, that time apparently could not come soon enough.

It's easy for folks in hindsight to inform peers of the need to document absolutely everything suspicious that might occur at work. However, it's hard to know when to start documenting your manager's behavior carefully. In this instance, the author knew after the treatment that two of her coworkers endured that it was only a matter of time before she would become the target of her boss's unfair and unprofessional behavior.

Sure, she never could have expected that it would culminate in her boss looking for a replacement in such an unsubtle manner. Still, despite not anticipating exactly how their conflict would bubble to the surface, she was more than prepared to defend herself.

Forrest Gump once said that life is like a box of chocolates: "You never know what you're gonna get." The more I hear that quote, the more I'm convinced he was talking about his neighbors.

Sometimes you luck out with the Friendly Smiths, the kind of people whose house always smells like cookies and who wave when you pull into the driveway. Other times, you end up with the Creepy Toms, who always seem to be standing just a little too still by the window. Unfortunately, we don't get to choose our neighbors, so every move is a 50/50 draw. This particular couple seems to have landed next to their own version of the Creepy Toms, roughly 200 feet away, to be exact. So when the wife receives a politely written letter, heavily seasoned with passive aggression, it's no surprise she's left feeling confused. The letter insists the couple install or use blinds so the neighbor no longer has a "clear" view into their kitchen.

The problem? At 200 feet away, there is no clear view, unless someone is making a very intentional effort to stare into your home. If the neighbor is so frustrated by movement next door, one would think she could simply close her own blinds…or maybe put down the binoculars. The couple disagrees on how to respond. The husband votes for silence and peace, hoping the issue resolves itself. Meanwhile, the wife sits at the kitchen table, plotting her revenge.

There are few things that can throw a teen into a tizzy faster than the prospect of getting concert tickets to their favorite bands! 

Do you remember your first concert? I certainly do — it was a good old fashioned Jingle Ball show, hosted by a popular radio station, and featuring a bunch of popular radio artists. I went with a few family members and we had an incredible time. The hype around the concert was simply irresistible! There's a buzz in the air as you wait for the openers to come on, browse merch, talk with other concert-goers, and then finally, after all that waiting, get to see your favorite musicians right there in front of your very eyes. 

This parent is pretty hype, too — they're trying to plan an awesome concert for their kiddo. She's 15, and as a Christmas present, they wanted to get her a ticket to see a band they both really love. This would be an excellent bonding experience for the two… except that this parent had a bit of a social faux pas while describing the event to their sister-in-law. 

No one ever said that concert tickets were cheap — these days, they're comically expensive, costing 3 or 4 figures easily. Even if you find tickets that cost $150, if you're going as a pair, the price balloons to $300, plus tax, plus whatever silly venue fee they're going to tack on, plus the price of gas, tolls, parking, or transit, plus the cost of food and/or merch… it can easily cost you hundreds to attend a show, and not everyone has that kind of money to burn. 

This person brought up potentially buying tickets in front of the SIL, and things quickly turned awkward. The parent explained that they simply had more disposable income since their daughter is an only child, but that's not the kind of thing you can say out loud during a conversation, it's just implied. Life's not fair — sometimes you watch your friends get expensive gifts and pricey tickets when you know your own parents can't afford that. That's why it can be so awkward to talk about these things, because neither the parent nor the SIL are really in the wrong here. Still, this person was kind enough to consider getting their niece a ticket anyway, and you can read down below how that went over. They added an update to the original post — check out the full tale below.

Who let their dogs out?

Many people dream and aspire to own a nice, private house in a quiet neighborhood, surrounded by kind neighbors and friendly families. It might be a bit cliché, but wanting to experience that serene dream is nothing to be ashamed of. Owning a house, starting a family, and working in a job you enjoy are some of the most basic foundations for a happy life, but they are also great and practical aspirations that might seem tangible for even the most average person.

Imagine you have achieved part of that dream–you bought a picket-fenced house in a nice neighborhood, and you moved there with your loving partner and your sweet dogs. So far, so good, right?

Well, the thing that no one tells you about this dream is how rare it actually is to find a quiet neighborhood with kind neighbors; it might be even more challenging than saving the money to buy the actual house. Neighbors are unpredictable, and you can never know who you might end up living next to for the rest of your 'dream' life. They could be the nicest people in the world, but they could also be the most entitled. The only way to find out is by living right next to them.

When the homeowners in the story below moved into their place, they were prepared to live in their dreams. Here was a wonderful space, with a large fenced yard for their dogs, a place to have friends over, invest in their hobbies, and so on. What they see coming is how their next-door neighbors would complain about every single move they make inside their dream home.

Text after text, these neighbors complained about everything–claiming the homeowners were talking too loudly, playing music, and letting their dogs out into their fenced yard. These neighbors had problems with it all. It almost felt like, even though it was a dream house, these neighbors were not letting anyone actually live there.

At some point, the demands became too much to deal with, and the homeowners decided to stand for their rights and for the freedom to live however they wished. 

Would the neighbors accept that? Keep scrolling to read the full story to find out. After that, check out this story of how a company lost millions by taking away employees' incentives.