Sometimes, we can destroy our enemies without ever lifting a finger. Why? Because they destroy themselves.
1. A Bumpy Road To Justice
My neighbor claimed that I had backed my car into his, pointing out a minor scratch on my vehicle that he believed matched the dent on his. According to him, this supposed incident had happened several weeks prior. I assured him it wasn't me, but advised him to talk to his insurance company.
About a few weeks later, I was prompted by a letter from my insurance company to explain what had happened. I took full advantage of that opportunity. I gave them the date I purchased my car and updated my insurance— all of which happened two weeks after the alleged collision.
He stopped talking to me after these events, but every time I saw him visibly upset at his window, I cheerfully waved at him.
2. Practice Makes Perfect Revenge
A while back, I was preparing for my first-ever speech at a tech conference. I was already a bundle of nerves, practicing and honing my presentation non-stop. My boss, who wasn't the easiest person to get along with, surprisingly backed me up, despite never having witnessed my talk.
So, we headed to Vegas. There was more interest in our event than anticipated, leading us to be shifted to the main stage room, expecting around 500 attendees and many walk-ins. Boy, was I more nervous than ever! Just before the curtain raiser, my boss spotted a notable media professional with a photographer, seated in the front row.
She got overly thrilled and decided on the spot to co-present my speech. She even added her name on the title slide. I was understandably miffed. As we commenced, she delivered a satisfactory introduction before I took over. However, she continued interrupting me, prompting me to let her take the reins.
It was like watching a morning show with its excessively cheerful hosts talking over each other. Our topic was undeniably technical, involving a live demonstration. She blundered through the slides, and just when we hit the "Live Demo" slide, she froze, completely flustered.
I chose to let her wallow, and it felt gratifyingly harsh. We had a heated exchange backstage. I didn't stick around for long after that encounter, leaving within a couple of months. She was let go not long afterward. The ultimate irony? The media folks she was trying to impress exited before we began.
I suspect they were simply lingering from the previous session. Just perfect.
3. Double-Cross Examine
During my years in family law, I regularly experienced some pretty interesting scenarios in court. It's fascinating how, if you think your opposing party is a bit unstable, usually just extending them the courtesy of the microphone and subtly questioning their narrative can reveal it.
The most memorable instances were during withdrawal hearings. Just to clarify, I genuinely disliked these hearings. They filled me with apprehension. It felt like admitting defeat whenever I needed to step away from a case. Mostly, this happened because the client either couldn't or refused to pay me.
Other times, it was due to them being uncooperative or hostile. Winning these hearings wasn't the hard part though. Normally, if I quizzed the former client on their plans to replenish their retainer, they'd launch into a plethora of excuses as to why they can't or won’t find the funds.
It's genuinely sad, but it does underscore my argument. The non-compliant clients, though, they were on another level. I'd recount various instances where they had insulted me, disregarded my counsel, or even threatened myself or my team, then just sit back and watch.
You could literally see their frustration building up in court, invariably followed by a frenzied justification for why no lawyer should reasonably be working with them. For instance, "Mr. Jones, could you kindly explain why you resorted to threats of bodily harm against my paralegal if she continued contacting you?"
Her constant calls every WEEK with additional tasks were driving me crazy! I hired you to manage my case! Sifting through my emails, gathering bank records, and bringing you documents daily is not what I signed up for! Also, why does she keep pestering me every time my retainer goes below a certain level?
She acts as though I have no other bills to pay, like the blasted child support that your firm placed on me when I left! Honestly, how much more disrespectful can you get? I swear if I hear her voice one more time I’m tempted to drive over to your office and take drastic measures!" "Your honor, I believe my point is proven."
4. A Stake In This Game
I was in a meeting with my project manager, who hadn't shown up at the office or worked a full day in months. Just as I was about to respond to a query from our stakeholders, she took me completely aback—she literally cut me off saying she would speak first and then let me talk.
I held my peace, and she ended up giving the stakeholder incorrect information about our system, embarrassing herself completely. This month, she ended up losing her job.
5. Life Comes At You Fast
A colleague I didn't get along with was let go a few weeks after I resolved to stop correcting his errors, regardless of its effect on a client.
6. One Too Many
In my current role, part of my task is to monitor trailer offloading/loading procedures for safety. I was recently asked to train a new hire on how to perform these tasks. But after a few weeks, I found out that this new hire wasn't actually carrying out any aspects of their job duties.
Instead, they were spending their time socializing as if they were at a social gathering. When quizzed about their lack of performance, they claimed they hadn't received appropriate training.
Interestingly, because of previous complaints regarding this individual, management had set up a system where they had to document and sign any training received, including details like what was covered and who provided the training.
Upper management then reviewed and signed off on these documents. So when the file confirmed that they had, in fact, been fully trained for all responsibilities, the new hire had no argument to make and was ultimately dismissed.
This individual had tried the same trick in every department in the office, and their stint with my team had been their final opportunity.
7. You Come Into MY Court?
I once faced a court case locally here in the UK. The person I was fighting against had hired some high-end attorney from London to defend him. The court was presided over by a seemingly frail elderly woman who was the head of the volunteer lay judges. He tried to bulldoze his way by condescendingly almost addressing her as "dear".
Little did this man know, the locals recognized this woman as a formidable force, sharp as a tack with a tongue sharp enough to cut glass; she wasn't one to be messed with. She absolutely dominated him in the courtroom.
She dissected his claims, criticized him heavily for introducing complex issues without notifying the court beforehand, and scrutinized his comprehension of evidence rules. We never saw that attorney again after that day.
Dolores M. Harvey, Shutterstock
8. Let’s Go To The Tape
The lady who swerved into my lane had a lot to say, accusing me of hitting her from behind. But I shut her down real quick—after patiently listening to her, I quietly took the officer aside to show him the evidence from my dashcam.
Scott Richardson, Shutterstock
9. Do-It-Yourself
In hindsight, this character perhaps should've been an adversary. I'm a teacher and we had a former executive who transitioned late into education. He had some really awful habits including eating other's food, making inappropriate comments to female staff, and giving harsh shoulder grips under the disguise of friendliness.
But this story is about his cunning attempt to avoid work by pretending ignorance. His tasks were not crucial, he just relished the idea of persuading others to do his job for him. One day, he approached me, USB in hand.
His duty was to revise and update a past exam file, a task his daughter ended up doing at home—yes, he got his family involved in his paid public service job. He wanted me to return this updated exam file to the school server, replacing the original. It was just a simple drag-and-drop task from the USB to the server.
I flatly denied, explaining that it was his job and I was preoccupied with my own duties. His comeback surprised me. He began accusing me, loudly and in front of everyone in the staffroom, of not appreciating the challenges his generation faced learning computer technology.
He emphasized that he was attending classes to improve his digital skills, yet claimed that this (dragging a file between folders) was too complex for him. For nearly five minutes, he painted me as the villain for not supporting the struggling elder until I loudly questioned, "So how did you manage to transfer the original file onto the USB in the first place?"
The room fell silent. He walked away and eventually managed to copy his own file.
10. Outfit Repeater
My housemate's previous partner left his car parked outside our house. I asked him nicely to move it or risk it being towed. Suddenly, the car had two flat tires—according to him, my housemate and I were the culprits. He went ahead and lodged a complaint saying we had intentionally deflated his tires, preventing him from moving the car.
Subsequently, he sued us in small claims court. But I knew exactly how to handle this situation. I gave copies of my and our neighbor's door cam footage to both the authorities and the court. The videos clearly showed him sneaking by in the middle of the night to deflate his own tires.
The icing on the cake? The ex showed up in court wearing the same outfit he had on in the videos.
11. No…Don’t Go…
A decade back, I used to work with a colleague that most folks found rather bothersome. She seemed clueless, constantly believing she knew more than others, and she would always be on the brink of getting upset.
One day, she misunderstood something I said and became agitated. Instead of feeding into her hysteria, I kept silent. In response, she decided to leave. She packed her things and left a job she'd been at for years. Surprisingly, no one said a word to dissuade her.
12. Code Red
I used to be the main programmer at a small firm that made tech gadgets. My boss brought in a buddy from his old job who had a bit of a know-it-all attitude. In theory, my view on the product's development should've been valued more, but my boss and his friend didn't seem to care.
I attempted to discuss the issue with my boss regarding the new coworker, but he didn't really listen. His friend, thinking he was a genius, was given a critical part of the project to handle. Naturally, he made it known that he didn't want my help—but he didn't realize this would end up costing him.
As the weeks and months went by, he always claimed his part was nearly tested during the meetings. However, I could see through the git repository that it was all in shambles. Nobody solicited my feedback, so I kept my observations to myself. I waited. Finally, the project deadline arrived for the anticipated product release.
Predictably, nothing was working right. Upper management took notice and my boss only saved his job by letting his friend go. A few weeks later, I decided to leave the firm. It's been more than a year since then and, to my knowledge, the product still hasn't made it to market.
13. Clock’s A-Tickin’
During my lengthy and draining divorce, my ex-husband would repeatedly say he was ready to settle. But every time we met with my lawyer, all we did was shuffle paperwork and argue over minor issues instead of discussing anything meaningful. This didn't happen just once, it was a recurring issue. It was enormously frustrating for me.
I had entered this divorce hopeful for a swift resolution through compromise, but it seemed that wasn't an option. It's worth mentioning that while I had hired a lawyer, my ex-husband was confident he could handle things himself. After multiple instances of this, a certain suspicion arose in my mind.
I started to think that he was intentionally increasing my attorney's fees with the hope that I'd exhaust my funds to pay her, then seize the upper hand once I couldn't manage to finance further counsel. Given that I made less than half of his income and my lawyer's retainer fee had depleted my savings, this concern wasn't unfounded.
One day, as we were leaving my lawyer's office, he actually admitted this tactic to me, laughing as he did so. I shared this insight with my lawyer. It was then I came to know that we were only 6 months away from our 10 year anniversary, at which point I'd be entitled to a significant part of his retirement pension.
Keeping this in mind, my lawyer let him continue with his antics for another six months before deciding to take our case to court. This happened just five days after our decade-long anniversary. Not only did I receive a portion of his pension, but the judge also declared that he had to pay for a significant part of my court-related expenses.
The best part was that he had brought this on himself by playing these games.
14. A New Lease On Life
I once lived in an apartment with a very old lease that had been passed down from one group of college students to another, kind of like a family heirloom. According to the terms of the lease, the landlord could only bump up the rent a little bit each year, unless she renovated the place or it was left unused for a year.
Our landlord knew we were paying much less rent than she could charge new tenants, so she wanted us to move out. Just two weeks before our lease was due for renewal, she mailed us a letter saying she was planning to renovate, so we had to leave. However, my roommate wasn't just any college student—he was studying law.
He knew the law required the landlord to give us much more notice than two weeks. We informed her we weren't relocating and challenged her to pursue judicial measures against us. To our surprise, she did. In court, she told the judge she was planning a renovation.
But when the judge asked for the renovation plans and cost estimates, she couldn't provide them. When asked why she didn't have those essential documents, she confessed she'd only decided to renovate one week earlier. When questioned why she made such a rushed decision without giving us a six months' notice as the law demands, she admitted she wanted to renovate just to start a fresh lease.
The judge couldn't believe her blatant disregard for the law, so he dismissed the case. Not only that, but he also renewed our lease with no increase in rent, because our landlord hadn't given us a new lease with sufficient time to challenge it.
We were left speechless, amazed that she'd been silly enough to confess her real intentions to the judge so openly.
15. What Goes Up Must Come Down
My former boss was awfully challenging in various ways. Our work involved using drones as surveyors to scan extensive areas. Instead of investing in good quality equipment, he always chose the cheapest, most unreliable drones. One particular drone that we had to deal with was frustratingly bad.
It was a fixed-wing model, with a single propeller, launched with a faulty slingshot system that frequently resulted in the drone crashing nose-down. I expressed my displeasure about it, even showing recordings of the unsuccessful launches so he could see it was subpar. In spite of this, he criticised me as an "incompetent pilot."
Following three crashes, copious duct tape usage and numerous heated discussions, he resolved to personally handle the next crucial task. Our deadlines were often unreasonable as he had no real grasp of how long tasks took, promising clients results for the following day.
This meant we needed a flawless flight day without any setbacks, enabling me to process data overnight, ready for delivery the next day. There was no space for mistakes, no second chances—every dawn was a test. During our site visit early one morning, I watched as he prepped the drone, conducted his checks and loaded it onto the much-loathed slingshot.
For once, I didn't prepare a backup drone—perhaps a bit of humility was in order. I took out my phone, retreated a few steps back and looked on as he released the lever. The launch system thrust the drone upward rapidly, after which it spiraled right down into the ground, losing a wing in the process.
The drone’s autopilot triggered a split second later, believing it had been launched. The propeller kicked into high speed smashing itself against the unyielding ground. He watched the entire spectacle in shock. After the drone had finished its dramatic throes of destruction, he gathered the remnants and simply said, "Well, darn."
The ride back to the office was filled with silence. Our boss then had to explain to the client why we were unable to deliver their data on time, causing a delay till the next week. The client's irate voice echoed from the next room as he spoke with our boss on the phone.
We never used that mediocre drone again, and from then on, when I labeled a drone as flawed, my boss agreed with me.
The Lazy Artist Gallery, Pexels
16. Her Day In Court
Several years ago, my older brother was in a heated custody battle with his ex-wife for their son. As the initial custody hearing neared, they found themselves embroiled in a tense text message exchange.
My brother decided to halt the conversation, saying something like, "This discussion ends here. We'll continue on the 15th." His ex-wife shot back a response that stunned him: "The hearing is on the 25th, you fool."
Rather than correct her, my brother chose to let her remain misinformed about the date, leading her to miss the first hearing completely. This turned out to be the first in a string of errors she made navigating the court process, paving the way for my brother and his new wife to eventually secure full custody of his son.
17. They Get By With A Little Help From Their Friends
Once, I was working on a project at a call center where management was pretty hard-nosed about maintaining quality in all calls. They would meticulously analyze each call and then provide a detailed report to both the employee and their supervisor for approval.
If your report rated below 90% twice, you'd get a warning. After four such warnings, you'd lose your job. All of this communication happened through email, so I made it a habit to save all my reports as a safety measure. In my initial few weeks, I received one warning but after that, I always managed to score at least 95% according to my report cards.
One particular week, I noticed some top-performing agents getting fired unexpectedly. These were the folks who were very much supervisor material in my eyes. I discovered that they were terminated because of poor performance reports.
To my surprise, one day HR informed me that I was being fired due to multiple reports of low scores. But I had a safety net—all my saved reports which showed I consistently scored above 90%. I informed HR about these and forwarded them for review. Shortly thereafter, HR called me again.
Instead of being fired, they reassigned me to a different, higher-paying project. As it turned out, top management had been tampering with the reports after supervisors had approved them. They were doing so to favor their friends and put them in management roles.
The worst part was that all the management team knew about this deceptive practice and chose to ignore it. Eventually, the project was closed down and every wrongfully dismissed agent was rehired, just like me, into better-paying projects.
Tima Miroshnichenko, Shutterstock
18. Embarrassment Is The Same In Any Language
I was once handling a mortgage for a French gentleman in Miami Beach who was working with a French realtor. Despite both being perfectly able to converse in English, the realtor regularly side-chatted in French, totally unaware that I was also fluent in French.
When they finally decided on a property and we were all in the elevator leaving the condo, the realtor warned him in French that we were untrustworthy and would take advantage of him. She suggested he collaborate with a different, supposedly superior person that she knew.
Just before the elevator ride ended, I calmly responded to him in French. I assured him that we would gladly compare our offer with any other, and would absolutely love to assist him with this and other investments in the future.
His laughter then filled the elevator, leaving the realtor absolutely stunned. He chose to stick with us and immediately dismissed her as his agent right on the spot.
19. All Going To Plan
I was at a worksite and the architect happened by one day. I'd received some light fixtures intended for wall sconces in the lobby of a rental office. However, these particular fixtures were designed to dangle from the ceiling, not be mounted on a wall.
I tried to explain the issue to the architect, but he wouldn't listen and insisted I follow the blueprint. So, I shrugged at the apprentice and told him to follow the architect's orders. Not much later, we heard the sound of shattering glass. When the startled architect asked what had happened, I replied, "That was your light fixture."
20. Some Humble Pie
Once when I was in my teens, my cousin Jenny got into a fierce argument with her mother, Jackie. The altercation was so severe that Jenny phoned my parents for help and asked if she could stay with us for a while. At first, we were shocked and sympathetic, but soon discovered the reality of the situation.
Jenny was notorious for telling tales, exaggerating and loving the drama. She constantly lied about everything, and Jackie had never physically harmed her. We were aware of these rumors, but we decided to give her the benefit of the doubt…until a particular incident unfolded that changed everything.
My mom always stashed a few pies in the freezer for unexpected guests. One day, Jenny swiped a pie and devoured the entire thing. When my mom got home and found out her pie was missing, she was furious. Jenny instantly blamed me for the missing pie. I was summoned to the kitchen and questioned.
I vehemently denied eating the pie, got told off for lying, while Jenny started narrating an over-the-top story about how I had eaten the pie precisely to get her into trouble. For three long minutes, Jenny kept telling her tall tale, and my mom's anger towards me was escalating.
Meanwhile, I couldn't help but chuckle in disbelief. Once Jenny finished spinning her story, I pointed out a significant detail. The missing pie was coconut cream—a flavor I absolutely detest. My mom, aware of my distaste for coconut, suddenly realized the truth. Jenny turned pale when the revelation hit her.
She was grounded for a month. The memory of their shocked faces still makes me smile. Ironically, Jenny attempted to pull the same prank two months later, this time with a chocolate cream pie. But my mom wasn't fooled again.
21. Whisper Network
When I was a beginner journalist in a small community, I wrote an article about a problem with stray dogs attacking children. However, local dog enthusiasts seemed to think my story was an anti-dog manifesto. They shared my piece in their WhatsApp group and began to badmouth me.
Little did they know, I was part of this group; the administrator, who also runs a local dog shelter, had added me after I reported on his shelter months ago. They started conspiring to spread false stories about me, suggesting I'd made up details for my article and planned to report me to my newspaper.
It's worth noting these were respectable members of society—doctors, lawyers and high-ranking executives. As a new reporter, their accusations could have sided against me.
Instead, I took screenshots of their chat and showed it to my editor, who found their claims hilarious. Not long after that, their complaints about me ceased. The group moderator apologized to me personally. However, I never revealed to the group that I'd seen their whole conversation.
22. This Comes From The Top
I was employed with a nationwide firm, and I had a task that required assistance from a teammate in a different branch. But she was really uncooperative, arguing against carrying out the task, stating it wasn't the right protocol. Actually, it was indeed the right approach according to my superior, who is also her boss's supervisor.
However, before I could explain the source of my instructions, she chose to shoot me a super patronizing email, making sure to include both her supervisor and mine. Clearly, she was attempting to make me look bad. I simply hung back till both her supervisor and mine affirmed that I was correct.
All the while, I was quietly wondering, "Why are you complicating things for yourself, girl?"
23. It Goes Both Ways
When I was let go from work, my area manager wanted to tape our talk, thinking I would be distressed. So, I agreed. As he started to explain why I was being let go, he said, "You're about to graduate from college, and we want to be proactive about you potentially quitting".
With a composed mind, I requested that he send me that recording immediately. Later that day, I reached out to a lawyer. Now, I'm free of any student loans. I emerged victorious in a dispute due to a broken contract.
Krakenimages.com, Shutterstock
24. Step Off The Soap Box
This occurred at a neighborhood voting association gathering. Everyone thought it would just be a simple reappointment of the former candidate (who is my boss) until a past candidate decided to jump in. He gave a long speech claiming he had a lot of local backing (which he didn't have) and went off on a tangent.
You know how people sometimes speed up their talking instead of getting to the point? It was just like that. Out of the blue, my boss messages me, "Don't hesitate to interrupt and suggest a vote." I answer, "Wait a sec, I think he is about to make a blunder."
And just like that, he blurts out an offensive remark about my boss's ethnicity. Without a doubt, after he realized his mistake, he wisely opted to drop out.
Henri Mathieu-Saint-Laurent, Pexels
25. Money Talks
Many years back, I used to work for an upscale furniture shop. My duties included handling documents and coding software. I felt I deserved a better salary, so I approached the newly appointed office manager and asked for a raise. He wasn't well-liked, and was eventually let go on harassment charges.
Surprisingly, he agreed I deserved better pay but told me the company's financial constraints due to numerous unsettled bills made it impossible. "So, if I manage to reduce those bills, the company can afford my raise?" He consented, but the condition was to bring the bills down to nil within three months.
Quite a challenge! But, I was willing to act as a debt collector. We dealt in luxury furniture, so I knew our clients could afford to pay. I quickly realized that the accumulated bills were due to our reluctance to demand payment from wealthy clients. I didn't feel the same way and was able to recover certain payments.
Some die-hards still remained, but I was allowed to involve a debt collection agency. Handing over the remaining debts to them meant those were no longer our problem. This solution helped clear a major chunk of the debts. A few others were called off as they posed threats of litigation regarding the old bill (the owner wanted to avoid scandal).
Three months later, the office manager called me for a meeting. He complimented my work after reviewing the bills. I was well-aware of what was to follow. He admired how I managed to recover a massive amount of money for the business. He was pleased.
He wished for me to take up debt collection permanently. "However, there's a hitch. We are yet to clear all due bills. Several thousands are still unpaid. Sorry, but I can’t approve your raise just yet." I pointed out that the majority of unsettled bills belonged to the owner's family members.
"Would you like me to involve the debt collection agency for those cases too? That can bring the unsettled amount to below nil". He was quick to flare up and asked me to drop the subject. Regardless, I got my raise.
26. Tight Quarters
I was out on a deliveries run in the heart of a small city. My job was with an event rentals company, where we provided items like tents, tables, and chairs. Our mode of transportation was large box trucks equipped with hydraulic lift gates on the backside.
In simple terms, a lift-gate is pretty much a mini, heavy-duty metal elevator that's stationed below the rear bumper of large vehicles. It can extend a few feet away from the truck when it's being used. Parked downtown with a big truck can be downright stressful, but we scored a spot right in front of the venue we were delivering to.
Given the hustle and bustle of the street, it felt like we hit the jackpot. Space was tight, but we managed. We had just enough room to extend the lift gate from the truck and a little stretch of land behind that.
Two other crew members accompanied me—one would stay put in the truck, while the other would operate the gate and transport the items inside, alternating with me. Then, an elderly lady in a shiny BMW SUV decided to parallel park behind our truck, invading the tiny space we were functioning in.
Although this was inconvenient and thoughtless, I understood—we were in the heart of a city, and parking spaces were in demand. Meanwhile, my colleague in the truck was prepping the next batch of items for delivery, causing the lift-gate to hang roughly 5 feet in the air.
Despite this, the lady proceeds to back up her vehicle, turns her wheel sharply, and ends up scraping the life out of her BMW against our robust steel lift gate. Yes, she had managed to park, but her SUV had seen better days. The passenger side fender and headlight were visibly damaged, while our steel goliath remained intact.
She got out of her vehicle and started blaming us furiously for the damage. She vented her anger on us for a few minutes before taking a breath. Once she quietened down a bit, I told her that this argument was counterproductive, as we're not responsible for the damage.
Unfortunately, this comment reignited her, and she ended up alerting the authorities. Despite this, we continued with our delivery until law enforcement officials arrived. Upon their arrival, she changed gear completely. "Officers, I'm relieved you're here—that's them," she declared, pointing at us.
Without us having to explain our side of the story, she narrated the entire incident of how she bumped her BMW into our stationary truck. The officer turned to me, and all I could offer was a worn-out shake of my head.
He then explained to the lady that she was the one at fault, and to add insult to injury, she even got a citation for smashing into our truck.
27. The Writing On The Wall
I've always used a unique blue Pilot G2 pen for paperwork. Once, at a past job, I prepped a machine-made product for packaging but encountered an issue: the outer rim was slightly too large. Despite all attempts, I couldn't decrease the size. We decided to let the item continue setting, hoping it would shrink in storage.
The quality technician gave the okay to this deviation. Fast forward a few months, a handful of customers reported the lids didn't fit correctly, mostly with hot foods or in warm conditions. Consequently, everyone who purchased my product received a refund.
I was summoned to the head office, handed a firm warning, quality alert, and a copy of the quality paperwork. The technician claimed she never allowed the product to continue with the quality deviation. She had a replica of my document to support her argument.
Once they'd all had their say, I took out my pen, and on the back of the warning stated, "I refuse to sign this warning as I'm not at fault." I advised them to review all quality sheets, training sign-offs, my job application, and offer letter. They'd notice my distinct blue ink on those.
The quality sheet they had was a photocopy, as my handwriting was in black, not blue. The plant manager dismissively shredded the warning and told me to go home for the day (having already worked a 12-hour shift). He didn't seem pleased. The next day, a new quality technician was on duty.
My advice for anyone whose job involves routine paperwork: use a blue pen.
28. Not Quite A Slam-Dunk Case
I was part of a jury for a trial concerning an intention to sell illicit substances. The prosecutor used a detective's testimony to outline how the accused person operated. Based on the evidence, it was established that the accused would sit in his car outside his home, then a buyer would arrive and ask for a product.
The suspect would take the money, go into his house where his grandmother (yes, his grandmother) would trade the cash for the item, and then he'd go back outside to hand over the product to the buyer. The defendant appeared to think that if he didn't personally trade the product for money, he couldn't be held accountable.
In their investigation, the detectives followed this process multiple times—and their case was rock-solid. Later, they returned accompanied by numerous law enforcement officers who took everyone into custody. During the trial, the defendant testified as his lawyer tried to argue it was simply a case of the detectives mistaking the defendant for someone else.
Lawyer: "Is it typical for young men your age in your area to dress alike and frequently hang around their cars parked on the street?"
Defendant: "No."
Lawyer: *stammers* "Er, what I meant was..."
Prosecutor: "Objection. The question was already answered."
Judge: "Objection upheld. It wasn't the response your question was aiming for, but it was a valid answer. Proceed."
The jury found him guilty on all charges. And that's a wrap.
29. Scratch My Back, I Won’t Scratch Yours
My former colleague was extremely irresponsible. He frequently used the excuse "I have a baby, so I need certain working hours" to his advantage. But, he had no issues cancelling these shifts abruptly to hang out with friends the night before. He often woke me up with late night calls, asking me to cover his morning shifts.
Despite my willingness to help, when I needed his assistance (which I often asked for well in advance), he would conveniently use the same baby excuse. During the Christmas season, I requested to work the December 31st morning shift, so that I could celebrate New Year's Eve with my boyfriend.
His immediate response was a firm no, because it was his baby's first New Year's Eve. His irresponsible behaviour caught up with him soon. On the night of December 30th, while I was either gaming or watching Netflix at 2 a.m., he called. Turns out, he was out somewhere and wanted me to cover his morning shift again.
However, this time, I decided not to respond and put my phone on "Do Not Disturb". When I woke, I found 50 missed calls from him, a number from other colleagues and around 10 from our boss. Predictably, he hadn't shown up for work. This negligence ended up costing him his job, making our workplace a much better environment.
30. Fast And Furious
Back when we had speed camera vans around, I remember a day when I was out and about. There was this one planted right around a bend on a busy street. If you were driving north, you'd only spot it when you're already mid-bend. I was in and out a lot that day, and even when I passed by an hour later from the opposite side, the van was still there.
Even later still, I found myself on that same route, heading north. During the drive, there was this one rude driver who was behaving aggressively. He was speeding and swerving between lanes to get ahead, even though it was quite busy because of rush hour.
Between the red lights, it was clear he was frustrated at everyone else's school of thought to share the road peacefully. Eventually, we both ended up at a red light, and he was one car behind and beside me. As the light turned green, I accelerated a bit faster than the car next to him, so he switched lanes after cutting someone off.
Now, he's closely tailing me as we approached the bend where the speed trap was before. With my quick start, there was a small gap in the left lane, but he stayed close as it wasn't big enough for his car just yet.
As we got close to the bend where the speed van was parked, I gave some gas to the car to widen the gap, and then took off my foot just before the bend. Just as predicted, the aggressive driver saw the gap, pushed his petal to the metal to take over, and there the speed trap camera was!
I couldn't help smile when I heard the flash go off as he zipped past the van.
31. What About Bob?
Bob Ebeling, an engineer for the space shuttle Challenger, was fully aware that it might explode. Despite facing strong pressure from NASA's top brass, he consistently warned that the cold weather could lead to a disaster.
When asked to approve the launch, he made a decisive move that he later called his life's best decision—he didn't sign off on it, leaving it to his boss instead. Post the catastrophe, NASA stated in an investigation that the engineers indeed approved the launch on that fateful day.
This was technically accurate but wildly misleading. Bob didn't let the matter rest there. He headed to the inquiry hearing and boldly told the shocked officials that he had tried to prevent the launch but was overruled.
Following his testimony, the government gave the NASA executives the boot and appointed Bob as the head of the investigation.
32. “You’ve Got The Right Man!”
A while back, just after high school, I knew this guy who was employed at a Shop-Ko. He had a bad habit of taking money from the cash register every time he was on checkout duty.
One day, he was seen in the act on surveillance cameras, prompting law enforcement officers to apprehend him at the store during his next scheduled work shift. As he's being handcuffed and escorted out of the store, he made things 10x worse for himself: "You all are fools! I've been pilfering from you for years!"
As you can imagine, that didn’t go down too well.
33. Making Up The Grade
Before I switched careers, I was in charge of a team of four in an office setting. My boss, who wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, wanted to know how I had graded my employees for their yearly evaluations.
I was fortunate enough to manage four committed employees who were keen to learn, and I was able to impart knowledge and tasks not typically part of their "grade-level". This was helpful to those eyeing promotions or better-paying positions. Their performance surpassed expectations, with two performing impressively.
Consequently, I gave those two an A grade, and the other two received B grades. Yet, my boss didn't agree and contended that their performance needed to be exceptionally good to warrant high grades. Her view hinged on the normal distribution concept, advocating for a set amount of As, Bs, and Cs to be given out.
While she went on about this, I reclaimed the evaluation sheets and asked her to point out where they fell short. She struggled to provide an answer. I asked her if she knew what their daily tasks involved. She fumbled again and grew slightly irritated. Further, when I asked about their last names, she didn't even know!
I firmly stated that if she didn't know such fundamental details, she wasn't in a position to question their performance or my grading. Next, I posed a hypothetical scenario—what if, for the majority, performance was poor? Would she distribute Ds and Es just to maintain her idea of "normal distribution"?
To this, she admitted that doing so would be absurd. I countered by saying the same applies to high-performing employees and it'd be equally absurd to underrate their performance. I stood my ground and told her that while she could grade me poorly, she couldn't alter my employee evaluations.
On departure from her office, I would share the grades with the team. That way, if any alteration occurred, they'd know it wasn't on me. In the end, my team kept their deserving grades. I was given a C, but it didn't bother me. I left that job soon after and transitioned my career. I've never looked back since. What an experience!
34. True Colors
There was a guy in our friend group who I had intentionally distanced from because he became nasty when he drank. Despite my warnings, a friend decided to invite him to a BBQ. I mentioned that he'd probably cause trouble. Sure enough, a couple of hours into the BBQ, my prediction came true in the worst possible way.
This individual became intoxicated and found it entertaining to unexpectedly hit another guest who has Asperger's. Despite everyone telling him how awful his actions were, he just laughed it off as if it was no big deal... Meanwhile, his victim was clearly upset and trying not to cry.
I didn't need to say or do anything else, he showed his true colours to everyone present. After that incident, nobody in the group interacted with him anymore. It was a relief to see him gone.
35. In The Hot Seat
One of my former colleagues lost his temper with me because I had used the company truck that he usually drives the night before. He was particularly upset because he thought I had wrecked the driver's seat with my larger than average backside.
I did my best to stay calm and got in touch with our supervisor who quickly came and gathered us into the company office. With some nodding and affirmative responses, I allowed my colleague to keep on talking, which only made things worse for him.
He always had a loud and boisterous personality, so him talking his way into trouble wasn't surprising. Our supervisor told him to gather his personal items and take a few days to cool off. Sadly, he was let go after his 3 day cooling-off period.
It turned out that the actual issue with the truck seat was that I had forgotten to readjust the lumbar support, nothing more.
ESB Professional, Shutterstock
36. Don’t Label Me
I used to work at a big manufacturer that made vape juice, and my job was printing labels for the bottles. There was this production manager who wrongly assumed her rank was above mine, when instead, we were equal in hierarchy. Now this manager was under the impression that her projects were always top of my list.
She failed to grasp the concept that we had an established system dictating the printing order required to fulfill all our orders appropriately. Once, our mutual boss suggested to me that I should just try to accommodate her requests to keep the peace.
One day, she decided to bulk order 150k labels for each of the two specific product lines we had, assuming it'd mean she'd never have to wait for labels again. However, there was a major problem—everyone at the company was aware that the industry regulations and labeling standards were about to change.
I tried expressing my concern that this was a bad idea, yet she kept insisting on it. Finally, I just went with it and had my team do their best to juggle this task with our actual priorities. This meant a lot of late hours, but also a lot of overtime.
It was only during the task, after 300k labels of the 600k for the first line had been printed, that the boss caught wind of the situation. When he asked me, I reminded him that he'd told me to do whatever necessary to keep her complaints at bay, so that's exactly what I was doing. He immediately put a halt to that order.
She was reprimanded, and those printed labels? They were still gathering dust on a corner shelf three years later when the company closed for good.
37. A House Of Cards
Once, I had an old boss who treated me poorly when I took a few extra days of bereavement. She wasn't too bright, so I sent her an email reminding her of our earlier conversation about those days off. Rather than just confirming our agreement, she turned hostile and began to insult me. I decided to step up and address this issue.
With eight years of reliable service at this company under my belt at another location, I had a strong reputation behind me. Fast forward two to three weeks, my team was summoned to a sudden meeting where it was announced that this boss was taking early retirement.
One of my co-workers even spotted her shedding tears in the parking lot later that day. I'm not a person who usually harbors ill feelings, but this incident brought me great relief. Even today, I admit I still harbor some resentment towards her.
38. Stuck In The Middle
My wife has spent two decades as a school teacher. She was given a shared teaching role with a colleague for special-needs students. There was no harmony in their relationship, with friction between them escalating over time.
It got so severe that both she, her co-teacher, and their respective supervisors had to attend mandatory conflict resolution meetings.
Towards the end of one of these sessions, the other teacher asked the mediator, "What happens next if our issues persist?" It turns out, the subsequent step involved firing the teacher without tenure.
39. He Couldn’t Manage This One
We used to work with an account manager from a major software company who was consistently difficult. He frequently hassled us over contractual details and the like. However, when contract renewal came up, our chief attorney, who also happened to be the boss's wife, attended the sessions.
The situation took a dramatic turn. As we settled down and she offered him a coffee, he abruptly complimented her on being a waitress present at the meeting. Needless to say, they provided us with a different account manager in no time.
40. A Room Of One’s Own
Let me tell you a story from my college days for perspective. After my graduation, my husband had a year of college left, so I rented an apartment in the same town. He stayed in a campus dorm with his buddies. They were okay with me living there as long as I chipped in with the housework.
However, midway through the year, things got rocky. As one roommate left to study abroad, another's girlfriend moved in. At first, we got on well and even became friends. Unexpectedly, a month later, a residence advisor (RA) confronted all of us about a complaint regarding my stay.
Everyone was startled, except for one couple—yup, the ones who reported me to the RA instead of talking directly to me about their concerns. During the meeting with the RA, they arrived late and began to reveal their true colors. The RA's displeasure slightly directed at me initially, shifted drastically to disbelief and annoyance as the girlfriend tried to explain.
She admitted that she was aware of my staying situation before she moved in and had agreed to it, but later had some "feelings", albeit unclear ones. She was also strangely paranoid because she had not even tried discussing her issues with me or my husband due to a past unrelated incident.
Meanwhile, her silent boyfriend admitted to disliking the setup but didn't voice it out because he didn't want to "ruin the apartment vibe," which ironically, he did anyway by his own actions. Throughout the confusion, I stayed calm and stated that if anyone had issues, I was ready to stay in my apartment and only receive visits from my husband.
To my surprise, my other roommates expressed to the RA how unexpected this whole situation was. In the end, the RA, completely annoyed at this point, informed me that per dorm rules, I could only stay if I were a guest.
The quick thinking of my other three roommates saved the day, as they immediately volunteered to host me when my husband wasn't home. Trust me, their reaction to this was priceless. Things got quite cold between this couple and the rest of us after that incident.
They secluded themselves in their room for the remainder of the year. The girlfriend tried to mend bridges with me later, ironically through gaslighting. But I saw right through her and distanced myself, wanting nothing more to do with her, much to her surprise.
41. I Did It My Way
On a project I've been a part of, a contractor was having a tough time setting up some equipment correctly. I tried to gently point out to the supervisor what they were doing incorrectly and shared my concerns about equipment failure. He shut me down by saying that he'd been in the business for a decade, had installed a dozen similar setups, and didn't need my advice.
\However, I've been in this field for nearly 19 years and it's my responsibility to ensure everything is done right. I nodded and kept quiet. But a few days later, I noticed they continued employing the same wrong methods without fixing the previous mistakes.
I rang the alarm bells by calling a meeting to discuss my worries. That led to a halt in the work until the required adjustments were made. His superiors were quick to notice his stubbornness which ended up costing them a lot of money. As a result, he was removed from the job the next day.
Jirapong Manustrong, Shutterstock
42. Butterfly Effect
One day when I was at work, my former partner attempted to take our child from me, despite my being their primary caregiver. This happened just after I'd commenced divorce proceedings.
He was under the influence and failed a sobriety test. As a result, I was given immediate custody of our child. This poor choice likely contributed greatly to the unfortunate situation he now finds himself in.
43. Slow Your Roll
As a lawyer, I once found myself in a heated dispute for a client against another lawyer who was far from competent. He had the chance to speak first, and observing that he was on the verge of losing control in his rebuttal, I only said my piece for a brief moment. And lose control he did.
He scattered around all forms of arguments he could summon. The judge was clearly irked and cautioned him to stop multiple times. Despite his blatant lies about my client, I chose to quietly retreat from the lectern we were both at and let him continue.
By the climax of the drama, I found myself near the back of the courtroom. After another minute of his unwarranted rambling, the court officer had to intervene, physically stopping the lawyer by placing a hand on his back. To this day, that remains a unique experience in my career.
44. Now It’s Personal
I’m an attorney currently representing a client in a self-defense case. My client was involved in a physical conflict and used force in what he claims to be self-defense. Not all the evidence I initially wanted to present in court is admissible, so the alternative is having my client testify.
There's a great deal of risk in this, but we've prepared rigorously. We proceed with this plan. After going through the basics with him, I let the prosecutor have his turn questioning him. The prosecutor aggressively questioned him, particularly for not informing the authorities about the incident afterward. Things were getting intense...
The lawyer on the other side then brought a local law enforcement officer onto the stand to comment on my client's character. The officer shares elements about why they don’t trust my client, with the backdrop of them all living in a tight-knit community. In short, it's character evidence.
I decided not to interrupt or object as much as I could have during this testimony. Instead, I thought, "This is a bit much, but let the officer say his piece." That gave me material for my concluding statement: "Why didn't he make an official report? The officer just explained to you why he didn't."
45. Timing Is Everything
I let my ex-wife know about our divorce court date the next day, but she didn't react well and told me to leave her alone. So, I went on my own. She didn't show up, which really annoyed the judge.
He asked me what I wanted in terms of both assets and custody of the kids. He noted down my preferences and I could practically imagine her uproar when she read the orders from so far away.
46. All-Terrain Idiot
My colleague, though friendly, isn't the most competent worker; he's a bit of a goof-off, prone to immaturity. He'd often overzealously ride the work ATVs and was caught for it before. We received an instruction not to let the tire lift off the ground when turning the ATVs.
However, anyone who's ridden an ATV understands that the rear tire can lift slightly even at slow speeds—our boss was trying to emphasize this to some less discerning folks. Later on, another colleague turned the ATV next to me at an appropriate speed, causing the tire to slightly lift.
The first colleague noticed this and immediately reported it via the radio, hoping to deflect some heat from himself. A bit later, when I came across him, I humorously tagged him as a tattletale, off the radio. That hit a nerve, and he went on the radio again to complain to our boss about my comment, causing quite the commotion.
We all anticipated a meeting, but before it, the two of us involved decided to keep cool, apologize and allow our overreactive colleague to dig himself deeper into trouble. Our boss had a clear picture of what was going on, and as the colleague heatedly rehashed the situation, boss warned him—if he walked out mid-discussion, he was fired.
And predictably, that's exactly what he did.
Sergei Domashenko, Shutterstock
47. What Goes Around Comes Around
About 25 years ago, a man swiped a presentation of mine. We didn't get along at all. As he began his speech, I noticed I made a substantial mistake in my presentation which he unknowingly copied. However, I didn't say a word until he finished.
Then, I questioned him about the mistake in front of our CEO. He was at a loss for words. That wasn't the only reason he was let go, but that incident didn't help. On the whole, he was a disagreeable person.
48. Lost In Translation
Back in my high school Spanish class, there was this typical tough-guy jock who sat in front of me. He would always turn and take my assignments to copy the answers. He did it with ease because, as a shy and non-confrontational teenager, I usually let it slide. But I came up with a plan.
One day, I grabbed two copies of a verb exercise sheet, and intentionally filled in wrong answers. Like clockwork, this guy swiped my paper with all the incorrect answers. The best part happened the next day when our teacher handed back our assignments. His paper showed a score of 60%, while mine proudly bore a flawless 100%.
Furious, he turned around to me and accused, "You got these wrong!!!" I showed him my perfect scoring worksheet, then said, "I'm honored you trust my work so much". So, take that, Patrick. Even two decades later, the memory of his horrified expression gives me a little joy.
Monkey Business Images, Shutterstock
49. Read It And Weep
I used to be a lawyer. One time, a man decided to sue my client, claiming he was let go from his job for all the wrong reasons. He said he had missed work due to circumstances that should've been excused. So what did I do? I decided to investigate further by checking out the plaintiff's history in the public records database.
It was there I hit the jackpot. I discovered he had been at court on all the days he claimed to have missed work. Now, I didn't rush to accuse the man in front of the court, which might have given him a chance to twist his narrative. Instead, I took a deposition, methodically going through his account of every day he was away from work.
\He conveniently skipped mentioning his court appearances. After a month of the deposition, I mailed the plaintiff's lawyer the court records, carefully marking the dates that mattered.
Along with these documents, I enclosed a request to dismiss the case voluntarily as well as a warning that we'll take action for pursuing the case in bad faith if they proceed further. I didn't hear back from the lawyer, but a week later, a dismissal order from the judge arrived.
50. Quit Your Bellyaching
Back in my 4th grade, my pal and I loved gathering fallen leaves into a heap during break time. This would usually be by the fence where the wind pushed them. But, there was this smaller kid who always discovered our leaf pile when we were nearly done.
He wasn't big, yet he had the two largest 5th graders as his muscle, so we had to let him dive into our leaf pile or face a beating. One day, I came across a tree stump and thought of hiding it under the leaves. As expected, the little ruffian strutted over, demanding to be the first to dive into the pile.
I warned him it wasn't a good idea. Ignoring me, he bellyflopped onto the pile and, of course, onto the stump. After that, we never had to worry about him ruining our fun with the leaf pile again.
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