Malicious Compliance: Balloon Artist Inexplicably Assigned to Bar With No Children Makes "Lewd Balloon Animals" Instead

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Mar 7, 2022 7:00 PM EST

When this balloon artist upset the wrong person, they found themselves repeatedly assigned to a location lacking the usual clientele. To the establishment's horror, they decided to take matters into their own hands and began making lewd balloon animals, which were a smash hit.

Redditor u/Shaftway shared this story today to Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. A subreddit where people share stories about "People conforming to the letter, but not the spirit, of a request." As evident in the sub's name.

u/Shaftway describes their time as a balloon animal artist way back when they were a teenager. They explain that they worked as a contractor through an agency that would give them assignments to different locations.

"The restaurant would pay this agency, and they would tell us what restaurant to go to and when." tells u/Shaftway.

They explain that they were not paid a wage, relying solely on tips for their payment. A practice that would have been highly illegal anywhere in the United States, but u/Shaftway was a desperate teen who needed the money. The entire system relied on that vulnerability to exploit the artist's labor.

"On an average night, I'd make around $50 in tips over 3 hours; on special nights, it could be as high as $200, but if there were no customers, I'd make nothing," u/Shaftway explained.

u/Shaftway explains that they must have upset someone somewhere because they began getting the absolute worst assignment to a location in the business district that rarely saw any children, a clientele that the artists relied on.

After weeks of continually receiving this assignment, u/Shaftway had had enough… and devised a plan to get paid.

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You're going to assign me to make balloon animals at a site with no kids? OK, I'll just do my job

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Image from the link in the comment above:

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