‘Fine, I’ll Play the System’ : Man Commutes 175 Miles per Day to Work, Company Refuses to Reimburse Him for Transit, Leading to Malicious Compliance

Eleonora Bader

Jan 25, 2023 12:00 PM EST

Committing to a 6+ hour commute to work every day is a superpower that most of us cannot claim to have. I certainly wouldn't be willing to do that under any circumstance. This Redditer told his impressive tale of malicious compliance, where he beat the system that was designed to fail, after asking his company to reimburse his travel costs.

At the time he was living in San Diego, working in Downtown Los Angeles (that's a 175-mile per day commute). He was in the middle of studying for an exam that would allow him to become a licensed Journeyman Electrician and chose to ride the train to gain some study time, instead of driving his car in the difficult LA traffic.

He rode a train and a subway to work every day for three entire months. To say he has some incredible tenacity is putting it lightly. This would have cost the company only about $17, had they been willing to be reasonable. But they decided that they were only willing to pay for gas and parking ($50) — if you're raising your eyebrows, join the club. We're all confused.

Scroll down to read his detailed account of what happened below. You can also check out these hilariously rare insults.