'You specifically asked me to delete it despite my protests': Company stranded after firing reluctant developer and telling them to delete everything they made

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Jul 3, 2023 9:00 AM EDT

There are a lot of confusing things happening in this story, like how this night shift worker became integrated with their company's development team, contributing significantly to the point where the higher-ups were using their reporting dashboard for their reports. Yet, at the same time, there was somehow no one willing to stick up for them when their head was placed on the chopping block for seeking increasing compensation for their constantly-increasing responsibility and contribution.

Still, stranger things have happened, and usually, the inverse occurs—with someone being elevated to a role they're woefully unqualified for—rather than maintaining a role and never being promoted from it despite being completely overqualified.

This whole experience speaks to the fact that you should never do something you're not getting paid for, and you're more than likely never going to be paid for it, thanks to the fact that no one will ever realize how vital your contributions are until you're long gone.

Read on for this classic internet tale from Reddit's r/talesfromtechsupport subreddit community. Next, check out this client who was rude about their support ticket being escalated, which led to them being fired when their boss was made aware of their attitude.