'I smiled the entire drive home after that': Grocery store clerk of 11 years stops new management in their tracks when attempting to flex authority

Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor

Aug 25, 2023 10:00 AM EDT

It's a story we see all too often... A well-oiled machine of a team that has been working perfectly together gets a wrench thrown in the works by some flashy new manager who wants to show off. They come in like they own the place, even though they most definitely don't even know how to do most of the jobs they're managing, and then they change everything up. Now, the once well-working system is chaotic, and things are running as they should, and who is the first to suffer? Not the new manager, oh no. Layoffs start happening. That is exactly what happened to this Reddit poster, but she made sure to let her new manager know exactly how she feels with good old-fashioned malicious compliance.

OP has worked at this grocery store for over a decade. She has gone through several different departments and positions, but she is content with her current post as a part-time clerk. Even as part-time, she has still been able to come in and get extra hours, so she's been happy. Until the new manager kept trying to give her a problem because she wasn't following her schedule, so she decided to only be there the exact hours she was scheduled to work instead of staying longer to help out. And would you know it, things didn't go well. The manager tried to reprimand her for it, but she didn't do anything wrong. She just followed the schedule the manager made her exactly as it was. So, welcome to malicious compliance city, baby!