'I know full well what is going to happen': Boss tells employee to wash off sidewalk graffiti and 'only wash where the paint is'

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Dec 27, 2023 3:00 PM EST

This boss saw graffiti outside his business and decided to do the funniest thing possible. Not that he intended to… but his employee got a kick out of it regardless. 

So you've had a bad experience with a company. What do you do about it? You might want to call up and speak to a manager, and that may net you a gift card or some coupons. Or if you're still upset about it and the place won't right their wrongs, you could leave a one-star review to warn others. This person was ready to break the law in order to get their point across: they scribbled some graffiti on the sidewalk outside the company! Their dissatisfaction was then seen by higher-ups, because the customer wrote it right outside their windows. As a customer, will this get you results? No, but it certainly is petty. 

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  • For one employee at that company, clean-up was assigned by their boss, and it was the top priority. In a funny twist, their boss was clueless about how to clean up the mess, and he only made things worse. 

    After you check out that story, read about what happened when this kid fell in a river and was then asked to do chores at home. 

  • 01
    'Erasing the message was a top priority'
    via BP Miller on Unsplash
  • 02
    Just where the paint is M Some time ago where I was working we came in one morning to find that overnight someone had used paint to write '<company name> 'in huge letters on our sidewalks. The letters were so big that there were only one or two per sidewalk square. They were
    via u/inkseep1
  • 03
    clearly visible from the upper office windows. management Word comes down from management that erasing the message was a top priority. My boss tells me to go rent a pressure washer and wash off the paint. I tell him, no problem, the sidewalks need washed
    via u/inkseep1
  • 04
    anyway. He gets the idea that I will spend all day just washing sidewalks so he tells me that he only wants me to wash off just where the paint is. We go back and forth on how much to clean and he insists that I was to only wash where the paint is. Finally, I get him to put that in writing on
    via u/inkseep1
  • 05
    the work order request form because I know full well what is going to happen. I get the pressure washer and cleaner and go to work blasting off the paint with a narrow spray tip being careful to only do the spots where the paint is. Then he takes the pressure washer back to the
    via u/inkseep1
  • 06
    rental company while I go do the regular daily stuff. Near the end of the day, my boss and I are both called on the carpet by the manager a few levels above my boss. He is 1. From his window he can still clearly see the huge letters in gleaming white against the unwashed
    via u/inkseep1
  • 07
    parts of the sidewalk squares. I start pulling my boss's written work orders out of my pocket. He recognizes the paper before I even unfold it so he suddenly just says he will personally fix it. He had to go rent the sprayer again. The best part was that because he wasn't going to be authorized any overtime for it, he had to stay
    via u/inkseep1
  • 08
    himself to wash the entire sidewalk squares. But he only washed off that part of the sidewalk. For the next few days I had to spend time washing all of the outside concrete, including planters and curb stops, because the managers wanted everything cleaned to match. We did end up buying our own washer for this.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 09
    Dr_Cannibalism Getting it in writing was definitely a wise move there.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 10
    shadowofashadow. He gets the idea that I will spend all day just washing sidewalks so he tells me that he only wants me to wash off just where the paint is. Rofl, I saw where this was going right away. How could he be so blind?
    via u/inkseep1
  • 11
    Dfiggsmeister That's why I clarify every order I get and make sure I get it in writing.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 12
    Fluffymufinz "Won't approve OT" "Have to stay after to clean it" Pick one. I don't need a job that won't pay me for my time.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 13
    ☆4--2 UseDaSchwartz To everyone commenting, let this be a lesson in how to not go about handling a situation...unless your boss is an If you knew, why didn't you just tell him.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 14
    If you told him, it would have made you look good. Now you just made him look like an idiot and he's probably I about it.
    via u/inkseep1
  • 15
    kazneus Beautiful, OP. Just beautiful.
    via u/inkseep1

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boss cleaning workplace-stories jobs job funny stories malicious compliance paint bosses wash work pressure malicious-compliance-reddit graffiti workplace sidewalk malicious compliance reddit washing
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