'I annoyed... him every time he set foot in the office': Bookstore worker forced to work in the dark after lazy boss won't replace broken lightbulb

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 14, 2024 3:00 PM EDT

This boss is quite literally not the brightest bulb. He seems like the kind of person who cuts costs at every possible moment, which as you can imagine, is not making the employees very happy. 

A lot of workplaces operate on a tight budget, but some managers take this way too seriously. They'll either say there's no money to fix workplace issues, or they'll wait until the issue can no longer be ignored before they finally decide it's worth looking into. This person, u/MillyHughes, shared that their boss would rather let employees wander around in the dark than fix a broken lightbulb. How much could one lightbulb cost? It's ridiculous that the boss wouldn't take care of that ASAP, especially when it would take like a minute to install. There's the phrase that things are "as easy as putting in a lightbulb" for a reason! 

This person mentioned numerous dangerous red flags at that job. You'd think a manager who was running a bookstore would take fire safety seriously… but this dude is so lazy he probably never gave it a thought. 

After you read through this tale, read the updates on the hotel front desk worker who stopped speaking Spanish to any guests when they were denied their language-speaking bonus. 

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    Cheezburger Image 10389202944
    via Diego PH on Unsplash
  • 02
    Boss won't replace lightbulbs I suddenly realised I actually have a story I can post here! Many moons ago I worked for someone selling books. online. He bought high end computers, but was notoriously cheap in other areas. For instance all the
    via u/MillyHughes
  • 03
    fire extinguishers were out of date and we had two portable heaters for the whole building (no central heating). One day he stopped replacing the lightbulbs. This included the "book room", which has one small blacked out window. One by one the lights went until I literally couldn't see any more.
    via u/MillyHughes
  • 04
    His solution was to buy me a wind up torch. Well this torch was loud and annoying when wound up. Every time he came into work and I needed to go into that room I would spend a few minutes winding up that torch. He tried to ask me to stop, but I'd point out that all he had to do was buy some lightbulbs.
    via u/MillyHughes
  • 05
    Eventually he gave in, but not before I annoyed the out of him every time he set foot in the office, because I'd always find myself a task that meant I needed to go in there.
    via u/MillyHughes
  • 06
    JerryVand Another option is to switch the burnt out bulb with one from his office. After a while all of his bulbs will have somehow burned out, but all the rest are fine.
    via u/JerryVand
  • 07
    NightmaresFade That guy is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
    via u/NightmaresFade
  • 08
    MillyHughes OP Oh he got sued several times while I was there and refused to pay out until the baliffs turned up, but those are other stories.
    via u/MillyHughes
  • 09
    teambob Wind up torches are more expensive than light bulbs. What was he thinking? If you are in Sydney, I think I know the guy. The book industry isn't that big
    via u/teambob
  • 10
    michaelHIJINX . He sounds like the kind of boss that sneaks into local hotel conventions to steal pens for office supplies. Probably got the flashlight from a booth giving out promotional shwag.
    via u/michaelHIJINX
  • 11
    SmokeyFrank. Lights are on but nobody's home? doesn't apply here. Completely different metaphor.
    via u/SmokeyFrank
  • 12
    smelode Hold up. So this guy sells physical books - stacks of flammable paper and cardboard upon which his livelihood relies - and is too cheap to maintain one of the only things that could save his livelihood.
    via u/smelode
  • 13
    Let me guess, the place wasn't up to fire code in more ways than one, hey? In Australia (not 100% on variation by state/territory), extinguishers must be maintained min. 6- monthly. You must
    via u/smelode
  • 14
    also ensure adequate fire exit/minimum evac pathways, amongst a bunch of other things. There's a separate technical discipline called 'fire engineering' for a very good reason...
    via u/smelode

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lights malicious compliance malicious-compliance-reddit books light lightbulb malicious compliance reddit boss workplace-stories jobs job bosses work workplace
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