'He seems annoyed... I do this to him all day': Bad manager tries to make auto store worker follow unnecessary rule, worker gleefully bugs him all day long

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Aug 23, 2024 11:00 AM EDT

Great managers empower their employees, while bad managers like this just try to bring them down a notch. It's a fact of life, and one that this person found out while they were still a teenager. 

This person worked as a technician in the automotive department of a chain store. At just 18 years old, they were relegated to some of the easier car tasks. That included things like "maintenance checks like wiper fluid and tire pressure, easy stuff," u/MrTyroneTheCat explained. That seems reasonable, right? If you're a young person just starting out, learning the very basic ins and outs of your job seems like the perfect place to begin. But not for this person's bad manager, oh no. This guy seemed to think that he couldn't trust the original poster, and instead of enabling them to do their job, this manager started acting rather micromanage-y. If you've ever had a boss who micromanages everyone, you know how self-defeating that can be. Instead of having autonomous employees, that boss is going to be disliked and make his employees anxious about doing things wrong. 

After you check out this story of malicious compliance, have a laugh at these stories of people's pets who weren't the brightest, like one person who admitted, "My dog once ate a feather duster." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10391963904
    via Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
  • 02
    Manager tries to make me life more difficult with dumb rule so I follow to it all day
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 03
    So just to set things up, I used to work at a large chain of stores that had an automotive department. I originally applied to be a cashier but they instead offered a position in the automotive department as a technician.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 04
    The technician responsibility was to do oil changes and simple maintenance checks like wiper fluid and tire pressure, easy stuff. The job seemed perfect, I was a fresh 18 year old in college doing a chill part time job making around 550 bucks every 2 weeks.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 05
    The problem starts when I meet one of two managers of our department. Let's call the two managers BM (Bad Manager) and the other GM (Good Manager).
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 06
    Now GM was a honestly a perfect manager to work with. He always would be real with you and constantly worked with us, literally. He would be doing oil changes and everything with us. BM was a different story, he never came outside with us in the heat to work on cars. He decided he would be best to be inside with AC yelling at us what to do from his sliding window.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 07
    One last thing to know also is the fact that I'm the youngest of all the technicians, who were all really nice guys but all saw me as a little kid. I got tired of them treating me like one so I began to try extra hard, following the exact protocols and always double checking my work no matter what.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 08
    Alright so on the actual event, it had been some time since I had started and I've done really well to the point where GM basically certified me to the oil changes on my own. I had been doing them for about a week with no supervision. with no problem until BM heard about me doing them. He told me I was too new to be doing them on my own and that I would
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 09
    need to get a certified technician to sign off any work I did. This wouldn't have bothered me if I had been just starting out but at this point it had been almost 8 weeks in total with of me working and doing my job and training. After 1 day of constantly having to ask my co workers to drop what they were doing, just to
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 10
    come over and check an oil dip stick, it was clear they were getting annoyed of me. Now as much as I wanted to just ignore this rule and just do it when BM was actually there, I wanted to actually keep this job and not be on bad terms with BM. I realized however that BM was a certified technician and constantly inside talking to any of the
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 11
    associates doing nothing of real importance. I decided that after every car I would go to BM instead and ask him to sign off on my cars. The first time I did it he asked why I didn't ask such and such tech instead. I replied how they were too busy doing some tire work and I needed this car to leave asap since it had been there for an hour already.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 12
    He seems annoyed but comes along and checks off my work. I do this to him all day, making sure the other technicians were too busy doing something else, forcing BM to come outside in the heat every time. By the end of the day he is putting in a lot of sweat from having to walk inside and out so many times. He eventually just breaks and tells me at the end of the
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 13
    day that he has reviewed my work several times he deems me capable of doing a simple oil change.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 14
    [deleted] This is exactly malicious compliance. BM said to get your worked checked and you made sure to do so while over. BM On another note, did pulling one over BM gain you any respect from the others?
    via u/[deleted]
  • 15
    MrTyroneTheCat OP. I was always seen as a kid but they still respected me.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 16
    SandsnakePrime Wahahahaha. Maybe even r/pettyrevenge too? Man, that was quick and smart thinking on your part. Not only did you handle a pisshat manager well, you did it in a way that will most likely end up with the other, older employees having much more respect for you.
    via u/SandsnakePrime
  • 17
    imjustheretodomyjob. You need a certification to change the oil in a car ?
    via u/imjustheretodomyjob
  • 18
    MrTyroneTheCat OP. Yeah basically but you be surprised how many people don't know how to do it especially canister filters.
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat
  • 19
    Kraere "...but all saw me as a little kid. I got tired of them treating me like one so I began to try extra hard, following the exact protocols and always double checking my work no matter what." Dear GOD we need more people like you in this world.....Instead of
    via u/Kraere
  • 20
    that people are being mean and crying. for censorship and laws, EARN respect. You earned mine.
    via u/Kraere
  • 21
    MrTyroneTheCat OP. Thanks my dad always taught me that and I was a kid so I understand they're view of me
    via u/MrTyroneTheCat

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