‘I’m not scheduled to exist… Until 9:00:00 AM': Karen manager scolds employee for clocking in ONE minute early, employee malicious complies so hard that he gets employee of the month

Author image for Elna McHilderson
Elna McHilderson • Managing Editor
Apr 23, 2025 10:00 AM EDT

Usually, you should take the higher road when it comes to petty disagreements. Be the bigger person, ya know? But sometimes… That is not the case. Sometimes being the "bigger person" is actually detrimental, because now that person is not being forced to deal with the consequences of their actions and will continue to do those said horrid actions. Sometimes you have to fight petty with petty, serve the petty offender with a dose of their own medicine. That is the win we love to see! Just like in this story where an employee out pettied their petty Karen manager so well that they ended up getting Employee of the Month for it! That is top notch petty justice being served and we are all about it. We applaud you random Redditor!

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  • The petty revenge that took place here was done with superb malicious compliance. The employee was getting hounded by their micromanaging Karen manager. They worked in a retail store and the Karen manger through a fit when this employee clocked in only ONE minute early. That's right, just one. So when the employee got scolded they decided they must now become father time. See how well it went down!

  • 11 44 11 44
    via Unsplash+ (and Linda Nguyen)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • "Manager said, 'You can’t clock in a minute early,' so I became the most punctual menace alive."

    Alright so buckle up because this is the pettiest hill I've ever chosen to di on.
    via PerroInternista
  • So I used to work at this retail job where everything was micromanaged to h_l. Like, we had a clipboard for literally everything. One day I get pulled aside by my manager, let's call her Karen-with-a- clipboard, because I clocked in ONE MINUTE early.
    via PerroInternista
  • Not 10 minutes. Not 5. ONE. SINGLE. MINUTE. She hits me with the, "Company policy says you can't clock in until your scheduled time. Not a second before." And I'm like, okay? Bet?
    via PerroInternista
  • So what do I do? I make it my life's mission to follow that rule to absolute perfection. From that day on, I would stand in front of the clock- in tablet like a soldier guarding the gates of time, phone in hand,
    via PerroInternista
  • stopwatch running, eyes locked on the second hand. I wouldn't press that button until the exact millisecond my shift started. Not a moment early. Not a moment late. I was Time Itself.
    via PerroInternista
  • And if there was a line of coworkers behind me trying to clock in? Too bad. They could wait. Company policy, baby.
    via PerroInternista
  • Cheezburger Image 10496766208
    via Unsplash+ (and Kateryna Hliznitsova)

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • Karen-with-a-clipboard starts getting annoyed. "Can't you just be ready to work when you arrive?" "No Karen. I'm not scheduled to exist as an employee until 9:00:00 AM. Until then I'm just a guy in khakis loitering."
    via PerroInternista
  • Fast forward two weeks, and corporate visits the store. Guess who has the most perfect attendance and punctuality record they've ever seen? Me. Guess who gets Employee of the Month? Also me.
    via PerroInternista
  • Guess who suddenly changes the policy so we're allowed to clock in up to 5 minutes early? That's right. Karen.
    via PerroInternista
  • Bullfrog_Para... I would have kept doing the exact same thing, just 5 minutes earlier.
    via Bullfrog_Paradox
  • Krazy_Karl_666 For fs sake even amazon had a 5 minute time clock "grace period". Mostly becasue there is no way for everyone to clock in at the same time and be cost effective.
    via Krazy_Karl_666

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