Employee keeps doing entitled coworker's work, gets even by keeping her from taking her break: 'She's just itching to run out of here, but she can't leave'

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Ben Weiss • Writer and Editor
Apr 25, 2025 2:00 PM EDT

Everyone has had that one coworker who can't seem to do anything right. In this instance, we're talking about someone who couldn't seem to do anything on their own… at all. This meant, of course, that the other employee on her team had to pick up the slack and assume her responsibilities.

The problem is that this kind of phenomenon can recur when incompetent and entitled coworkers start to feel that they don't ever need to learn how to perform certain tasks as long as their team members are willing to complete them on their behalf. On the flip side, entitled coworkers tend to be so full of themselves that they cannot even fathom a universe in which their team members would call them out on their nonsense or get petty revenge like this author did.

Keep scrolling below for this story of how the author managed to keep their incompetent coworker chained to their desk…

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  • 01

    "You want to make me do your work for you? Well, now you can't take your break."

    I have a co-worker who is incredibly lazy. She's never been a hard worker, but within the last year, it's gotten bad. She could technically retire, but chooses not to, for whatever reason.
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    Cheezburger Image 10497896704
    via Unsplash+ (Mina Rad)

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

  • The funny thing about incompetent employees is not only are they incapable of doing anything right, but they also lack the self-awareness to even consider the reality that everyone knows just how bad they are at their job. This author was sick and tired of doing their coworker's work. Since the rules of the office dictated that one of them needed to be at the front desk at all times, the author decided to keep this coworker from taking her break by having an elongated, impromptu meeting with their boss. All of this to keep this coworker waiting for what must have felt like an eternity!

  • 03
    Which, I wouldn't mind if you actually did your job, but not only will she never help the office, she doesn't even get her own work done.
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    As you can probably tell, this woman annoys the h I out of me, for a multitude of reasons.
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    We have a system in our office where all customer questions go into the same queue. If it's an email, a voicemail, part of an online chat conversation with an employee in another department,
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    it goes into this queue. For whatever reason, any time my co-worker encounters a question that will take more than about ten seconds to answer, she assigns it
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    to me. Which yes, I am very knowledgeable about our department, however, this woman has worked here three times as long as I have, and should know these things herself.
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  • 08
    Today, she assigns me a question, and as soon as I read it, I have no idea why she assigned it to me, because she should have assigned it to my boss. and/or talked to my boss about it.
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  • 09
    As mentioned, I assign it to my boss, and then go and tell her about it. During the beginning of our conversation, I overhear said co-worker on the phone, ordering food for lunch. Usually she hangs
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    up the phone, waits about five minutes, and then heads over to pick up the food. Well, I'm still in my boss's office, talking about this question. I should probably
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    mention, my manager loves to talk, and while I'm usually trying to slowly back out of her office to end a conversation, this time, I take a seat, and proceed to actively engage.
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    Cheezburger Image 10497896960
    via Unsplash+ (Mina Rad)

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

  • 13
    So, the minutes are ticking by, and my co-worker can't take her break because someone always needs to be office, and obviously, I'm unavailable. At one point, I kind of tilt the chair so I can see her out of the corner of my eye,
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    and I can tell she's just itching to run out of here, but she can't leave. What should have been, at most, a five minute conversation, turns into a twenty minute conversation. Then, I added a little more revenge because as
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  • 15
    soon as I left my manager's office, I ran out of our office to use the restroom, just to delay her break even further. I can't tell you how satisfied I feel right now.
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  • 16
    delulu4drama • 26m ago . The answer to the question is NO LUNCH FOR HER
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    Zoreb1 16m ago Why can she assign you anything? Discuss this with your boss (especially around the miscreant's lunch break).
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    Tremenda-Caru... . 27m ago The OP's clever tactics against their lazy coworker serve as a reminder that sometimes, passive- aggressive measures can be an effective way to handle toxic workplace dynamics.
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  • 19
    On one hand, we could argue that the narrator's behavior crosses a line into unprofessional territory...
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  • 20
    but on the other, it's refreshing to see someone fighting back against entitled colleagues who contribute nothing.
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  • 21
    Despite the petty nature of this situation, there's something to be said for standing up to bu ies and setting boundaries, even if
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    that means resorting to guerrilla warfare in the office. After all, a little creative revenge never hurt anyone!
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Tags

terrible coworkers workplace-stories toxic-workplace petty-revenge-reddit Professional At Work work coworkers petty revenge petty workplace in the workplace
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