'It was driving our boss insane, yet our boss had no idea he was doing': Coworker gets petty revenge on impatient boss by blocking him every time he made his daily printer run

Author image for Isabella Penn
Isabella Penn
Dec 25, 2025 1:00 PM EST

This manager treats every minor inconvenience as a personal affront and every subordinate as a scapegoat for his own lack of planning. He operates on a hair-trigger, fueled by impatience and a man-child temperament that makes every workday feel like navigating a minefield for his coworkers. Most of the employees in this office deal with it by shrinking into their cubicles, hoping to remain invisible. Then there was Thom.

Thom understood something fundamental about the office layout that the boss, in his frantic self-importance, completely overlooked. The boss occupied the prestigious corner office at the front, while the communal printers were stationed at the very back. Between these two points sat the cube farm, a narrow gauntlet of grey fabric and rolling chairs.

Whenever the boss sent a document to the printer, he didn't just walk to retrieve it; he launched himself like a sprinter out of the blocks, hyper-focused on the destination and oblivious to the human beings in his path.

While most people would clear the way for a charging bull, Thom decided to become a human speed bump. The moment the laser printer began its mechanical whir—a sound that acted like a starting pistol for the boss—Thom would stand up.

Just as the boss reached top speed, Thom would emerge from his cube. Sometimes, he was carrying a ceramic mug filled to the absolute brim with scorching coffee, necessitating a pace that would make a snail impatient. Other times, he would develop a sudden, heavy-footed waddle toward the restroom that effectively barricaded the aisle.

To the boss, it looked like a series of unfortunate, clumsy coincidences. To an outside observer, it was clear that Thom was mirroring the boss's movements with precision, ensuring a collision was inevitable.

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  • By the time the boss finally reached the printer, his blod pressure had spiked and his rhythm was shattered. He never suspected a conspiracy; he simply thought the world was populated by idiots who didn't know how to walk. Thom didn't need to shout or file a grievance to win. He simply realized that while you can’t always stop a tyrant from screaming, you can certainly make sure he has to work twice as hard to get a single piece of paper. 

  • a-white-and-black-printer-sitting-on-top-of-a-counter
    via engin akyurt For Unsplash+

  • "My coworker had the pettiest of revenges with our tantrum-throwing boss"

    Our boss was a petty tyrant. He would do things that put us in difficult situations then yell at us while blaming us for the hassle.
    via 1quirky1
  • Best of all he was impatient man- child. My coworker, Thom, was stuck in the office more than I was.
    via 1quirky1
  • Poor bastard. Thom's petty revenge was driving our boss more insane yet our boss had no idea he was doing
    via 1quirky1
  • Our boss had the nice big office up front. The printers were in the back. Thom and I sat in the cube farm between them.
    via 1quirky1
  • Cheezburger Image 10590317824
    via Adolfo Félix For Unsplash+
  • The boss would print out something then quickly and impatiently sprint to pick up what he printed.
    via 1quirky1
  • He was hyper-focused on getting that printout. Most times the laser printer spun up and our boss moved from his office, Thom would get up from his cube and get in his way.
    via 1quirky1
  • He would walk slowly to the printers, or he would be carefully carrying a coffee cup that was filled to the top, or waddling awkwardly towards the bathroom.
    via 1quirky1
  • Sometimes he would do that side "which way are you gonna go" hopping as they tried to dodge each other - but Thom never got it right and they ended up running into each other.
    via 1quirky1
  • I watched this happen whenever I was in the office. Thom was doing this multiple times per day.
    via 1quirky1
  • Our boss had no idea but his blood pressure went up every time he went to retrieve a printout.
    via 1quirky1
  • Thank you Thom. Against all odds you made that place a tiny bit more tolerable.
    via 1quirky1
  • sonal1988 How could he not see through Thom when he was doing this multiple times a day???
    via sonal1988
  • OP 1quirky1 The boss was kinda dense, fixated on getting his printout, and had a short attention span. Thom was careful to not be excessively obnoxious or do it every time.
    via 1quirky1
  • xMcRaemanx Until the IT guys pull the printer logs and confirm the document printed there so suspicion immediately falls to someone in the vicinity of the printer so IT sets up a sting operation because dont waste our time. Dont fuck with IT. Sincerely, IT
    via xMcRaemanx
  • OP 1quirky1 I was in IT support for years. IT fucks back, hard, and possibly with Fight Club vibes.
    via 1quirky1
  • aelwyn2000 Man, my dog does this to me like every single day, and is so chill about it that sometimes I don't even notice or I wonder why I feel all stressed out after just getting some coffee and making some toast.
    via aelwyn2000
  • OP 1quirky1 Is his name Thom?
    via 1quirky1
  • Fleshsuitpilot I wasn't expecting something a little less obvious since you specified the douchebag boss had no idea. Maybe it's just me but you'd only get the benefit of the doubt one singular time, if you physically put your body in my path a second time consecutively, then it's obvious you're doing it on purpose. I think it would be much more rewarding to grab the printed document(s) and move them to a different printer somewhere in the office, a different printer each time. Then let him sear
    via Fleshsuitpilot
  • OP 1quirky1 There was only one printer area. Sabotage is overt action that would be punished. There was no making this boss better. We definitely could have made him worse. The beauty of Thom's revenge is that it can be explained away by extreme coincidences and it is so petty that it seems silly to think it was intentional.
    via 1quirky1
  • CQ5II how could the boss not know he was being messed with, multiple times a day by Thom?
    via CQ5II
  • OP 1quirky1 The boss was kinda dense, fixated on getting his printout, and had a short attention span. Thom was careful to not be excessively obnoxious or do it every time.
    via 1quirky1
  • Coder Joe1 Thus began the first event in the office Olympics. ✗
    via CoderJoe1
  • MoodyBlue78 Let me guess: Boss is really Dwight Schrute and Thom is Jim Halpert. This would have been a really funny scene on the show.
    via MoodyBlue78
  • kimvy Never underestimate the perfection of the Peter Principle. Never.
    via kimvy
  • foosballallah My desk used to be situated right next to the office printer, within arm's length. The pos's in my office would often print stuff and just leave it on the printer or forget about it. Sometimes they would come to the printer grab what they needed and leave all the other forgotten copies on my desk which just pissed me of. I decided that it was time for some payback so I would take three or so printed copies that were left behind and feed them back into the paper tray so that they wo
    via foosballallah

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coworkers petty revenge Office Horrible Bosses funny printer
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