I’ve found that if you’re nice and you generally treat people with respect, life goes pretty smoothly.

What’s the point of being a jerk, really?

There isn’t one!

And I bet the guy who got dealt with in this story from Reddit wishes he wouldn’t have been so unpleasant…

Learn about what happened to him in the story below.

It is a really bad idea to make a government employee angry.

“I was working for a local county government in the permitting department that handled drainage and flood plain enforcement. I received a complaint from a homeowner (nice guy) lived next door to a house that was part of an incorporated village (not nice guy).

Nice guy lived in an unincorporated portion of the county and hence the call to me as an agent of the county. I drove out to the site and to investigate and discovered some interesting facts. The permitting agent for the village allowed the incorporated homeowner to fill his lot effecting the drainage which caused the unincorporated lot to flood every time there was anything more than light rain.

Things weren’t going smoothly…

Nice guy indicated that there was some tension between him and not nice guy and part of the issue was that nice guy and his partner were a gay couple. This ran up a red flag for me but in trying to be impartial I took the information and some photos for the file and indicated that I would contact the village to find a resolution.

I wrote a letter and then called the village inspector (jackwagon) to discuss. I was told by jackwagon that the village could do as it pleased and that I could do nothing to stop not nice guy from doing as they pleased as it was approved by the village.

There was then a comment about those type of people (the gay couple) making complaints just to cause trouble. I was now on the case and it was time to make sure everything done on the incorporated lot was 100% legal. At this point the game certainly was now on because if there is one thing that grinds my gears it is bullying.

The “not nice guy” really lived up to his name.

I went back out and spoke to nice guy to let them know what I was up to and also that I was not going to let this slide. I then started investigating the elevations on the two lots and what fill had been placed on the incorporated lot. The not nice guy came out and started getting belligerent about my presence and ongoing investigation.

He incorrectly stated that I did not have jurisdiction over his lot and that he would be calling the police. I patiently listened and then pulled out my two way radio and requested that the home base dispatch both a village and a county police unit to the location.

I then indicated that since there was a regulatory floodplain on his lot I did in fact have jurisdiction and that I would be exercising my right to determine the impact of his fill activities upon that floodplain.

Both of the police units showed up and I let them know what was going on. They were both appropriately agitated to have to waste their time and let not nice guy know that I was within in my authority to proceed with the investigation. A little while later, while I was measuring things, jackwagon showed up.

Jackwagon wasn’t happy.

He stated berating me about harassing the village resident and threatening calling my boss and filing a complaint and so forth. I invited him to do so quoting which parts of the code he should indicate I was violating. I was using marking paint to show the limits of the floodplain for the photos for the file and what do you know jackwagon’s shoe got painted when he tried to stop me.

Obviously he was even more angry as was the homeowner due to very bright orange paint in the grass in his yard. I pointed out I had done the same on the neighboring lots but they just kept complaining. It was actually marking chalk that comes off pretty easily.

Look what I found!

Interestingly, I found two really wrong things on not nice guys lot: (1) there was fill placed in the floodplain and (2) a garden shed was built on the fill and partially within the floodplain.

Both are a big no-no and are actually against federal law. So, the course of action had two parts: (1) make the incorporated homeowner remove the fill and shed from the floodplain and (2) let nice guy place fill in their lot outside of the floodplain to counteract the fill remaining in not nice guys lot outside of the floodplain.

I also told nice guy it would be a good idea to run a field tile on their side to drain the water that would inevitably pond up between the two lots when it rained.

Predictably, not nice guy and jackwagon got super angry when I sent the letter out that there were violations that either had to be corrected (remove fill and shed) or apply for a revision of the floodplain with the Army Corps of Engineers (good luck with that).

Things got ugly.

This then led to a meeting at the county office with not nice guy, jackwagon, my supervisor and myself. Quickly things went to 11 and there was yelling by jackwagon about abuse of power, etc. The department head came into the conference room and told them both they were wrong and that they should leave peacefully and comply or face the consequences (fines).

The best part was that not nice guy had to apply for a permit and guess who was the one to review and approve it … that’s right yours truly. Now, I was following the letter of the law but you have to know that poor government workers are underpaid and overworked.

Only following the rules guys…

Strangely the permit for nice guy was almost immediately approved while not nice guy had to have a very thorough review to ensure it was correct. You could make a case I was abusing my power but I can assure you that the timing for their review was well within acceptable limits.

Also, how could I be held to account that they misfiled three times before they finally got it right. Generally, if you behaved like a civil human and came to the office we would help you get things done properly so the permit would go through first time but not nice guy decided he could do it all in his own so it took him three tries.

Had he come to the office I would have given him the same service as others but he decided to take the hard route and therefore I didn’t give a single inch when it came to the submission being perfectly correct.

Ultimately, the situation was resolved but it took a lot more effort than it should have.”

Check out what folks had to say about this story on Reddit.

This person said that being polite pays off.

Another individual shared a warning.

This Reddit user was impressed by this story.

Another person has an issue they need to look into.

And one reader said this person did absolutely nothing wrong.

It’s always very satisfying to get revenge on jackwagons.

Hats off to the person!

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.