Covid had many stories to tell. Everyone’s experiences were a diverse set of emotions.

This man shares his work experience during Covid and how things went with his mean APM.

I mean, he was just following orders, which is what they wanted.

Let’s check out what happened.

Don’t Care What I Do? Fine With Me!

The Setup

Back in late 2020, when everyone was working from home, I was tasked with upgrading office PCs.

This involved removing each hard disk drive (HDD), setting it aside, replacing the PC with a newer model that uses a solid-state drive (SSD), transfering all documents and images from the HDDs to the SSDs (with a special USB setup of my very own), and disposing of the old HDDs per the Project Manager’s orders (e.g., “As you see fit”).

He was doing what he was ordered..

Now, because there was no one else in the building (so I thought), I had all 20 new PCs lined up in the shipping area, with the old HDDs on a cart, ready to be copied over.

The assistant project manager (APM) walked in (maskless, of course), and wanted to know what the heck I was doing.

Before I could get three words out, he tells me to remove my mask because (he said) there ain’t no “effing” covid (or words to that effect.

The boss wouldn’t give him a chance!

I stepped back, removed my mask, and tried again. He interrupted me again to ask what the heck these hard drives are doing here.

I tried to explain, and he interrupted me one more time to tell me he doesn’t give a crap about my excuses and to just get rid of them.

He made sure to follow instructions.

Just as I was about to try once more, he tells me he doesn’t care how I do it, just to “effing” get rid of them — “Throw them in the dumpster or take them home, for all I care!” — and to get those PCs installed IMMEDIATELY.

Cue the Malicious Compliance

This is where it begins.

“Sir! Yes, sir!”

I put my mask back on and wheeled the cart of HDDs out to my SUV (parked near the dumpster), and loaded the crate into the back.

Then I went back inside and delivered each new PC as instructed.

(The old PCs had already been palletized and were slated to be picked up by an electronics surplus business.)

He had his “me” time..

After all this, I drove home, prepared a pizza, cracked open a cold one, and started my weekend — MY weekend.

The following Monday, I felt lousy. The covid test showed positive.

I had already been vaxxed and boosted, so my doc told me to just stay home and monitor my symptoms.

Uh oh..

I logged in remotely an sent the “I got it” email, then checked my inbox. The first new email I saw was from the APM, re-iterating his orders to me almost word-for-word.

The second email was from the APM to his boss (and the rest of the engineering staff) claiming full credit for getting the new PCs installed in “record time.”

After an hour or so, I started seeing emails from different people asking where their files were.

He made things clear..

Of course, I did a “Reply All” and included a screen shot of the APMs first email. All h*** broke loose.

The dumpster had already been emptied by the time anyone got to it. Important files were missing, and presumed destroyed.

The APM called me on speakerphone and told me to come in and fix everything.

Sorry boss, but I’m showing symptoms and my covid test is positive.

Unless you are willing to empty the building and then disinfect it afterwards, I had better stay home.

The APM’s boss chimed in and told me to stay home, get well, and call if I needed anything.

He tried fixing things.

Okay boss, I’ll see what I can do about the eff-up from home.

I continued to work from home for that week, mostly copying each HDD’s documents and images to the relevant PC.

Even though there were a few glitches, I was able to get everything back in order.

The Fallout

And the inevitable..

I told the APM’s boss my side of the story, and received a token reprimand. The APM was dismissed. I retired a few years later.

No covid deniers were physically harmed during the execution of this malicious compliance.

Yikes! The APM clearly learned his lesson after the incident.

If anything, he would’ve kept his mask up!

Let’s check out what commentators on Reddit think about this story.

This person has a comedic take on the story.

This person has a rule in mind.

This person shares his own experience.

This person has an analysis.

This person is mad about the corporate system.

This story sure is a learning point.

Mind your own business!

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