When you aren’t feeling well, you should stay home from work – not just for yourself, but to keep others from getting sick.

What happens when your boss tells you that you need to be at work no matter how bad you are feeling?

That is what the guy in this story experienced, but he got some sweet revenge.

Take a look.

I’m sick and I can’t go home early? You aren’t sick and you go home early? OK.

Former military. So, no kidding, there I was.

Monday through Friday I was coming in prior to 6am for physical training.

Work call was 9am.

Good work ethic is important.

I would shower at the gym and be at work well before 9am.

I had been working late (8pm) and coming in on Saturdays and the occasional Sunday in order to keep up with the work load. (I’m not inefficient – after I left 2 people did the job I was doing by myself).

We were supposed to get flu shots but there was a shortage or some nonsense and we didn’t get them in a timely fashion.

Other units got them before we did because of reason 1, reason 2, whatever.

So my spouse is a nurse.

Much like a kindergarten teacher, my spouse gets sick frequently from all the sick people she is exposed to.

Of course everything that she gets, I get.

You should always stay home with the flu.

Anyway, I was feeling really ill.

I was obviously running a fever and doing poorly.

I knew I was contagious.

I asked my boss if I could go home early and come in late the next day because of how awful I felt.

Did I already mention my hours? Yes, I did.

Also, he generally skipped physical training, came in late and left early.

I was OK with that BUT if I ask for a few hours off it shouldn’t be a big deal.

What a jerk!

He said NO. An emphatic no. Then he went home early.

OK. Cool. No worries. I stuck it out. I continued on the same work schedule as always.

His boss – my senior boss – noticed that I was moving slowly, had a winter coat on indoors and was coughing and asked me why I was at work if I was so sick. (He saw I was sweating and had chills).

He wanted to know why I was risking getting everyone else sick.

I told my senior boss that I asked to go home early but I was denied.

He asked where my immediate boss was and I told him that my immediate boss had left for the day.

He’s not going to like that.

My senior boss stared at me for a moment and then said “Duly noted. Please tell Major ABC to see me tomorrow”.

My senior boss had deployed with me and knew my work ethic.

Did I mention that my immediate boss had an official photo scheduled for early next week as well as an interview for a very prestigious (nominative) position?

Now that is petty revenge!

Immediately before I went home and as gross as this sounds, I went into his office and did the following:

1- I licked his phone.

2- I licked his computer mouse

3- I Jumped up and down until i was able to violently cough on his keyboard, doorknob, pens, desk and armrests on his chair.

Then I went home.

—-Fast forward a few days—-

Guess who got sick with the flu that weekend?

Yep – my immediate boss.

Hey, if it is good enough for his direct reports, it is good enough for him.

He asked his boss (my senior boss) for some time off to get ready for his interview, to get ready for his photo and to regain some stamina due to his illness.

My senior boss talked to him and from what I could gather, he told my immediate boss that if his troopers were so critical to this mission that they couldn’t go home if they were sick, then he was too.

My boss was absolutely miserable, looked horrible in his photo and bombed his interview (they called my senior boss and asked why he was working when he was sick and my senior boss told them that my boss insisted that everyone work no matter how sick they were).

—Fast forward a few week or so—-

I was fully recovered and feeling good.

My boss was almost recovered.

I asked him how the interview went and if he got the position.

I got the death stare.

I think he knew that I knew and suspected that I got him sick but screw him for being a jerk when he didn’t need to be.

Hey, he is the one that wanted you there. It’s not your fault he got sick…right?

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say.

So very true.

Sometimes you do what you have to do to get revenge.

They are effective, not efficient.

He could have avoided this whole situation.

That is disgusting.

This boss really got what he deserved.

Which you know we love to see.

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.