When you’re known for being loud, sometimes quieting down can have unintended consequences, especially when you’re so quiet that people don’t even realize you’re there.

So, what would you do if a customer asked you to stop being so loud, but doing so only resulted in more awkward situations?

Would you keep tiptoeing around?

Or would you come up with a new approach?

In today’s story, one person learns that pleasing everyone is not that simple.

Here’s what went down.

You want me to be quiet? Okay. (With Fallout)

Ever since I was little, I have been quiet.

This was mainly due to having terrible older siblings, and I learned to walk silently.

I have tried to make myself plop my feet so as not to scare people, but I’ve been known to walk extremely silently.

Please note: I am a 300+ 5’10” person with a huge beer belly.

So I couldn’t hide even if I wanted to since I usually wear black in a red vest.

Since I am so silent, I have become loud (very vocal) so as not to scare people and let people know I am in the area.

I talk to myself, sing songs, talk to everyone passing by, etc.

I do my best to be friendly even though I’m socially drained every day and rather stay inside for that month.

Regardless, I am a very loud person.

After receiving complaints for being loud, he toned it down a little.

A regular customer apparently did not like it since I was a very loud person and asked me to be quiet.

I apologized and toned everything down but my supervisor was also complained to.

I was asked to become less loud. Okay.

Since then, I have scared many people, from customers to my very own supervisor.

I usually greet people 5-10 feet away from them so as not to get too close.

Most of them I have even made eye contact with and still scare them.

I was essentially giving jump scares to everyone, and people complained I wasn’t in my department.

Almost everyone I have joked with has stated I need a bell.

Since being quiet didn’t work either, he made a plan.

Last week, I decided one week of torture was good enough.

It was time to go ahead and stop being a gremlin.

As much as I enjoy scaring people taller than me, I was probably creating an unsafe work environment.

So, I decided to make three rules to make things better.

There was no big blowout, no real problems, just making an adult decision.

1. Try to greet everyone from the end of the aisle to avoid scaring them too much.
2. If I somehow sneak up on them, take several steps back to give them even more space.
3. Tell your coworkers you are going behind them at any point in time.

I have followed each one to the letter and have gotten fewer jump scares from customers.

The fellow supervisors and coworkers are another story.

I have actually gotten more jump scares from them than when I was silent.

For example, I came around a corner and stopped to see a supervisor helping a cashier.

I said I was coming behind them, and they both jumped.

The supervisor even screamed a little.

Sheesh! No matter what he does, it doesn’t work.

Let’s see what advice the folks over at Reddit had to offer him.

This person can definitely relate.

It’s hard to believe someone this tall could be so quiet.

This is some great advice!

Here’s a teacher who used to have fun scaring colleagues.

This person walks so quietly that they can walk right by people, and no one notices.

What a fun person!

It’s unbelievable how people complain to managers about the littlest things – they need to lighten up and smile more.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.