When you’re constantly blamed for being the reason a team falls behind, stepping back can be the quickest way to make a point.

So, what would you do if your classmates kept accusing you of slowing them down during group work?

Would you stick around to prove them wrong?

Or would you let them see how things go without you?

In the following story, one student finds himself in this very situation.

Here’s what happened.

Oh I should just leave it to you since I’ll only slow you down, don’t mind if I do!

This happened in grade 3 when I was 8 years old, in the early 2000s in the Philippines.

Students would be put in groups.

After school, we’d have to clean the room, especially the floors, sweeping and waxing.

It was the student’s responsibility to clean and keep it clean.

The duty was once a week per group, and during that one week, I had to visit relatives for a funeral.

When I got back, my groupmates told me that they did the job faster, and that stung.

I’m not gonna lie.

When it was our turn, they complained to me about how slow we were at cleaning up and blamed me for it.

That stung again, not gonna lie.

Rather than be blamed again, he decided to go home.

So, the following week, still hurt and not wanting to be blamed again, I decided to go home and not help.

As I was making my way out (I was the first person to leave), my teacher asked me what I was doing.

I told her that since I was just going to slow my group down, I might as well just go home.

The teacher, known for being a living bomb that can set off at any moment, looked at me and my group and said, “Okay.”

I went home feeling oddly pleased with myself.

Then, a cousin who was a couple of classes over and had cleaning duties told her mom, who then told my mom how my teacher gave my group the what for.

It was so loud that my cousin could recite it verbatim.

It turns out that the group was fast but not thorough.

The teacher basically said my group was fast, but they weren’t good at cleaning.

They would forget to sweep areas and even leave more trash behind.

They were fast, yes, but it was only by a few minutes. They would rush and do a very poor job.

She had them stay longer to make sure it was all cleaned properly.

The next day, my group mate apologized to me and never complained again.

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And guys, I know this sounds abusive and exploitative, but back then, this was normal for us.

It wasn’t great.

It must’ve felt good knowing that just because they were faster didn’t mean they were better without him.

Let’s see what the folks over at Reddit had to say about his story.

In the US, the cleaning is MUCH lighter.

Great point.

This sounds like a great system.

As this person points out, it teaches a valuable lesson.

Leaving early worked out great!

Not only did he get to go home sooner, but the teacher also put his group into their places.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a rude customer who got exactly what they wanted in their pizza.