Those who work with the public always have stories to tell.

In this case, a park ranger shared how one person belittled him while trying to make him break rules and how he dealt with it.

Let’s read the story.

Malicious compliance in a national park

Park rangers are pros at answering questions, and we’re usually quite happy to do so– even the ones you hear over and over.

“Where’s the tree that you drive through?”

“What’s that sign say on the side of the cliff?,”

“Are the ice caves accessible yet?” and the one you hear more than all the others combined…

“Which way are the restrooms?”

These are common questions and he’s used to dealing with them.

On the occasions when the questioner has a chip on his shoulder, it’s really not worth letting it get to you.

Just do your job and move on; there will be someone much nicer to talk to before very long.

At least, that’s what I always told the eager young rangers I hired and trained over the years. It’s good advice and I mostly followed it myself.

But some people stand out from the crowd.

However, I do remember a gentleman who started to get on my nerves back when I was working at a small eastern park renowned for both its history and its scenery.

This fellow wasn’t interested in either right then – he just wanted a bite to eat.

That’s reasonable enough, and I pointed him in the direction of several nearby establishments.

The problem arose when he asked which one I thought he should go to.

Unfortunately, for a bunch of reasons too complicated to go into here, we were strictly forbidden to recommend one local business over another.

But he didn’t understand or respect it.

I apologized and explained that I couldn’t say one way or the other, but that wasn’t good enough for our man.

He blew his top at me: “That’s chickenshit– I pay your salary!” and so on; you know the drill.

Oh no, he didn’t.

I apologized again, then let him rant a bit more, and just as I was about to smile and turn away, he came up with an idea that I’m sure he thought was pretty darn clever.

“Well, where do YOU go for lunch? Can you tell me that at least, or is that something else you have to keep secret?”

“Thank you, God,” I murmured silently. “I owe you one.”

Time to teach someone a much-needed lesson.

“Sure, I can tell you that much at least. I usually go to a place called the Power House, and I can tell you how to get there.”

He puffed up in triumph as I gave him detailed directions out of town and down a dirt road to the abandoned hydroelectric plant where I liked to park and eat my brown bag lunch.

The road’s a bit rugged in stretches, but there are some mighty fine views of the river and I hope he enjoyed them.

He really set himself up for this one.

Let’s read what Redditors had to say about this.

Someone shares a story.

Someone suggests what to say if this happens again.

A reader shares their thoughts.

This commenter shares a similar experience.

Another reader chimes in.

I agree.

He could have spared himself the trouble, if only he treated public servants with respect.

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