Some managers really don’t think things through before laying down the law.

What would you do if your boss suddenly forced everyone to take lunch at the exact same time, no matter what was going on?

Would you try to reason with them?

Or would you follow their rule and watch the chaos unfold?

In the following story, one employee finds themselves in this exact situation and chooses the latter.

Here’s how it all played out.

Boss said we MUST take lunch at 12:00. So we did.

At my old job, we used to have flexible lunch breaks.

You could go anytime between 11:30 and 2:00; just make sure someone was covering.

It worked fine.

A new manager comes in and says, “Everyone MUST take lunch at exactly 12:00. No exceptions.”

Okay, then.

12:00 hits. We all just… walk away.

The phones are ringing, customers are mid-sentence, but it’s not our problem.

It didn’t take long for the rule to change.

The boss looked panicked, trying to handle it all.

By the time we got back, it was a complete mess.

The next day, there was a new rule: “Lunch between 11:30-2:00 is fine.”

Oh, so back to normal?

Cool, boss.

It’s a good thing the boss was a fast learner.

Let’s see how the folks over at Reddit relate to this story.

This should be a universal rule.

Here’s someone who deals with a similar situation.

So true!

As this person points out, new managers think they know better than those doing the job.

Can’t blame them for following directions.

Next time, the manager will be more careful about giving rules.

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.