You gotta love it, folks!

I’m talking about when you read a story from Reddit that tickles your funny bone and warms your heart.

And this is one of those stories!

Read on to see what happened.

Dear Boss: Wanna See How Much I Really Do for You?

“Shortly after graduating college (2000) I took a 20% pay cut from my “Blue Big Box Store” assistant manager job to manage a run-down strip mall chain “Fancy Card and Gift Store or FCGS” store because I wanted a challenge and wasn’t being treated well in the “Boy’s Club” at the Big Blue.

You may have heard about the multiple class-action lawsuits for bad pay and discrimination but that’s a story for another day.

Hmmm…

The FCGS owner was a woman and very nice so I was excited to be treated with more respect.

Wound up being salary on a 50+ hour a week job.

I was yelled at for ordering wrapping paper/gift bags/tissue because the walls were bare.

I was yelled at for an hour long-distance phone call that cost $5 when my friend was having a meltdown over an unplanned pregnancy.

I offered to pay but they wouldn’t let me so they could “teach me a lesson”.

What??

At 3 months they offered me another bigger brand new store because I did such a good job on the one I was running.

Things were great there. I worked less hours, customers and staff were happier.

A few months into that, they wanted me to take over the 2nd highest profit store in the chain (of 12).

The catch was I had to do both. No biggie.

The store I was currently in ran beautifully with the awesome employees I hired.

I asked for a 50% raise and was told I had to prove myself for a month.

Friends, I fell for it.

They got busy!

After redoing the layout, cleaning top to bottom, actually organizing the storage room (remember this is peak porcelain statue time so lots of tiny boxes), and still no raise, they asked me to train this woman right out of college on store operations.

She and I became fast friends and we started hanging out after work. We started talking.

She said she was supposed to take over the big store in which I was currently “proving myself”.

The owner never told me this and didn’t tell her I didn’t know.

I thought she would take over a new location.

Remember, I’m running all the operations for two high-profit stores and continually increasing sales.

She was brand new, no experience, I had 6 years experience in retail management; her degree was in English, mine was in business marketing; and best of all, she was making $5k more than me, and the most of ANY of the managers.

Excuse me?

Here’s the petty part…

I saw the error of my ways and devised a plan. I talked to all of my employees in both stores (~15 people) and let them know I was planning on leaving and what the owner had done.

You know the kind of people who work at FCGSs — kind, supportive, caring.

This was too much for them, too.

I’m outta here!

Two weeks later, the new manager and I went to the main office, met with the owner, and turned in our immediate resignations…AND the immediate resignations of all staff but 3 (single moms who couldn’t quit immediately).

She was livid.

She yelled and cursed while we snickered.

Within 3 months the original store closed.

A year after our resignations, the 2nd and 3rd stores closed.

That was pretty gratifying.

I think my friend and I may have skipped like children out of the office that day.

I definitely know we hit the bar and took ourselves out for a nice dinner.

Fast forward 25 years later I’m still friends and coworkers (in an entirely different field) with one of the 2 main office workers that was there that day.

She has given me the full details and the repercussions of that day.

These stories still fill me with joy and pride.”

Check out what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person chimed in.

Another individual spoke up.

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Another individual was impressed.

And this reader shared their thoughts.

I bet the big boss didn’t see that coming!

But she should have.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.