Some people deserve an unlucky streak.

This employee and his coworker, Bert, are often sent to a conference in Hawaii every year. But one year, a sly supervisor named Tom stole Bert’s spot.

So this man made some arrangements that left Tom stressed the whole trip.

Read the full story below and find out what happened.

Hawaiian Resort

I worked at a company for almost 15 years, in the 90s and early 2000s. Toward the end of my time there, we hired a supervisor.

I didn’t report to him, but he would read documents on my desk when I wasn’t there and would sometimes make copies of my product and give it to his subordinates, telling them to modify it to fit what they were working on.

To be honest, I didn’t care, since we all worked for the same company, but it was the sneakiness and doing it behind my back that irritated me. He was also an obnoxious person, blowing his own horn and basking in the success of his “guys” way too much. He was not well-liked.

A coworker (Bert) and I had been attending a conference in Hawaii every year. We were good friends and hung out together with others from the conference, whom we met once a year.

It was a reward for doing our jobs. The conference was at a resort hotel on Waikiki Beach, but the rooms were limited and would be sold out by the time the conference began. If you didn’t make your reservations in advance, you’d have to stay somewhere else.

Tom made sure he got one spot for the conference.

Tom, the supervisor, saw the travel authorization form on my desk that I had to submit for the conference, and then filled one out for himself to go.

He was told that there was only funding to send two people, so he went up the management chain to get approval for himself. Because he outranked me and my coworker, one of us had to withdraw our paperwork to go.

We literally flipped a coin, and I won.

I traveled frequently and had accumulated lots of frequent flyer miles. Because the flight time was over a certain number of hours—from the East Coast to Honolulu—we were authorized to travel in Business Class, a huge benefit.

I did not want to sit next to Tom, so I used miles to upgrade from Business Class to First Class. I did not tell Tom about my upgrade. Our travel agent was able to get reservations for both of us at the resort hotel.

Tom, being Tom, let everyone in the office know that he was going to Hawaii, bragging about flying in Business Class and staying at a “Hawaiian resort.”

He also told me that I was expected to introduce him to the conference regulars, take him to the best restaurants, and show him a good time. It got to be too much, and I intended to avoid him as much as possible while we were there.

We were flying out on Sunday and flying back on an overnight flight the next Saturday. Saturday afternoon, I called to confirm my airline reservation, something I had learned to do over my years of frequent travel.

Tom was fuming when he had to fly coach.

Asking about seats, I was told that there were no Business Class or First Class seats available, but Coach still had some. That got me thinking. I called from a pay phone later that day and changed Tom’s reservation to a Business Class flight on Monday. I then called the hotel and canceled his room.

I checked in at the airport on Sunday morning and then went to the First Class lounge to wait for my flight to be called.

When the announcement came over the loudspeakers, I grabbed my stuff and went to the gate. They were boarding the First Class passengers as I arrived, so I got on the plane, found my seat, and ordered a drink.

When most of the plane was boarded, Tom came through the jetway looking furious. Seeing me, he stopped and started ranting about the airline messing up his reservation.

The flight attendant quickly told him that he needed to be seated. He asked her if there were any empty seats other than Coach, and she apologized but explained that the premium cabins were full.

Twice during the flight, he came up to my seat to complain some more. The agent at the counter had been able to change his ticket to this flight, but could only get him a seat in Coach.

He was assigned the middle seat in a center row of five seats and couldn’t get comfortable. He ranted on, even asking if I would switch with him for the last half of the flight. I politely declined and didn’t see him again until we were at the luggage carousel to get our bags.

And his hotel room in a posh hotel was canceled.

We took the courtesy shuttle to the hotel and waited in line to check in. He was at the check-in counter next to me when he learned that he had no reservation at the sold-out “Hawaiian resort.”

He went ballistic. A manager was summoned and took him to another computer station about 20 feet away. I didn’t stick around and went up to my room.

My room phone rang about 15 minutes later, and it was Tom, pitching a fit. He told me that he needed to share my room with me, since it was where the conference was.

He complained that the manager was only able to secure a room for him at a motel about a ten-minute walk away.

Although I had two queen-sized beds, I told him my room only had one bed. I didn’t mention the balcony with the ocean view or the separate living room area.

I saw Tom during all of the sessions. I took pity on him, and he hung out with me at the social after the first day of sessions and tagged along with my companions and me for dinner.

We flew back Saturday evening, and since he was in Business Class, he didn’t come up to complain.

I did confess to Bert at lunch a few days after returning, and he said it kind of made up for not being able to travel with me.

Now that’s justice well served.

Let’s read what other people in the comments are saying about this.

Nicely done, says this one.

Excellent advice.

This user is chiming in.

Here’s a suggestion.

This one offers a different perspective.

Stealing opportunities from others can land you in tough spots.

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.