Imagine working as a concrete inspector. You’re at a construction site, and the superintendent keeps yelling at you about everything you do. Would you comply with all of his demands, or would you refuse to comply if it meant lying?

In this story, two people are in this situation. They are willing to comply when it means following the rules, but they are not willing to comply when it means breaking them.

Keep reading for the satisfying end to this story.

I maliciously comply with a superintendent for new hospital construction.

About a decade ago, I worked for a concrete inspection company. Our main job was to take samples from the new concrete being poured for future testing. The testing was to make sure that it was mixed properly to hold the correct weight. We had to look for additional things, but that was on a job-to-job basis.

At the time this story takes place, I had been working for [COMPANY] for three months. I had the basics down but still needed help with some of the add-on jobs.

Just like all great jobs, on a Friday at 330pm, the dispatcher called me into his office to tell me that I would be going out with, we will call him J, to a new hospital being built.

Right about this time, J walked in and he looked mad.

OP found out what to expect.

So after arguing with our dispatcher for a little bit, we hung our heads and drove out to the job site.

On the way there, J told me a bit about the people working at the site and what I could expect. I was told that everyone was pretty relaxed except for the Superintendent who was “the biggest jerk” J had ever seen.

I also found out that we would be doing a blueprint verification. (This is where we review the blueprint to make sure the concrete is being poured in the right location and any requirements added beyond the standard.)

The superintendent really was pretty rude.

We get to the job site, park, and get to the tent where the Super is at.

He takes one look at me and starts laughing.

At the time, I looked like a toothpick. I was half the size of the other men working at the site. This led to many jokes and jeers being tossed my way.

Anyway, he was laughing and literally threw the blueprints at me. Oh, did I mention he was a jerk?

They got what they needed, but it wasn’t over.

We reviewed the blueprints, thanked him for his time (Tring to stay professional even though he really didn’t deserve it), and went back to our truck.

This is where it all gets going for real.

I had left something on the toolbox of the truck and without thinking anything about it, just opened the door and stepped one foot out of the truck, turned, and got the item.

No hardhat. No safety vest. Just a four-second retrieval of what I needed.

The superintendent was furious.

Holy heck it was like I ran under a piece of heavy machinery.

The Super was at the truck, pounding on the window faster than lightning.

After rolling down the window, the conversation went like this:

S: WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

He answered honestly.

Me: OP

S: I meant, why in the heck are you on my job site with no hardhat?

Me: It was just a quick in and out. There is no equipment running at the moment. We are waiting on the concrete.

S: Like I give a care you little jerk. Get out of that truck one more time without a hardhat and you are fired!

He complied.

Me: I don’t work for you so go ahead and try.

S: Just do your freaking job correctly. Wear your damn hardhat. *Storms off*

Well, I did just that.

I waited until the concrete truck got to the job site and everything was ready for the pour.

He noticed a problem.

At the time, I told the Super that J and I had a question about the blueprint. At the section where we were going to pour, the blueprint stated “No earth form pours”. (This means they can’t just dig a hole and pour concrete, but have to form it up with wood or other materials.”

The pour they were doing was a support for a load-bearing collum. And you guessed it, it wasn’t formed up.

We had no authority to shut the site down, only to write a report and send it to our bosses. They would then talk about the reports with the project manager.

I hadn’t quite learned to just keep my mouth shut and write the report. After I told him that we would have to report all of this, he said “I don’t give a care what the blueprint says, there is no need to form this up and we aren’t going to. We are pouring the concrete.”

Again, they complied.

Welp, okay then. We thanked him and went back to the truck, filled out the report, and waited.

We didn’t even bother to take samples. The whole section would have to be ripped out since it wasn’t in compliance with the building specs.

Noticing this, the Super again storms up to the truck.

S: Why the hell didn’t you take samples?

The superintendent wanted them to lie.

Me: No point. It is going to have to be ripped out.

S: The heck it is.

Me: It wasn’t up to specs and my report will reflect that.

S: Well change your damn report. No one will ever know it was earth formed.

They were not going to comply.

Me: Yea, I have pictures. You may be okay with a hospital collapse being on your conscience but I am not. Plus, I am just doing my job as you asked. *Rolls Window up*

J and I sent our report in and moved on with our jobs.

Two weeks later the dispatcher sends me back out to the same job site and had a huge smile on his face but refused to give me any heads up to what was going on.

It wasn’t what he expected.

I was dreading going back to the site.

Once there, I was met by a different Super.

That was a pleasant surprise. Apparently, my report did some good after all.

The old Super got fired. It turns out, he had been cutting corners for years. Some of his crew told the Project manager about a few instances of what he had done and they fired the Super on the spot.

What a horrible superintendent to knowingly not follow the rules and tell the people doing the inspection to change their report and lie. He should never work in construction again if he’s going to cut corners in such drastic ways that a building could collapse.

Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.

This person calls it “justice.”

The superintendent was right about the hardhat.

Here’s a similar comment.

This is probably true.

Following the rules can save lives.

If you liked that post, check out this post about a woman who tracked down a contractor who tried to vanish without a trace.