Few things are more frustrating than having someone enforce a rule that makes very little sense.

This military spouse spent her husband’s deployment tending a small garden while living in base housing during the pandemic. Her herbs and vegetables were growing happily in pots until housing informed her that they couldn’t stay there.

If she wanted a garden, everything had to go in the ground.

The order might have been easier to accept if housing had been as attentive when residents needed help with actual problems.

Instead, years of frustration had already piled up by that point. So when she was told to move her garden, she decided to follow the rules and let them learn the hard way.

Read on to see what she did.

In the ground? Okay…

As a military spouse, you find ways to keep yourself busy when your other half is deployed, especially when you’re a sub wife and it’s weeks if not months of no emails.

I got a notice while we were living in base housing (during the pandemic) that I could not have my garden in pots, everything had to be in the ground.

We were supposed to move, but then COVID happened, the gardening started pre-pandemic but then I got more into it when I found out we couldn’t leave. I originally did some basil, oregano and tomatoes in pots, but got a notice that I couldn’t have potted plants.

They expected her to fix things quickly, but the same didn’t apply to them.

The thing is that I got notices for things like the AC units still being on October first, but it was still in the mid 80’s.

However, if I needed THEM to do anything it was like pulling teeth.

A hornet’s nest twice the size of a basketball? The fire department ended up taking care of it because they were tired of waiting. When the pipes burst in our house? They berated me and the following conversation happened:

Frustrated, she told them what she thought.

Housing: If you’re letting the dog pee in the house, there’s going to be an extra cleaning fee.

Me: One, even if he DID pee in the house TODAY, that sound was ******* loud and it probably scared him. Two, I have seizures! There are probably more **** stains, and blood, in the carpet from me than him.

But long before the incident with the pipes, there were other small issues that after 4 years, I just ended up doing.

They’re probably still dealing with oregano.

My garden goes in the ground? We’re staying here 3 more years? I’m growing oregano… and you’re going to have to deal with it when I leave. It’s been 2 years, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has taken over half the front yard.

You see, oregano can be very invasive and VERY difficult to get rid of. It really took root while I was there. I was constantly going out and, well, not pruning… just getting little sprigs for cooking. But when we left, I pulled up the little mini dividers that were keeping it from taking over the yard. They’re going to have to get REALLY creative to get rid of it.

A recent phone call to my next door neighbor there? A new family has moved in, and when he told the wife what the plant was, she was ecstatic! So, plant’s still there and HUGE!

Wow! That was one way to get back at them.

If you enjoyed this post, check out this story about people who refuse to cut down more trees for their neighbor’s water view after already capitulating once.

Let’s check out what the readers over at Reddit think about it.

Aww, let’s hope she considered this.

This reader knows all about oregano.

For this reader, the military housing office was also bad.

It is pretty shocking.

This one is actually pretty funny.

Housing wanted the garden in the ground, and that’s exactly what they got.

Years later, the oregano is still there.

To be honest, it feels less like revenge and more like a very persistent reminder that some rules aren’t nearly as well thought out as the people enforcing them think they are.