Source: Pexels/Reddit

Every introductory manual labor comes with an unspoken skill: finding ridiculous ways to kill the down time…without getting caught of course. The work may build muscle, the boredom builds creativity.

What’s the best way you ever got back at a work nemesis? One guy recently shared a wild story about this with the Reddit community. Here’s what went down.

Water + Dirty Grates

My mom had gotten me a summer job working in the manufacturing plant at the company she worked for.

They got the college kids to do all the work that the regular staff didn’t have time to get to.

They put me in the power plant.

Seems like that would be the first job type on that list.

Mind you, this is a coal-fired plant so there’s not only dust, dirt, and grease but also coal dust.

It’s fairly open to the air because you know, dust.

Rain would get in.

Nothing about that sounds ideal.

There was steam everywhere.

It got very dirty in there.

For example, one project was cleaning all of the railing.

Whatever they were getting paid, it definitely wasn’t enough.

I’d done it the prior year and it was just as dirty a year later.

My partner and I did that for two weeks.

Then it was time to repaint them.

Enough is never enough.

That was one month of work.

The year in which I’m telling this story there was a guy on another crew that I’d known since I was 11.

John was in my school district and two years ahead of me.

A potential new rival enters the story?

He’d been in my scout troop.

He was also a bit of a jerk.

This was his first year doing this summer job.

A rookie is not what this dynamic was missing.

Normally I had no interaction with him but he and his team were pranksters.

We went back and forth with minor pranks till my last day.

He’d gotten me from the floor above that morning with some water.

Pretty brutal given the circumstances.

Mind you, it was through an open space.

I was putting up a bucket when I heard his voice two floors above walking around.

He was working with his crew on something.

Seems like payback may be in order.

You know the thought that comes in now.

Water. Bucket. Run three flights up.

Which is what I did.

He’s thinking three literal steps ahead.

I get up to the 4th floor and they’re gone from floor 3.

I was 10 minutes from clocking out and heading out.

Oh well. It was good try.

Efforts were made.

Then what doth sound do mine ears hear but the sound of the elevator opening on the first floor and John’s voice.

Oh sweet God in heaven.

Thank you for this gift.

This guy definitely needed a positive turn of events.

I’d carried a 5 gallon bucket up to the fourth floor.

There were three nasty grated floors between him and myself.

I waited till they were coming out and dumped the water.

That had to have been wildly cathartic.

Years of coal dust, dirty, and all the filth that accumulates in the unwashed grated floors of power plant came rushing down onto them.

Except, I didn’t know that yet. For me, it was just water.

They scream.

Not a dull moment at this work place.

I laugh and bolt off to go put up the bucket and clock out on time.

I’m picking my stuff up out of the breakroom when John comes in.

He’s covered head and shoulders in all of the wet muck that I’d poured down.

Not a good day to be John.

The old guys in there crack up. I’m cracking up.

The words “I’ll get you back” come out of his mouth.

My response: I’d love to see you try.

Famous last words.

Mind you. In less than 5 minutes, I’m outta there for the last time ever.

I know he doesn’t go back to school for another week.

He doesn’t know it’s my last day.

He played the long game here.

He did try before I left to have my partner lure me to an area where a firehose was.

I did not fall for it.

Just before I left my partner comes in there covered head to toe soaking wet.

Apparently he was collateral damage.

He got hosed as punishment for failing to lure me in.

He told me he had his own revenge on John planned.

We had a good laugh and that was it.

The friends you make on a job are worth more than gold.

In 30 years I’ve never seen either of them again.

But it’s still funny.

Those are the types of stories you can only acquire when you’re young and silly. Let’s see what the good people of Reddit weighed in with here.

Plenty of kudos were offered in the comments.

And folks didn’t miss the chance to be punny.

One person pointed out the moral of the story.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a man who is shocked to learn how little he has to do to keep his cushy remote job.

Others felt the story was underwhelming.

And that the ending was missing something.

Your first job rarely defines your career, but it sounds like it definitely defined his habits.