Shutterstock

Household chores can teach teenagers responsibility, but overly strict rules can turn even the simplest task into a constant source of frustration.

So there you are, a teenager whose job is to empty every trash can in the house. When your mom finds a stray tissue or a couple of Q-tips and orders you to do the whole chore again, do you keep arguing or obey her instructions so literally that she regrets making them?

In the story here, one teen chooses wondrous malicious compliance, and his clever response finally gets his mom to ease up on the rules.

Think he can pull it off?

Take out the trash no matter what. Wait, not that!

Many years ago when I lived with my parents, my mom decided to task my sister and me with additional chores around the house.

Understandable.

We were entering the pre-teen and teenage years so helping around the house is expected.

This was OP’s new chore.

I got tasked with trash duty.

Essentially empty out all the small trashbins into a larger one, and then take out that trashbag.

All was well until one Saturday when my mom complained about why I hadn’t emptied the trashbins.

I said I had, and she pointed to the one in her bathroom where a single bath tissue was in the bag.

There’s a new rule.

She demanded that the bags had to be empty and that next time it happened she would have me empty all the trashbags again.

I asked “even if I’ve already done it and the bags are empty?”

She said “yes, even if the bags are empty”.

Duly noted.

Mom had the same complaint a few weeks later.

A few weeks later, after I had emptied the bags, looks like my sister decided to use the bathroom and left some Qtips in the trashbin bag.

Again, my mom burst out asking why I hadn’t emptied the bins and pointed to hers.

So I got up and grabbed every single bin and took the bag.

Mom finally got the point.

She asked “why are you throwing away empty bags?”

I replied: “because apparently I haven’t done my job well enough and per your instructions, I have to do it all over again even if the bags are empty”.

Needless to say, she loosened up afterward and bins were emptied as needed rather than at a set time; most of all, a single sheet or a Qtip wasn’t grounds for needing to take out the trash again.

The rule at the end makes the most sense. I’m glad this problem finally resolved itself.

Let’s see how Reddit reacted to this story.

This person thinks OP’s mother was crazy.

This isn’t a bad idea!

I expected the story to go like this too.

Can you sense the sarcasm?

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a friend who is upset they missed out on cheap festival passes due to her pal’s indecision.

This person’s mother sounds horrible!

Looking back, this story is a good reminder that being overly picky about a chore can create a much bigger problem than the chore itself.

Had the mom simply accepted that the trash cans were empty enough, she probably would not have watched her son follow the rule in the most literal and inconvenient way possible.

Judging by how things ended, she may have learned that clear instructions matter, but she also learned not to push a teenager who is determined to prove a point.

Personally, I would enjoy every future trash run knowing my little act of malicious compliance had finally made the rules more reasonable!