Pexels/Reddit

Taking pride in your work tools shouldn’t come with a punishment attached, yet that’s exactly what happened to one decorator on a small redecoration crew.

After a year in the trade, he’d built a reputation for keeping a clean, well-maintained kit, one he’d generously been lending to laborers who didn’t have their own gear, as long as it came back in decent shape.

The catch? It never did.

So on the one day he left early with his boss’s pre-approval to celebrate his birthday, he returned the next morning to find his personal kit scattered and trashed yet again.

When he called his boss to address the issue, the response wasn’t an apology; it was a pay cut and an accusation of being “petty” for caring about his own property.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

AITA for refusing to lend my personal decorating tools to site laborers after they keep returning them filthy

I (18+M) work as a decorator on a small team (4 decorators including me, plus 3 laborers) doing school redecorations over the summer.

I’ve only been in the trade for a year, but I take a lot of pride in my gear. I keep my kit clean and well-maintained, a clean kit means a clean job.

Soon he begins facing a difficult problem.

Because our 3 laborers don’t have their own tools, I’ve been lending them my personal kit on the condition that it comes back clean.

But every single time, it gets returned in a disgusting state.

Yesterday was my birthday. I arrived late to site by mistake, but my boss had pre-approved me leaving early for my birthday, so I wrapped up early.

I came in today to find my personal kit scattered around site and in a state again.

Finally, he confronted his boss about it, who promptly gaslit him.

I called my boss to ask why people were going through my personal bag without asking. Instead of addressing it, he called me “petty” for caring about my tools and told me he was docking my pay by 2 hours for leaving early yesterday, even though I regularly stay late unpaid to get jobs finished.

Now my boss is acting like I’m in the wrong for protecting my own property.

AITA for being angry about this and putting a stop to lending my kit? And WIBTA if I add the hours for staying late?

This decorator has the right to stick up for himself and his tools.

What did Reddit have to say?

There needs to be stronger boundaries around his tools.

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Document, document, document.

Being a pushover won’t get you far, especially in the workforce.

It’s time to start reclaiming his time as well.

A boss who calls someone petty for guarding their own tools has already lost the argument, and he likely knows it.

The laborers broke the one condition attached to borrowing someone else’s gear, repeatedly, and the response to that was punishing the guy who got tired of asking nicely? That doesn’t make any sense.

The employer is always going to look out for themselves, so why shouldn’t the employees do the same?

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Author

Benjamin Cottrell

Benjamin Cottrell | Assistant Editor, Internet Culture

Benjamin Cottrell is an Assistant Editor and contributing writer at TwistedSifter, specializing in internet culture, viral social dynamics, and the moral complexities of online communities. He brings a highly analytical, editorial voice to his reporting on workplace conflicts, malicious compliance, and interpersonal drama, with a specific focus on nuanced stories that lack an obvious villain.

As a published author of rhetorical criticism, Benjamin leverages his academic background in human communication to dissect and elevate viral social media threads. Instead of simply summarizing events, he provides readers with balanced, deep-dive commentary into why the internet reacts the way it does. In addition to his cultural reporting, he is an experienced fine art photography essayist and video game reviewer.

When he isn’t analyzing the latest viral debates, Benjamin is usually chipping away at his extensive video game backlog, hunting down the best new restaurants, or out exploring the city with a camera in hand.

Connect with Benjamin on Instagram and read more of his essays on Substack.