Workplace rules are meant to keep things lighter and smoother, but sometimes, they can go a little too far.

This woman, along with her coworkers, was given a charge account.

They can purchase stuff from their retail store; however, they were instructed to pay for their purchases on time, so the accounts won’t be suspended.

So she followed the order strictly… even if it meant paying with coins.

Read the story below to find out more.

I *will* follow your rules

We’re a retail store that sells many things including soft drinks and snacks.

Back in the day, management and above had a charge account for personal purchases. These were administered by the office manager.

Some employees would have issues with not paying on time.

This, of course, led to occasional issues with people not paying in a timely fashion, sometimes with substantial balances.

So, the office manager had a very strict policy.

If you didn’t pay on time, your account would be suspended and will be inactive until you did, regardless of circumstances or amount, and presumably, a demerit on your permanent record.

This woman paid with coins for the soft drink she bought.

One month, the only thing I’d bought was a single soft drink, and office employees buy at cost, so the total was about 75 cents.

I was pretty sure my bank wouldn’t even accept a check for less than a dollar, so I paid with coins.

It was the policy, after all, that it had to be paid on time.

Shortly, they implemented a new policy.

Now, I had paid actual money, and not a check, so she had to make a bank deposit that same day… for 75 cents!

(The controller had some pretty strict policies, too, for better reasons).

Shortly thereafter, we were notified a new policy that if the total on the account was less than $5, we could let it ride until the next month.

That new policy sounds like a good idea.

Let’s check out the comments of other people on Reddit.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

This comment makes good sense.

This person shares quite a similar experience.

Finally, short and straightforward.

Sometimes, strictly following the rules is exactly what it takes to show how silly they really are.

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.