So many of life’s problems would be solved or lessened if people just closed their mouths and listened more than they talked…

But you and both know that there are some folks out there who are incapable of doing that!

A worker in a print shop wrote the story below and talked about what happened when their boss wouldn’t listen to what they were trying to tell her.

Let’s take a look at what went down.

Think of What the Customer Wants? Sure.

“I work at a print hub, working the printers and adjusting files and such.

I put in a lot of work to deliver a perfect product, despite the issues that plague the shop, and always ensure that everything I produce is Quality Checked.

This isn’t due to me putting pride in my work however, but rather my boss nitpicks nearly everything. If something is off center by a millimeter, it’s redone. If there is a small scratch on one poster in a pack of five, the whole order is redone.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the boss is a good person, not a bully or anything, but sometimes we have to redo orders several times to ensure it is done to her expectations, which is absolutely fair. She is the boss and it’s not too often she does this.

Anyways, on to the incident.

I just learned that I am supposed to run a One-Shot D&D session this weekend. Short notice, have maps and everything to setup.

As a result, I quickly picked out one of the Dungeons I ran in my regular Dungeons & Dragons group, a galleon ship trapped in time, where the players need to manipulate the environment to have the crew open or close doors, and turned it into a one shot adventure. (I call it “The Time Between the Seconds).

Since it was last minute I didn’t really have time to optimize maps, so I just sent the order through my job’s online Submission, with the intention to just print out a pixelated mess just for the sake of having visuals (it’s the way I DM, I like having visuals for my players to help them envision the area).

He did what he had to do.

Today when I came in, I found the order I submitted and completed it quickly. Admittedly, it was a bit of a mess, and it didn’t help that our color machine started leaking toner, again. Blue streaks on the paper and everything. Whatever, I am fine with it.

An hour later, while I was working with posters, my manager, let’s call her Kay, came into the room. She started.

Kay Holding up my order: What is this?

Me: Oh, that’s my job. I was…

Kay Interrupting: How can you say this is good? It’s pixelated, and the machine dumped toner on it.

Me: Kay, it’s ok. I am…

Kay Interrupting again: It’s not ok, you have to contact the customer and figure out how they want to proceed.

Me Sarcastically: Trust me, I’m sure the customer won’t mind. Look at the customer name.

Kay: It doesn’t matter, I want you to see how they want to proceed. Think about what they want.

Me Sigh: Yes Kay.

Kay dropped the order in front of me, and left the room. I considered my options for a moment, and looked towards my dwindling workload.

Screw it. Malicious Compliance Number One.

She asked for it!

I finished my assigned work and got to work on the maps. As I said, I didn’t properly optimize them or anything, so I started working through the five 11 x 17 maps I had smoothing out the pixels.

It took about an hour to get everything setup, normally I work on a program other then Photoshop for my maps. After that I went through the character sheets, filling in any of the blanks I left in, such as personality, bonds, and gold. About 15 minutes.

Then what about any random gear they may have. A big part of this one shot is their carrying weight, so I calculate those totals up. Another 20 minutes.

About an hour and a half later I have the files up to the customer’s standards, (which is mine), and I print them out again. But the toner dumping on the color printer is still an issue.

So even though the files looked a lot better, there were still blue streaks in the paper. So when Kay saw it…

Kay holding the completed order: Kole, what are you doing? You know the color machine is down.

Me: I know, but I can’t wait for the machine to be fixed.

Kay considers for a moment before speaking: Call the customer and explain the issue. See if they will accept it half off.

Me: That isn’t needed because…

Jeez..

Kay: Just do it.

Me Taking a deep breath: Stay here please.

Malicious Compliance number two.

I picked up the office phone, looked her in the eyes, and dialed the number on the order form.

A ha!

From my pocket the Silver Samurai theme (From Phoenix Wright Series) began to chime. I take my phone out of my pocket, and answer, immediately saying “Yes, I will take half off my order.”

Kay was speechless, and just quietly walked out the door. To her credit, she did honor the half off she offered the customer, but perhaps next time she will actually let me finish what I am trying to say instead of constantly cutting me off.

Don’t get me wrong, Kay is a good person, but today was a harsh day on everyone since our machines are having issues.

The only one who was able to get anything done was me since my printers (The Wide Format and the Drafting Machines) were working properly.

I am sure tomorrow we will have a laugh over the situation, as the machines are fixed now and stress levels have lowered.”

Let’s see what folks had to say about this on Reddit.

This person shared their thoughts.

Another Reddit user weighed in.

This individual spoke up.

And another person was impressed.

If their boss just would’ve listened, things would have been much easier…

If you liked that post, check out this one about an employee that got revenge on HR when they refused to reimburse his travel.