Treat others as you wish to be treated—a golden rule to live by in any environment. Especially a professional one where teamwork is often crucial for the business to run smoothly.
Reddit user icorrectotherpeople told the ‘Malicious Compliance’ community about his rude co-worker’s attitude turning against him. While working as a restaurant manager, the OP spotted an error in an order. He informed the hard-headed chef about it, yet his response not only didn’t fix the problem but led to malicious compliance and a fiasco at work instead.
Bored Panda has reached out to the OP and he was kind enough to answer a few of our questions. You will find his thoughts in the text below.
Everyone should treat others with respect, but for some it comes more naturally than for others
Image credits: Sebastian Coman Photography (not the actual photo)
This manager had enough of his rude co-worker’s attitude, which led to an act of malicious compliance
Image credits: Daniel Twal (not the actual photo)
Image credits: u/icorrectotherpeople
A surprising number of people have to deal with a troublesome colleague at work
Image credits: Elle Hughes (not the actual photo)
Respectful communication in a work environment is crucial for both the success of the business and the happiness of the workers likewise. Needless to say, working with difficult people has never made the job easier. Understandably, the OP could only take so much of his co-worker’s rude manners until he snapped and decided to take his arrogance down a notch. He told Bored Panda that the chef has told him not to change his orders on multiple occasions in the past, which is why he decided to maliciously comply.
A 2022 survey revealed that the vast majority of employed people (90% of them) have had to deal with at least one annoying colleague in their workplace. To make matters worse, a third of the respondents admit they would be annoyed by them several times a week. Such regularity can make even the most even-tempered of people run out of patience. That might be why 57% of those surveyed considered leaving the company, and roughly 70% decided to confront the aggravating teammates.
The OP didn’t even need to confront the chef to receive a pretty harsh reaction. A call about a possible error was enough for him to use what would hardly be considered proper workplace communication. And while it’s completely understandable to prefer not to be bothered on your days off, there are respectful ways to express yourself even in the most frustrating of situations. Especially when the way you deal with them determines whether or not there’s going to be a fort built from onion boxes waiting for you at work.
People consider teamwork and respect two of the most important values in the workplace
Image credits: MART PRODUCTION (not the actual photo)
Slack’s survey on workplace collaboration revealed that being a part of the team is one of the things employees value the most. And for any team to function well, its members have to first and foremost show respect to each other. That, according to Slack’s data, is a value that both companies and workers put before anything else.
The survey also covered what makes for good team collaboration, and nearly 14% of respondents said that it’s the ability to communicate with their colleagues easily. “Communication is very important, and in an organization that doesn’t have good communication you can expect chaos,” the redditor told Bored Panda.
Judging from the OP’s story, the chef didn’t seem like the easiest person to talk to. And his grumpy ways ended up getting him in trouble; not only did he have to deal with a significant onion surplus, his lack of respect seemingly left him without a job as well.
Redditors shared their opinions in the comments, quite a few of them thought it’s time for some French onion soup
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