There are certain team-bonding work traditions that should be disbanded and one of them is most certainly Secret Santa. First of all, there's the money factor. Even if the fixed price everyone should spend is decided to be $10, I don't want to spend two cents on anyone at work and I'm pretty sure they'd say the same about me. There is absolutely no ill will or bitterness here; in fact, to me, it feels like a healthy mutual understanding. Now, the next reason why Workplace Secret Santa should be…

Hello darkness my old friend

Sometimes, the games and manipulation start from the interview, with the hiring party pulling ticks, like showing up late, to “test" candidates, claiming to be testing for traits like “loyalty” and “patience” when really they're just looking to see how much of a pushover the candidates are. Really, if you're pulling stunts like this, you're probably discouraging the best candidates from working at your company, which you probably think is fine since you're obviously looking for desperate and pl…

This teenager doesn't want to help his dad with chores anymore after the way his dad spoke to him. When you're 17 years old, you're so close to being an adult, but you aren't quite there yet. People still get to treat you like a kid, whether you like it or not. That's why commenters are divided on this guy's story about a rainy-day chore gone wrong, with some blaming the teenage OP, and others blaming his father. This story is about what happens when you dry clothing outside without accounting…

Imagine working at the same company for seven years and getting fired the second you bring up the topic of a raise. Talk about a complete lack of respect for the loyalty these employees have shown to the company by staying all this time with no financial incentive to do so. The employee who filmed this video of his boss's tantrum shared that he and his coworkers merely asked politely for a meeting after learning that new employees were receiving higher wages. That meeting led to the conversatio…

If this mother in law won't eat this delicious chicken dish, we volunteer instead. Picky eaters transcend culture and time; every family has at least one person who can't stand spicy foods or dislikes a common ingredient like beans. Cooking for another person is a kind and thoughtful thing to do, and it's especially meaningful when it's your family. Speaking as a picky eater, it was a wonderful feeling when someone left my portion of a meal plain for me. Everyone else could eat their regular ch…

Let's talk about the bureaucracy of requesting PTO and how it really shouldn't be a bureaucracy at all. When you sign a contract that entitles you to a certain about of time off, that should be the only bit of documentation involved in planning your personal vacation time. Other than that, you should be able to just send an email announcing that these are the days you're taking off. There should be no “requesting" process. There should be no waiting period between your request and your approval…

When someone does you a favor at work, the proper reaction should be a mix of ‘grateful’ and ‘thank you’. One employee was using their lunchtime to get office supplies for coworkers at their workplace, paying with the company card. They had been doing this for YEARS, so imagine their surprise when one day, they came back from lunch per usual with a bag of corporate goodies in their hand, a receipt in the other, and received a frown and a scolding from their boss, instead of a ‘thank you’. OP wa…

Companies want as much productivity as possible, claiming that they want to attract the best and brightest candidates—not that they're going to pay those candidates what they deserve. If they accidentally do manage to land one of these workers, they'll wish they hadn't when the new worker arrives and shows everyone up, sparking an internal dilemma and drawing jealousy, ire, and suspicions of the mediocre veteran workers. If you do this, there are chances that you won't find praise and will, rat…

In the same way you can't eat at just anyone's home, you can't let just anyone fix up your car . That's the lesson u/Muchacho1994 learned after letting their grandfather check out their 2005 Chevy Malibu. Spending time with devoted grandparents is the best. They just want to spoil their grandkiddies with presents and food and hugs. It's easy when your grandkids are very young and eager to play with their grandparents. As the kids get older, you have to find new things to bond over, such as a ne…

Minimum wage doesn't really motivate you to jump out of bed in the morning, be excited to meet potential customers, and generally look forward to the day ahead. If anything, you hit snooze, grumble, and wish that there wasn't that hole in your blinds that drowns your room in sunlight. Also, one could probably argue that people working minimum wage don't want to put in much effort because they aren't really getting compensated with a livable wage, anyway. There are so many of these jobs that you…

You can't have your cake and eat it too… and you should never voluntarily take a piece of an HOA's cake. For, that cake comes with a price—a blood price—that will bind you to their covenants and leave you vulnerable to petty powertrips from their bored aged board members who will go to any lengths to ensure that not a single blade of grass is out of line. About 10 years ago, this guy and his wife moved into a suburban neighborhood that had a community pool, which was only accessible to members…

Bosses who are annoying about promptness should be focusing their attention on far more pressing matters. Whatever happened to focusing on their own tasks and responsibilities? Whatever happened to ensuring that the employees on their team are supported and fulfilled (well, as fulfilled as they can be given the circumstances of work)? Whatever happened to minding their own dang business? In work-related matters such as this, we often go back to our mantra that if the work gets done and gets don…

Problems arise in apartment complexes all the time; I should know, I lived in one. A lot of complexes use rent payment portals, because they're safe, secure, and allow landlords to collect payments online and keep track of everything, nice and tidy. Or at least, they are supposed to be. OP shared that they lived in an apartment complex that was acquired by a new management company, which switched the resident and rent payment portals. To say that this move caused disruptions would be an underst…

Housing communities are continuously getting more and more infamous for the unfair, ridiculous rules they enforce, yet ironically, don't apply to themselves. The head of HOA, also known as 'President', gets to write all the rules along with the rest of the board, usually making sure that the rules are in compliance with his or her own personal preferences. I was flabbergasted to read that an HOA president took it upon himself to drive all around u/smocky13's neighborhood, looking to see whose g…

This employee had to learn the hard way that many companies don't want innovation , they want employees who will keep their heads down. That is a frustrating lesson to learn if you're a bright young person in their first job, ready to tackle any issue. You find an issue, have a great idea of how to solve it and then… your boss just never implements that idea. They might ignore it entirely, or just tell you not to do that. Then you watch as your workplace carries on as usual. This guy had an esp…