With great power comes great responsibility. These power-hungry stories involve abusive antagonists that were quite irresponsible with their position.
Demanding Calisthenics
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“Many years ago, I worked for a large tire store. My manager told me I was moving too slowly and ordered me to go run laps around the store. I openly laughed at him and said not a chance. He threw a fit. I got his boss involved. I did not run laps, but I did get a written apology.”
She Ruled Over The Community Center With An Iron Fist
“I lived in a village for a few months and one of the richer farmers’ wives got the job of running the community center. She put out a big placard with a picture of herself, titled herself CEO on business cards, started wearing business suits, and banning people she didn’t like the look of. The building was the size of a small apartment and hosted a knitting and Bible club for senior citizens.”
Little Neighborhood Despots
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“There was a guy on the condo association board where I used to live. He thought that made him something pretty special. He would strut around the complex with a measuring tape to see who was out of compliance with everything from decks to flowers. His own deck, however, was not subject to the bylaws because it was built before the bylaws had been ratified (he was one of the first residents after construction). So it was ok for him to have a deck that was double the size of everyone else, but god forbid you have the railings not spaced correctly on yours.
He also managed to get his hands on the original keys for all the units from the real estate company who sold the newly built units. Many people never bothered to change their locks once they moved in. He thought being on the board gave him authority to go into people’s units without their knowledge or consent when they were away so that he could ‘check for flooding.’ That’s where he crossed the line and he was reminded of how little power he actually had.
There was also a lady on the board who had similar delusions of grandeur when it came to the tennis court. Somehow, she managed to get her hands on the only key for the gate and created this bizarre set of rules. You could only use the tennis courts on certain days, and during certain hours, and with a minimum of 48 hours notice, too. Oh, and of course only if she was available – which was never. Guess what, nobody ever played tennis on that court. That really pissed me off because at the time, I was playing tennis several times a week with friends and I never was even able to use the courts I was supposedly paying for.”
He Had His Clipboard At The Ready
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“My 6th-grade-self got chosen for the prestigious role of classroom clipboard holder. As soon as I was chosen, I went to the front of the room with the teacher, pen and clipboard at the ready to mark down whoever spoke out of turn. With my eyes gazing left to right searching for a chatterbox, I heard the smallest noise come from Emily in the back. I thought, ‘You’re busted, Emily.’ I announced to the class, ‘That’s one!’ and wrote her name down, even though the poor girl probably just had a cough. As soon as this happened, Mr. Weiss took the clipboard away and told me to be quiet. My power was gone…I was quiet for the rest of the class.”
She Convinced Herself That She Was In Charge
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“I used to work at Best Buy. We had a good-for-nothing, super nasty woman whose sister also worked at the store and was equally super nasty. She wielded next level ‘witch’ powers and also knew how to manipulate upper management, so she was basically impervious to getting fired, as was her sister.
So this girl started out in operations, which is the registers and customer service department. She was super slow at her job and messed up stuff all the time. I had to constantly cover for her mistakes because fixing her issues and pretending they never happened was far easier and better for my mental health than explaining to management why their perfect angel cost the store $80 because she returned something as new that was actually defective.
Eventually, the entire department turned on her and she decided to move out to sales to avoid the awkward moments with her coworkers. She totally sucked on the floor. She misquoted prices and told customers that she could ‘work a deal’ and then the customer would expect better pricing on a tv, something we simply didn’t do. So she would manipulate everyone by saying, ‘If you get a credit card, I’ll get my manager to knock $100 off this $800 tv.’
So naturally, she’d get credit apps, which upper management loved because that’s literally the only numbers they cared about, but store metrics showed huge numbers in erosion because of all the price adjustments. Eventually, it caught up to her and she’s forced off the sales floor.
At the time, Geek Squad needed a drone to prep computers for the holiday season that had bloatware removed and antivirus installed. They moved her there and she was technically a ‘Geek Squad’ agent. At the same time, a management position opened up which she felt was entitled to her because of all the departments she worked in.
Eventually, she convinced herself she had the job after a manager put her down easily by saying, ‘I can’t consider you a manager because you don’t have experience.’
This literally translated in her brain as: ‘It’s yours if you can show me your managerial skills. So pretend to be a manager and let’s see what you got.’
So quite literally, she didn’t have power but thought she did. Since my area was next to Geek Squad, she started giving me daily performance reviews. She wrote up people and would put the forms in the GM’s office (who she sucked up to, a lot). Worse yet, she would tell people how to do their job, myself included, despite getting kicked out of the department because she sucked at it. One day, she donned a headset and pretended to be the manager on duty when the real manager took their headset off to deal with a personal matter, which everyone mocked her for. Just before a new manager was expected to be picked, she had people fill out a petition for her. No one signed it.
This all went on over the course of a couple of weeks until the new manager was announced. That did not go well with this girl even though the person who was picked very qualified for the job. Her sister threw a fit and yelled at the GM because her sister was promised the job. Her sister ended up quitting shortly after because she accused another employee of assaulting her. But this girl still worked there for a few years and I ended up transferring to Geek Squad and was a full agent. Ended technically above her. She was still an imaging monkey.”
He Really Thought He Was A Military Man
“A guy in our JROTC program thought since he had a higher ‘rank’ than everyone else, that he was essentially a hardened combat veteran. He yelled at people for talking in class, looking at their phones, stupid stuff like that.
He lost his position and got suspended because he threw his ex-girlfriend into a wall at Mach speed. This girl was mentally disabled and had some kind of disorder with her legs so she couldn’t walk without a walker. Everyone (even the teachers) hated him after that.”
The Dreaded Busy-Body Neighbor
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“I just chewed out a member of my homeowner association board this week. My HOA is actually really lax and primarily just takes care of the community spaces, a park, and a barn. But this one board member, Vickie, has a giant martyr complex. She constantly complains about being a board member and no one thanking her for all the hard work she does. She’s really difficult to deal with.
So this week, I was working in my garage and she was across the street looking at something on my neighbor’s lawn. Kind of weird, but not my property and I don’t know the story, so I didn’t say anything. Then she walked over onto my front yard. I came out of the garage and asked her what she’s doing.
Me: ‘Ummm what are you doing?’
Vickie: ‘Where is your water meter?’
Me: ‘Why do you need to see my water meter? The HOA doesn’t monitor the water.’
Vickie: ‘I’ve checked lots of people’s water meters.’
Me: ‘Why? You’re not part of the water company. You have no reason to be checking people’s water meters.’
Vickie: (sneering) ‘What is your problem?’
Me: ‘That’s it, get off my property.’
She then got super offended I was ‘being so rude.’ And I continued to tell her to get off my lawn and she’s not welcome here. She stammered that she was looking for another property owner’s water meter (why would it be on my property?) and was just trying to be helpful. I told her I didn’t care and to leave, which she finally did.”
She’s The Boss Of The Gas Station
“Today at the gas station, I was looking at the mini bottles behind the counter trying to decide what I wanted. The lady at the counter said she needed my ID.
I told her I wasn’t ready yet.
She said she needed my ID in her hands before she could tell me prices of anything.
I said I never asked the price, I’m just looking. I can look without handing you my ID.
She said she needs my ID for me to look at the bottles behind the counter. Her life must be great.
I set it on the counter so she could look at it and she took my ID and put it behind the counter.
At that point, I told her to give it back now and I left. Very weird.”
Queen Of The Mom’s Club
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“I used to be in a little mom’s club. They asked me to volunteer for the board as membership vice president. The lady who was president some how managed to elevate her status in her own head to the point where she was insufferable. She didn’t like the way I did my job and was always redoing things her way instead and then would tell me I wasn’t doing my job. Her need to micromanage everything annoyed me, so I stopped answering her emails. She sent a long-winded email telling me that if I worked for her, she would kick me to the curb. Then she listed all her grievances in detail and basically told me to quit. I still can’t figure out who exactly she thought she was or why she needed to be so controlling. It’s a dumb mom’s group, not a country. Calm down.”
A Security Guard Abuses What Little Power He Has
“I have a big group of friends who go to the local park on a regular basis to play outdoor games and board games. I bought a set of lawn darts as well as numerous other games. We were deliberately in a part of the park where no other people were around for at least 100 meters.
The security patrol drove up in a little cart and this fussy man got out, hooked his thumbs in his belt loops and shambled over to me like a western cartoon character. The only thing he was missing was hay in his teeth and a hat to tip back.
He tried to confiscate my lawn darts as they posed a danger to the public. I pointed out there was no ‘public’ around outside of our group. Then he went with the line that I (the little lady) was using them incorrectly and posing a danger to myself.
I was 38 at the time and I am 5’10” – I towered over his little diminutive self and lady is not the first word I would use to describe myself.
I asked him on whose authority he was confiscating my games and to show me the bylaw that allowed this. I even pulled out my phone to look up the park rules. He started to get flustered and by this point, my friends were openly laughing at his routine.
He backed off and drove away. Later that day when one of us made a complaint at the office, we learned he was actually the park maintenance man (garbage collector) and had zero authority. He wasn’t even supposed to be driving that particular vehicle.”
The Power Hungry Boss Way Oversteps
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“My dad opened up a chain of scrap yards that eventually ended up being wildly successful. My dad is also a person who has the life motto, ‘Never give your kids things because they will turn out to be entitled brats!’ Needless to say, me working at his most successful scrap yard did not lead to a high paying position or fast rising through the ranks. It was so bad that this manager named Ryan actually had to suggest to my dad that it was time to put me in management after four years of me busting my butt harder than any other employee and even being the one to train him a year prior. Pops didn’t trust me running companies at this point in time, which in hindsight makes sense.
But I finally got a management position where I had a small crew on second shift. It was three weeks before Christmas and I told my dad I was looking to go balls to the wall on Christmas spending so I could finally feel like I’ve given back to everyone that was important to me. I was a bit selfish prior to that point, I’ll admit. I had picked out all the gifts I had wanted to give my girlfriend at the time and the rest of the family (around $2,400 worth). I was about 21, so this was a big amount of money for me at that time and I was determined. Instead of being an entitled prick like most rich kids, I simply asked if I could work tons of extra hours so I could earn enough money to buy these gifts. He said, ‘Well, you better get busting your butt and talk to the other branches and find out if you can get some overtime in because you’re gonna need that time and a half for a Christmas list like that.’
Over the course of the next two weeks, I worked 80 hours a week and totaled 160 hours with 80 of it being overtime at multiple different shops that I drove all over to get to. I told everyone (including this Ryan dude) how ecstatic I was to have made enough to get everyone everything they wanted and enough left over to treat myself. Everyone congratulated me on the work ethic and it finally came time for me to go and collect my money.
So now it’s payday and two days before Christmas. I headed to the main office to turn in my hours sheet and the secretary told me she needs to make sure it’s okay with Ryan before she pays me. At this point, I was a little confused as to why she needs to do this as it had never been common practice before that point. So she brought my punch card to him and he came back out to the office and said, ‘I’m not paying you this.’ Mind you, my dad had just given him a $68,000 truck that he just bought but didn’t like anymore and it had like no miles on it. I, of course, asked what the heck he was talking about. He responded by telling me he wasn’t going to pay me that because it’s more than he made so there’s no way he’s going to authorize me to cash it out. I was absolutely dumbfounded at this point but figured maybe there was some confusion or something. So to clear the air, I explained to him that my Dad and everyone else at multiple shops ok’ed me working these hours and they can all verify that I did, in fact, work every minute that I said I did. I don’t know how much you know about recycling metals and the ins and outs of the business, but I BUSTED MY BUTT for that check. I could barely function from exhaustion.
He then explained to me that even if my dad ok’ed it (the freaking owner who hired him), he was not cool with it and the most he would pay me was the hourly wage with no overtime because otherwise, I would make too much. Since y’all don’t know my dad I feel I must inform you he is a HOT HEAD. At this point, my blood was boiling. We all hate the guy that pulls rank or acts entitled but I had no choice cause this guy was a straight entitled, power hungry, money grubbing, unappreciative JERK!
So I informed him, without raising my voice or acting irrationally, that when the guy who signs his checks tells him to pay someone, he probably shouldn’t argue. He told me, ‘I don’t give a hoot, this isn’t going to fly.’ I let him know I was going to call my dad on the spot if he didn’t pay me and I was going to tell my dad every word of the conversation. Ryan told me he didn’t give a snot, that my dad doesn’t have a say. I chuckled and called and informed my dad everything.
My dad ended up yelling, ‘Put Ryan on the phone,’ which came after he’d called him quite a few names that were less than professional. He was so loud, you would have sworn he was on speaker phone but he wasn’t. I handed the phone to Ryan and to this day, I’m not quite sure what he said but I’ve never seen a guy so red. He walked back into the office and pulled out my $3,500 cash. He never really spoke to me again after that. Freaking entitled prick. And to think, the whole time he knew that most of this money was for other people in the Christmas spirit and I worked harder than anyone else to earn it. Oh, I’m sorry you working 40 hour work weeks doesn’t make as much as me doubling your work hours, you poor miserable thing. Should I go fetch your brand new Chevy Silverado 2500 HD loaded plow truck for you that you didn’t spend a dime on? That’s the worst I’ve ever seen someone let power get to their head. EVER.”
An Xbox Tyrant
“My younger sister got an Xbox 360 years ago on Christmas. Whenever my youngest sister or I would ask to play, she would boss us around first, but ultimately deny us.
‘Get me some juice first.’
‘Bring me some snacks.’
‘Make my bed.’
Me: ‘Can I play now?’
‘No, you shouldn’t have trusted me.'”
Not Really Management Material After All
“Years ago, while working at a pizza place, our manager had to leave on a family emergency and left a girl in charge until one of the other shift runners could get there and he lived about 45 minutes away.
In that 45 minutes, this girl who was left in charge actually called one of her friends and hired her, saying she was ‘the manager’ now; wrote me up for ‘putting too much cheese on a pizza;’ and actually told one of the drivers he was fired because ‘she didn’t like his attitude.’ When the shift runner got there to take over, this girl also told him not to worry about it and she ‘had things under control.’
End result – her friend was not hired, my ‘write-up’ for using too much cheese was torn up, the ‘fired’ driver (who never left the parking lot) kept his job and she quit a few days later because we were ‘unprofessional’ and the manager ‘played favorites.'”
The Tyrant Of Halo 2
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“When I played Halo 2, I joined a fairly large clan that had some pretty cool people in it. We did a lot together and every once in awhile, they would elect a new forum moderator/officer to run the ranks. One day, they elect this kid who sounded like he was 11 to be a new officer. He seemed pretty down to Earth but the very next day, he got home from school and started kicking every single person from the clan who just even slightly brushed him the wrong way. It was so bad that the leader, who was on vacation in Hawaii, had to log onto a library computer in order to strip all powers from this kid. The kid’s reasoning was that he didn’t get picked for a baseball game at school and was angry the rest of the day.”
Overzealous Postal Worker
“There is this lady at the post office who insists I show multiple forms of ID and looks at me like I’m a criminal every time I try to mail something as if the first thing I’d do with a stolen credit card is try to mail a $6 package.”
The Dreaded Coach’s Kid
“The ‘captain’ aka coach’s kid on my 4th-grade hockey team. Ran into him in high school and we were trying to figure out where we knew each other from. I eventually said ‘Oh! You were on my hockey team in 4th grade.’
His response, years after the fact, ‘Your hockey team? Wow, that’s funny. It was MY hockey team.'”
The Napoleon Of Gaming
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“He was a substitute raid leader in Rift (an MMORPG like World of Warcraft).
Our normal ‘raid leader’ was going to be gone for one week and appointed another (called a tank) to lead the 20 of us through a dungeon we had beaten many times before. We started out by wiping out twice due to a new player (a younger girl) handling the part our leader normally did, but she messed up a few times. No big deal, normal learning curve, right?
The tank (I’ll call him Napoleon Jr.) decided the best course of action was to use every four-letter word he knew and berated her in voice chat, humiliating her in front of the whole raid. She got emotional and he just ramped it up higher. The whole raid started telling him to knock it off, and he started kicking people from the raid.
After about 10-15 minutes of this, most of the rest of the raid team started dropping out of the group and began reforming without him. At this point, he went absolutely ballistic. He was screaming so loud and furiously that I couldn’t help but think he was bipolar or something. We filled his spot with a friend and Napoleon STAYED in voice chat, cursing at us and trying to interfere with our raid.
His last words before we switched voice chat servers was, ‘I’M IN CHARGE THIS WEEK!'”