I wonder if this loophole is, in fact, a loophole or if she will eventually be kicked out because of this

Rules are there to control our natural tendency to act chaotically. Even though they exist, they are not inevitable, and sometimes we can get away with avoiding them. I would argue that transgressing a minor, slightly ridiculous rule is more rewarding than simply following it.

When it comes to work, one should be more careful because what is at play is our source of income and, therefore, our own survival.

It should be allowed to be a little mischievous, but also, if it were allowed, it would probably lose its whole point. Let's see what  this employee has to say and later derive our own conclusions from it.

Lately, ridiculous bosses are everywhere, or has it always been like this?

Very few things are more pathetic than someone trying to command an authority they don't have, or pretending to have everything under control when they clearly don't, but when it comes to our ridiculous bosses, we love to see it unfold. Sometimes, commanding behaviour stems from insecurity rather than confidence, and people revert to that as their main mechanism instead of opening themselves up to help or external advice. The story below is about a manager who's also the boss's wife, who, in my opinion, is employing this type of psychological defense.

When a gift stops being a gift and starts being an obligation.

Many conflicts between neighbours begin because one person agreed to lend something to the other, assuming they would respect their things, and the other person understood something along the lines of: 'Oh, they're so happy to share everything at every time, and I should start treating this thing as mine.' This story could be the plot for a Jordan Peele kind of thriller, about the stuff you gradually start letting slide coming from your neighbours, until you end up becoming absolutely trapped by the situation.

Are you ready for some LOLs after a week of hard work?

Yeah, you are! No other answer is accepted. You are ready to LOL, I am ready to LOL with you, we are all ready to LOL! So stop messing around and be true to your wants and needs. You want to LOL, so you need memes. It's as simple as that. What did Socrates say? A LOL a day keeps two birds with a stone that burns the bridge… Or whatever. It's time for memes. You had a long week of hard work. Those 9 AM meetings were excruciating. That trainee of yours keeps making those small mistakes that you have reminded them a million times about. And you are trying to eat healthy, so that salad at lunch is mid and the lack of snacks back home is truly heartbreaking. So all you have are memes, really. Don't scroll through those scary headlines. Do that later, you're doing great. It's time to give that mind, body, and soul of yours some time for joy and laughter. 

This company really thought that if they dragged a job candidate through multiple interviews and assignments, the candidate wouldn't care that the salary they offer is significantly lower than on the job posting.

It's a bizarre strategy, but it must be working for some companies if many still keep this up.

Here's how they do it: The company posts a job listing with a salary range that is appropriate for the role and the demands they're making, and they happily watch as the applications roll in. They interview hundreds of candidates, making them jump through hoops and go through countless interviews and assignments to prove their worth. They make people work so hard for a job they think they want.

Then comes the time to negotiate pay, which is when the company finally reveals the real salary they plan to offer to the one who "wins" the job, but that salary is significantly lower than what the company posted in that initial job posting. How can that be?

That is when the hiring manager starts jumping through hoops themselves in order to explain why they offer a salary that cannot compare to the one they proudly posted online. They say that the base pay doesn't include the benefits, and they add the health insurance and the unlimited snacks employees have in the office… They basically lie about every little detail to get the candidate to agree to something they never signed up for.

And after all these interviews and assignments, some employees might actually take the bait and accept the offer despite the insulting salary, exactly as the company planned in the first place.

Is that the case for the job candidate below? We wouldn't count on it. They shared on Reddit's r/jobs Subreddit how disappointed they were when this exact scenario happened to them, but they weren't quick to accept the job offer with the gaslighting base pay. They knew they could do so much better.

Was it fair to expect one sibling to fix a mess they didn't create?

A girl reached out to the Reddit community in r/AITAH since she found herself in the middle of a big family conflict. Apparently, she has two siblings who are well known for breaking the rules in the house, especially the ones about curfew. One night, they went out (as usual), and the parents told her not to open the door for them when they came back.

Of course, later that night, she woke up multiple times because both siblings were blasting her phone with calls, begging her to open the door. But she obeyed her parents and didn't do it. Fast forward to the next morning, both were furious at her and accused her of betrayal.

I think we can empathize with the tight situation u/Artistic-Raisin5257 was in. I mean, having to choose between your siblings or your parents, it's a tough pill to swallow. I totally understand the parents' frustration and why they wanted to teach their other kids a lesson, but I truly believe that involving the other siblings is never the answer, because it creates that expected friction in their relationship.

This story represents the kind of family dispute where everyone is accusing each other. There is no right or wrong here: it doesn't even matter that the two rebel siblings like to sneak out. The issue is the distrust that was created among those three siblings. 

Are we always obliged to follow our loved ones' rules?

Our most meaningful rules might appear ridiculous to somebody else, but part of the art of learning how to love is respecting what our significant others deem important, even though it sounds ludicrous to us. There is a difference between agreeing with a person and respecting them, and respecting sometimes requires complying with preferences we find irrational. Sometimes love is an inconvenience we choose. We accommodate, compromise, and generally do things we wouldn't do if it weren't for our partners. That's my position anyway, but let's see what this Redditor has to say.

Permission is usually the part that comes before a $1,000 invoice.

After arranging expensive tree removal without a clear agreement, one neighbor discovered that sending a bill doesn't magically create consent. The internet had plenty to say about that business strategy.

What's the politically correct way of taking revenge?

Sisters have a way of making us way angrier than anyone else when it comes to any random fight. A sibling is not only interacting with who you are today, a small comment that would feel harmless coming from a friend suddenly takes on a whole other dimension when it comes from family. For example, you can start to notice you always become smaller when you are talking to that specific family member, or embodying a role they used to give you in early family dynamics. I remember I used to always forget stuff at certain relatives houses because subconsciously, I think, I was still playing the character they gave me in my early adolescence (reckless, disorganised, distracted, etc.). This Redditor's post tells a story about that, and about the times we take petty revenge over these minor issues and make innocent people pay the price.

If you told me being a 'owner' of a small business would cost me $14.000 thousand dollars, I would respond 'I am glad being a regular employee.'

A creative director who accepted equity instead of a raise is now learning that being a business owner sometimes means owing taxes on profits you've never actually seen, while someone else controls all the cash.

Should the diner have to pay for the birthday dessert, even though he warned the server multiple times?

We all have experienced that embarrassing moment in a restaurant where the birthday person receives a huge piece of cake with a candle, and then has the whole staff at the restaurant perform a serenade just for them. Well, now imagine that experience without it being your actual birthday. What would you do? We hope you'd respond the same way we would: just return the cake and move on. That's exactly what this diner did, although the restaurant kept performing the song and had the whole place applaud.

After telling the server it wasn't his birthday and that the piece of cake probably belonged to someone else, the server told him to just eat the cake since he had already blown out the candle, and it wasn't appropriate to serve it to other people. Fair enough. He and his family enjoyed what they thought was a free dessert. But, hold your horses, folks, because here comes the funny twist. That dinner bill ended up being $84, of which $48 was for the cake. 

Although I'd love to tell you how the story progressed, I'm gonna let you read it for yourself. The community in r/AmITheBadApple, of course, had something to say and delivered some comments and suggestions about what they would have done. u/practicalYoung8687 is still confused about how he responded to the mixup… let us know what you think!.

If your long-ago ex, who had been completely absent from your life for years, suddenly started interacting with you: Would you see it as simple curiosity? Nostalgia?

At this point, the theory that exes have a radar that alerts them of when we're doing fine should be studied. The thing that gets me the most about this Redditor's story is the timing: It's never when we're single, it's never when we are missing them, it's always right before our wedding (with somebody else).

Not to get all cuckoo with you here, but how is it that they can feel it? How can they sense that we forgot them and are happy with our lives? We definitely don't know everything about human senses and the subtle ways in which information travels. Maybe this guy had been keeping tabs on her through LinkedIn, though, and that's how he knew. Some people don't want us, but also don't want the best for us, and they WILL break no-contact right before our wedding with someone else who really does love us. Be prepared.

This is what happens when your boss has a questionable 'talent'

In everyday life, people constantly influence each other: Your friend says something to purposely persuade you to do x, you dress a certain way to appear "smarter" or "richer" in front of somebody else. Something that can be perceived as slightly manipulative is, indeed, normal. The problem starts when the persuasion tactics get a little extreme, and you notice the person using them is trying to use you as a volunteer for their cause without giving you anything in return.

Very rarely do we consider that some things can be a gift to someone (the ability to persuade) while at the same time being a curse to somebody else. Regarding the difference between influence and manipulation, this boss exceeded all my expectations.

Do you deserve a raise, promotion, or a… gift card?

Don't be ridiculous, of course, you deserve something better than a gift card, you are a hardworking employee! It's too often that I scroll around Reddit and find a story about an overworked and under-appreciated employee finally reaching their wits' end. Why don't employers just compensate their employees correctly? Like, is it really that hard? How about instead of you making over a million dollars a year, you still make a ton of money, but your top-notch employees who helped you get there also make good money? Times are tough out there, and we all need a good, steady paycheck. 

That's why I'd like to applaud Redditor u/Alternative_rocker for his story in r/talesfromthejob.This employee could have taken the dramatic way out and dropped the mic when he was given a $30 cinema gift card over a raise or promotion or he could have just stayed and taken the L. But no, he, very professionally, found a new job, trained a new person, and left with his dignity. Even when his old employers kept trying to scare him into staying, he held his head up high and his new employers had his back. Yes, love to read that! 

Why do women in the workplace get so weird about the food they're eating? 

Regardless of societal norms and strange undercurrents of unspoken "rules" in the workplace, this young lady was not going to miss out on the epicness of a 10 lbs burrito. After getting unwarranted comments from the Karen in her neighboring cubicle, this employee was starting to feel scrutinized for her eating habits. Finally, she decided to take her diet by the horns and eat whatever the heck she felt like, because at the end of the workday, it doesn't really matter what this judgmental coworker has to say. 

She's probably just jealous that her coworker is confident enough to mow down a delicious burrito on her break. Sharing her triumphantly yummy story on Reddit's r/GirlDinnerDiaries subreddit, this female employee took a stand for all working women out there who have ever felt shamed or scrutinized when they bring anything other than a quinoa salad to the break room table. Power to ya, sis! Now we're all craving a tasty California burrito from the taqueria down the street. Perhaps Rigoberto's is opening early today for my own lunchtime special…

Is it a risk to leave your current job for something new and better?

Well, it is always a risk to make a big change in your life, and changing your job might be one of the biggest changes of all, yet almost everyone does it. Unless you're my mom, who has been working for the same company for the last 35 years, it is okay to want to switch things up from time to time. That being said, it's also important to know the risks.

The longer you are at a job, the more security you have, usually. Proving your worth in a workplace takes time, and most employers would want to keep those who have done so successfully, rather than those who are still too new to be sure about. Also, if you ask me, those first few months at a new job when you constantly have to take action and show initiative are quite exhausting, so you should only do it if you are absolutely sure that is what you want.

Thousands of employees every day reach their breaking point at their current job and move on to the next, but they can never know what is waiting for them on the other side. The employee who shared the story below, for example, was approached by a non-profit for a job opportunity they weren't even looking for, but was simply too good to refuse. Before they knew it, they were handing in their resignation letter in their current workplace and getting ready for a new adventure.

The new adventure, as it turns out, was very short-lived, since the employee was already fired on their second day of the job. Without any explanation as to why, the (ex) employee was told it wasn't going to work out and was removed from the building.

As I said, you have to know the risks…

When someone begs to join your already-running business, shows up for two hours a day, contributes nothing to overhead, and then demands ownership of assets that existed before they ever walked through the door, that is not a partnership dispute. That is a squatter with an invoice.

A mechatronics engineer running a fully operational custom woodworking shop with 200 clients, established branding, and a complete workshop somehow ended up in a business dispute with a guy who invested $1,700, worked two hours a day, lectured him about values while freeloading, and is now demanding $3,000 plus monthly installments and partial ownership of a brand that was thriving before he ever showed up, which is an impressive set of demands from someone whose most recent financial disclosure was that he only had $25 on him.

The timeline is important. The brand existed. The 200 clients existed. The workshop, the tools, the portfolio, all of it was already there and generating real business before a single peso changed hands. What EP bought into was not a business he helped build. It was a seat at a table someone else built, furnished, and was already eating at. The $1,700 entry fee did not purchase equity in a brand. It purchased the privilege of showing up late to a functioning operation and leaving early.

Managing finances can be difficult, but it's almost impossible to avoid disagreements if you have to do it with your ex-wife. 

In this day and age, a lot of divorced parents believe they can simply agree on splitting their children's bills 50/50 and that way they will avoid any kind of disagreement. Well, that is a lie. There is no way you won't discuss money, especially with them.

In the case of this Reddit story, the dad is reluctant about paying for his daughter's dance trip to Ireland, not because it is expensive or because he does not support her. It's not a money issue, in this case, it seems to be more about not being a part of it, being replaced. According to this man, even though he will only be paying for half the trip for his daughter, he doesn't believe that it is fair, as his ex-wife and new husband are going to go as well.

He then explains that even if he doesn't provide the money, his daughter is not going to be missing out on the experience, but if they divide her costs 50/50, is it fair to not participate monetarily for the trip at all? On the other hand, they do have an agreement where mom is the one in charge of paying for all the extra activities. 

The dad does pay $600 a month for child support, as well as $7K extra annually, and her education. But he is also earning $160K a year. This may seem like he has the full means to pay his part, but he is just deciding not to because of some jealousy. He is not paying for his ex-wife or for the stepdad of the child, so is this actually a valid argument to not pay for it?

Some advice he received recommended that the dad check with the dance studio how much exactly the trip costs, so he is sure that he is only paying for his daughter. That way, he can fully support her without paying for something he does not want to. But would this be enough to convince him to pay for it?
 

Can being too much of an over-performer actually hurt your career progression?

We think that if we work hard enough for long enough, one day a cosmic beam of light will shine down on us from the heavens and grant us everything that we have been so desperately wanting. The reality is that's not necessarily how things work, as was exemplified in this Reddit post that a frustrated employee shared, arousing dialogue on the subject.

As much as we'd like to think otherwise, progression in your career is a very binary thing. You either get the job, or you don't—you get the promotion, or you don't. It happens in quantum steps and complete units, not in gradients. It's not as if simply grinding for "experience" like it's World of Warcraft or any other RPG actually contributes to 

Further, when you're spending all of your time and energy every single day excelling at a single repetitive task, you're not really learning other skills or growing towards a possible career move; you're simply getting better at doing that one single task. And there is value to this—it's not entirely a waste—but it's not contributing to your career like you think it is.

Sure, you might get increased compensation in the form of bonuses in the short term for your production, but there's no guarantee that that will keep up. Money comes and goes: it's there one minute and the next you're out of work and probably wishing you had worked on other skills rather than trying so hard to get that bonus. And... there's nothing to keep your employer from just changing the rules of the game when they grow tired of always paying you more money at the end of every quarter.

Some people get fired for good reasons, others… not so much.

You would think that if you're a good employee who does a good job on a daily basis, you wouldn't have to worry about losing your job on a random Wednesday, but the truth is that you can never know when your last day on the job will be.

An employer can wake up one day and decide that you don't smile enough for them, or that it's your fault that a customer didn't tip, and that would be the reason they call you to their office and tell you that you're fired. There's not much you can do to avoid it, so keep up the good work and hope for the best.

On the other hand, some employees get fired, and everyone else knows exactly the reason why. For every manager who fires someone for no reason, there is an employee who should have been fired a long time ago. It's the workplace Ying-Yang, if you will. So while you can never know when your manager might decide that they don't want you around anymore, you should also try to avoid being the employee who does something crazy that gets them fired in an instant. Like stealing the CEO's lunch or taking 7 rolls of toilet paper from the office bathroom. 

It's all about moderation.

Below, you will find some crazy stories shared on r/AskReddit, after people were asked to tell others about the most ridiculous reasons someone got fired at their workplace. Some, as mentioned above, were fired because of an unreasonable manager or demand, while others were justifiably fired due to their own mistakes. But all stories, we can assure you, are crazy and quite hilarious. Scroll down to read them all.