Sometimes, it's the little things that can end up becoming the biggest acts of petty payback.

This retail employee was working at an electronics store when an entitled customer waltzed right in and decided to make an already difficult day all the more frustrating. This grumpy man wanted a specific brand of speaker that was no longer in stock. The retail employee knew that for a fact, since they had just sold out of the product not long before the customer arrived. 

Still, the customer refused to believe the employee. However, if you don't fully take someone's word for something, there are far more polite ways of getting them to prove it. The customer could have politely requested that the employee double-check to make sure he's correct. Kindness and polite manners can go a long way when you're interfacing with retail employees.

However, this dude just could not muster a kind thought in his brain. Instead, he immediately lashed out at the employee, insulted his intelligence, and demanded that he check the stock room. That's certainly one strategy to get what you want in life, but it's unlikely to be the path to success. It certainly wasn't for this customer. In fact, his unnecessary, nonsensical behavior became the catalyst for the employee's subsequent revenge plot.

Such is the cat sass - take it or leave it.

And that sums up the cat way of life pretty smoothly. All cats, introverted or extroverted, cuddly cats or zoomie expurrts, come with a healthy amount of cat sass. It's hard to explain what it is with words alone, but we're going to try our best:

The cat sass is the way they enter a room with their tail perked up, like a confident antenna, and the aura that they own the place (whether that's true or not). The cat sass is the way they promptly sit on your lap like they conquered your personal space, and now you're obliged to give them sweet scritches. The cat sass is the ekekek they'll do, as dumb as it is, when they see a bird out of the window, because no one sent them the memo that this is not how you call birds over (but they'll still try). The cat sass is the cat confidence we all wish for ourselves.

And Sunday is the best day for all cat lovers to embrace that sass. You've rested and relaxed on Caturday, so Sunday is totally the sass time - cat style.

When we discover more cats to love - we want to pawtect them at all costs.

Especially since this specific cat is very much endangered, but it's not the whole point. We're sure that as fellow feline fans you can understand - the more cats there are, the more joyous the world is. We're not talking about poor strays looking for a home - that is always dealt with, with wisdom and compassion, by the Cat Distribution System and the kind people assigned to the cats in need.

We're talking about more types of cats that Mother Nature is providing us in this world. The feline world is a varied and meowgnificent one. It's not only lions, tigers, and the domestic shorthair (that we love endlessly, of course). When you expand your lens through which you look at wildlife, you discover a whole wide world of nature's beauty. Wild cats are abundant, and as true cat lovers, we should make sure to spread our feline love even to the hidden and mysterious places where cats roam.

And such is the Iriomote cat - they exist only on a single island in Japan, and their population isn't large. But since learning about them, from all the information presented below, they took a big chunk of our hearts, tiny as they are.

Unpaid physical labor for a HUGE corporation at one of the biggest global monreymaking events is exactly what comes to mind when I think of volunteering. Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but I'd prefer donating my time to puppies or, say, people in need and not a giant company.

Or like one guy said in a comment that summarizes the whole thing: "This is like being asked to volunteer at an investment bank."

If there's one thing that will bring a community together, it's the unjust firing of a local shop cat.

Shop cats make every shop better, it's a fact. If you don't agree with that statement, the door is that way. We, and most other cat lovers, will go out of our way to shop at a place where they take care of a cat, whether it's a bodega or a flower shop. It's a win-win scenario for everyone: the cat gets a safe place to call home, lots of treats and attention from awww-ing hoomans, and the shop gets free pest control and a loyal customer base of cat people. 

The best places will even make them official employees, getting them their own vest, identity card, and even a picture on the wall to secure their employed status. That's what happened in this Lowes, where 'Mama Cat' became a legend. She became very popular on social media and with the customers, even making a guest appearance on the local news. But, shortly after her rise to TV stardom, a Karen complained, Lowes corporate decided to have Mama Cat fired. 

Well, if there's one thing that feline fanatics won't stand for, it's injustice done to cats. Mama Cat did nothing wrong, and everyone clearly felt like this was the work of one ornery purrson, so they banded together to get the cat rehired. After five years of purrfect service, she deserved at least that. Mama Cat ended up being taken home by an employee, who had a special connection with Mama Cat. They said, "the cat slept like a baby on his couch and even cuddled up with his other cat". So, she may not have gotten rehired, but she's in a purrfectly comfortable retirement, which is honestly even better.

It's not always the bad things that make communities stronger, but sometimes, the happy ones. We're happy Mama Cat had a happy ending, and we hope she enjoys her pawsitively enjoyable time at home and gets just as many pets as before.

Watching a reckless driver get pulled over is such a sweet victory for everyone else on the road. 

We let teens start driving at the age of 16, and parents love to joke to everyone else that they should "get off the road!" Some of these kids are very responsible drivers who grip that steering wheel at 10 and 2, always check their rearview mirrors, and obey every traffic law to a T. Others aren't very good drivers at all! And some are intentionally reckless. They're the ones whipping donuts in mall parking lots at 3 AM, driving 110 in a 45 MPH zone, or constantly "forgetting" to buckle their seatbelts. 

Some teens grow out of their childish ways and into responsible adult drivers, who look back on their teenage antics with embarrassment. But others, as you can read below, just never grow up. 

For some people, their car is the ultimate flex, and they spend a lot of time and money making it fast, sleek, and (as they believe) enviable to everyone around them. This kind of person thinks that everyone else wants their car, and is watching them zip down the road with their jaws on the floor. In reality, most people just don't really care, but that's never stopped a car bro from challenging another car at a red light to a race. The car bro starts revving louder and louder, trying to goad someone else into racing. 

I shouldn't have to tell you why racing on public streets is a bad idea! I had friends in high school who loved racing cars, and you know what they did? They went to a designated closed-course racing track where they could burn rubber to their hearts' content. There were waivers signed, safety restrictions, age limits, and so on. It was quite safe, and everyone went home happy. There's no need to endanger everyone around you so you can race some unwilling rando, when instead, you could find a community of car-lovers who will gleefully do that with you on a safe course. 

These drivers had their own "mess around and find out" moments! Their outrageous driving proclivities were quickly met with those red and blue flashing lights. Coppers are everywhere, and as some people shared, sometimes they even like to lurk around in their undercover vehicles, just waiting for moments like this. 

We may still have a few days before V-Day, but it's never too early to tell your crush that you love them as much as you love cats (and that's a lot).

We love cats. We love cats more than 99.9% of the things in this world… except you (don't tell our cats we said that). But Valentine's Day is the one day of the year when we get the opportunity to prioritize our hooman loves over our feline ones, so we might as well make the most of it. And in our humble opinion, it's never too early to start saying "I love you, I respect you, and I choose you." 

Everyone appreciates being told that they look beautiful, that you're thinking about them, or that you appreciate them. So, even though we still have a few days until the big V-Day, it's never too early to warm up your crush's (or your purrtner's) heart with a little romance before the day of love arrives. In fact, it might make Valentine's Day even better because you've reminded them how special they are to you. 

We shouldn't need an excuse to make our special someone feel ameowzing, but days like VDay remind us to if we've let that part of our relationship get a little lazy. It's okay if it has, it happens. Life happens. Busy work periods, kids, soccer games, and whatever else that comes up often gets in the way. Valentine's Day reminds us to quiet all that other stuff and put our purrtner first.

Now, what is the ultimate way for a cat lover to tell their purrson that they love them the most they pawssibly can? By telling them that they love them more than cats. They know that we (and you) love cats more than anything in the universe, so if you love them more than cats, there's no going up from there. Seriously, don't tell our cats that we said any of this, they think they are the center of our universe, and if they found out they weren't, they would be devastated. 

And what is our generation's way of communicating? Through memes! So below you'll find some of the most romantic memes to send to your cat-loving crush to warm up their spirit before Valentine's Day. They're purrfectly silly and the ultimate "I love you" from one feline fanatic to another. 

Be nice to one cat, and you may end up getting a two-for-one deal. 

People always talk about how aloof cats are, how uncaring, how they don't need us and only tolerate us because we give them food. These people don't get it. These people have never had a cat love them. We, as people who have and do, know what cats are really like. We know that cats love humans. They're simply picky about who they give their love to. And that, we think, is fair. You need to be kind to a cat for a cat to love you. If you think all cats are aloof, then you most likely don't treat them with the kindness that they deserve, and they don't give it back to you. Vicious cycle, really. But all you need to break it is one act of kindness. 

This person fed a stray kitty once, and she immediately started coming back. She felt the kindness right away. And then, the person kept feeding her and feeding her, showing her kindness over and over, and eventually, the kitty decided to bless the human by deciding to adopt the human. Oh, and she brought her baby too. 

"Bring your child to work day" is many employees' worst nightmare.

Now, imagine that special day, but exponentially more stressful. How could that be? Well, when a narcissistic boss decides that their office environment is the perfect place for their little tots to run rampant, you might grow a gray hair or 10 in less than a few minutes.

This isn't an "anti-child" sentiment. Children are great. They turn into adults, just like you and me. Then, they have kids. The beautiful circle of life, my friends. The sentiment we're getting at is a bit more… understandable. Why would a boss bring his kids to the office if he knows that his little six and eight-year-old girls are looking for a playmate in his employees? Better yet, why would he allow his children to touch things on his employees' desks? A narcissist in the office is more likely than not a narcissist everywhere else, which means that his employees will be on babysitting duty as they try to hide all of their belongings in a locked file drawer until the end of the day. Scroll below to read about this exact scenario, except it's kind of way worse than this. 

If there is one thing that everyone knows, it is that cats rule the internet.

This is something that has forever been true and will forever continue to be true. We don't think that there is a single person who could argue with that. Since the beginning, cats have had a hold on the users of the internet like nothing else. It does not matter what is going on in the world. Cat memes will always be created and shared and loved. Things around us could literally be on fire, but log onto any social media platform, and among all the craziness, funny cat memes will prevail. 

We need these silly cat memes. We need them for our souls. We need them the most when these crazy things happen. They are the purrfect distraction. They make us smile every time, without exception, even over the silliest meme. Cats rule the internet, everyone knows it, and really, everyone is thankful for it, whether they say it explicitly like we do or not. Honestly, us making memes like these is our way of saying thank you to cats for ruling the internet and our hearts. It is our way of showing them the appreciation that they deserve as our mighty rulers. 

This boss made it seem like the company didn't have the money to give his employee a well-deserved raise… that is, until the employee had more leverage.

This author knew that he was doing the work of multiple employees and was entitled to a fairer annual salary. This became all the more clear to him when he discovered that despite his weekly tasks and responsibilities, it turned out that he was lowest paid employee in his entire department. Perhaps his boss thought he could get away with this amoral arrangement because the author was straight out of college when he was first hired.

Once again, here is another tale of an employer who vastly underestimated the intelligence of younger, so-called "inexperienced" workers. It's as if these bosses don't realize that in the age of the internet, employees can easily do research to figure out whether or not they are being underpaid compared to what other salaries look for similar positions elsewhere. 

Naturally, this author did that research and ended up finding a far better opportunity. It would be the same amount of work, only this time, he would be earning at 20% raise. In his eyes, he was still willing to do the equivalent work of two people at this much higher rate. Your mileage may vary depending on your work preferences and financial situation. Regardless, the employee was ecstatic to take the job and couldn't wait to confront his manager about this new offer.

At the D&D table, the most engaging moments don't come from everything going exactly to plan, that perfect nat 20 from a blessed roll, topping off a flawless campaign where the party saw little to no hardships and had no close calls, and where the story seemingly went in a linear fashion with little unexpected twists or turns. 

No, it's much more engaging for players to face a less straightforward and more uncertain story, where low rolls create tense moments, and even the most basic storylines at the start of a campaign have a level of implied threat and weight that makes their outcomes feel like victories snatched from the jaws of defeat. Quite simply, success is never satisfying without some bumps along the road and challenges along the way.

Maybe that's why when I play a game like Baldur's Gate, I never have quite that same level of satisfaction as I do in a real D&D session. The ability to "save scum" every roll just takes the wind out of the sails of that eventual satisfaction of beating a main boss or turning the tables on what previously seemed to be an impossible situation. A certain level of control needs to be taken out of your hands, too. Like, there needs to be literally no way for me to save the game. 

Knowing the scripted payouts for a successful roll in a video game also takes away from the experience and makes it all the more tempting to reset a bad roll or an unpredicted outcome. Knowing that there is a "better" ending or outcome of a story arc makes it all the more tempting to excessively optimize your experience, versus if you just didn't know there was a better option available in the first place, you feel like you have "missed out" on something. And, it's this way for all RPGs. I find that social media has dampened my enjoyment of playing these role-playing games that were meant to be enjoyed on the slow road and not optimized in a blisteringly speedy and perfect playthrough. 

Certainly, this is my own internalization of modern gaming trends, and the answer is for me to simply not consume media and social media that set these expectations on how I should be enjoying something. Maybe a lesson to be learned there about how our ability to enjoy something is dictated by the influences of others if we allow them to be. 

If admin wants their teachers to buy exclusively from the education catalog, they had better prepare for some price-gouged, district-approved supplies. 

Teachers are down in the trenches every day with their students, getting their hands dirty and cleaning up the messes of 25-40 unruly kids. This is most true for science teachers, who love the idea of a baking soda volcano until the day comes when their classroom smells like vinegar, kids are screaming, and there's food dye sludge all over the lab desks. Oh, the joys of teaching young minds!

Via u/DhanushkaSG

No matter how you slice up a science teacher's educational budget for the school year, you're going to come away with a lot of cleaning supply expenses. This seemed self-explanatory to the experienced science teacher in this next story, and after decades of teaching messy little kids how to make planet dioramas and colorful chemical reactions, they knew that a healthy supply of paper towels was a necessity. Being the frugal teacher that they were, they scoured the internet and local grocery stores for the lowest price, keeping costs down for the pencil-pushers over in admin, but when the bean-counters discovered that teachers were making purchases outside of their district-approved, corpo-coded catalog, they insisted that they place their orders according to code. 

Okay, a roll of paper towels costs $1 on Amazon, but through the catalog, it's $15. Of course, the price and the value of the item don't change the demand, so teachers continued to blow through their supply of clean-up materials. Before the semester was over, the admin's wallet was hurting so badly that it made them start considering that the teachers were actually right this time. 

Sometimes, abiding by the book can get you in a financial bind, especially when it disregards the frugal logic of buying from the cheapest seller… Even if that seller is technically out-of-bounds. 

Charities exist so that willing and able individuals can donate funds to those in need, not to start moral competitions between strangers.

That usually ends up happening anyway, though, right? The morality olympics is constant in a digital age where we're constantly trying to one-up each other, so to speak. We have to record every good deed we do for another person, and make sure we get our good sides while doing it. Now, I'm not speaking for everyone in the world, but one scroll through a TikTok feed will reveal just how competitive and eager people are regarding their moral compasses. What happened to doing good because we want to, not because we feel like we have to?

In this next story, the user who shares the tale has the same question. You're probably familiar with the scene. You walk into a store, grab all the necessities, and stroll up to the checkout counter where the cashier resides. They look at you begrudgingly, patiently waiting for you to put all your items on the counter. As they bag up your belongings, they look at you and ask if you'd like to donate to the charity they're sponsoring. You kindly decline, because you just spent your last $15 on the items you just bought. Instead of accepting your answer, they push you. Then, they push you again and shame you for your refusal to cough up some cash.

This is a nightmare scenario for a lot of us, especially those who aren't blessed in the fiscal department. As much as a lot of us want to donate to causes we feel strongly about, our circumstances may not allow it. The whole "don't judge a book by its cover" thing is pretty darn true. If you're getting secondhand anger on behalf of this customer, then keep scrolling. Let us know what you'd do if you were in this situation.

No one ever said that school administrators are the ones who really know how to teach children.

We can all just imagine how much teachers have to put up with on a day-to-day basis. Whether it's trying to get kids to behave for the duration of a 45-minute history class or having to argue with entitled parents about how special they think their offspring are, there is a whole lot more to being a teacher than… well, teaching. 

It's why the unbelievably unfair saying that "those who can't do teach" vastly misrepresents the number of things teachers have to juggle in order to effectively do their jobs well. All those graduate school dollars might help teachers devise lesson plans and learn various instruction methods, but we all know those skills end up amounting to a small portion of what the job actually entails. Much of one's time as a teacher, especially at the elementary and high school levels, involves politicking with the administration and with the school community.

This middle school teacher found herself at a crossroads when she couldn't get her kids to stop misbehaving and calling each other names during class. She worked at an institution that prided itself on positive reinforcement. No one was ever allowed to acknowledge that bad behavior was happening in the classroom; they could only promote the good stuff. This inevitably led to a problem because while punitive treatment is, of course, not ideal, students need to learn that they cannot treat one another poorly.

So this author decided to go against the administration's guidelines and instead instituted a new policy in her classroom that would reward classmates who treated one another with respect while keeping track of students who did the opposite. When I was a student, this would have been considered normal and justified. However, that did not seem to be the case at this school. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions from several members of this online community.

What do you crave most in this world? Power, adventure, wheels of cave-aged cheese?

Your answer says a lot about who you are as a person… Or perhaps an elf, hobbit, dwarf, or maybe a Nazgûl. Obviously, humanity is more nuanced than the boiled-down species and archetypes in The Lord of the Rings. In truth, there's a small part of all of us that's more hobbit than human, secretly yearning for 11 meals a day, lighthearted outdoor adventures, and the hard-earned peace of early retirement. None of us truly wants to work, hurry, or be busy all the time; we want our biggest dramas of the day to be about stolen carrots and poorly timed dragon fireworks. 

Then, of course, the voice of Gollum appears in our heads, summoning us to fulfill our oath to society, clock in to our 9-5 jobs, and pay our taxes like a good little citizen. Alas, it's for this reason that LOTR fans escape into the pages or the extended editions of Tolkien's Middle Earth universe. It's here in a world of good and evil, where decisions are simplified. Bad guys are bad, and good guys are good. Heroes charge into battle on horseback, revealing their quality, but they also carry cast-iron skillets for hundreds of miles. Shield maidens fight side-by-side with their men, and elven witches strike fear in our hearts with spooky monologues. 

Escaping into the world of the One Ring of power reminds us of all things good, evil, and in-between, helping us tackle our real-life problems with the mindset of a wizard, an elf, a ranger, or a hobbit gardener. When we channel the characteristics of our favorite characters in LOTR, suddenly our day-to-day lives as human beings on planet earth don't seem so tough anymore. For that, Tolkien, we all thank you. For he built a world so utterly magical and perfectly destroyed that it made our own broken world make more sense in the process. 

So if you're facing a blight of foul weather on the horizon, don't forget that you always have the option of adventure in your home, with your 4k box set of The Lord of the Rings and a delivery pizza. Like Gandalf always says, "The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there."