Whether on the playground or in the workplace, all bullies have one thing in common: they can't see the limits of their own power trips. They get so high on the thrill of tormenting their target that they never stop to consider that the person they see as a victim might just be a hero in disguise, quietly waiting for the perfect moment to fight back.
For one retail worker, that moment was a sweet two-part revenge. Her workplace bully had tormented her with nasty notes and condescending jokes, and was so focused on being cruel that she got sloppy. And karma pounced.
More info: Reddit
The biggest mistake a bully can make is to underestimate their victim
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After being tormented by a coworker's nasty notes and insults, a woman beat her out for a promotion
Image credits: The Yuri Arcurs Collection / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In a moment of smug brilliance, she discovered her bully was also a thief, having stolen over $5,000
Image credits: Freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The next morning, the bully arrived at work to find the police waiting for her in the back room
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Months later, she spotted the bully at a new job and 'casually' suggested a background check, getting her fired again
A retail worker's dream job was being systematically ruined by a classic workplace bully, "Bea." This coworker was a master of the backhanded compliment and the nasty, anonymous note, a woman who seemed to find joy in making the narrator's life a living hell. The bullying only got worse after the narrator beat her out for a promotion, a victory that would prove to be the first step in a much larger, more satisfying win.
One night, while closing up shop, the narrator noticed a strange pattern. Bea was processing a lot of returns, and the customer information slips were always missing. In a moment of inspired, "smug" brilliance, she decided to do some detective work. She compared the card number on one of Bea's recent "returns" to the card number on a sale she had made to Bea earlier. And lo and behold, they matched. Bea was stealing.
She immediately called her manager, who had her dig through the past few weeks of sales. The total was staggering: almost $5,000. The next morning, when Bea arrived for her shift, it wasn’t her colleagues waiting for her, but rather the men in blue. The OP was kept away from the store to avoid retaliation, but she later heard that Bea had been forced to repay the money.
But revenge gets even sweeter. Months later, she spotted Bea working at another clothing store in a different mall. In a move of pure, petty genius, she "casually" mentioned to a friend who worked at that chain that doing a criminal record check on new employees would be a "good idea." The next thing she knew, Bea no longer worked there either. What a coincidence…
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How do you spot a workplace bully? Look for a pattern of repeated, targeted aggression designed to intimidate and harm a colleague. Better Help says that bullies often target those they perceive as a threat to their own status or competence. The OP says the bullying intensified after she got the promotion, which set off the alarm bells big time. Bea's cruelty was rooted in her own insecurity and professional jealousy.
The OP’s juicy little discovery was a direct consequence of her own competence and attention to detail, the very qualities that likely earned her the promotion in the first place. Her decision to investigate the missing slips was more a case of a responsible employee noticing a discrepancy and following it to its logical conclusion. So this downfall was a beautiful coincidence more than it was cold-hearted revenge.
Ditch the Label reminds us that seeking out revenge is a bad idea. Two wrongs don’t make a right! But this situation is a little different. The OP simply reported a crime. Her final, "casual" suggestion to her friend at the second store falls into a gray area, but it can be seen as a responsible, if petty, act of protecting another business from a known thief. She didn't ruin Bea's life; Bea's own criminal behavior did.
The manager's initial failure to address the bullying is the real lesson here. Calm agrees that a manager's responsibility is to create a safe and respectful work environment. By not taking the initial complaints seriously, the manager allowed the toxic behavior to fester, which, ironically, gave Bea the confidence to continue her behavior and, eventually, get caught for something much more serious.
Have you ever had to deal with a nasty bully like this? Tell us what you did in the comments below!
The internet erupted in applause for her glorious, two-part, and completely justified act of petty revenge
