Cunning is actually not that bad, especially if you perceive it in the context of world culture. Indeed, people love stories when someone deftly pushes others around and effectively achieves their goal when circumstances are not in their favor. However, any social approval of cunning always has its limit.
If cunning borders on arrogance and unscrupulousness, if a person clearly offends others with their actions, then approval develops into indignation, and we, on the contrary, rejoice when excessive cunning is punished. And people love stories like this even more. Instant karma, so it goes...
A great example is this post by user u/Natisev, who has amassed around 9.4K upvotes and 400 different comments in the Reddit Malicious Compliance community in just a few days. Yes, the author agrees that their story is not entirely about malicious compliance - but this did not stop the tale from becoming popular at all.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post once flew from Greece to the Netherlands after a month-long vacation
Image credits: Aero Icarus (not the actual image)
So, last summer, the author of the post went on vacation to Greece, where they spent a whole month. As the Original Poster themselves say, they are half Greek and half Dutch, and when the vacation came to an end, the person bought tickets for a return flight to the Netherlands. The flight was long and tiring enough so they booked a whole row of seats and aisle seat for themselves.
Image credits: u/Natisev
A couple of Greeks asked them to move one row back and to the opposite side so the wife could sit next to the husband
During boarding, the OP was approached by a couple of Greeks who asked them to move one row back and to the opposite side so the wife could sit next to the husband. As the author themselves admits, the couple was flying to a foreign country, so they decided to be nice and polite, and agreed to switch places.
Image credits: u/Natisev
After a while, the woman exclaimed: "Oh, you have the middle seat!" while the author thought it was on the aisle
So, the OP went to the aisle seat where the wife was initially sitting, but after a while the woman exclaimed: "Oh, you have the middle seat!", greatly embarrassing the Original Poster - after all, the woman was originally sitting on the aisle. The OP offered to switch seats back, but the Greeks now said that since they had already changed, they would not change back, and in general, what was done could not be changed.
Image credits: Dushan hanuska (not the actual image)
The OP recalls that the couple grinned and chuckled at the same time, savoring how they managed to outwit them. However, the person also noticed something else - the aircraft staff were already closing the doors, and the row in which their new seat was located remained completely free. And this meant that they would actually have all these seats at their total disposal.
Image credits: u/Natisev
The author ended up laying on the seats of a whole row as they were at their disposal since there were no bookings for those seats
As a result, after the takeoff, the Original Poster defiantly lay down comfortably across three seats at once, and now their recent offenders looked embarrassed. After some time, the couple turned to the OP, offering to switch back - and now it was their turn to taste their own medicine! The OP, barely holding back laughter, said, "Oh well, now we have switched, nothing you can do!"
Image credits: u/Natisev
As the Original Poster recalls, now not only their relatives, but also the surrounding passengers and even the aircraft personnel grinned at the hapless Greeks. Yes, excessive cunning, bordering on arrogance, must be effectively and beautifully punished!
Image credits: Joe Shlabotnik (not the actual image)
Commenters were glad with this happy ending yet stated that the person could just show their boarding card to switch seats back
People in the comments to this story were happy for the Original Poster, yet also noticed that in order to get their seat back, they just had to contact the flight attendant and simply show their boarding card. However, then this story would clearly be less beautiful and instructive.
As for the story's relevance to the topic, some commenters noted that the tale is exactly this sort of petty malicious compliance, especially when you have a flight over three hours and then it really matters. In any case, as people in the comments say, karma inexorably catches up with those who really deserve it.
If you are interested in transport tales, then you can also enjoy this story about how a mother forbade her little child to give up her seat on the train to a stranger who specifically booked this very seat. Or, for example, about a man who was extremely surprised when another guy sat next to him in an almost empty street car. And we, as always, are looking forward for your opinions about this narrative, so please feel free to leave your comments below.