The Cost of Karma: One Dollar and Some Dignity
The thing about karma is it doesn’t discriminate — management, coworkers, anyone can get checked. One employee learned it through a bathroom disaster, another through a laughable raise. Justice served, different flavors.
Karma’s Messy Payback
I (37M) have an employee who likes to think he runs the store. I am the manager, but he likes to think he's my boss. I like to think I am a fair manager and go above and beyond. This person, however, will belittle me in front of other employees and even customers. I had enough of it and wasn't getting any support from my boss, who thought it was funny. Now, I don't believe in wishing anyone harm, but what happened a couple of weeks ago, I can't explain.
We were putting inventory away when all of a sudden, they started running for the bathroom, just as someone closed the door and locked it. When I say the next 20 seconds ruined his pride, his pants, and the floor...I wish I was joking. Not only did he poop himself, but he also had to stay in the bathroom once it was available until his mom could bring him clothes.
Karma Came Cheaper Than My Raise
I (25F) started in customer support at an online goods company where we had zero processes or documentation. It was chaos sometimes, but my coworkers and I kept each other sane while dealing with impossible customers.
Management, though, was a circus. They hired friends and family into leadership roles they weren’t qualified for and had plenty of “vision” but no clue how to execute it.
Eventually, I was told I’d be moving into office operations. I thought I was being promoted, but nope—turns out it was in addition to my support role. Suddenly, I was running payroll, drafting policies, planning our annual offsite, and handling compliance—all while still fielding customer complaints. No extra pay, of course.
The constant switching was exhausting, so I asked the COO if I could focus on one role. His solution? Strip me of everything except writing birthday cards for our eight employees. That was it. For a month, I showed up, “worked,” and quietly applied for other jobs.
The day I got an offer, the COO announced he had “new responsibilities” for me: everything I’d done before (office and customer support) plus more, all for a whopping $1 raise. I quit on the spot. He was shocked and refused to speak to me after that.
Best part? Their big in-person all-hands happened the week after I left. Since they’d deleted my files, nobody had the passcodes, Airbnb info, or agendas. One guy was drunk the whole time and got fired for making sexist comments. A total cluster. Last I heard, they ditched remote work altogether.
