Having a positive and harmonious relationship with your colleagues is essential for a productive and enjoyable professional environment. However, when Reddit user Indigowulf worked at a call center, one person was just too self-absorbed to be a team player.
Recently, she made a post on the subreddit ‘Petty Revenge‘ detailing a particularly memorable interaction they had, and it highlights that it’s impossible to win if you’re making enemies with everyone in the office.
Everything started when Indigowulf’s coworker, who she dubbed Karen, tried to get her in trouble with HR and told them the woman was looking too provocative and violating the dress code.
Little did Karen know, however, she would be summoned next for sexual harassment.
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This woman was accused of violating the dress code at work when there was no specific policy on it
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual photo)
Luckily, she managed to turn the situation around and come out on top
Image credits: Mizuno K (not the actual photo)
Image credits: indigowulf
We managed to get in touch with Indigowulf and she agreed to have a little chat with us about that infamous day.
“It was a job, it paid the bills, I had some cool coworkers and they were the best part about the job,” the woman toldWe. “HR was half my age, we were all new hires because the business was relatively new itself. I don’t blame HR, they seemed so awkward about the whole thing, like they were not trained on how to handle this. That’s why I only reminded them that I could report them, and did not actually do it. I didn’t want to ruin their lives.
Indigowulf said nobody really missed Karen after she was gone. “There were hundreds of us, we didn’t even notice her absence as far as workflow went.”
Sadly, almost everyone can relate to Indigowulf at least on some level. A 2022 study has found that 90% of Americans say they have a co-worker that annoys them. Furthermore, the survey, conducted by Quality Logo Products, discovered that 57% of workers say they have considered quitting their job at some point just because of an annoying co-worker.
Moving communication online helps to reduce this problem but doesn’t solve it. According to the survey, 55% of people working from home are annoyed with co-workers in their remote setting.
The three most annoying co-worker habits were found to be:
Interrupting during virtual meetings;Taking credit for someone else’s work;Oversharing from your personal or hobbies.
The study also found that 68% of Americans have confronted a coworker about being annoying, and that 60% of respondents claim entry and mid-level coworkers are the most irritating.
Of course, nobody’s perfect. Amy Gallo, the author of Getting Along: How to Work with Anyone (Even Difficult People), thinks that navigating the complexity of human relationships is no easy task, especially in times of stress, or when we feel threatened.
“Even the most seasoned workplace veterans can find themselves focusing on the short-term goal of ego or reputation protection (I need to win this argument or to look good in front of my team) rather than the long-term one of behaving honorably and preserving collegiality,” Gallo said.
So let’s not forget to keep ourselves in check, too.
As her story went viral, the original poster (OP) provided more information on what happened in the comments
And people congratulated the woman for keeping her cool
