Some companies and organizations are so blatant when it comes to asking for your hard-earned money that it can be hard to know whether to be impressed by the gall or to be angry at the greed. But every once in a while, a golden opportunity to get back at them might arise for those who manage to see it.
A man decided to maliciously comply with a letter from a political organization sent to his toddler. Despite the full-blown recession at the time, they were asking for the “best he could offer,” so he decided to give them exactly what they asked for.
Letters asking for donations are pretty annoying
Image credits: Gabe Pierce (not the actual image)
But one father decided to take matters into his own hands when his toddler received a letter asking for money
Image credits: cottonbro studio (not the actual image)
Image credits: Ben_In_Utah
People getting exactly what they asked for is a beautiful tragedy
Malicious compliance is many people’s preferred way of getting back at some folks. After all, when there is a hierarchy involved, it can be pretty hard to convince a person “above” you that they are wrong. The only way to get the message through is to simply do as they say and see the consequences of their actions.
In OP’s case, he made sure to follow the exact “letter of the law,” which is a classic component of any malicious compliance story. After all, OP, nor the many others who employ this strategy, did anything wrong. Sometimes people in positions of authority don’t quite recognize the situation “on the ground” and end up making pretty questionable decisions.
This is a classic example of that. First and foremost, an organization that OP alludes to is the NRA (National Rifle Association) has decided to spend time and energy mailing literal toddlers, requesting donations during a recession. It’s hard to pick whether this combination of events is more comedic or tragic.
Image credits: Element5 Digital (not the actual image)
Malicious compliance can have a sort of social power
Unfortunately, in this case, we won’t know if OP’s actions ever made a difference, but the peace of mind at inconveniencing something you don’t like should be enough. Fortunately, there are a good amount of stories on the internet where the annoying boss, manager, or other higher-up actually gets to see and live through the consequences of their actions.
Some specialists believe that this is the number one power of malicious compliance. It forces an organization to confront its own mistakes, because, realistically, they are the only ones at fault. After all, if you comply with the bone-headed new idea your boss presents, they can’t exactly pin the blame on you.
Part of this is also the unfortunate fact that many people only accept what they actually see in front of them and will only learn from their own mistakes, if at all. So, for better or worse, the folks in power need to actually see their ideas crash and burn to realize where the issue is. Of course, this only applies if the manager can actually accept that they are sometimes wrong, which isn’t always the case.
Image credits: Nicola Barts (not the actual image)
Some readers didn’t like OP’s approach
Readers shared some more ideas in the comments section, a few of which can be found below. Some folks were strangely offended by OP’s story, which does raise the question of why they clicked in the first place. However, other netizens were actually helpful, suggesting things OP could have done.
This is all academic, of course, as OP’s tale took place in the distant past. Nevertheless, in a perfect world, that rock sits in that organization’s office as a reminder to perhaps think a little more before sending out donation requests. Unfortunately, we don’t know if they kept sending his son mail, so we can only hope they stopped.
Some folks wanted more information
Others gave some suggestions
