Workplace jokes are supposed to be funny for everyone involved, but there is a major difference between a harmless prank and repeatedly doing something after someone has clearly asked you to stop. OP, an eighteen-year-old restaurant employee, had been dealing with exactly that problem because one of her thirty-seven-year-old co-workers, Mike, had apparently decided that startling her was his favorite form of entertainment. During nearly every shift, he would sneak up behind her and suddenly scream at full volume, leaving her startled and increasingly anxious because she never knew when the next one was coming.
OP repeatedly told him to stop and even tried to make him understand that she was genuinely concerned about the effect the constant scares could have on her because of a family history of heart problems. Yet Mike continued laughing and treating her discomfort as part of the joke. Eventually, OP decided that simply asking him to stop was not working. She planned her own little lesson, waited for him to scare her again, and then dramatically pretended to suffer a heart attack. With her co-workers secretly in on the plan, OP managed to convince Mike that something had seriously gone wrong. For approximately ten minutes, the man who had repeatedly terrified her was suddenly the one experiencing genuine panic.
I Am Only Eighteen And Work At A Restaurant With Several Great Co-Workers, But One Much Older Co-Worker Has Made Every Shift Increasingly Stressful
For Some Reason, He Decided That Repeatedly Jump-Scaring Me During My Shifts Would Be His Favorite Form Of Entertainment
Imagine Trying To Concentrate On Your Work Only To Have Someone Suddenly Appear Behind You And Shout Directly Into Your Ear With Absolutely No Warning
Eventually I Reached The Point Where I Was No Longer Wondering If He Would Jump-Scare Me But Was Simply Waiting For The Next Time He Inevitably Would
But Within Moments His Confidence Disappeared And Was Replaced By Genuine Panic As He Realized He Had No Idea What To Do
Eventually He Ran Outside Calling For Help Because He Had Become Convinced That Something Terrible Had Actually Happened To Me
Mike Was Absolutely Furious And Could Not Believe That I Had Put Him Through Ten Minutes Of Anxiety And Panic Just To Prove A Point
My Co-Workers Were Still Upset With Him For Repeatedly Hara**ing Me, But They Also Told Me That I Had Gone Too Far By Keeping The Act Going For So Long
What does Reddit have to say about all this? Let’s find out.
The controversy surrounding OP’s revenge comes down to a difficult question about whether someone who repeatedly ignores boundaries deserves to be given a taste of their own medicine. On one hand, Mike had been told numerous times that his jump-scares were not funny and that they were genuinely making OP anxious. He continued anyway, apparently assuming that because he found the screaming amusing, OP should too. From that perspective, it is understandable why OP eventually became frustrated enough to retaliate. Her prank also succeeded in making Mike realize, at least temporarily, how frightening it can be when you suddenly believe something is seriously wrong.
On the other hand, pretending to have a heart attack is an extremely serious prank, particularly when it involves convincing someone that they may have caused a medical emergency. Mike spent ten minutes genuinely panicking before OP revealed that she had been acting, and her co-workers laughed when they realized he had fallen for it. Even the people who agreed that Mike had been wrong to repeatedly scare OP believed she had taken her revenge too far. Ultimately, OP may have had a legitimate reason to be furious, but the question is whether that justified creating a fake medical emergency, or whether there were better ways to finally make Mike understand that stop actually meant stop.
