u/Total-Seaweed-3993

I work in a café whose owner is obsessed with squeezing a little extra money out of everything. We were already charging extra for almond milk, flavored shots, paper bags, takeaway lids - basically anything that wasn't standing still next to the coffee grinder. Annoying, but tolerable.
Until one morning he announced that we were going to start charging people for tap water.
Not sparkling water. Not fancy bottled water. Tap water.
As in, someone orders a toastie and asks for a glass of water? That'll be 90 cents.
We all thought it was absurd, but he acted like he'd discovered some hidden law of business.
He printed little signs saying that "glassware, cleaning, and staff time all cost money."
And the best part was that he knew customers would be upset. We all knew. And honestly, they were right. I'd be annoyed too if I paid for lunch and got charged for sink water.
So I started doing exactly what felt right. Any time someone asked me for tap water, I'd put on my best customer-service smile and say something like:
"Sure, the owner is the one who explains the water charge. I'll get him for you."
Then I'd go get him.
Every. Single. Time. Literally.
It didn't matter if he was in the back counting coins, arranging pastries, on a smoke break, or doing his important-looking spreadsheet routine. If a customer asked about the water fee, I'd bring him out like I was ringing a tiny bell of shame.
At first, he'd come out with his polished little speech:
"Well, sadly, there are costs involved with providing - "
And the customer would immediately cut him off with:
"You're charging me for TAP WATER?"
"Wait, is this a joke?"
"I just paid €16 for food."
"The place across the street gives water for free."
"Are you even allowed to do that?" (I looked it up later - no, lol.)
And I'd stand nearby wiping the same spot on the counter for way longer than necessary, trying not to laugh.
This went on for about eighteen days until he finally snapped.
Last week, during a quiet moment, he pulled me aside and said:
"You need to stop calling me over for the water thing."
I said, "But it's your rule."
He said:
"Yes, but it's embarrassing having to explain it to people all shift."
I had to look at the pastry case so he wouldn't see my face.
Because, like... My brother in Christ, if saying your policy out loud makes you feel humiliated, maybe the problem is the policy itself.
Anyway, the tap water charge has been canceled now. No meeting. No apology. The signs disappeared after closing one night like they had never existed.
Still easily one of my favorite tiny acts of malicious compliance.

I was the highest performer on my team for a long time, always exceeding the target, and honestly, I genuinely loved the work. Then the atmosphere changed.

First, they moved my desk. Now I sit in front of my manager and my manager's manager. I can't see them behind me, but they can see me and my two screens. Around the same time, they started spot-checking employees' messages, digging through old Teams chats and email threads to review them.

So now I have to spend the whole day pretending the managers aren't just physically watching me, but also ready to seize on anything I've written or completed and dissect it. In short, I have to stay on alert all day, and I can never appear to be taking a pause at my desk.

The funny part is that the method that made me a top performer was working in focused blocks. 30 minutes of work, then 7 minutes of quiet rest, breathing, or even closing my eyes; and I'd repeat that throughout the day. This strange surveillance system completely destroyed that.

I got pulled into one-on-ones with my boss several times, and they told me their boss had "noticed me" wasting time or sitting with my eyes closed. As if my numbers weren't still excellent.

I explained exactly what I was doing. They didn't care at all that this was why I was effective. They just told me I needed to improve how it looked from the outside. So now I just keep working without stopping.

The message reviews were the same story. Nothing I delivered was wrong. The comments were very minor notes about wording, tone, or the fact that I wasn't going above and beyond and then beyond that. The phrase "there's room for improvement" became the line I heard over and over again.

The quality of my work dropped sharply and has continued dropping for 4 years. Because of that, the scrutiny increased, which made my work get even worse. It's the constant pressure. Having to be "on" all the time, but not for the work itself... Just to make sure you look acceptable whenever management decides to look.

I was effective. I was producing excellent results. My method was working. Management dismantled all of that, and now every time I sit down to work, I feel like an empty version of myself.

A simple lesson for managers: if someone is producing excellent results, don't ruin the way they produce those results...

I finally got it to work, and honestly it's kind of stupid.

LinkedIn doesn't always show the newest job posts first, even if you sort by "past 12 hours." There's a buried time filter you can add to the URL that filters by seconds since the job was posted, but LinkedIn doesn't put it anywhere inside the actual filters.

The backend param is called f_TPR and it works like this:

last 12h → r43200
last 2 hours → r7200
last 15 min → r900
last 90 seconds → r90

So if you edit the LinkedIn jobs URL and add f_TPR=90, you'll only see posts that just went up. I just sent out several applications and was one of the first people to apply. Good luck out there

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

I keep seeing people here surprised at how so many companies are pushing toward RTO, even though productivity, profits, employee happiness, and quality of life in general seem better than they have in a long time.

It's economics. Not just some weird culture problem at one company. WFH makes people spend less money. People are no longer buying $7 lattes on their way to work; they bought a Nespresso or a decent drip coffee machine at home. They're no longer buying breakfast sandwiches or paying $18 for a depressing salad at their desk at lunch. And they're no longer being pushed to go out for happy hour with their coworkers after leaving the office. No commute means less gas burned. Fewer miles on cars means fewer repairs, fewer tire changes, less brake work, fewer oil changes, and people can keep the same car for longer. Buses, trains, parking garages, gas stations, repair shops, and car dealerships all feel that change.

Then there's the clothing side too. Lots of people are fine in joggers and a hoodie now, and anyone who isn't on camera much doesn't need a closet full of office clothes. Commercial real estate owners are watching office buildings lose value, while companies cut back on leases or move to smaller spaces.

Follow the money. WFH puts pressure on an entire chain of businesses that used to make money from employees being physically present near an office. As long as there are powerful people who make more when you commute, there will be pressure to get you back into a cubicle.

I recently interviewed for an Operations Analyst role at a company I was genuinely very excited about. I passed a few rounds, did an assessment, and honestly, everyone I spoke with seemed very positive about me joining the team. After the last conversation, I received a rejection email.

I didn't leave it at that. Maybe it was a bit of a risky move, but I sent an email directly to the founder. I told him I was confident in what I could bring to the table, and that based on the process, I genuinely felt I had been close to getting the role, then got rejected at the end. And I asked if there was any possibility for me to prove myself again.

Somehow, it worked. They offered me a second chance through a short trial period, and if it goes well, it could turn into a full-time offer.

Now I'm wondering how they most likely see me after doing that.

Does it come across as desperation, like I couldn't accept that they said no?

Or does it come across as motivated/persistent, like I care about the opportunity enough to try and push for it?

I'm grateful either way and plan to give it everything I've got, but I'd like to hear how other people would interpret this situation.