Manager Banned Breaks And Phone Calls, Then Karma Trapped Her In An Elevator For Five Hours

Every workplace has that one person who makes everyone’s day harder than it needs to be. The kind who turns the simplest task into a battlefield and somehow still manages to avoid doing their own job.

In this story, a college student found themselves stuck under the thumb of a bitter supervisor who seemed to take pleasure in making life miserable. What began as a dream job surrounded by movies and games soon spiraled into a daily exercise in patience and quiet defiance. But karma, as always, had its own plans and this one involved an elevator.

A college student working at a family-owned video store in the 90s endured their supervisor’s relentless pettiness

The internet loves stories where power flips and this one hits every note of poetic justice. What starts as petty workplace cruelty ends with the bully stuck, literally and metaphorically, in her own rules.

According to Psychology Today, workplace tyranny often stems from insecurity rather than authority. Dr. Robert Sutton, author of The No A**hole Rule, writes that “mean-spirited managers don’t enforce discipline, they enforce dominance.”

By controlling small, meaningless aspects of employees’ routines, such supervisors seek validation through fear, not respect.

In Amanda’s case, every cruel rule, “no calls,” “don’t leave the floor”, wasn’t about efficiency. It was about ego. The Redditor’s calm compliance dismantled that illusion without a single raised voice.

A Harvard Business Review study found that 58% of employees under toxic management intentionally withhold effort, while 48% reduce their work quality.

In other words, toxicity doesn’t inspire; it suffocates. And yet, when employees use quiet resistance (like following the rules too perfectly), it exposes bad leadership for what it truly is: unsustainable.

Leadership coach Nicole Lipkin once told Business Insider, “Respect isn’t given because of title, it’s earned by behavior.” Amanda’s elevator meltdown wasn’t just karmic; it was symbolic. She’d spent her power trapping others and ended up physically trapped herself.

For anyone dealing with a similar boss, remember professionalism doesn’t mean submission. Sometimes, the smartest retaliation is none at all, just a smile, a nod, and a calm “Alright.” Let the situation play itself out, because as this story proves, bad leadership always collapses under its own weight.

Check out how the community responded:

These commenters praised the story as peak malicious compliance, loving how perfectly the OP followed the manager’s absurd rules to the letter

This group highlighted the humor and dialogue, laughing at Amanda’s over-the-top meltdown

These Redditors enjoyed the storytelling quality, calling it entertaining, nostalgic, and cinematic like a scene from a workplace sitcom

This user related through personal experience, sharing how they also handled unreasonable supervisors by smartly going above their heads

Few things in life are as satisfying as watching arrogance fold under its own weight. In this case, Amanda’s downfall didn’t come from rebellion, it came from obedience. The employee never broke a rule, never raised his voice, he simply followed her orders to perfection.

And maybe that’s the beauty of this story: when control freaks build their own traps, all you have to do is hand them the keys and walk away.

Would you have helped her out, or let karma finish its shift?