Living in a high-rise building teaches you a lot about patience. You share the same hallways, the same doors, and sometimes the same frustrations, especially when one elevator serves every single person inside.
So when someone decides the elevator is their personal kingdom, it can bring out a side of you that surprises even yourself. One resident recently found himself in that exact situation after holding the door for a courier who showed no interest in returning the favor.
What started as mild annoyance turned into a tiny act of revenge that played out across several floors. And the best part is that the courier had no idea who was behind it until it was far too late. Keep reading to see how a short moment of rudeness inspired a brilliant bit of petty justice.
A delivery worker held up the elevator, so a resident decided to make every floor stop on his way down
There’s a familiar sting that comes from being treated as though your time doesn’t matter. Small moments, like someone letting an elevator door close in your face, can spark an emotional reaction far larger than the inconvenience itself.
In this story, OP starts with kindness, helping a courier access the building. Moments later, he’s left waiting with heavy groceries while the same courier monopolizes the elevator. That shift from generosity to invisibility hits a universal emotional nerve.
From a psychological standpoint, OP’s frustration formed around a sense of violated social norms. He wasn’t angry about a single missed courtesy; he was responding to a pattern of disregard, first the ignored attempt to share the elevator, then the courier intentionally blocking the doors on multiple floors.
When people feel dismissed, especially after offering help, their emotional instincts push toward reclaiming a sense of fairness. OP’s decision to press every elevator button on his sprint up the stairs wasn’t rooted in cruelty. It was a symbolic attempt to restore balance in a situation where he felt powerless.
Research on social behavior helps explain this dynamic. Social norm expert Dr. Michele Gelfand, a professor at Stanford University, explains that norms “act as the glue that keeps people together” and guide cooperative behavior in shared environments.
Her research further shows that when norms are violated, people respond strongly because these unwritten rules help societies and even elevator queues function smoothly.
This supports the emotional pulse of OP’s reaction. He felt a breakdown in the basic expectations of respect within shared spaces. The courier’s behavior, knowingly preventing the elevator from moving, disrupted that fragile balance.
OP’s petty revenge, though dramatic and sweaty, was an instinctive attempt to reinforce the social rules the courier had ignored.
Another relevant study explains that social norms operate as “unwritten expectations” that regulate fairness and cooperation in daily life. Violations, even small ones, activate a natural desire to restore order.
By this lens, OP’s satisfaction comes not from pettiness, but from witnessing fairness re-emerge, hearing the courier mutter in frustration was simply confirmation that the imbalance had been acknowledged.
See what others had to share with OP:
These commenters admired the effort, joking that they loved the idea but were way too lazy to run seven flights themselves
This group leaned into the humor, calling it “true petty revenge”, no property damage, just poetic inconvenience
These users went practical, pointing out how dangerous it is to block elevator doors
These commenters simply celebrated the pettiness, noting the calorie burn, the creativity, and the perfect timing
What do you think, legendary pettiness, or too much effort? Would you have done the same, or was this the stair-master revenge of a lifetime?
