Revenge on a Co-worker from Hell

As the youngest in any environment, I've dealt with my share of coworkers from hell. It's almost as if as soon as I am hired, the game begins. "She is a young & unexperienced minion...let's make her blood boil and prove her inadequate." I learned early on that people who create hell in their work environment are usually people who have no other outlet in their lives. So I let them play their game with me.

As an office manager, my main duty is to make sure that the office runs smoothly and as a 22 year old, I am basically babysitting 11 big babies who want their coffee on time and who want everything done on their terms. There is a regimen that I have put into effect that has worked quite well for the past year. I make a pot of coffee in the morning and one around 2 PM for the afternoon fix. There has been one person in my office who gave me hell because she wanted everything done on her terms. I've never had an issue with her until recently. I am in charge of making sure that the office also has all the supplies that it needs on a daily basis. After making the delivery arrangements, I had put aside enough coffee to make an afternoon pot. 2:00 PM rolled around and I went to the kitchen to find that someone had made a second pot of coffee without telling me and had finished up all the coffee in the office. My initial reaction was to march in her office and dump a hot cup of coffee in her lap. Surely that would be the best revenge but it would not be as effective and I would probably be arrested for assault.

My best revenge?

I sent out a mass office email reminding everyone to please not make any coffee without letting me know so that I can effectively keep track of the supplies in our office. My boss was pleased and of course, this caused a stir in the office. Who had made the mistake? Who was messing up the system? Who was the pain in the butt?

I got my revenge because everyone knew who it was but I did not act like an insubordinate little teenager. I was tactful, kind and quiet. No one messed with my coffee ever again.

Best revenge on a hellish coworker is kindness & avoidance. Trust me...these are the people who thrive on getting a rise out of others by making them miserable. Your best bet is to be calm and collected. You may, of course, scream in your car and/or home at the end of the work day when you are alone. You must release that aggravation somehow and then walk back into work, smiling and killing them with kindness the next day.