There are some people who just don’t like to be told what to do. I myself fall into this category, and there’s really no rhyme or reason to how irrationally stubborn it makes me to be told to do something. Giving an order for me to do something that I was about to do anyway is a surefire way to ensure I don’t do it out of spite. It’s nonsensical.
But one woman on Reddit has taken that level of irrational irritation at being told what to do and cranked it up a notch by doing exactly as she was told. Exactly. This is malicious compliance on a level that just might leave her husband in tears. The post was shared by u/Livy5000, titled, “Husband demands me to tell him everything that happens in my day.”
Can you guess where this is going? It didn’t result in an argument as most would think. In fact, Livy didn’t argue at all, but what she did probably made her husband wish she yelled at him instead.
The irritated wife simply did as she was told. According to her post, she began telling her husband everything that happened throughout her day. It was malicious compliance at its peak.
Malicious compliance is “strictly following the orders of a superior despite knowing that compliance with the orders will have an unintended or negative result. It usually implies following an order in such a way that ignores or otherwise undermines the order’s intent, but follows it to the letter,” according to Wikipedia.
It’s clearly a way to make the person giving the order regret their decision, sort of like Livy’s husband did, almost immediately.
“I told him everything from waking up, to walking to the bathroom, breathing, doing number 1 and 2. Washing hands, drying hands ect.,” Livy writes. “You get the point. I will give him credit he lasted 3 days, then begged me to stop.”
It’s strange that he asked for her to tell him everything that happens in her day but then changed his mind. Maybe he didn’t mean everything? Livy pointed out that he apologized profusely and begged for forgiveness when her very detailed play-by-plays continued.
Commenters were quick to jump in to not only laugh but to tell their own stories of malicious compliance.
“It really sent me how you told him not only about washing your hands but about drying them,” one person says.
“My niece, in a fit of anger, told her parents to never speak to her again. They complied. Thing is, she loved being the center of attention and could not stand being ignored. She finally asked them why they weren’t talking to her and they told her they were complying with her wishes. She got the point,” another writes.
There were some commenters who were concerned about Livy’s safety as she used the word “demand,” but she reassured people that she did not mean for it to sound as if he was controlling. She clarified that they’ve been working on communication and she is thankful that he’s a best friend to whom she can feel comfortable telling anything.
But this goes to show that demanding anyone do anything is a quick way to jump to extreme passive-aggressive responses. Maybe next time he’ll just ask for more detail in certain parts of their conversations.