Daughter Refuses School Dad's Genius Plan to Change the WiFi Password!

In today’s episode of Reddit Stories Podcast, a wild Karen completely loses it. You won’t believe how this one ends! Sit back, relax, and enjoy this binge-worthy Reddit Stories Podcast, featuring Karen freakouts, entitled people stories, and pro revenge tales.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, dear mister Redder here, welcome back to another episode
of Reddit podcast Stories. Our first story we'll be reading today,
daughter refuses to go to school, so I changed the
Wi Fi password. After that, am I the jerk for
sending my niece to go live with her other uncle?
And after that, bully your flat mate. I'll ruin your
fun Now. For every thumbs up this video gets one,

(00:21):
Karen gets the Wi Fi password changed on her. What
you think I don't know how to use Ethernet or something,
So please smash that like button and subscribe and turn
on notifications for news stories from Reddit. Every single day,
daughter refuses to go to school, so I changed the
Wi Fi password. My seventeen year old daughter, Kim, is
going through a hard time with her mental health. It's

(00:43):
gotten to a point where Kim refuses to go to
school almost every single day. In January, she went to
school four days total. We've been working with the school
to allow Kim to get homework digitally, but she doesn't
keep up with it. My wife and I have gotten
her into therapy as well as counseling through her school
last fall, but results of that have been mixed, as
I don't think Kim is putting in the necessary work

(01:04):
on her end. She is on medication, but we're still
working with her doctor to find the right combination to
meet her needs. If Kim had her way, she'd just
spend all day in her bed with her laptop. She
doesn't do anything to help around the house, doesn't work,
doesn't go to school, doesn't eat meals with the family,
just sits in our room on our computer all day
and all night. We've tried so many different things and

(01:25):
nothing has seemed to make any positive change. It's infuriating
and heartbreaking at the same time. One constant throughout all
of this has been her computer and phone. She's on
them constantly. No matter how many times we bring this
up to her that maybe she needs to spend less
time in front of a screen, she insists that isn't
the cause of her problems. So finally I decided to

(01:46):
start changing our Wi Fi password to one that only
my wife and I know. I change it every night
before we go to sleep, and I don't change it
back to the one the kids know until after we
get home from work. Kim was not happy about this
and used up all of our family planned data in
less than a week, we had to change our plan
to restrict her usage. At first, my wife was on
board with this. She also felt that Kim was spending

(02:08):
too much time on her phone in computer, but after
Kim basically throwing a gigantic tantrum about it, my wife
is not so sure. Kim tried to use the argument
that if we want her to do schoolwork from home,
she needs the internet, but she wasn't doing the work anyway,
so that argument didn't really hold water for me. She
tried saying that she needs the internet to have access
to her support network, but we take her to therapy

(02:30):
and counseling in person, and I feel if she put
more effort into those than maybe she would make some progress.
Kim hates me for this and told me that restricting
her internet access in this day and age is mistreatment.
My wife is also wavering on this idea because Kim
isn't showing any positive changes and she still isn't going
to school every single day. Is an emotional rollercoaster for me, anger, frustration, embarrassment, futility, failure, fear.

(02:57):
I know Kim is struggling, and seeing your kid go
through something that you can't fix is horrible, and I
wouldn't wish it on anyone. All I'm trying to do
is gently force Kim to focus on her issues and
take steps necessary to address them and make progress towards
being a functional adult. She has three acceptance letters to
colleges that she's very unlikely to attend. Now I'm leaning

(03:18):
towards not the jerk, because this is an impossible situation,
and I really feel for all of you. It's very
possible that your daughter's support network is online. It's also
very possible that this is toxic and could be detrimental
to her mental health. Without actually speaking with her, it's
impossible to know so that she's not held back with
support and schoolwork. Could you allow her Wi Fi access

(03:38):
with parental controls on it. If it were me, I'd
be looking to block access to any potentially harmful material.
It might be worth exploring with her and her therapists
to find a way that she can use it for
support but in a healthy way, and ensure that she's
not being bullied online or anything. More than anything, though,
you need to show her your unconditional love for her,
tell her you love her and often talk to her,

(04:00):
and more than that, listen to what she says, both
verbally and nonverbally. She sounds as if she might have
pretty severe depression. So you need to show her that
you're being supportive and not punishing her by removing her
access to the Internet, but protecting her from harm. Seek
professional support for yourself too. You'll need someone to support
yourself as you navigate through this together. Well, what do

(04:21):
you think is OPI a jerk for changing the Wi
Fi password or not? Please let us know. I can't
even deny it. I don't think I'd last a day
without internet? Am I the jerk for sending my niece
to go live with her other uncle? My sister in
law passed twelve years ago and my brother passed four
years ago. They had a daughter who is thirteen years old. Now.

(04:41):
After my brother passed, both me and my sister in
law's brother tried to adopt my niece, but as my
niece didn't have much of a relationship with her mom's family,
I was obviously the better option, so I ended up
adopting her. Recently, my niece has got this very annoying
habit that whenever we have a disagreement, she says she
would rather go and live with her other own uncle.
I know she doesn't mean it because one, she barely

(05:03):
knows her other uncle, and two, I have a high
paying job and I'm able to provide things that most
people aren't able to provide, so she's too spoiled to
be able to live with anyone else. About a week ago,
it happened again. She told me she wants to go
live with her other uncle. This time I told her
to go pack a bag. She went to her room.
An hour later, I went up to her room and

(05:24):
I asked her if she's ready. She said she didn't
mean what she had said and doesn't really want to go.
I told her that she should go anyway. She'll stay
for a week and then she can tell me if
she wants to stay there or come back home. She
insisted that she already knows where she wants to stay,
but I told her to get in the car and
I drove her there. After a week, I called and
asked if she wanted to come home, and she said yes. However,

(05:47):
she hasn't been talking to me. My family heard what happened,
and now everyone is mad at me and thinks I'm
a jerk. Edit I decided to make an edit and
let you know how things are going. We decided to
have a conversation about it how they treated her, and
she told me that while her uncle was nice, her
aunt made her feel unwelcome and she didn't feel good
about being there, and she doesn't want to live with them,

(06:09):
and she thinks I was a jerk for setting her
even after she apologized, I apologized and told her that
even if she wanted to live with them, I would
still bring her back home because I love her too
much and can't live without her. So she's stuck with me.
She has some conditions for forgiving me. For example, she's
forcing me to binge watch shows with her, and she
wants a daddy daughter day, and I'm guessing that I'm

(06:30):
not going to like any of her plans based on
the evil grin on her face, but I'll do whatever
makes her happy. There were a lot of not the
jerk votes. While I'm thankful, I don't agree with them.
I was definitely being a jerk. She was just being
a typical teenager. I had this upbringing. I was adopted
by relatives who would pull this. I don't have to

(06:51):
keep you here anytime. I was a normal braddy adolescent.
Now I have abandonment issues. You're the jerk. Stop pawning
your bad kids that you're raising on other people and
hopes that it will teach them a lesson. Talk to them,
deal with the hard parts. Get them in therapy if
you need or want to. They're just kids, but they're
learning from you and it's your job to raise them.

(07:12):
My goodness, I get so sad reading these types of posts.
Why is it that everyone here thinks Op is a blame?
The Op never threatened the niece by sending her away.
Read what was written and comprehend. Op's niece, who he
adopted and brought into his home, asked to leave and
go live with her other uncle. He didn't pawn her off.
He obliged with her request. You're making Ope out to

(07:35):
be something he's not and making OP think he did
a bad job. This niece was the one threatening and
wanting to leave in order to hurt the op. Op
showed her the grass on the other side for a week.
Op is not the jerk here. The niece wanted to
mess around and find out. I doubt she will say
anything about living with her other uncle again. The niece
was being a thirteen year old whose parents are literally

(07:57):
both gone. Thirteen year old say the dumb things all
the time, you don't take them seriously, and you sure
don't send them away. It's called being an adult and
realizing that a kid is acting like a kid. Also,
generally speaking, kids don't mess around and find out with adults,
you know, because adults should be better than that, more
mature than that. Emphasis on should here because clearly, in

(08:21):
Op's case, they very much aren't better than that and
would rather ship off their thirteen year old niece than
sit down and try to figure out exactly why she's
saying this stuff in the first place. Well, who do
you think is the jerk? Op or his niece? Please
let us know? Uh you mean? Op is trying to
teach his these that her actions have consequences and that

(08:42):
it's not a good idea to say things you don't
mean in order to manipulate other people. Oh, how could
he do such a thing? Bully your flatmate, I'll ruin
your fun. I work in student halls of residence for
a smallish campus based university in the UK. This involves
malicious compliance after a group of students had been bullying
one of their flatmates I'll call her Sarah, and happened

(09:03):
within the last ten years. Sarah was neurodivergent and had
plenty of interests. None of these interests involved going out partying.
She preferred to live in a quieter, cleaner environment. The
other four all had similar interest to each other. Very
typical first year in hall stuff. There were kitchen parties
after clubbing at three am, alleged usage of things they

(09:23):
shouldn't have been using, post party leaving strangers passed out
on the kitchen floor, empty bottles everywhere, and piles of
rubbish and washing up generally messy. Normally a student would
report this. We give out contact details that can be
used for anonymous reporting, or we had offer flat meetings
to help them find compromises, like agreeing to limiting parties

(09:44):
to a certain number of times a week, or checking
with each other before planning one in case someone has
a big deadline and needs quiet on a specific night.
Cleaning rotations, et cetera, and the cleaners could issue fines
if it was a mess on weekly cleaning day. But
Sarah was terrified of reporting anything and found interacting with
staff very difficult. We only knew there was an issue

(10:04):
because she would tell her mom, and her mom would
tell us we had offered a swap, but she told
her mom that she didn't want to move as it
would disrupt her routine and it wasn't fair for her
to be punished when she had followed the rules. So
we were working with her and her mom to try
and get her to the point where she could formally
report it, referring her to well been services and doing
random flat checks at night to see if we could

(10:25):
catch the students doing things they shouldn't have been. This
carried on until term two, and by then the four
had already clearly decided that they just didn't like her
and thought that she was weird. The inconsiderate behavior had
escalated to bullying. She'd recorded them calling her some horrible
names and played it back to us, but again refused
to send us the recording and wouldn't formally report it.

(10:47):
I appreciate she wasn't helping herself, but I don't think
she was being deliberately difficult. She just really struggled with
certain things. Her flatmates had definitely figured out what pushed
her buttons. We were trying to mediate flat meetings trying
to enable her to feel safe in reporting their behavior formally,
et cetera. But it was obvious to staff that they
wanted to push her to move out, and they had

(11:08):
a friend who was always hanging out in their kitchen
who clearly wanted to move in. One day, she must
have snapped and she threw a glass across the room,
causing it to smash on a wall. It didn't hit anyone,
but they jumped on this and all their parents were
on the phone about how their daughters were living with
someone dangerous. At this point, we have no evidence of
their bullying or breaches of their tendency, but they have

(11:30):
evidence against her and had all en mass file reports.
We have no choice but to move her. Here comes
the malicious compliance. Not even before we had sent cleaners
into her old room, we start getting requests for the
friend to move in. Apparently a supportive person would help
with the trauma and someone else in the room would
give them closure. The idea of them getting their way

(11:52):
in this manner infuriated me. Instead, we asked one of
our older and more experienced resident advisors, a final year student,
if they could move in. This is someone they would
not be able to bully and had a good idea
about what had been really going on in that flat.
It was a nice flat and a very new building,
so it was a bit of a perk for them
as well. The best bit was the parent's ringing to

(12:13):
complain about how we had moved a stranger in and
how upset their daughters were. When I explained we had
put a very experienced resident adviser in there who had
training in peer support, all their arguments collapsed. The requirements
supportive person and room re let forclosure, tick and tick. Sorry,
no more crazy parties for your daughters this year. Ps.

(12:35):
Sarah didn't have any further action taken against her for
the glass throwing. She did actually get some additional well
being involvement, and it was deemed that the move was
penalty enough and incident unlikely to reoccur. She loved her
new flat. It was a single occupancy studio and a
really nice building, and we kept her on lower rent.
Her mom said the studio was perfect as she could

(12:55):
control the mess and no one moved her stuff. She
felt safe. She actually reb book to studio for the
following year and did go to finish her degree. I
have no idea. What happened to the other students. I
hope they look back and reflect on what they did,
but sadly part of me doubts it at any rate,
given we had ruined their party venue, I hope they
managed to get some studying done. Am I the jerk

(13:17):
for refusing to get a job and pay rent at
my parents' house? I had my eighteenth birthday three days ago.
On the day after my birthday, my stepdad told me
he wants me to start paying rent to live in
his house. My stepdad is quite Christian and conservative. I
don't expect to live rent free here forever. But I
know my stepdad is coming from a spiteful place. He

(13:38):
and my mom have two kids and nine years of marriage.
I'm not his own and it's clear that I'm a
reminder that his wife was a divorced woman before him.
So of course I'm being treated like a guest, and
my mom is allowing it. He doesn't need my money
to pay rent. Plus I don't have much and he
wants one hundred pounds per month. We still have lots
of time for this, but I bet his kids won't

(13:59):
be paying while they're in school. My A level exams
UK school system start in mid April and last up
till July. I'm doing STEM subjects and I'm hoping to
fulfill my offer for a medicine course at a good university.
I'm aiming for four A, which will take a lot
of studying, and if I have to get a job,
it will be difficult to maintain that level of studying

(14:20):
that I need to. I'm literally moving out in September.
I don't know if the university finances differ in the US,
and I know this platform is predominantly American, so in
the UK UNI is funded by loans, and these loans
cover everything and are one hundred percent my responsibility, and
my parents won't be financing anything. So it honestly just
feels vindictive. And it's not like I'm unproductive. I'm trying

(14:43):
to save the money I had left from my last
job for when I move out, too, and paying my
stepdad eight hundred pounds when he doesn't need it feels
spiteful and like he's punishing me and making my life
harder for being born. Basically, my aunt Mom's sister, who
isn't fond of him, said he's being ridiculous and told
me to come live with her. Her house is an
hour away, but my school is in the middle, thirty

(15:05):
minutes each way, if that makes sense. She said she
has a guest room free so I can save my
money for UNI. This benefits me most, so I took
her up on the offer. My mom keeps crying that
I'm leaving already, so my stepdad is annoyed. We got
into an argument where he said he's just treating me
like a tenant to prepare me for the real world.
So I said two tenants not have the right to leave,

(15:27):
which annoyed him further. My stepdad says, I'm hurting my
mother and taking resources from my aunt because I'm too
entitled to pay rent. This is just what's best for me.
I said, I'd visit am I the jerk, not the jerk.
Actions meet consequences. Your stepdad tried to flex on you,
and his power play backfired. Your mother may be crying,

(15:49):
but she let him do it. That house is half hers,
and so is the decision to charge you rent. She's
not blameless here. Your aunt's resources are none of your
stepdad's business. Oh pee, move out, work hard to crush
your exams and be super considerate and make yourself very
useful in your aunt's household. Shovel the walk, do dishes,

(16:09):
walk the dog, whatever's needed. And if you don't know ask,
Please don't come back to this house to visit if
your stepdad is home. Ever, your mom can darn well
find her way to your aunt's house without mister flex
on her arm. God bless your aunt for sheltering you
from stepdad and his nonsense. And don't feel obliged to
invite him to your graduations either. Can I speak to

(16:31):
your manager? A few years ago, I worked as a
cashier at a fast food restaurant. I don't eat fast food,
so I don't know how it is with other places,
But with this establishment, nothing was free. You want sauce
with your tacos, that's fifty cents. Please substitute your sour
cream with guacamole. Sorry, you have to pay for that.
You want ranch with your salad, that'll be extra. All

(16:53):
of these prices were very prominently displayed on a giant
menu in the middle of the lobby. By the way,
now I was paid minute wage, I nor any of
the other cashiers would give a darn about all of that.
It also made the prices ridiculous, as a lot of
customers naturally wanted add ons, so usually we wouldn't charge
for most of those things. But we could only get

(17:13):
away with that when our manager was not out in
the front, as she was the strip type yell at
you in front of the customers for giving away a
free sauce type. On a slow day, an older woman
walked in and ordered a salad. By the time it
got to the register, she loaded it with a bunch
of extras. To be completely honest, there was no rhyme
or reason to what I chose to charge people for.

(17:33):
It really depended on my mood. Her salad was pretty accessorized,
so I felt like I had to charge for something,
but I was having a good day, so I just
rang around for the salad and extra guacamole and that's all.
It was something like twelve to fifty. She immediately started
to complain about the price. I explained to her that
it was eleven fifty for the salad and one dollar
for the quack. That's ridiculous. It shouldn't cost that much

(17:57):
just for a salad. Even eleven dollars is way too much.
I'm sorry ma'am, but that's the price on the menu.
Why did you raise the price so high? A salad
should not cost that much. I tried to explain to
her that I was just a cashier and I did
not in fact control the menus, but she would have
none of it and only grew increasingly rude. Then she

(18:17):
dropped the classic dreaded line, can I speak to your manager?
I hesitated, looked her in the eye and said, you
don't want to do that. No, get your manager right now.
So I went to the back and told my manager
that there was a customer who wanted to speak with her.
She came to the register with me, looked at the salad,

(18:37):
looked at what I rang up, and immediately started going
off about how I didn't add the salsa, the chips,
the house dressing. I was used to this, so I
just stood there and stared at the customer as my
manager screamed at me. The customer stared back, dumbfounded, as
my manager took over the register, corrected the order, and
left without acknowledging her at all. The salad came out

(18:58):
to be sixteen fifty. The woman paid and left without
another word. Am I the jerk? For not taking my
step kids to Disneyland with me and my disabled son.
Disneyland has this thing where people with disabilities get different
treatments with regards to lines. It works out great for us.
My wife has two kids from before they also loved Disneyland.

(19:19):
When we go as a family, we get faster access
to some rides together, and when they want to go
on a ride that he doesn't like, my wife can
wait in line with them and we meet up afterwards.
Sometimes we switch and my wife will take my son
around while I wait in line with my step kids. However,
when my wife or one of my sisters can't come
with us, I just take my son. My wife has

(19:40):
also taken just her kids when my son doesn't want
to go. We've also taken just my step kids and
left my son with my sisters when he didn't feel
like going out in public. This last weekend, I had
time to go to the park and my son asked.
I asked my wife, but she didn't want to go.
I checked with my sisters, but they were too busy,
so I took my son without my step kids. When

(20:00):
we got home, my in laws were there fighting with
my wife. The kids had called them and said I
was excluding them from going to Disneyland. The thing is,
they never volunteer to watch the kids when they go.
They hate the crowds and the lines. They said that
I'm treating their grandkids like they are less important than
my son. My wife, who was dealing with a migraine,
was almost in tears. I helped my son get cleaned

(20:22):
up and put him to bed. Then I came back
and tore a strip off of them. I said that
their grandkids are just kids and they don't understand yet
why they cannot always get their way, but that they
are adults and presumably are able to understand why I
couldn't take three kids by myself. I couldn't leave my
son and my step kids are too young to wander
the park by themselves. I volunteered to take them next time,

(20:45):
so they could watch their grandkids while I took care
of my son, or they could watch my son and
I would wait in line with the kids. They said
they didn't want to do that, but still said that
I was being a jerk for not taking their grandkids.
So I presented another option. They could pay for a
helper to come with us for the day. That way,
if my wife can't come, I can still take the kids.

(21:05):
I did ask that they also pay for the days
I could not go, so my wife could take all
three kids. They said that I was being ridiculous, so
I told them unless they were willing to help, they
could stay. Out of how we do things in our family.
I went and talked to the three kids, and I
told them that I understood why they called their grandparents,
but that they had to learn that sometimes they would
have to not go to stuff until they were old

(21:27):
enough to be safe by themselves. I made sure they
knew I wasn't mad at them, and said that I
would take them the next time I could schedule it.
My wife said I was right and how I handled stuff,
but that her parents were mad at me for putting
them in their place. Sounds like you and your wife
were doing everything right. So nice to read about a
couple in a blended family who have each other's backs
for ones. Wishing you a very long and happy marriage

(21:50):
and a happy, healthy family. Your in laws can buzz off,
not the jerk. Am I the jerk? I quit while
in the midst of moving my mother in law. It
ran overnight and ruined everything. I had left outside. Backstory,
my mother in law lived four hours from our city.
Last year she decided to sell her house and move
near my family. She recently closed on another house here

(22:13):
as her house was under contract. My wife stayed home
overseeing some work being done on the new house while
also painting. Myself and our daughter, who six, went down
to my mother in law's house to get her moved out.
My mother in law is the type of lady that
exalts males on a glorified pedestal. Over the years, she's
made numerous and appropriate remarks about my body build or

(22:34):
my appearance. She even has gone as far as asking
very personal questions. Nonetheless, her mouth has gotten her in
major trouble with that said, when we arrived, she seemed
to have been minding her manners. At first. She made
a comment to my daughter along the lines of when
she gets older, she should marry a man just like
her father. Later that night we had an argument. My

(22:55):
kid did not eat dinner because she had a stomach ache.
My mother in law demanded she help clean the kitchen
and said I should be relaxing instead. My argument was,
why should she have to clean up from dinner when
she didn't even eat. The next morning, my daughter slept
in a bit, which irritated my mother in law. She
made a comment that my wife is lazy and that's
where her granddaughter gets it from. It ticked me off,

(23:17):
considering all of the work my wife has been doing
at her new house. An hour later, my daughter got
out of bed. I was outside when my mother in
law was putting socks on her and said, don't you
ever get too big like your mother. I didn't know
about that comment until the next day. As there were
packing boxes, I overheard my mother in law telling my
daughter that her mother didn't even want to have her.

(23:39):
For the record, that's not true. It was my mother
in law that was hounding my wife to not have
her because she said my wife would bring no up
even bigger and that having kids ruined lives. My kid
was upset and hurt. My instinct was to get her
away from that environment. We got lunch and I took
her to the beach to distract her mind. We spoke
it over. I promised her what her grandmother had said

(24:02):
was not true. I called my wife. She and our
kids spoke for a while. It was while they were
on the phone the comment about her not getting big
like her mother was brought to my attention. We went
back to the house, I gathered our belongings and we left.
Outside sat several pieces of furniture and a few large boxes.
My mother in law tried hiring movers after we left,

(24:22):
but none were available. Overnight, it rained, which ruined everything.
My brother in law called me a jerk for letting
her furniture get ruined, also claimed it was mistreatment. Week later,
I received a handwritten bill requesting four thousand dollars for
the ruined furniture. My mother in law wrote how saden
she was to realize my wife had brainwashed and demasculinized me.

(24:44):
The move occurred at the first of the year. Yesterday
I received an additional handwritten letter stating I will be
sued if I do not pay for the damages. Not
the jerk, that's wild. Your mother in law is a narcissist.
Politely let her know you will deduct it from what
she owes your wife and daughter past and future for
therapy bills to deal with what she created by being awful. Also,

(25:07):
she probably has homeowners insurance if he if that is coverable.
Karen's stepdaughter demands i'd buy her a sixty thousand dollars car.
I thirty eight female, have a sixteen year old daughter.
About seven years ago, her dad and I divorced. Him
being the only breadwinner and a high earner at that
and me being a housewife. He preferred to let us

(25:28):
live in the house, a big one in a gated community,
and continued paying all of our expenses and giving me
spending money to maintain my lifestyle. Two years later, I
met my current husband. A year later, we married and
he moved in with me and my daughter. Him and
my ex are great friends, especially since my ex is
still very much a part of our life. Also, as

(25:49):
a wedding gift, he gave me half of the house.
Now I own it in full. My husband has a
daughter with his ex. They have shared custody and she
lives with us half of the time. The problem is
that my ex pays for our daughter to go to
a really expensive private school, buys her expensive gifts, and
for her birthday he bought her a sixty thousand dollars car.

(26:10):
My husband can't afford the same for his daughter. My
daughter and her stepsister do not have the best relationship
mainly because my husband's ex hoped that they would be
getting back together and keeps influencing her daughter. My daughter
used to share her stuff until her stepsister started ruining
them on purpose. That was when my husband made a
rule that they can't borrow from each other. I stay

(26:33):
out of it since she refuses to see me as
a parent and I won't force her. My husband has
a good job, but nothing close as to what my
ex earns, and since we both decided that this house
has enough help from my ex, our income is just
what he earns, which in my opinion, is more than enough. Now,
my stepdaughter's sixteenth birthday is coming up and she asked

(26:53):
for the exact same car that my ex gave my daughter.
We refused, of course, and said we would buy her
a gift that fits our budget. She threw a tantrum
and threatened my husband that she would never talk to
him again if he didn't get her the same car.
He is wavering, but I refuse. Sixty plus thousand dollars
is just under what he makes a year. It will

(27:14):
drown us in debt. We are still paying off his
student loans and some medical debt he has, but on
the other hand, he loves his daughter a lot, and
I feel partly responsible since she wouldn't have asked for
it if my daughter didn't get the car for her birthday.
So am I the jerk? Not the jerk? Your ex
bought your daughter the car, right, so tell your stepdaughter

(27:34):
that her mother can buy her a car to make
it equal. You can't have a five out of five
in all categories two years in a row. These were
the words my HR said to my manager when he
put in my annual performance review for this past year.
To explain a little background, I work in a niche
part of research agriculture. I'm good at my job, I
do it well, and everywhere I've went, I've made myself

(27:56):
extremely hard to replace. Basically, I'm good at what I
do and it reflects My manager is very open with me.
He is the most transparent manager I've ever had, and
in fact, he shares with me certain details that I'm
not supposed to know, such as salary raises, bonuses, stupid
things that HR says to him in an email. After
another great year of research and proving myself invaluable, which

(28:20):
not only included two raises twenty five percent salary bump
altogether a hefty bonus title, promotion, enrolled in a mentoring program,
listed as an extremely high performer by upper management, and
being put in charge of advancing several field technology advancement projects,
basically incorporating new cutting edge tech in the field of research.
All while attending college. Company was sending me back for free.

(28:42):
I figured I had done amazing for the year. Reports
were done and filed. Everything from safety to EHS to
the eyes being dotted, and t's crust was done. I
could not have finished the year any better. Now. This
was the end of my second year at this job.
During my first year review I had been marked as
a five all around by my manager. There's something like

(29:04):
four categories you can score in, impressing not only him,
but several of the upper management seat holders as well
as the company VP. That's what led to my promotion
and raises. This last annual review, my manager was having
issues submitting my review. After some emails back and forth
with HR, he explained to me that HR had just
informed him that nobody can have a five out of

(29:26):
five in all categories two years in a row mark
him as a four out of five. This was the
general synopsis of the email. So I did what I
do best when I get petty. I asked my manager
to forward me the email, informed him that I was
okay with the four out of five rating and that
I don't expect him to try to fight HR on it.
Then let the process do for a few weeks. After

(29:48):
the reviews were finished and sent back, they were accompanied
with AVIP projections for the next year, salary increases in bonuses,
and what do you know, my percentages were marked lower
because I had go on from a five out of
five to a four out of five. Since the report
made it seem that my performance had lacked this year
from the last. Because of my score, even though my

(30:09):
actual performance never suffered, I was put in a lower
category of AVIP, meaning less money for me, which wasn't
gonna fly. I put together all of the report, the
email from HR, as well as the input from both
my manager and my peers that are included in my
review and emailed it to my VP, director of Marketing,
and director of R and D. With my manager and

(30:30):
HRC Seed, I wrote, this is fairly summarized due to
the failure of the company to recognize my growth as
an individual and mark me as slipping backwards on a
progressional chart when it was obvious I had not. I
will henceforth begin taking an only eighty percent or four
fifths of the current workload I have been assigned. I
have been absolutely committed to the work and projects I

(30:53):
have been assigned. In fact, getting my station ahead on audits,
various projects, and coming under budget for the second year
in a row seems to have been overlooked when due
diligence was observed for my annual review, all due to
the fact that an employee cannot be a five out
of five twice in a row. I believe it to
be absurd that this is how my performance is graded

(31:14):
when I have had no complaints or issues for my peers, customers,
or managers throughout the year, in fact being told the opposite.
I will look forward to my performance review next year
to see how HR determines my new score. I sent
this on a Friday at four PM, right before I left.
I got an email Sunday evening from my VP with

(31:34):
HRC Seed stating that my review had been changed. Monday morning,
I had my new AVIP projections in my inbox. Sometimes
you got to go to bed for yourself. Edit to
everyone asking, yes, I did get permission from my manager
to use his email in my email. He had advocated
for me in the past and is all for personal growth.

(31:55):
He has been known to butt heads with some people
in the past, but as far as I've seen, there's
been no retaliation towards them. The rule was one made
by our parent company. The parent company has several thousand employees,
while the company I work for only has around one
hundred and fifty employees nationwide, including the management team. I
don't remember the exact number, but it's small. Many of

(32:16):
the policies are adopted from our parent company, but in
this view, my VP decided to ignore the rule. And
to those who are claiming my story is fictitious, You're
free to feel that way, but nothing about my profile
or my comments would otherwise point to me making up
stories for karma or praise. Also, if you're being walked
over at work or treated badly, stand up for yourself,

(32:38):
learn to sell yourself, and refuse to take mistreatment from employers.
Employers who mistreat their staff are not worth your time
or your mental health. Support our channel by joining as
a member today and we'll give you a shout out
at our next video, or come watch this video next.
You won't believe what Karen does in that one