You have probably ended up with your foot in your mouth after saying something like “How is it going?” to a friend who is currently using crutches. A very human mistake. But sometimes people in positions of authority are a little more “blind” to others’ limitations and end up making worse mistakes.
An assistant to a blind student witnessed a creative and clever bit of malicious compliance when the student did exactly as the professor asked. Netizens thought the tale was a hilarious case of a person getting exactly what they asked for.
People with physical disabilities often have a lot of experience with folks making impossible requests
Image credits: Mikhail Nilov (not the actual image)
So one student found a perfect way to prank his professor
Image credits: Kelly Sikkema (not the actual image)
Image credits: No-Cartographer-8435
Some folks should think before they speak
As far as forgetting the physical disabilities of others goes, this story perhaps wasn’t that bad. Ultimately, the professor realized his mistake, made amends, and even complimented the student for a well-played bit of malicious compliance. After all, many people, when faced with their own mistakes, double down and start flailing, which ends up being embarrassing for everyone involved.
Incidentally, the term foot-in-mouth (as in to place the appendage in your mouth, i.e. to say something that makes you instantly feel awkward) goes back to the 1800s, which might be a “nicer” (or worse, depending on your outlook) version of the phrase “to put one’s foot in it.” Regardless, it’s exactly the situation the professor realized he was in.
A few readers asked about the degree of visual impairment this student was suffering from. Unfortunately, OP never specified, citing the fact that he didn’t want to make the person uncomfortable. It is important to note that blindness and visual impairment are a sort of spectrum, with some people being able to see more than others.
Image credits: Tima Miroshnichenko (not the actual image)
We love seeing people get exactly what they asked for
In general, both as a story to read or in one’s own life, malicious compliance tales scratch a certain kind of itch. Generally, most of us aren’t violent, nor do we have confrontational tendencies. However, the world is really full of people who do need to be confronted, but tend to not actually listen to other people.
There are people, often in leadership positions, who simply do not accept that they are wrong until they see it with their own eyes, pun intended. This story is a positive example of that, where the student elected to teach this particular professor a lesson. He could have simply reminded him that he was blind and that the professor had a poor choice of words. Instead, by maliciously complying, he taught him a lesson that he will probably remember forever.
This is the beauty of malicious compliance, it forces the person to encounter the results of their rules or demands. At the same time, it protects the person complying, because, after all, they were simply doing exactly what they were told. This can extend all the way to circumventing the spirit of the law, as artist Lowell Darling showed in 1975.
Image credits: Vanessa Garcia (not the actual image)
Following every single rule and guideline to the letter is a core part of malicious compliance
A Hollywood-based artist, Darling was denied the status as a “real” artist by the IRS, which classified him as a hobbyist. This meant that many of his expenses were not tax deductible, as the government didn’t see it as work-related. Fed up, he went on what could be considered one the biggest “malicious compliance” sprees in the United States.
This involved everything from meticulously and annoyingly complying with every single rule, which he made the IRS very aware of, to founding an uncredited art academy called “The Fat City School of Finds Arts.” All in all, malicious compliance is a great outlet for people who are petty, creative and who know that revenge is best served cold.
Image credits: Karolina Grabowska (not the actual image)
Some readers wanted more details
Other’s shared their enjoyment at the story and tried their hands at some ferocious puns
