What’s the most ridiculous conflict you’ve had at work?
The Ridiculous Conflict Begins
My coworker called the EPA, police, DMV, and Homeland Security trying to get me arrested because I wouldn’t give him my assigned parking spot near the building entrance. My coworker tried to get me arrested because I wouldn’t give him my parking spot.
What’s the most ridiculous conflict you’ve had at work?
This insanity started 6 months earlier when Steve joined our company and was assigned a parking spot in the far corner of the lot. On his third day, he approached me in the breakroom and asked if I’d be willing to switch spots since mine was right next to the entrance.
He said he was always running late and the extra walking time made him look bad to management. I explained that I’d had knee surgery two years ago and still had trouble walking long distances, especially in winter when it got icy.
I even showed him the handicapped placard I kept forgetting to hang up.
Steve said knee surgery from 2 years ago didn’t count as a real disability and that I was being selfish. When I politely declined again, Steve started showing up earlier and earlier trying to take my spot before I arrived.
The problem was I always got there at 7:30 because I dropped my kid off at school first, so Steve would have to arrive before dawn to beat me. I once found him literally sleeping in his car in my spot at 6:00 in the morning and he had to move when I pulled up because it was assigned parking with our names on actual signs.
After the early arrival strategy failed, Steve started his campaign to make my car illegal. First, he called building management saying he saw fluids leaking from my engine.
But when they checked, everything was bone dry.
Then he reported my car to the police as abandoned, even though I was literally driving it every single day. The police showed up and seemed confused when they found me sitting in the allegedly abandoned vehicle eating lunch.
Steve told everyone in the office he was concerned about my car’s emissions and suggested I should get it tested for environmental compliance. Things got weirder when I started getting notices from various agencies about my vehicle.
The DMV sent a letter saying someone had reported my registration as fraudulent. The EPA called about a complaint that my car was leaking hazardous materials into the storm drains.
The police showed up again because someone reported seeing me hide suspicious packages in my trunk.
Each time I had to explain that Steve from accounting seemed to have a problem with where I parked. And each time the officials looked at me like I was describing a plot from a bad movie.
The maintenance guy pulled me aside one day and said he’d seen Steve in the parking garage at weird hours taking photos of my car from different angles. He thought Steve might be planning to buy the same model and wanted reference pictures, which would have been almost sweet if it wasn’t completely deranged.
Steve had also apparently asked the maintenance crew several times about what would happen if a car was found to be contaminating the property and whether the owner would lose their parking privileges permanently.
When Steve called the actual Department of Homeland Security claiming I was using my car for substance trafficking because he’d seen me putting suspicious packages in the trunk, which were actually just groceries, I knew I needed to start collecting evidence.
I asked building security for footage from the parking garage, and what I found was absolutely insane.
