Employee's 'Petty Revenge' on Colleague Who Keeps Taking Their Pens Praised

Newsweek

6 hours ago

Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A worker who grew tired of their colleague repeatedly stealing their favorite pens turned to an unexpected solution—refilling the pens with glitter ink.
The incident was detailed in a post shared by u/Main_Scallion2394 in the r/pettyrevenge subreddit, and it has gone viral, amassing over 51,000 upvotes since June 9.
Titled "My coworker kept stealing my pens. so I started refilling them with glitter ink," the post recounts how one office worker devised a sparkly form of petty revenge after months of missing pens.
"I work in this pretty chill office," the poster began, "but for whatever reason my pens kept missing—not like … all my pens. Just mine, the ones I actually liked using."
The worker in the viral Reddit post said that they suspected a particular coworker but wanted to avoid direct confrontation. That changed one day during a meeting: "I kinda had a feeling who it was but didn't wanna cause drama, then one day I saw her using my purple gel pen during a meeting. I said something like 'hey I think that's mine' and she just laughed and went 'oops lol [laugh out loud] didn't even notice.'"
Stock image: A woman holds a pen while talking to a man also holding a pen while seated at a desk.
Stock image: A woman holds a pen while talking to a man also holding a pen while seated at a desk.
Getty
Rather than escalate the situation, the poster got creative. "So I ordered some cheap refillable pens and swapped the ink for glitter gel. They looked normal when you wrote with them but dried all sparkly and ridiculous," the poster noted.
The payoff came at the next office meeting. "Next meeting she's writing away and someone goes 'why does your notebook look like a birthday card?' She just stared at it like it betrayed her soul," the poster wrote.
Since then, the pen thefts have stopped. "My pens haven't gone missing since—no apology or anything … just awkward silence. Honestly? I'll take it."
Etiquette expert Jo Hayes told Newsweek: "While this petty revenge may have felt satisfying in the moment for OP [original poster], the reality is that this sort of behavior is what one would expect of a child, not a grown adult working in an office environment."
A 2022 study by The Myers-Briggs Company found 36 percent of people reported dealing with conflict at work often, very often, or all the time.
Poor communication was found to be the No. 1 cause of conflict and "the more time that an individual spent dealing with conflict at work, the lower their job satisfaction and the less included they felt," the study said.
Experts Warn Against Petty Revenge
While many on Reddit applauded the poster's creative approach, etiquette experts said there might have been a better way to handle the situation.
Hayes acknowledged the wrongdoing of the pen thief: "Of course, what the pen-stealer has done—and on a continual basis—is wrong; no doubt about it."
However, she added: "The MO [modus operandi] for dealing with this sort of thing is clear, direct, adult communication, not passive-aggression, avoidance, or petty revenge."
Nick Leighton, an etiquette expert and co-host of the Were You Raised by Wolves? podcast, agreed. He told Newsweek: "Better would be a polite-yet-direct conversation with the colleague. Something along the lines of 'I've noticed my pens keep disappearing … I would appreciate it if you would ask before borrowing them.'"
Leighton added: "Unfortunately, good etiquette isn't usually as satisfying as exacting sparkly revenge."
Hayes said that, while addressing these situations can be uncomfortable, doing so builds valuable life skills. "Sure, addressing a situation—even one as seemingly innocuous as pen stealing—is uncomfortable. Few would disagree. But any adult who wants to be successful in life needs to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
She added: "Avoiding uncomfortable situations, particularly conflict resolution, might be the easy way out in the moment, but, in the long run, we only do ourselves a disservice."
'Devilishly Clever'
Despite the experts' advice, the majority of Reddit commenters were firmly on the side of the original poster.
One user, u/IDGAF53, commented: "Oh that's devilishly clever. You're my petty kinda person!"
Another, u/AstrixRK, wrote: "Perfectly petty! This is a perfect example of petty revenge."
User u/JustanOldBabyBoomer added: "Glittery revenge is the BEST revenge!!!!"
Another, u/Affectionate_Gap8220, said: "I would love this as a form of 'revenge'—innocent and right to the point!"
Newsweek has contacted the original poster for comment via the Reddit messaging system.
Do you have a work-related video or story to share? Let us know via [e-mail] and your story could be featured on Newsweek.