Woman fights back against insensitive pranks by an office colleague: 'I really need it to stop'

Pranks can be enjoyable only on specific occasions, like parties or get-togethers. They cannot be encouraged in a professional working space such as an office, as it violates the basic work decorum of providing an ideal, disciplined workspace. Moreover, pranks are pleasant only when they are harmless and not when they are disrespectful. Recently, Reddit user u/Treacherous_Wendy posted in the r/AntiWork community about an "office prankster" who had been making her office a horrible experience.

The post was titled "We have an office prankster and I feel like I'm losing my sanity." Wendy has elaborately mentioned the pranks. One day, her computer screen suddenly changed to Russian or Sanskrit and she struggled to undo the setting, but since she did not know the language, she could not change it. Also, the prankster played with her personal Bluetooth speaker and played "I Feel Good" by James Brown at full volume. At times, her phone is always forwarded to an unknown person. Once, the prankster played with her chair to the degree where it was broken. Being a fat woman, she finds using a messed up chair difficult.

She reached the peak of emotional destruction one day when she reached the office in the morning and saw her chair messed up again. Wendy could not control herself and broke down in tears. It evoked childhood traumas and she felt like her 6th-grade school life once again, where she used to be shamed as "Wendy the Whale." All she ever wanted was to just work in peace, but she has had to endure all these pranks for 6 months. "It doesn’t make me feel "part of the team"…it makes me feel picked on for a reaction so someone can laugh at me," says Wendy.

The post concluded with a thank-you note. "I just needed to vent somewhere. Thanks for listening." But with the humungous response from other users and the number of supportive comments, Wendy did not forget to add an update about this office prankster. In the edit, she explained that she complained to her boss about the ongoing pranks. The pranks stopped and so did the attitude of the prankster.

"Later in the afternoon, after a meeting, when we were all back in the office, we were all talking about departmental future goals and the prankster is clearly ignoring me," she added. Wendy particularly mentioned that she has no ill feelings or grudge toward the prankster and likes them as a person. "There is a special treat that I know they like, I will be getting them some this week. No hard feelings," she ended her post.

The post garnered lots of support, amounting to over 34,000 upvotes, with an 88% positivity rating, and several Reddit awards. Besides that, numerous users commented on their own personal prank experiences in support of Wendy. "That sounds more akin to harassment and bullying rather than a case of an annoying prankster. Do they do this to others in the office, or is it exclusively you? If so, you definitely need to raise a grievance as they are outright harassing you," commented u/Little-Database.

Moreover, a few comments advised her to lock her screen when taking breaks so as to avoid more such pranks. "This is like the only thing even remotely close to okay on this thread, but change the background to some cute cats or something fun, not a language that's impossible to recover from. Everything else definitely is across the line. Reddit's got your back, Wendy!" wrote u/Strommsawyer.