# "I did it wrong on purpose so I wouldn't be asked to do it again" - anyone seen that actually work? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2022, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212 "2022-06-30T23:41:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/21 "2022-07-01T14:33:10Z")
My first wife was hypercritical when I tried to help around the house and would not only criticize me, but redo the job after I finished (which is one of the reasons why she’s my _first_ wife.) Mind you, I wasn’t trying to do it wrong on purpose, but after awhile it was easier to let her do it and then complain about having to do everything. My sister has always been computer-illiterate and computer-phobic. She once told me that she would bat her eyes and put on a cooey voice to get one of her male coworkers to help her. Some time later I asked her if she had ever gotten more comfortable with computers, or if she was still batting her eyes and flirting. "She replied, “Oh, sweetie, that was 40 pounds ago. It doesn’t work now. I have to beg.” ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/22 "2022-07-01T14:50:58Z")
Oh so true! If I accept help, it means “we do the chore together”, not “you take care of it, I do something else”. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/23 "2022-07-01T14:54:03Z")
I’ve worked with people who pulled that. And they weren’t asked to do it again, as they were let go from employment. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/24 "2022-07-01T15:05:20Z")
I quickly learned in the restaurant industry to NOT volunteer to help out when a busboy or dishwasher quits, which is common. But, I also knew I wasn’t making a career of it and ended up quitting when they began scheduling me as a busser, especially Sunday nights where I told them no availability. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/25 "2022-07-01T17:53:49Z")
I’m ashamed to confess it, but if the company has a great new plan that I think is downright stupid and pointless, I will occasionally drag my heels in the hopes that it will go away or that someone else will leap at the opportunity to do stupid, pointless work. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/26 "2022-07-01T18:45:17Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I’m ashamed to confess it, but if the company has a great new plan that I think is downright stupid and pointless, I will occasionally drag my heels in the hopes that it will go away or that someone else will leap at the opportunity to do stupid, pointless work Funny that I’m doing that now at work. I don’t mind providing a written mid year review, but some genius has got the idea that I should personalise it by adding a ton of emojis and gifs to go along with the fun work culture. I’ll be dragged kicking and screaming if I actually have to. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/27 "2022-07-01T18:50:19Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > some genius has got the idea that I should personalise it by adding a ton of emojis and gifs to go along with the fun work culture. You DO work among adults and not in a grade school, correct? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/28 "2022-07-01T18:50:32Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > some genius has got the idea that I should personalise it by adding a ton of emojis and gifs to go along with the fun work culture. Throw in a few Latin and similar catchphrases and put the emojis on those. “As for the new user interface, as Cicero put it, dum anima est, spes est! 🤣” ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/29 "2022-07-01T19:19:36Z")
I only do it wrong with teachers. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/30 "2022-07-01T19:32:41Z")
I didn’t want to have sex with my ex any longer. It worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/31 "2022-07-01T19:37:31Z")
It’s a logical corollary to Jo Carson’s “Be careful what you get good at doin’ ’cause you’ll be doin’ it for the rest of your life.” ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2022, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/32 "2022-07-01T19:56:22Z")
At my previous position in my current job I basically was responsible for the incoming and outgoing trucks, I would buzz the truck in, tell it what stall to park in, supervise loading and unloading, figure out what needed to go into each truck, record all of this etc. This job had quite a bit of nothing to do luls but that’s only because the truck schedules were completely unpredictable, you could go 30 minutes without a truck and then suddenly 4 trucks would all show up at once. Because of that I feel people in management felt like “I had too much downtime” so they assigned me a new task, taking any and all phone calls that were supposed to go to the front desk but because our front desk was run by management (since it’s not a public facing company) who decided they had better things to do they then had all incoming calls were redirected to my desk. The problem was 90% of these calls were basically “Hey I’m sick I need to talk to the supervisor for the day off” which then meant it had to go back to management anyway, and if the calls were front desk related whoever was at front desk could just yell back “Hey so and so is on the line!”. Technically I was supposed to then forward that number to said supervisors officer but half the time they werent even in their office, so from Day 2 on I would just public page said supervisor on the facility intercom to come to my desk to receive a call, which for me was the easiest and least time consuming way to deal with. This also meant the supervisor if they were in their office would have to make the LONG trek to my desk and back. Eventually after 2 weeks of this they stopped having me answer calls. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/33 "2022-07-02T05:53:43Z")
> [@k9bfriender](#): > > I’ve worked with people who pulled that. > > And they weren’t asked to do it again, as they were let go from employment. You have to be able to do something well to get away with it. It especially works if the thing you like to do is more valuable than the junk you don’t. “Anything not worth doing is worth not doing well” is my motto. I was never good at the stupid United Way drives, for instance. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/34 "2022-07-02T11:32:01Z")
Exactly! When I was in college, I got very good at using a rolling machine (remember those?) to make jays. I mean, they were perfectly uniform, burned smoothly, and looked just like a filterless cigarette. Every single time I went to a party, one of my friends would say, “Hey, you should see the jays ZonexandScout can roll!” I felt like an abused Vietnamese teen working in an illegal factory for the rest of the night. “Where’s the next one?” “What…you can’ take time to smoke one yourself! Get back to work! We have lots of guests waiting on them.” ---
**Author:** ![Onthefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9de053/32.png) [@Onthefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Onthefly)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/35 "2022-07-02T16:29:11Z")
One of my former jobs would periodically have field people work in the office doing basic clerical work. The first couple of times I did it I was through with what I had been assigned by Wednesday and asking what to do now. I began to notice that I was being asked to work in the office more than the others. After I paced myself so that I finished the original assignment on Friday I was only asked to come in at the same rate as the others. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/36 "2022-07-02T18:32:47Z")
This is the working principle behind Girlfriend Pity Eggs. She comes to your place and spends the night. In the morning you cheerfully make eggs, but you do so bad a job she takes pity on you and makes more eggs. I don’t approve of this. I’m just reporting what I hear. In other words: “You don’t have to life a finger if you can prove you’re all thumbs.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2022, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/37 "2022-07-02T20:48:37Z")
My wife and kid were masters at this tactic. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2022, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/38 "2022-07-03T22:59:55Z")
Apparently, it still works on occasion: > **[Never Dull](https://foxtrot.com/2022/06/26/never-dull/)** > > FoxTrot by Bill Amend | June 26, 2022 ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/39 "2022-07-04T06:09:08Z")
its a trope in kids/teen shows that the airhead slacker in the group at some point gets outed as a genius and never does anything with it because it becomes a big life chasing hassle I didn’t surprise my teachers much because it seems the smarter you are the more lazier and uncoordinated you are also although a couple of my teachers remarked that it was a good thing my thought processes are “muddled” because iihad the possibility of being totally evil because one of the smartest but laziest mfers they knew ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2022, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212/40 "2022-07-04T19:52:52Z")
Jason Fox is the ultimate Rube Goldberg-er. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-did-it-wrong-on-purpose-so-i-wouldnt-be-asked-to-do-it-again-anyone-seen-that-actually-work/967212.md?page=3)