- A Reddit user requested Thanksgiving week off a year in advance to avoid a recurring printing project.
- The project required work over the holiday because a school choir program repeatedly submitted files late.
- After handling the project himself, the company owner agreed to end the client relationship.
Reddit Employee Requests Thanksgiving Week Off to Avoid Annual Printing Project
A Reddit user known as lil_tink_tink says they requested Thanksgiving week off a full year in advance to avoid an annual printing project they had come to dread. The story was shared in the subreddit r/MaliciousCompliance, where it received more than 20,000 upvotes and 380 comments.
According to the post, lil_tink_tink worked for a local printing business that handled materials for a school’s choir program. Each year, the employee was assigned a specific project for the school, but the woman responsible for submitting the files consistently sent them at an unreasonable time—on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
Because the files arrived so late, employees were left working during the Thanksgiving holiday break. The project became increasingly draining, prompting lil_tink_tink to seek a way to avoid handling it for one year.
Owner Initially Resisted Releasing the Client
lil_tink_tink first asked the company owner to release the client because of the repeated late submissions. The owner was reluctant to do so, so the employee made a different request: taking Thanksgiving week off the following year, with one year’s notice.
“Since this project isn’t that difficult, I figured I would let you know I’m taking this week off next year,” the employee recalled. “The owner’s face went pale. His gut response was, ‘Why would you screw me over like that?’”
The owner then took responsibility for the project himself. After speaking with the woman who submitted the files, he returned and complained about how he had been treated. According to lil_tink_tink, the owner said he had never been treated so poorly in his life.
lil_tink_tink then asked whether the company could finally fire the client so employees would not have to deal with the project in the future. The owner agreed.
Reddit Users Share Similar Workplace Experiences
Several Reddit commenters said they recognized the frustration of being expected to manage difficult projects without adequate deadlines or support.
“Best thing you could’ve done. Make HIM deal with the problem so he can find out it’s not ‘just a small inconvenience.’ Also, if the school has a relationship with your company, the principal and superintendent might wanna know how a representative of their school treats people that is doing school business,” one user wrote.
Another commenter identified themselves as a longtime print-industry worker, writing, “As someone who’s been working in the print industry for 25 years—Bravo! Well done,”
A third user described asking management for years to introduce deadlines for their team. The request was not acted on until the employee was absent following a car accident and several coworkers had to share the workload.
“I asked for years for deadlines to be implemented for the team that I work with and management kept saying that it wasn’t necessary. A few years ago I got in a car accident a week before end of month and I missed 6 weeks of work. Five people had to come in to do my job, they weren’t doing it full time, it was five people pitching in. By the time I got back every limitation and deadline I had asked for had been enacted. Turns out that when management has to deal with the problem two months in a row they fix it,” the user wrote.
Why This Matters
In lil_tink_tink’s account, the owner’s firsthand experience with the school choir printing project appears to have changed how the company handled the client. The situation also highlights how recurring deadline problems can continue when the burden falls on employees rather than decision-makers.
The Daily Dot was unable to independently verify the events described in the Reddit post. Details of the workplace dispute and the owner’s interactions with the client are based solely on lil_tink_tink’s account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did the Reddit employee request Thanksgiving week off a year in advance?
lil_tink_tink wanted to avoid an annual printing project that required employees to work over the Thanksgiving break because the client repeatedly submitted files on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.
What happened after the owner handled the project?
According to the Reddit post, the owner spoke with the client, complained about how he had been treated, and later agreed to end the client relationship.
Was the Reddit story independently verified?
No. The Daily Dot reported that it could not independently verify the events, and the details are based solely on lil_tink_tink’s account.