10 pettiest but effective ways you can get revenge

The best way of getting revenge on someone involves doing things that are so subtle, the other person doesn’t recognize them immediately, but then they realize later on what’s up.

The free service quietly closes

You might keep doing favors for them because they take two seconds, and you want to be the bigger person. But stop. Don’t do it. Yes, stop getting their coffee while you’re up, and stop fixing the things they’re fully capable of fixing themselves.

Stop doing those favors without telling them, as you might start feeling pretty great about the whole thing. Favors create expectations between people. So when you quit doing a regular one, it becomes noticeable, although not in a nasty way.

Courtesy gets turned all the way up

Politeness is one thing. Making every ‘thank you’ extremely crisp is another. Try being overpolite with the other person, instead of rising to whatever challenge they’re trying to give you. Keep it calm and keep it civil. Most of all, keep it proper.

You’re not giving them what they want, and that’s one of the best kinds of revenge. You’re refusing to do what they expect of you, but rather, you’re being overly nice to them. That gives them very little to complain about, so they look like the bad guy if they do complain. 

Their emergency stays theirs

There was a time when you would help them out with any problems that they dumped on you. Those days are gone now. It doesn’t matter that their document is due in 20 minutes or that they desperately need you to help them out. You’re not getting involved this time.

Just give them whatever information is genuinely yours to give, and then let them handle the rest. Or, at least, let them try to handle the rest. They probably won’t be able to. It doesn’t mean their problem becomes worse, but rather, it leaves their problem where it started. That’s with them.

Everything suddenly comes home

Nothing says ‘I’m giving you what you deserve’ quite like returning anything you’ve received from them. It doesn’t stop there, though. You have to ask for your own stuff back at the same time to really drive the point home. 

Taking back your stuff, while also giving back theirs, lets the other person know how you really feel about them. It’s a relatively casual way of getting your own back on them. They can’t really say anything about it, either.

Their clock becomes your clock

The other person is always 15 minutes late. It’s about time you quit donating your 15 minutes to them. Yes, do what you need to instead, and plan around the time they actually arrive rather than the time they claim they’ll arrive.

If they’re 15 minutes late, then you start 15 minutes after they arrive. Doing so should help them see that you’re not going to accept that sort of rude behavior from them anymore. It doesn’t feel so good when the shoe’s on the other foot.

The vacuum finally gets used

We all have to deal with annoying neighbors sometimes, and some of the most irritating ones are the noisiest ones. They’re the ones making noise at midnight or partying until the late hours. That’s fine. Saturday at 8 a.m. seems like a lovely time for you to vacuum or mow the lawn.

Maybe you should run the dishwasher, too, and make normal household noise during permitted hours. It’s very different from deliberately blasting music through the wall at 2 a.m. Sure, it might not be ethical, but it’s probably not illegal. You’re giving them a taste of their own medicine.

The rescue team takes the day off

One of the best forms of revenge is one that requires almost no effort. Allow natural consequences to happen to them. Don’t remind them and don’t chase them up about problems. Don’t fix anything before they notice, either. 

Let the events continue normally, and let any consequences play out as they should. You’re not exactly doing anything bad. It’s more that you’re declining to get involved in fixing things for them, so whatever was already going to happen happens.

The answer arrives as a result

When someone tells you that you can’t do something, it tends to stick in your head. It really doesn’t matter what it was exactly. Rather than wasting time arguing, go and do the thing they told you that you couldn’t do.

That’s the revenge. You’re using their negative feedback to push yourself to work harder until you’re able to finally succeed at it. There’s no need for a speech or anything. Let the results speak for themselves.

The courtesy laugh disappears

Use your lack of humor to get back at them. Whenever they tell a bad joke, don’t fake a laugh and don’t react. No need for a glare or anything, just let the joke sit there without the laugh that the other person was expecting.

That sense of awkwardness afterward is your revenge. It forces the other person to carry the joke alone, and it doesn’t usually feel very comfortable when you have to do that. You’ve punished them, essentially.

Now they have to explain it

There’s another way of responding when someone tells a nasty joke about you. Ask them to explain it. Their comment will probably sound a lot less clever because they’re having to explain it out loud.

You don’t need to accuse them of anything or get into a debate. Just look genuinely confused and ask what the funny part was, as it’ll make them feel pretty awkward. You’ll get your revenge on them that way.

Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.

14 people in history who got revenge in the pettiest possible way

The history of civilization is littered with colossal military campaigns and bloody political takeovers, but sometimes the best revenge is nothing more than sheer pettiness.

14 people in history who got revenge in the pettiest possible way