Generally speaking, fantasizing about taking an eye for an eye—getting revenge on someone who was being a jerk—is human nature. But often acting vengefully remains just that, a scenario in our mind. Our moral compass combined with the fear of further escalation keeps most of us in check. Most, but not all.
Revenge is a powerful emotional trigger that can actually mobilize some people into action. So we at Bored Panda decided to take a look at the ways it manifests in our everyday lives. Digging around the internet, we found many petty acts that people resort to in an attempt to restore justice. Like pouring water in front of the dishwasher to make your husband try to fix it even though the thing is perfectly fine. Continue scrolling to check out what we've gathered and fire up our older publications on the topic here and here. Enjoy!
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Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn
For those who aren’t yet familiar with the term, the Oxford Dictionary defines pettiness as “undue concern with trivial matters, especially of a small-minded or spiteful nature.”
Additionally, pettiness can be more subtle than classic revenge. A 2009 social experiment conducted at Harvard and the University of Virginia gathered groups of people to play a financial game.
In each group, one experimenter was placed specifically to cheat so that the other people playing would notice. The scientists discovered that when given the opportunity for a no-fault chance at revenge, everyone playing who was cheated took a chance at it.
Meaning everybody was angry over what happened to them, and everyone given the opportunity for revenge took it.
Petty Betty
Revenge Is A Dish Best Not Served
I Would Have Done The Same
Danny Greeves, a UK-based physiotherapist and behavioral change coach specializing in resolving resentment, said that revenge and pettiness are common aspects in our interpersonal relationships because they both trigger the law of obligation.
This is also known as reciprocity, which is the practice of exchanging things for mutual benefit. "Reciprocity is one of the universal principles which creates automatic, unconscious responses. It is the principle of mutual exchange," he explained, adding that in our evolutionary past, reciprocity was a vital principle because we relied on other people to assist us through fair exchange in order to do tasks and get basic human needs met.
The Power Of Mums
This Is How You End Up In Hell
Easy Solution
Getting My Roommate To Clean
Speaking plainly, when someone does something for us, we feel an obligation to return the favor.
"The pull of returning the action performed towards us is so strong because it has been crucial to our evolutionary progress," Greeves said.
This part of our nature is actually the reason why we feel rude when we don't say thank you, mean when we don't offer something we could share, or guilty when we don't do something we’re supposed to.
Thwaites Brewery In England Told Workers It Was Cutting 60 Staff. My Dad's Mates Worked As Electricians There And Shorted The Lights In Retaliation
Oh, This Is Gold
This Is So Me
And if you want to get even more petty, when they blast their horn in anger, wave to them like you think you know them and are saying hi ... THAT really ticks them off.
Did He Even Remember?
I hope the only thing he can find to cover it up is a really ugly painting. :)
However, a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that petty behaviors made people seem less likable, even when the actions clearly benefitted others.
"Being precise isn't always a good thing for the quality of relationships," said study co-author Tami Kim, an assistant professor of marketing at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. “Sometimes, leaving a little room for error might be a good idea.”
High Five Grandma, That's Awesome
āScrew Your Time Iāll Exercise In The Streetā Is An Entire Mood
Genius
I Really Hope It Was Her Name In Comic Sans
This applies to all sorts of relationships and has been proven numerous times under different circumstances. It even applies to people in romantic relationships — when they were asked questions about their partner's pettiness and their relationship satisfaction, researchers found a correlation between reported partner pettiness and unhappiness in a relationship.
Let's Review
Madlad Strikes At His Mom
What A Power Move
I Like Her Style
So I guess a part of us wants to know there's still forgiveness in the world, after all.
"The downfall of pettiness can happen across many types of relationships, even amongst people who have been together for a long time,” Kim said. “Pay attention to the ways even the simplest behavior can be interpreted.”
How To Get Revenge 101
Someone At Work Kept Stealing My Sister's Cherry Cokes Out Of The Fridge. So She Rubbed The Top Of The Can With A Habanero Pepper. Hope This Will Prevent Them From Stealing
Inspiring Moment
And The Winner Is
My Neighbor Keeps Vacuuming His Floor When I'm Sleeping At Night. I Started Vacuuming The Ceiling As He Sleeps At 3AM
Karen's "Revenge"
Well, I'd Do The Same
I'd do it the same way. The child is being influenced by the mother and if she continually gets away with it, he will pick up the behaviors too. It's not like he pushed him over or something. Be polite = get what you want. Be a d**k, get treated as such. Good lesson, really.
Turns Out We Have Ghosts
Justice Is Served
What Could Go Wrong Blocking A Farmer's Gate To Save A Parking Fee?
A Japanese Woman Discovered Her Boyfriend Was Cheating, So She Gathered All His Apple Devices And Dumped Them Into A Tub Full Of Water
Outstanding Move
You Know How Mad You Got To Be To Carry A Refrigerator
I'd Say This Is Chaotic Good
i hope the person behind them was that tik tok mom who kept honking as soon as the light turned green because it was āfunnyā
Someone not going and holding up everyone in a line for validation is even less funny...
Load More Replies... I find that every time I honk at someone for texting instead of noticing the light has turned green, they act like I've honked the very moment the light turned green. Just because you just noticed it, doesn't mean it just got that way.
Depending on the place. Thats illegal. Impeding traffic. The best revenge is the legal variety.
Yeah this post is awful; the OP willfully blocked traffic to be petty when they were likely at fault... I hate people who do this bc they were on their phone and think that someone asking them "to look up" is some savage attack on their identity.... they screwed over a bunch of drivers. Not cool.
Load More Replies... Wasting everyone's time bc you feel like being petty isn't funny... you suck too. A lot. (OP)
I'm sure they did! The person posting this is a bigger jerk I'm sure... I see this s**t all the time with people on their phones, and then when they are honked at, they intentionally cause everyone behind them to miss the light... during rush hour of course.
Load More Replies...
If there were other people behind them, you just wasted their time too.
I was driving a brand new, just-purchased, car home from the dealership that had the auto turn-off thing engaged. I didn't know how to turn it off. Stopped at the light, and when the light turned green, I didn't go, because the car had to TURN ON. The old man behind me honked at me because I didn't waited a nano second to go. So I went the exact speed limit and stayed in front him until I made my turn; I completely boxed him in the whole time.
When that happened, my dad would get out and open the hood of his car !
I did this at a green light! A woman was furiously honking at me to turn left into oncoming traffic. I gestured, pointing at the cars moving through the intersection to no avail. As the light began to change to amber I hesitated long enough to then turn through so that she would have to sit through the VERY long light!!! Looking in the rear view mirror at her I rolled down my window laughing. Her face was scarlet and she was rabidly screaming something at me. Buhbye road rager! š
I had an a*****e honk at me for a few minutes. The light was red and I was in a right turn or straight lane. Picked this lane cuz immediately after the intersection I'd turn right into the gas station. Guy was super pissed that I wasn't moving during the red light. Both of us ended up going to the same gas station. Thank god for Covid and Masks lol
I had a moron honk at me, as I was waiting for all of the oncoming cars to pass by on the round-about.
omg i have done this, while smiling at them through my side mirrorā¦ it is so invigorating, i highly recommend trying this š
This only works if they're the only person behind you. It wouldn't work in my town.
I did that when I was commuting to my job in Rome many years ago. I stopped the car on green turned the motor off, and I showed the guy my keys dangling out the window.
Wheelers, I hate impatient d***s who have no reason to honk in the first place. Sometimes patience needs to be taught.
Load More Replies... 
Petty Times Call For Petty Measures
My Mate Told The Driver Of The Black Corsa Not To Park In The Company's Parking Space. He Gave My Mate Attitude And Ignorance. So My Mate Put Scaffold Up Around His Car
A Days-Worth Of Dirty Diapers For Whoever Keeps Stealing Packages Off Our Porch
My Two Older Children Were Trying To Lay Out All Of Their PokƩmon Cards, But The Youngest Kept Intervening, So They Duct-Taped Him To A Chair
Ethan Isnāt Playing Around This Semester
Talk About Revenge
I Applaud This Level Of Petty
Dad Waits 28 Years To Return Birthday Card To Son
My Friend's Girlfriend Moved Out And Took Everything, Including The Drawer Handles
After Years Of This Guy Using My Email As A Spam Account, I Got My Revenge. He Signed My Email. Up For Siriusxm Which Also Gives Me The Ability To Beep His Horn
Evil. Brilliant... But Evil
I was a carpet fitter many years ago and I was at a large job working with a rather cocky bloke who always belittled everyone. He fitted some gripper into the concrete floor a few feet away from a radiator. When he left the room I tipped a small amount of water around one of the nails and on the floor. Cue twenty minutes of ripping up gripper searching for the leak. Sorry not sorry.
I Bet Thereās A Dude Sitting With Just Salt And Pepper In His Cubbard Right Now Wishing He Had That Old Bay I Snatched Back
To Everyone At Work That Has Been Eating My Jellybeans. Now The Fun Begins
What A Legend
Good thing it wasn't me then lmao, my profile picture is a naked fat dude with tiny fairy wings, a halo, and work boots shoving Snow from his front door.
Employees In A Supermarket React To A Customer That Left The Car In The Middle Of The Parking Lot, Blocking The Way
Note: this post originally had 112 images. Itās been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
I have an entitled, narsacist of an aunt who always has to be a b***h. I was making drinks for everyone, asked if she wanted one, she replied no. I got myself a drink, one for other family members. As I got to sit down, she stole my drink and said oh thanks for that, I didn't know how thirsty I was until I saw your drink! After the first gulp I looked her in the eye and dryly replied, I spat in that. She gagged and choked on it.
Had a friend that had exactly the same type of uncle, so at a bbq we were all at the uncle did exacty the same thing, Friend waited for him to get about half way with his stolen drink and then my friend very excitedly started tell everyone about this new urine diet he doing where everything he consumes has to have some of his own urine in it, there's been a couple of bbqs since and said uncle has not attended..
Load More Replies...
I once lived in a duplex and the neighbors dog constantly would poop in our yard. They had 4 Chihuahuas that would sneek under the fence in my backyard. One day my very young son, now walking, was playing with the neighbors young children when he decided he would poop where they were playing, in his backyard... Neighbor came to me and asked me to clean it up and I asked him to clean up after his dogs.... He never did and I didn't clean up after my kid. Few months later, neighbors were fined and arrested for operating a puppy mill.
Oh my gosh. Puppy mills are evil. I don't know if I'm exaggerating, but I'd say that they're animal abusers.
Load More Replies... Two different acts of revenge. 1.) When I went on job interviews, women were not kind to me. I would ask for their business card (if I didnāt find them on the desk so I could take a handful) and they would always give me one. Later, at a bar, or bus, or someplace that mean or homeless men would talk to me -- Iād give them her card, and tell them to come by the office, ask for me by name and weāll do lunch. Evidently no one ever realized what was going on. . . . . . 2.) My brother was very mean to me, more so after high school. At the State Fair of Texas is always a tent/hall/display area where companies sell fencing, hot tubs, mowers, encyclopedias, everything that used to be door-to-door sales or maddening phone calls. So I signed him up FOR EVERYTHING, checking the box for information, call any time. Nothing that cost him anything, just constant interruptions. He mentioned it to mom, who immediately knew it must be me but never said a word. I LOVE REVENGE!
Octavia you are brilliant! I'll have to keep this in mind. My county fair also has such a hall. Due to health constraints my days of going to the fair are long gone, but this brought back some memories.
Load More Replies... I don't know if this is true, but this story went around the internet years ago. A man cheated on his wife, so they got a divorce. The man lawyered up and got the house, while the wife was left with practically nothing except for some alimony. Before she moved out, she stuffed tuna fish into all of the curtain rods. I think she went to live with her mom or something. The mistress moved in with the man, and they started to notice a terrible smell. They hired professional cleaners, but nothing worked. Eventually, they tried to sell the house just to get away from the smell, but nobody wanted the stinky house. They dropped the price lower and lower, and eventually the wife bought it for very little. When she moved back in, she threw away the curtain rods, and the smell went away. Meanwhile, the husband had to continue paying alimony, which left him and his mistress basically broke.
A plumber I know was working on a sorority house owned by a university. The sorority girls didn't like the construction crew waking them up at 7 am to start work everyday, even though that's when the uni demanded they start work. One of the sorority girls seduced the plumber's apprentice, then falsely claimed the r word on him. He was exonerated of the false report, but everyday, under the guise of "helping" the hvac guys, the plumbing foreman brought a big tin of sardines for lunch, and left the tin, full of sardine juice, hidden in the tin work in every single air return vent in the house. The smell of the house, to this day, is rather "unique."
Load More Replies...
A few years ago I paid for a one year subscription of the magazine Sassy for my 14 year old nephew. It's the little things.
Had some annoying JWās whoād come around and knock on doors. I got tired of having to pretend I wasnāt home and opened the door once having made up my face with a lot of black eyeliner and fake blood and blasting screaming death metal. They havenāt come back since.
You had time to do all that before answering the door?
Load More Replies...
Not me, but an acquaintance. She was getting a divorce and came to the house to get her stuff. She noticed face creams and beauty products in the bathroom that weren't hers. They had only recently split. So she spit in every single container before leaving.
Why revenge on the other woman and not the husband?
Load More Replies...
Got a neighbour here who is too idle to drive the 15 seconds around the crescent and uses our property to turn around on. Their headlights shine right in to the living room at eye level. Any ideas people?
Will Cable, sounds to me like you need a very large mirror in your window.
Load More Replies...
It seems most of these are made up according to the comments but they are inspiring.
WTH! Don't understand why anyone would down vote you, here's an upvote.
Load More Replies... 
These are nearly all petty and childish, I don't think I would like any of these people. Grow up. Just move on. I would not like myself much if I did things like this.
So I had a crush in school, and when she found out she immediately hated me. She moved her desk to be farther from me. She ripped the valentine I gave her, a madlibs, which was the same as everyoneās that year (My friend responded with āaww, thatās too bad, madlibs are funā). I soon got over the crush after realizing sheās a b***h. Next year, she starts dating her sisterās ex, who is your typical ābad boy.ā They start throwing popcorn at me in the bleachers at homecoming activities, then looking away and making rude comments about my hair. I send my (sorta) friend to cut bfās hair, but that was an epic fail. Later the two were under the bleachers and I come from above with popcorn from a lemonade stand I ran the weekend before I had brought as a snack, and dumped it on their heads. That night I came back for the football game and when we left I went over to the general area they were in and shouted āanyone like popcorn?ā
I have an entitled, narsacist of an aunt who always has to be a b***h. I was making drinks for everyone, asked if she wanted one, she replied no. I got myself a drink, one for other family members. As I got to sit down, she stole my drink and said oh thanks for that, I didn't know how thirsty I was until I saw your drink! After the first gulp I looked her in the eye and dryly replied, I spat in that. She gagged and choked on it.
Had a friend that had exactly the same type of uncle, so at a bbq we were all at the uncle did exacty the same thing, Friend waited for him to get about half way with his stolen drink and then my friend very excitedly started tell everyone about this new urine diet he doing where everything he consumes has to have some of his own urine in it, there's been a couple of bbqs since and said uncle has not attended..
Load More Replies... I once lived in a duplex and the neighbors dog constantly would poop in our yard. They had 4 Chihuahuas that would sneek under the fence in my backyard. One day my very young son, now walking, was playing with the neighbors young children when he decided he would poop where they were playing, in his backyard... Neighbor came to me and asked me to clean it up and I asked him to clean up after his dogs.... He never did and I didn't clean up after my kid. Few months later, neighbors were fined and arrested for operating a puppy mill.
Oh my gosh. Puppy mills are evil. I don't know if I'm exaggerating, but I'd say that they're animal abusers.
Load More Replies... Two different acts of revenge. 1.) When I went on job interviews, women were not kind to me. I would ask for their business card (if I didnāt find them on the desk so I could take a handful) and they would always give me one. Later, at a bar, or bus, or someplace that mean or homeless men would talk to me -- Iād give them her card, and tell them to come by the office, ask for me by name and weāll do lunch. Evidently no one ever realized what was going on. . . . . . 2.) My brother was very mean to me, more so after high school. At the State Fair of Texas is always a tent/hall/display area where companies sell fencing, hot tubs, mowers, encyclopedias, everything that used to be door-to-door sales or maddening phone calls. So I signed him up FOR EVERYTHING, checking the box for information, call any time. Nothing that cost him anything, just constant interruptions. He mentioned it to mom, who immediately knew it must be me but never said a word. I LOVE REVENGE!
Octavia you are brilliant! I'll have to keep this in mind. My county fair also has such a hall. Due to health constraints my days of going to the fair are long gone, but this brought back some memories.
Load More Replies... I don't know if this is true, but this story went around the internet years ago. A man cheated on his wife, so they got a divorce. The man lawyered up and got the house, while the wife was left with practically nothing except for some alimony. Before she moved out, she stuffed tuna fish into all of the curtain rods. I think she went to live with her mom or something. The mistress moved in with the man, and they started to notice a terrible smell. They hired professional cleaners, but nothing worked. Eventually, they tried to sell the house just to get away from the smell, but nobody wanted the stinky house. They dropped the price lower and lower, and eventually the wife bought it for very little. When she moved back in, she threw away the curtain rods, and the smell went away. Meanwhile, the husband had to continue paying alimony, which left him and his mistress basically broke.
A plumber I know was working on a sorority house owned by a university. The sorority girls didn't like the construction crew waking them up at 7 am to start work everyday, even though that's when the uni demanded they start work. One of the sorority girls seduced the plumber's apprentice, then falsely claimed the r word on him. He was exonerated of the false report, but everyday, under the guise of "helping" the hvac guys, the plumbing foreman brought a big tin of sardines for lunch, and left the tin, full of sardine juice, hidden in the tin work in every single air return vent in the house. The smell of the house, to this day, is rather "unique."
Load More Replies... A few years ago I paid for a one year subscription of the magazine Sassy for my 14 year old nephew. It's the little things.
Had some annoying JWās whoād come around and knock on doors. I got tired of having to pretend I wasnāt home and opened the door once having made up my face with a lot of black eyeliner and fake blood and blasting screaming death metal. They havenāt come back since.
You had time to do all that before answering the door?
Load More Replies... Not me, but an acquaintance. She was getting a divorce and came to the house to get her stuff. She noticed face creams and beauty products in the bathroom that weren't hers. They had only recently split. So she spit in every single container before leaving.
Why revenge on the other woman and not the husband?
Load More Replies... Got a neighbour here who is too idle to drive the 15 seconds around the crescent and uses our property to turn around on. Their headlights shine right in to the living room at eye level. Any ideas people?
Will Cable, sounds to me like you need a very large mirror in your window.
Load More Replies... It seems most of these are made up according to the comments but they are inspiring.
WTH! Don't understand why anyone would down vote you, here's an upvote.
Load More Replies... These are nearly all petty and childish, I don't think I would like any of these people. Grow up. Just move on. I would not like myself much if I did things like this.
So I had a crush in school, and when she found out she immediately hated me. She moved her desk to be farther from me. She ripped the valentine I gave her, a madlibs, which was the same as everyoneās that year (My friend responded with āaww, thatās too bad, madlibs are funā). I soon got over the crush after realizing sheās a b***h. Next year, she starts dating her sisterās ex, who is your typical ābad boy.ā They start throwing popcorn at me in the bleachers at homecoming activities, then looking away and making rude comments about my hair. I send my (sorta) friend to cut bfās hair, but that was an epic fail. Later the two were under the bleachers and I come from above with popcorn from a lemonade stand I ran the weekend before I had brought as a snack, and dumped it on their heads. That night I came back for the football game and when we left I went over to the general area they were in and shouted āanyone like popcorn?ā
