“Take Out All The Quarters”: People Share 40 Unscrupulous Practices They Live By
Interview
From sharing Netflix passwords to jaywalking, most of us don’t exactly live 100% by the book. The truth is, life is too short to go out of one’s way to follow every single rule out there. Sometimes, people end up feeling a little ashamed, but some habits are simply too useful to skip.
Someone asked “What's something sneaky you do that you feel no guilt for?” and netizens shared their best, potentially unethical strategies. We also got in touch with MinkSableSeven to learn more. So get comfortable, take some notes, upvote your favorites and if you feel so inclined, share your own experience and examples in the comments section below.
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Booking a day of annual leave and not telling any friends/family so I can do absolutely nothing with no guilt
I am a math teacher (11 years). I teach 5/6th grade math to high schoolers (yeah… I know). Every now and again, I have a student who knows absolutely nothing about math even by the end of the semester, yet their semester average is just above 65%. It’s my fault for letting their average get that high. Usually I try to be generous with grading. But the fact is, they still can’t add. They can’t tell me 1/2 = 2/4. They can’t double a simple recipe. They can’t tell me x + x + x = 3x. So, I play around with their grades and they end up getting a 63 and failing the semester. Then they repeat with me again, and I teach them the content all over again. Some of my coworkers know I do this and think I’m a monster. I think it’s how we save education: trust teachers to assess who actually knows the content & hold back those who don’t. We can’t keep socially promoting kids.
This is not sneaking. This is truth in grading. Promoting kids who don't know the content is bad for everyone, including those kids.
Hiding sweets from my kid. No shame in my late night snacking game
Bored Panda got in touch with MinkSableSeven and they were kind enough to share some more details. Naturally, we were curious to hear why they asked this question in the first place. “I've been on Reddit for over 3 years (separate profile) and I wanted to ask something that allowed people to reveal what they're really up to. Something that inspired them to share. Reddit is littered with repetitive content; the same questions are posted over and over again.”
“As writers know, people love to talk about themselves and if you give them an opportunity, they'll share things you never expected. I've always had a curiosity about my neighbors and the common person.”
Having 5+ burner email accounts to get free trials on apps and to “refer” myself and get the referral credit
I'm a college student, and a lot of times, we just need to concentrate for hours on our work. My classmates ask me about how to do stuff A LOTT, and hey! I wanna work too!
So I just wear my earphones, and not play anything, they call me I hear them but don't even blink, they think i can't hear them so usually they go and ask someone else.
Some of them are my friends, but no, I don't feel guilt, Google is there, just Google it dude
My coworkers will just start talking to me when I've got headphones on, whether I'm listening to something or not (sometimes I just forget to take them off after playing something). But many's the time that they'll get out a couple of sentences before I notice they're asking me a question.
If my mother ever asks me to grate cheese for whatever dish she’s cooking, I’m eating like 5-10% of it as tax right then and there.
My sister always said if you’re cooking a pound of bacon might as well cook two pounds, because half of it will be eaten before it gets to the table.
Given the hundreds of comments people posted, it would seem like this question really sparked some interest, so we wanted to hear OP’s take on what made it so engaging. “I think the more comments we got, the more interesting the topic became. Once people started posting some shady things they do, it kinda gave consensus for others to chime in without guilt. I also think the key aspect of the question was the "without guilt" part. I asked what sneaky things they did that they felt no guilt about. I think people just wanted to get off their chest the things they can't tell anyone else. And since Reddit is predominantly anonymous, they opened right up!”
I’m hard of hearing, but not totally deaf. I have one really annoying coworker who I just pretend I can’t hear when he tries to talk to me.
My dad was nearly deaf on the left ear only. It was hilarious how he sometimes switched the sides standing/sitting relative to some people he wanted to "mute" while warmly smiling at them.
Whenever I see a Amazon package in my apartment complex and happen to be going by the door, I knock on the door just in case they didn’t hear it. But I always gotta make it to the elevator in time so I’m not caught lol
I brush my teeth under the shower. Yes, yes, I know - water, environment... I'm generally quite environmentally cautious but I love standing under hot water and I don't have much "me" time (2 disabled kids at home), this is my guilty pleasure that I learnt to not feel guilty about.
That isn't so bad. You're using water anyway, it's all going to the same place, also saving you a step.
“What I've learned most from the post is that the majority of people are frustrated with the high cost of living and the overall broken system. The majority are very comfortable with forms of stealing. A great number of commenters admitted that they steal by taking things from work, not scanning items at the self-checkout at stores, and exchanging Amazon purchases with defective products they already had (a Canon printer!) to get a new product with a new warranty start date. One guy even takes the $150 his company allows for airport transportation, takes public transportation instead, and uses the "free" money for sports games,” they shared with Bored Panda.
When Amazon loses my package or delivers it to the wrong house I escalate it immediately to get a refund or the item sent again instead of waiting to see if it shows up at a later time like they suggest. If it later arrives or a neighbor brings it to me I just keep both the original and newly sent item. Amazon has been dropping the ball lately so this has happened to me a few times. I do feel bad for delivery drivers sometimes as I know their jobs are difficult and demanding but Amazon makes $1.29 BILLION *per day* ($15,000 every second) so if I ordered $10 eye drops and they get lost, you bet your a*s I’m going to make sure I get them when I need them. I pay $140 per year for 2 day shipping that can sometimes take more than a week, so the way I see it Amazon can either fulfill their promises or make it up to me 🤷🏻♀️ I will never feel bad about this
You could just stop paying $140 per year for 2-day shipping. Just a thought...
My wife and two adult girls are extreme dog people. They're always going on about what's good for his health and what we should be feeding him ect. They insist I don't give him any of our food. When the dog and I are alone, it's a Non-Stop party. (For the record, I never give him anything that would make him sick or be bad for him. The Food goes in his bowl, I dont feed him while I'm at the table). Needless to say, I'm his favorite lol.
When I worked at McDonald's people got freebies all the time.
Once we had a double quarter pounder spare, one of the counter girls asked me to turn it into a single for an order. I took the box, unflipped the little "double" tab, and handed it back.
"There, it's a single 😉"
“With the cost of living increasing so fast and people struggling to make ends meet, few feel guilty for the creative ways they get to "stick it to the man". But then there were some comments that were very encouraging. Like a math teacher who refuses to pass students if they really can't do the work. A nurse who uses funny puns so that patients don't notice any pain while she's starting an IV. The nice neighbor who knocks on doors when an Amazon package has been sitting there. Collecting perfectly good food that's to be thrown away so families can eat. But some of the best ones are completely silly and relatively harmless. Like sneaking in alcohol instead of paying for highly-priced drinks. Peeing in brother's bath water because he's a prick!”
When I worked fast food in high school, I got revenge on people who were jerks to me in school by shorting their milk shakes. I would fill it 2/3 full, put on the lid, then turn it upside down for a moment to get some on the lid. Nobody ever caught on.
Such a little thing but so, so gratifying.
Sometimes when my cat is sleeping, I’ll try to sneak over to the fridge and take a bite of cheese as quietly as possible, I’m at less than a 50 percent success rate. She usually is giving me a dirty look as my vision comes back to the couch or she’ll come sniff my mouth if I sat down before she came out of her fort
Many of these fall, one way or another, into the pretty broad category of a “victimless crime.” Even the term “crime” is perhaps too strong, as not all breaches of ethics are against the law. After all, you can share your streaming service passwords to your heart’s content without the law being bothered one bit. However, the service provider may block your account.
Indeed, these days, lawmakers and lobbyists will generally find ways to simply revoke laws punishing victimless crimes. For example, in the past, an able-bodied person begging could be punished by death in the UK. While it is perhaps good that people actually work, this is a pretty extreme punishment for something that doesn’t really bother the vast majority of society.
I tell people I never eat lunch, then I "go to a meeting" and eat lunch. That way I don't have to be around my coworkers more than I have to.
When I was in college, I was broke af. I only had so many meal swipes for the dining hall, so I would just sit down in the cafeteria and stay there for breakfast, lunch, and dinner while studying and socializing with friends. 3 square meals for the price of one. I also brought tupperware and filled it up with grilled chicken breasts, beef patties, lettuce for salads, sandwiches, and pasta. Took it to my dorm so that I would have food for the days I was in classes.
Now one devious thing I didn’t do, but my roommate did, was they took clean silverware and dishes/bowls from the dining hall, and put it in their backpack
When cutting pie or cake with the family,.. i’ll cut pieces for others but only when i cut my piece do i clean off the knife and server utensils. Tha way i get all the extra filling or frosting
Haven’t bought movie theater concessions in years. The highschooler getting paid minimum wage to scan my AMC app doesn’t care that my pockets are crinkling.
When my small child wants to play with the bigger child but bigger child digs their heels in and refuses I say “i agree. Hey, I need help with dishes and folding the laundry. Which do you want to start with?” Suddenly bigger child wants to play! Recently they told me that they do that to avoid chores. I was “shocked” but commended them for at least trading it for a worthy cause. And I love my quiet time watching This Is Us while folding towels the right way and putting them away immediately.
Yep, sounds like my childhood. If I wanted to play with my friends, I usually had to include my little sister, who is six years younger. Great way to prevent your eldest from having friends! You will save so much money when they don't go to prom or do any extracurricular activities!
Take a day off from work and not tell friends or family.
Sometimes you need a good day off from everything and everyone.
If I had been extraordinarily busy for a while, and had missed sleep because there just aren’t enough hours in the day, I’d take a personal day and not tell anyone but my work (of course). Then I would sleep and sleep and stay in my pajamas watching TV, reading, or just vegetating all day to catch up on my rest.
I "sneak out" of my apartment, even though I am in my 20s and don't live with my parents. But I don't actually do anything bad. I will just go to the gym or the grocery store or something. But there's something exciting about leaving your place at 2am to go to a secret activity.
Lots of farting while walking.
Now, not recycling. After seeing the trash guy throw my recycling in with all the trash like its the SAME THING numerous times, i have stopped. I called the city and they said they would look into it, and nothing changed. If they don’t care, neither do I anymore.
We were told to wash cans/tins/bottles etc. washing a can of beans out and sliced my finger down to the bone. Spoke to a friend who worked at the recycling and he said it doesn’t matter washing them out because they do it there. Everything gets washed in a huge vat of water. Never washed out a can again
Sneak down to the good seats at baseball games. No one is sitting there anyway so I don’t feel bad.
I think after some time in and the seats are obviously not purchased I do not see the big deal
I often wear airpods at work or when walking around. Most of the time, no music is playing, but I pretend it is or that I am on a call when I run into anyone I don't want to talk to
When I have headphones on/listening to music I always keep it low enough to be able to hear traffic around me. Lol. Have surprised quite a few ppl who would b***h about how I probably couldn't hear anything as I was blasting music into my ears.... I'd just turn to them, lift off the headphones and say "oh, I can hear you quite well, actually!" 😁
Smoking pot daily, helps with my back pain.
Helps with symptoms of menopause too. Night sweats, anxiety etc.
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As long as you stay away from strong sativas. A lot of sativa strains give me horrible anxiety.
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It should be legal everywhere because in today's world it is the thing that helps round off the sharp corners of the harsh reality of the age/era we are living in now.
That depends on the person and the reason they need opioids. While it works for some, most people with my condition, mj will make matters worse.
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Stops me from going off on the MANY stupid people i deal with daily
Sooooo many health problems can be fixed with this... better than opioids
Works for many things. Panic attacks and seizures stay under control for more than 45 years
What's the definition of "unscrupulous"? Yet again, this isn't an example.
Helps with my bipolar....it settles my mind and weird thoughts
Candi or other edibles, and oil are healthier bc combustion is combustion.
If the feds would just take action to legalize, at the very least, nationwide medical use (though I think it should be entirely legal for adults to use for any reason, we allow people to drink more destructive to the body alcohol and punish people not for drinking but for committing crimes while under the influence).
You can always spot conservative here. They don’t want anyone to have the right to choose anything. They limit opiates available to everyone including long term opiate treatment for lifelong chronic severe pain but don’t want people to have a completely safe alternative option. My folks are exactly like this. It’s either because they are horrible boomers or extreme right wing voters. Or possibly both. People need to stay out of my medicine cabinet & allow my doctor & I to come up with the best & safest option for me to use to deal with the pain that results from multiple spinal cord & column injuries. If you don’t like it, don’t use it. But don’t come at me because I’ve found something that works & that I can control to a point of making certain I’m not under the influence when I need to drive & if I find I’m under the influence & need to get to an er due to a severe fall, I call ems. I behave very responsibly in my use of cannabis. But if I was still on 24/7 opiates, couldn’t drive
Load More Replies... But when used as MEDICATION, it's no longer recreational. No more than any other prescription drug.
Load More Replies... I wrap my ice cream in plastic bags and hide it in the freezer so I can have it when I want to eat it. If I don’t, my sister will eat the entire thing in 1 day.
That's not unscrupulous at all. Your sister is the unscrupulous one.
Sometimes when I want a snack, I’ll take a spoon and get a big scoop of chocolate frosting and eat that straight up.
Peanut butter for me, I've also found that a spoon of peanut butter gets rid of my hiccups
On occasion, when I prefer to shop alone, I may inform my husband that I intend to visit a thrift store, as he generally dislikes such establishments and would prefer to remain at home.
Why can't you just be honest with him? He probably doesn't want to hang around while you shop anyway, couples don't have to do everything together.
Not sure if I'd say sneaky, but if I make myself dinner and it gets ruined for some reason(I either drop it after plating it up, overcook it, use the wrong ingredients that I THOUGHT would be a good match etc), I order the biggest fattest pizza there is. My little way of flipping the universe off for putting things into motion so that I have a crappy meal.
I'd say you are subconsciously ruining dinner because you really want pizza
I go thru my husbands change and take out all the quarters and us them to buy coffee. I always do it at night and I giggle every time he texts me the next day asking if his baby’s coffee was good.
When I roast a chicken, I always eat the oysters. Don’t think family even know it exists
I Keep a s**t ton of junk food in my nightstand so when I feel like having something sweet or chips etc I don't have to go in the snack draw and fight with the kids about "there" snacks.. and it makes it so much easier at 3 in the am when I wake up and need to have some sugar.
Kids still have no idea I have my OWN snack drawer
Clip off small pieces of plants at stores then take them home to propagate.
I use real cream in my coffee. I have a French press. I order special coffee from Community Coffee, which l hide. I don't share it and l won't make it in an electric coffee pot. This is for me and my BFF and granddaughter.
I use my aero-press for my Community Coffee - French roast or with chicory. Thankfully I don’t have to hide it
Sometimes I wake up to make coffee and I'm out of creamer. Since the market isn't open that early, I'll hit 7-Eleven near me, get a large coffee cup and fill it with flavored creamer. That way I can make about 6 cups of my own coffee instead of paying for just one.
This rarely happens but when I do it, I don't feel the least bit of guilt.
Break off the bottom part of asparagus that you would cut off anyway so I don't have to pay for it. There's usually trash cans around, so I just toss it in there.
That works if you're paying by the pound. If you're paying per bundle though there's no point.
Too many of these are just "I found a way to steal things without ever getting caught". You may think you're just playing the system, but theft is theft, and ultimately it's other, honest, people who end up paying for you.
The headline did say “unscrupulous,” so the ones where people steal are on point
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Nobody here has ever been poor and hungry 😭 not saying All of these are right but still 😭😔
Most of the stealing are for things like creamer and fancy mushrooms, that doesn't sound like I'm too poor to eat
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A LOT of yall got deep food issues that a therapist could help with. The posters AND the commenters.
BP, I am a little ashamed for you to be putting out unethical "hints" like this. It's beneath what you used to be.
When I was in college, I was poor AF and lived near a national baseball stadium. We used to get free tickets from the student life office that came with coupons for food. A friend would give us each like 10 tickets and we'd go into the ballpark during a game and go to different concessions places and use our coupons for food. We ate free at ball games for like two months. I was so poor back then, scams like this were often my only source of food.
If I have a bad experience on a bus (one time driver took such an u necessarily hard turn that my stroller, locked in position, flipped) I won't pay for my next ride. Or that one if I haven't paid yet. Have to watch out for ticket checkers though.
Had an altercation with a Karen early last year. Police were called and she was told to f off. The bookstore I frequent only has a few tables next to outlets as the building is older. I see her often at one of those tables, so I sit near her and read a book. No eye contact, not a word spoken. Within five minutes she leaves and I take the table. I usually bring my laptop with me, so now I don’t worry about running the battery down. I may be petty and I may be mean, but I refuse to tolerate rude feral Karen behavior.
Thank goodness bookstores don't have to pay for their electricity. Oh..wait a minute....
Load More Replies... Too many of these are just "I found a way to steal things without ever getting caught". You may think you're just playing the system, but theft is theft, and ultimately it's other, honest, people who end up paying for you.
The headline did say “unscrupulous,” so the ones where people steal are on point
Load More Replies... Nobody here has ever been poor and hungry 😭 not saying All of these are right but still 😭😔
Most of the stealing are for things like creamer and fancy mushrooms, that doesn't sound like I'm too poor to eat
Load More Replies... A LOT of yall got deep food issues that a therapist could help with. The posters AND the commenters.
BP, I am a little ashamed for you to be putting out unethical "hints" like this. It's beneath what you used to be.
When I was in college, I was poor AF and lived near a national baseball stadium. We used to get free tickets from the student life office that came with coupons for food. A friend would give us each like 10 tickets and we'd go into the ballpark during a game and go to different concessions places and use our coupons for food. We ate free at ball games for like two months. I was so poor back then, scams like this were often my only source of food.
If I have a bad experience on a bus (one time driver took such an u necessarily hard turn that my stroller, locked in position, flipped) I won't pay for my next ride. Or that one if I haven't paid yet. Have to watch out for ticket checkers though.
Had an altercation with a Karen early last year. Police were called and she was told to f off. The bookstore I frequent only has a few tables next to outlets as the building is older. I see her often at one of those tables, so I sit near her and read a book. No eye contact, not a word spoken. Within five minutes she leaves and I take the table. I usually bring my laptop with me, so now I don’t worry about running the battery down. I may be petty and I may be mean, but I refuse to tolerate rude feral Karen behavior.
Thank goodness bookstores don't have to pay for their electricity. Oh..wait a minute....
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