Imagine that you have the opportunity to do something unethical or even reprehensible - but at the same time get a significant profit, and with a low probability of being caught red-handed. Would you take this risk? Of course not - and this is commendable, but as it turns out, people often do exactly this!
Moreover, it also happens that people significantly underestimate the risk of being caught - and as a result, everything turns into a huge scandal. As it happened, for example, in the story described not long ago by the user u/Fit_Caregiver_1277: the story that we're going to tell you today.
More info: Reddit
The author of the post is a member of a local club which recently arranged a white elephant gift exchange
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
There were two price tiers of gifts and only 9 club members, among which was the author, decided to participate in the most expensive one
Image credits: Fit_Caregiver_1277
Image credits: user21829937 / Freepik (not the actual photo)
Another woman in the club, named Jen, also joined the expensive tier, and the author picked her gift
Image credits: Fit_Caregiver_1277
Image credits: karlyukav / Freepik (not the actual photo)
It turned out to be a cheap hot chocolate set - and Jen ended up getting a brand new Keurig
Image credits: Fit_Caregiver_1277
The author of the post complained to the club chairperson, and Jen then texted them with accusations of tattling
The Original Poster (OP) says that they are members of a local club, and recently the participants held a large-scale white-elephant gift exchange. Participation, it must be said, was completely non-mandatory and it was possible to apply for two price tiers of gifts - under $25 - $50 and $75 - $100. Most folks, as the author recalls, went with the less expensive tier, but the OP was among the nine who chose more expensive gifts.
Among those people was a woman named "Jen," who, despite, as far as the author knows, not being in the best financial situation, showed up with a large, beautifully wrapped gift - and it was this gift that the OP chose. And now imagine their surprise when it turned out to be just a hot chocolate set, clearly not in line with the price range!
The author didn't start a public scandal, but simply, seizing the moment, cornered the club chairperson and complained about Jen, who apparently just wanted to exchange a cheap gift for something way more expensive - she ended up getting a new Keurig. Which, de facto, is a kind of a swindle. The leader agreed with this - but nothing else worth mentioning happened until the very end of the event.
And then Jen texted the author and attacked them for complaining to the group leader. According to Jen, just because she can't afford to "waste money" like other club members doesn't mean she can't expect expensive gifts. The OP simply forwarded this text to the group leader - and soon there was an announcement that Jen had been expelled from the club. But the OP is now tormented by remorse...
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
"Rules are rules - and no matter how you disguise it as a desire for social justice, they cannot be broken," states Irina Matveeva, a psychologist and certified NLP specialist, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment here. "Apparently, this woman simply hoped that other people either wouldn't notice this cheap trick, or wouldn't find it necessary to be indignant."
"And when it turned out that she was trying to swindle, instead of admitting her fault, she just chose to go dramatic. Most likely, again expecting that the club management would simply prefer to hush up the conflict. The wrong choice - but many people often do exactly the same things in such situations," Irina summarizes.
By the way, it's interesting that the original poster writes in the update that it later turned out that many members of the club actually complained about Jen. Apparently the woman sent angry texts not only to the original poster, but also to many people, and the reason for her exclusion from the club was, in fact, other members' numerous requests. So the author's conscience remains clear.
People in the comments also noted that it was Jen who was completely wrong in the described situation, and that if she wanted to receive an expensive gift, she should have forked out for something more expensive herself. "She's unethical. She deserves to be booted from the group," one of the responders reasonably wrote. And do you, our dear readers, also agree with this interpretation of the case?
Most commenters, however, sided with the author, and claimed that Jen was wrong for joining the wrong tier and also getting dramatic after being caught
