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The original was posted on /r/maliciouscompliance by /u/TheOmega010 on 2025-07-24 17:23:07+00:00.
I work in contract security as an armed guard at a major utility company. I pick up extra work on my days off from my main site covering banks that the company I work for has as clients as well.
Today, I covered a branch of a large bank that has a white and red logo, likes stage coaches, and traces their roots back to the mid-1800s. After I was allowed to enter the bank, the Branch Operations Manager gave me a run down and read me the riot act right off the bat. I had a feeling at that time that this might be a long day.
30 minutes later, a bank customer came in looking lost and said she had an appointment with a banker. I greeted her and told her to take a seat and they’ll be with her shortly. That prompted Madam BOM to come out from the back and get onto me for telling the customer to take a seat. Told me that I wasn’t allowed to give any direction to anyone coming in as it could cause problems. Ok, that’s reasonable enough.
A hour or so later, a man entered the branch with a problem and he was a bit irate because of his issue. BOM said she could try to help him and ran into issues, which caused him to get more irate, especially since she was not acting very helpful and kept putting the blame on him for something that appeared to be the bank’s fault. She came out from behind the teller desk and was looking for a banker to help the gentleman and while she was wandering around, I engaged him in conversation.
He was wearing a Marine Corps hat and I started chatting with him about what he did in the Corps and other things along that line. She finally figured something out and instead of calling the gentleman over, she called my name and did a throat slash. After she was finished with the gentleman and wasn’t able to help him while still blaming him for the situation, she called me over and proceeded to lay into me about how we had just spoke about talking to people. She said that I’m here for presence only and I’m not here to de-escalate, one of the primary purposes of a security guard, or to speak with the clients. She said that my conversation with the man could cause problems for the bank, despite it not being about the bank at all, and that I wasn’t to talk to the customers at all. I asked her if she wanted me to be “Seen and Not Heard” and she indicated that’s what she wanted from me. She once again threatened to call my supervisor if I had a problem and didn’t understand her.
Message was received loud and clear. I notified my supervisor of the incident and then decided I was going to comply with her orders to the letter.
Queue malicious compliance with me deciding to communicate for the rest of the day with signs, from the limited sign language I know from my wife and friends, and gestures. People would ask me questions and I’d just just gesture and point the to “Please Wait Here” sign. People would talk about the weather and I’d just nod. I directed people to stand in line with gestures and nods.
This went on until just before noon when the Branch Manager pulled me into his office with Madam BOM. He proceeded to talk about their concerns and asked me what had happened with the irate gentleman. I filled him in and it was obvious by his reaction that my version of events didn’t match with what Madam BOM had told him. Nevertheless, he proceeded to tell me how I was supposed to do things and that we had to work together. According to the both of them, anything that I say, even not related to the bank or financial matters, can cause problems and it’s best to not say anything, especially to irate customers. Afterwards, as I was leaving his office, I informed him that I’d already let my supervisor know of the situation and that any further issues would be best brought to his attention. I’m half expecting them to call my supervisor to have me removed early and that will be perfectly fine with me as I never plan to cover this location in the future.
I am eating lunch now, but I plan on continuing my malicious compliance after my break ends. I’ll be present and do my rounds as I’m supposed to do, but nothing says that I have to greet people or discuss anything with anyone.