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 We 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!
#1 Awesome Mom
#2 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. A2009 social experimentconducted 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.
#3 Petty Betty
#4 Revenge Is A Dish Best Not Served
#5 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.
#6 The Power Of Mums
#7 This Is How You End Up In Hell
#8 Easy Solution
#9 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.
#10 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
#11 Oh, This Is Gold
#12 This Is So Me
#13 Did He Even Remember?
However, a paper published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology showed that petty behaviorsmade 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.”
#14 High Five Grandma, That’s Awesome
#15 “Screw Your Time I’ll Exercise In The Street” Is An Entire Mood
#16 Genius
#17 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.
#18 Let’s Review
#19 Madlad Strikes At His Mom
#20 What A Power Move
#21 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.”
#22 How To Get Revenge 101
#23 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
#24 Inspiring Moment
#25 And The Winner Is
#26 My Neighbor Keeps Vacuuming His Floor When I’m Sleeping At Night. I Started Vacuuming The Ceiling As He Sleeps At 3AM
#27 Karen’s “Revenge”
#28 Well, I’d Do The Same
#29 Turns Out We Have Ghosts
#30 Justice Is Served
#31 What Could Go Wrong Blocking A Farmer’s Gate To Save A Parking Fee?
#32 A Japanese Woman Discovered Her Boyfriend Was Cheating, So She Gathered All His Apple Devices And Dumped Them Into A Tub Full Of Water
#33 Outstanding Move
#34 You Know How Mad You Got To Be To Carry A Refrigerator
#35 I’d Say This Is Chaotic Good
#36 Petty Times Call For Petty Measures
#37 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
#38 A Days-Worth Of Dirty Diapers For Whoever Keeps Stealing Packages Off Our Porch
#39 My Two Older Children Were Trying To Lay Out All Of Their Pokémon Cards, But The Youngest Kept Intervening, So They Duct-Taped Him To A Chair
#40 Ethan Isn’t Playing Around This Semester
#41 Talk About Revenge
#42 I Applaud This Level Of Petty
#43 Dad Waits 28 Years To Return Birthday Card To Son
#44 My Friend’s Girlfriend Moved Out And Took Everything, Including The Drawer Handles
#45 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
#46 Evil. Brilliant… But Evil
#47 I Bet There’s A Dude Sitting With Just Salt And Pepper In His Cubbard Right Now Wishing He Had That Old Bay I Snatched Back
#48 To Everyone At Work That Has Been Eating My Jellybeans. Now The Fun Begins
#49 What A Legend
#50 Employees In A Supermarket React To A Customer That Left The Car In The Middle Of The Parking Lot, Blocking The Way
#51 Blocking Her Out Of Your Life
#52 Neighbor’s Car Hasn’t Moved After He Cheated Because This Was Her Revenge
#53 Never Forget Those Ribs
#54 Petty? Yes. Satisfying? Definitely. Handwriting? Horrible
The note says: “Hey buddy, it looks like you don’t understand how to operate a motor vehicle. This will help you practice staying inside the lines like the toddler you are.”
#55 He Tried To Start A Full On War
#56 My Neighbor “Allegedly” Refused To Pay The Guy Who Cleared His Back Yard. He’ll Be Coming Home To This Gift Left In His Driveway
#57 If You Park Like This I Will Find You And Make Sure You Have To Climb Through The Passengers Side
#58 Evil Act Of Revenge
#59 My Daughter Yelled At Me To Make Her A “Surprise Snack”
#60 My Sister And I Had An Argument And She’s Chopped The Bristles Off Of My Toothbrush. Why?
#61 Banana Revenge
#62 Complaint About Delivery Of The Wrong Grade Of Copper
#63 This Is My Level Of Petty
#64 Pizza Sponsored By This Drunk Creep
#65 Madlad Revenge
#66 Thought My Mom Was Sending Me A Care Package… But Instead She Sent Me A Box Of Trash I Was Supposed To Take Out
#67 This Is How To Handle The Parking Problem
#68 I’d Say It’s A Revenge Between Generations
#69 My Friend’s Parents Force Her And Her Siblings To Have A Picture With Santa Every Year. This Year They Got Revenge And Took This Beauty Home
#70 Bad Parking Like This Doesn’t Go Unpunished Where I Work
#71 Son’s Revenge
#72 My Flatmate Pissed Me Off So I Froze Their Cutlery Into An Ice Block
#73 Careful Not To Step In The Retribution
#74 Joe Mode
#75 Spotted Today In Muswell Hill – A Level Of Petty Revenge To Which I Can Only Aspire
#76 Oh Wow, This Is Next Level
#77 Crazy Ex
#78 No Parking
#79 The Height Of Pettiness Seen In A UK Car Park Today
#80 Woke Up To My Coffee Jar Like This After A Petty Argument With My Partner
#81 This Guy Parked Well Over The Line So I Parked In A Way That Blocked His Driver Side Door
#82 My Coworker Decided To Prank Us, So We Exacted Our Revenge
#83 Some Sweet Revenge. I Was Still Within The Lines Too
#84 That’s Comedy Gold, Right There
#85 This Is What Happens When You Take Up 3 Spots At Walmart In My Town
#86 This Is Why You Shouldn’t Steal Food At Work
#87 Roommate Came Back To 400 Balloons In His Room. He Got His Revenge When The Other One Left For A Week. Everything In His Room Was Wrapped And Put Back In The Same Place
#88 Every Time The Bread Gets Used, The Twist Disappears. I Started Collecting Them And Today I Got My Revenge
#89 If I’m The Only One In My Building Who Shovels The Sidewalk, Then I Will Have My Revenge
#90 Hit Where It Hurts
#91 Dumping My Roommate’s Trash At His Door Because He Won’t Take It Out
#92 It Never Ends Baby
#93 A Really Expensive Revenge
#94 My Sister Spoiled The Ending Of A Book I Was Reading So I Spoiled The End Of Every DVD She Had. This Was The Notebook
#95 My Friend Got His Door Stolen By His Neighbor, So He Stole His Neighbor’s Back In Revenge
#96 Neighbors Are Slamming Their Cabinets So Hard They Opened Mine. They’re Having A Fight, So Now I’m Blasting Shrek As Revenge
#97 Petty Misbehavior
#98 Revenge Of A Weaboo
#99 Epic Man
#100 I Call This OCD Cornbread. My Wife Ate My Last Apple, This Is My Revenge
#101 Slightly Petty, But My Wife Said I Couldn’t Take The Trash Out In One Go. I Went To A DIY Shop For A Trolley Just To Prove Her Wrong
#102 That’s Pretty Petty Revenge
#103 A Friend Toilet-Papered Our Car So We Decided To Up The Level A Bit For Revenge
#104 I Get A Little Petty When My Dad Likes To Mess Up The Laundry Room And Blame It On Me
#105 Sweet Revenge
#106 This Is The Pettiness You Love To See
#107 Classics Never Get Old
#108 The Office Staff Where I Work Had A Meeting About My Hand Mirror (Which I Allegedly Used Too Much) So I Turned My Desk Into A Mirror
#109 My Sons Accidentally Lost Their Football Over The Neighbors’ Fence Yesterday. This Is How It Was Found Back In Our Yard Today
#110 My Mom Told Me She Would Buy Me Grapes But She Lied To Me
#111 My Ex-Boyfriend Encrypted My External Hard Drive To Get Revenge On Me
#112 My Petty Neighbors
