From Church Basement to Boardroom: The 25-Year Petty Revenge That Became the Ultimate Glow-Up
Some people plot their revenge for days. Others, for months. But what happens when the seeds of pettiness are sown in your teens—and you let them blossom for a quarter-century? If you’ve ever wanted to see karma do the cha-cha in business attire, pull up a chair. This is the saga of u/FunCryptographer3762, a woman who went from being dismissed by a holier-than-thou boss in a culty church group to running a company, paying off her house, and—yes—hiring her old boss’s son, just to savor the flavor of sweet, sweet vindication.
But this story isn’t just about payback. It’s about resilience, reinvention, and what to do when someone tells you “YOU?” like you’re the punchline to your own life. Spoiler: You turn it into a mic drop, 25 years later.
Baptized in Fire: Surviving Cults, Minimum Wage, and Underdog Syndrome
Let’s time-travel back to the 1990s, where a teenage girl (barely 18, with two young kids and a husband who couldn’t keep a job) found herself deep in the trenches of a hyper-exclusive church group. “Not technically a cult,” she mused, “but the technicality is the difference in pronouncing potato like potato.” The OP was out of place—too mouthy, too feminist, too… alive. But when the “deacon” (or close enough) insisted she work for his wife’s business, refusing wasn’t an option.
Despite holding a trade certificate, her talents were shunted to the reception desk, because, as she put it, “the church always knew what was best for me, a girl, and I was in my appropriate place at the bottom of the totem pole.” It didn’t take long for her to notice that the deacon’s wife loved lording it over the other women—her “holier-than-thou” attitude was impossible to miss.
Fast forward: OP was running the day-to-day, getting paid minimum wage for maximum responsibility. When a chance at a real career (and a $4,000/month salary—big money back then) landed in her lap, she was over-the-moon. She rushed to her boss with the news, only to be hit with the now-legendary, “YOU? They are going to pay YOU $4000 a month?” OP’s confidence crumpled. She turned down the job. She stayed compliant.
Redditor u/Awkward_Dimension_12 nailed it: “Living well because of your success is always the best revenge. Congratulations!” But at that moment, the only thing living large was her self-doubt.
Escaping the Fold: Cults, Confidence, and Copycats
It didn’t last. A year later, OP was excommunicated for being “too mouthy and independent”—her kids banned from church, too. But with her newfound freedom, she made a bold move: if her former boss could run a business, why couldn’t she? So she started her own company—basically a copycat of the deacon’s wife’s operation, only better. “It was a replica. And it was better than his.” The former boss was so embarrassed, she even tried to claim OP’s company as her own!
Commenters like u/PepperAnn1inaMillion and u/Vac_65 speculated whether the story was AI-generated because the details were so wild—two kids by 18, running businesses, single mom at 21. But OP confirmed: “Wish it was AI. But alas, it was way too effing real.” And as u/PoisonPlushi insightfully pointed out, “Culty church leads to lack of sex ed; lack of sex ed leads to teen pregnancy; no abortions or single mothers allowed leads to teen marriage; marriage means as many children as possible.”
OP’s resilience shone through. She moved on, started and shuttered companies, went back to school, and eventually became a credentialed leader in her field. And that “YOU?”—it stuck. As u/Emotional_Spring_416 empathized, “That ‘YOU?’ stuck with you because it crushed your confidence at 17. Anyone would’ve carried that for a while.”
The Long Game: Petty Revenge Served With a Side of Success
Now, for the pièce de résistance: decades later, OP and her new (and improved) husband were running a thriving business, hiring like crazy. By a twist of fate (and a dash of delicious irony), her old boss’s son applied for a job. OP was giddy: “I wanted to employ my old employer’s son. Just to do it. Just to be that girl (‘You?’ ‘Yes, me!’).”
The son, it turns out, was not a model employee—brawls, growing illegal substances, and a penchant for taking months off for “harvest time.” He didn’t last long. But the real payout came at a BBQ, 25 years after that confidence-shattering moment. There was the ex-boss—divorced, out of the church, and still talking to OP like she was 17. Only now, OP was a respected industry leader, prepping her company to go public.
Her moment arrived: “I could not help but express to the old church lady how grateful I was to god that I was there when her son needed a job. ‘ME!’ I said. ‘Can you imagine?’” The circle was complete. As u/NavyShooter_NS quipped, “Churches are great because of the people, and they're the worst because of the people. I do my best to avoid them now as well. Glad you succeeded in life!”
Lessons in Living Well (And Letting Go…Eventually)
Was it petty? Absolutely. OP admits it herself: “Writing this makes me realize how effing petty it was for me to hold on to that and do that to her.” But as the comments reminded her, it wasn’t just about revenge—it was about closure, growth, and proving, once and for all, that “living well is the best revenge.”
This story resonated with so many because, as u/kleekai_gsd said, “I grew up like this, it feels all too real.” Whether you’re escaping a toxic church, a dead-end job, or just someone who told you “YOU?”—remember, you can outgrow your doubters and outshine your past.
Have you ever been underestimated? Did you get your “ME! Can you imagine?” moment? Share your story in the comments below and join the conversation—because sometimes, the best revenge is just being your badass self.
Original Reddit Post: Long Game Goal - Employ the Employer's Son