My Employees Called Me Cheap, So I Quit

Memorial Day weekend was coming up, and the office had already started to feel festive.I asked my assistant to bring in the gift cards we had prepared. They came in a thick stack.It had been our company tradition since the day we were founded. Every holiday, and every employee birthday, each person received a $300 gift card.Tara Collins, the new intern, poked her head up from her desk.She glanced at the gift cards in my assistant’s hand and pouted.“Such a big company, and we don’t even get a holiday gift basket?”Her voice was not especially loud, but it carried just far enough for everyone nearby to hear.Ms. Carter, one of our longtime employees, quickly tugged at her sleeve and reminded her in a low voice, “Tara, our company gives out $300 gift cards as holiday benefits. They’re much more practical than gift baskets. You just got here, so you probably didn’t know.”Another colleague chimed in. “Exactly. I used mine last year to get my mom a new phone. That’s better than any ran

It was Mr. Lewis, a longtime employee who had just applied for $4,500 in emergency assistance for his father’s medical bills last month.I had personally gone to the hospital to visit his father.Now he had silently liked Tara’s video.When Tara saw the change in my expression, the curve of her mouth deepened. She even tapped her screen on purpose, showing me the numbers climbing at a terrifying speed.“Ms. Lee, do you still think this is just my personal request?”As soon as she finished speaking, the front desk called through the internal line.“Ms. Lee, the company phone is getting flooded. People are calling nonstop to curse us out. Several partners have also called to ask how we’re handling the backlash.”Just like that, a social media firestorm against the company had been sparked by one intern and one holiday gift basket.I looked at Tara, smug and self-satisfied in front of me, then at Greg, pretending to mediate beside her, and suddenly I felt exhausted.Give people an inch, a

They thought they would get both the gift card and the gift basket.I looked at them, especially at Tara’s expectant face, and announced the first decision.“Effective immediately, all company holiday benefits will be adjusted to reflect what everyone says they value most. Therefore, for this Memorial Day weekend, we will cancel the gift card tradition we have followed for years.”For a second, no one seemed to understand what I had said.The conference room went dead silent.I ignored their reaction and continued with the second decision.“Instead, each employee will receive one holiday gift box, personally selected by me, with a retail value of $15.“This is how we will honor the holiday spirit everyone has been asking for.”When I finished, the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.Tara’s livestreaming phone fell to the floor with a sharp smack.One employee stood up instinctively. The legs of his chair scraped against the floor with an ear-piercing screech.A $300 gift

In less than an hour, everyone had given Tara up.Each person tried desperately to distance themselves, painting themselves as an innocent victim who had been misled.The most eager one was Greg.After he was called into Legal’s office, he came close to dropping to his knees.He voluntarily handed over every chat record between him and Tara. Then he embellished the story, describing how ambitious Tara had been, how she had used an honest man like him, and how she had planned every step of the campaign to smear the company and force me to compromise.He spoke through tears, recasting himself as a long-suffering hero who had stayed close to the enemy only to protect the company.After listening to him, the head of Legal simply told him to leave, expressionless.At one thirty that afternoon, a complete evidence report was placed on my desk.It included everything.Tara’s original video ID, the route through which she had contacted marketing accounts to spread it, and the way Greg had stir

Inside the company, the employees who had been deeply involved in the whole farce were instantly thrown into panic.The internal forum and the break room were full of tense, hushed conversations.“What do we do? How are we supposed to pass this?”“What even are company standards? Who can memorize all that?”“We’re done. They’re serious this time.”They began frantically searching online for materials about workplace ethics and professional conduct, printing them out and memorizing them overnight.Some had even started quietly contacting recruiters, preparing to jump ship.As for Tara, who had been fired by me, she had no intention of letting it go.After security escorted her out of the company, she went straight downstairs and started a livestream outside the building. Facing the camera, she sobbed and accused me, a “heartless capitalist,” of brutally suppressing her and extorting her for an outrageous amount of money.Unfortunately for her, this time, the performance failed.There we