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Group projects are a bit of a cursed prospect in many of our experiences.
You often see some responsible people doing most ofthe work.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group spends their time relaxing and definitely not contributing in any meaningful way.
However, some people decide to fight back against the injustice of it all.
Redditor u/Draycos_Stormfangwent viralafter sharing how he publicly embarrassed his project partner, who had stubbornlyrefusedto pull their weight.
Scroll down for the story in full.
The author of the viral story,u/Draycos_Stormfang, was happy to share his thoughts about what happened.
Read on forBored Pandasinterview with him.
The author said that he honestly didnt expect the story to blow up so much on the internet.
I read a lot of Petty Revenge posts, so I kinda know what people enjoy reading.
But who ever thinks that THEIR story could get that attention?
Group projects are like a microcosm of society.
They reveal a very persistent problem whenever youre talking about a larger group of people.
Namely, the so-calledfree-rider problem.
People have different work ethics and approaches to projects.
However, you would expect that everyone would put in a significant amount of effort.
Thats not the case.
Some folks refuse to put in any effort at all or do the absolute minimum.
This means that other members of the group are left to shoulder most of the burden.
If the school or college group project is graded individually, then this is less of a problem.
This is because their fellow students, who want a decent grade, have to finish the entire project.
The responsible individuals end up sacrificing their time and energy for the grade.
Meanwhile, the free riders get a good grade without having to sacrifice much of anything.
They simply show up.
make a run at be as diplomatic as you’ve got the option to.
Be willing to hear them out and get to grips with their perspective.
Offer some sort of compromise going forward.
At the same time, dont shy away from drawing some common sense boundaries either.
Again, reiterate the expectations and explain what will happen if they keep avoiding their share of the work.
If your partner is at all reasonable, theyll likely get a grip and change their approach.
Subtly reach out to your teacher or lecturer about the expectations for the group project.
Ask them what they would personally do if someone was dodging their share of the work.
Also, consider asking them to grade all of you individually.
At the end of the day, no school project is worth holding a grudge over.
Yes, its frustrating.
Yes, its unfair.
But life is so full of unfairness and people who dont pull their own weight.
If we dont changehow we reactto them, well constantly be livingin anger.
And chronic anger isjust awfulfor both our physical and mental health.
The author engaged with a lot of the commenters.
Check out the results:
