15 People Whose Resourcefulness Deserves Its Own Award

We all live among people, but there are some real tricksters out there. The heroes of this article have either met individuals like this, or themselves played the role of someone with an unusual trick.

• My friend left for a month. Her boyfriend sits next to me one day and asks, “Are you seeing anyone?” — “Yes, but he’s in another city.”
  The boyfriend snorted, “You have different area codes. If you find someone here, it wouldn’t count as cheating.” I felt a fire ignite inside me, but I innocently said, “Really? Great, I’ll make sure to share this idea with your Tanya — she’s in another city right now, right?” © KeraTamara / Pikabu
• My boyfriend can’t go a month without getting a haircut. I don’t know why, but he thinks that the inch they trim makes him look instantly tidier. I prefer when his hair starts to grow out a little. Recently, I decided to be clever.
  When I found out he had an appointment for a haircut that evening, I ran to his barber and asked her to pretend she was cutting his hair but not to touch anything. After the “haircut,” he came back satisfied, noting he looked much better this way. Meanwhile, I was triumphant. © Not Everyone Will Understand / VK

• In the mid-80s, my dad was a driver at a transport company. As usual, the job involved 12-hour shifts. Sometimes the guys, wanting to earn a bit more, would work 2 shifts in a row, meaning a full 24 hours. Naturally, they would fill out both slots in the attendance sheet.
  And there was this one driver, for reasons unknown — perhaps to get a larger paycheck or something else — marked that he worked one shift from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and another immediately from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day.
  The dispatcher reviews the records, sees the entry, and calls this fellow in. “Peter, what’s going on here? Explain to me how you managed to work 25 hours in a day?” And with a straight face, he responds, “Well, I didn’t take a lunch break.” © alexu3891 / Pikabu
• My dad always fixes something. And my mom never misses a chance to brag about him to all their friends and relatives, saying, “Look how amazing my Oliver is. He’s a jack-of-all-trades.”
  So, yesterday, I caught my dad deliberately unscrewing the cabinet door in the kitchen, so that my mom would later tell him it needs fixing, he’d fix it, and she’d praise him again. © Ward № 6 / VK
• Not long ago, I started noticing a change in my mom’s attitude toward me: she doesn’t pry for every detail about my friend if I stay overnight, she talks to me more seriously, she doesn’t call me every hour if I’m home alone for a couple of days...
  Yesterday, I asked her what caused this trustful attitude toward me. With a sly smile, my mom said I passed the test when I chose a winter coat based on the criteria: “it’s long enough to keep my buttocks warm” and “the collar reaches my chin.” © Overheard / Ideer

• I know one sly prince. He owns a small guesthouse, literally 8 rooms. He’s around 60 years old.
  And so, in the spring, he meets “the woman of his dreams” online. More or less the same age as he is. Romance, messages, everything is perfect. In May, he invites her over. Blooming magnolias, sunsets... Well, girls, it’s a catch.
  The future wife of a successful hotelier happily throws herself into the simple chores — cleaning rooms, doing laundry, washing, contributing to the “common” cause, creating coziness, adding curtains and lanterns. Of course, in her free time from servicing rooms, he takes her for walks.
  In the end of September, he declares that no, she doesn’t understand him at all, they don’t have much in common, and there’s too little time left to waste it on the wrong person... The wedding is canceled, and the bride goes home. In April, the next one arrives... © Alisa2K / Pikabu
• We have lots of young teachers in college, and I always got along with them. In the first year, I came up with a smart tactic: as soon as a new teacher appears, I immediately search them on social media, study what they like, especially books (almost everyone reads something).
  Then, during breaks between classes, I conspicuously sit with the right book in my hands, so the cover glows, like neon. It worked flawlessly — easy grades like clockwork.
  But recently, one teacher spoiled everything. He saw I had “War and Peace,” started asking questions. Quickly realized I hadn’t even gotten to the third page.
  After class, he caught me and said, “I’ve seen many students like you. Young doesn’t mean naive. Learn the subject, or you won’t be allowed to exams. Leo Tolstoy is a bit early for you, grow up first.” That’s how my winning streak ended. © Not Everyone Will Understand / VK

• My brother was living with us and had a terrible habit of “borrowing” my food, then telling me after it was used/gone. Well, I had a tiny Accent shaker in my part of the kitchen that was emptied. I refilled it with salt, brought better seasonings and left it.
  My brother and his then-wife would sneak in and use it without asking, then would be pissed and confused when their food would be salty. They’d ask me why their recipes were over seasoned, that their Accent seasoning was fine.
  I could have tipped them off, but they needed to learn to leave my stuff alone. They never did. Every time they complained, I laughed to myself. © RWBYRain / Reddit
• Once, while hitchhiking across China with a dear friend, we struggled for a long time to get out of Beijing. Just as we were almost on the highway, a pesky, cheerful old man passing by on his motorized cart started bothering us. He ditched all his work just to mess around with clueless foreign girls.
  At times, he would explain where the bus stop was and what a bus meant. At others, he would assure us that hitchhiking was a doomed endeavor. And sometimes, he just sat in his cart and laughed at us, shouting something through the windows of the slowing cars that made drivers completely ignore us and not read our signs with hieroglyphics, retreating instantly.
  When the old man became insufferably annoying, and all our attempts to get rid of him failed, we plotted a little trick. Fight audacity with audacity! We played out a scene: “Oh, grandpa, why are you having fun for no reason? How about giving us a ride to the highway? Come on, it’ll be great!”
  And we started loading our backpacks into his old cart, while persistently surrounding him with local hitchhiking signs. The cunning old man got genuinely frightened and, waving his arms angrily, huffed back home. As soon as he left, a driver took us, and we continued our journey. © Warmi / Pikabu

• Dad used to tell a story about how once he had to learn 40 exam tickets, each containing 2 questions. But he learned just one question from one ticket, he knew it by heart though! My dad was the luckiest student in the entire university. He drew exactly the ticket he had studied! Delighted, he started explaining everything he had studied, putting his heart into it, answering for a whole half hour. He handled the first question, and then it was time for the next one, but my dad didn’t know it. He stood there, wringing his hands, thinking, when a woman from the commission said to him, “I see that you know the subject. You can go, you get an A!” © Not everyone will understand / VK
• I made a decision to quit my job where I stayed for too long. I went to the boss and decided to broach the subject indirectly, saying that lately, my priorities and interests had shifted, and the usual had turned into a routine that didn’t suit me. Every day I found myself watching the clock with a sense of dread, thinking about when this incredibly dull, difficult day at a job that I had grown tired of would end.
  The response was shocking: “Then don’t look at the clock.” So much for indirect approaches. I wrote a resignation letter and put it on my boss’s desk. © Not everyone will understand / VK
• While studying at university, I found a night job as a guard at a small warehouse. Apart from me, no one else was there, but there was a camera in the booth that would take a picture every hour and send it to the boss. I quickly figured this out, made a bunch of pictures in advance — in different poses, wearing different clothes, with various items on the table, so I could not go to work for several days.
  Back then, I thought I was the cleverest and most resourceful, but I was wrong. On payday, they sent me a picture of the money. © Not everyone will understand / VK

• I had a cat named Vas. As soon as he heard a thunderstorm, he would immediately flop over on his side and lie there without moving. At first, we were very worried about him, bringing him to our bed and covering him with a blanket, and as soon as he came around, we’d give him a little treat.
  So this crafty cat figured out his benefit and started “fainting” at every somewhat loud noise, even if a knife fell off the table. We realized his cunning, yet we still carried him to bed and gave him treats. Such an actor! © Overheard / Ideer
• My friend was broke and starving but too proud to borrow money from anyone, so I slipped 40 bucks in a little pocket in her purse when she wasn’t looking. She found it later that day and was beaming, yet couldn’t believe that she had somehow forgotten about the money in said pocket. © Unknown author / Reddit
• My dad has his own business, and after graduating from university, I started working for him. My dad is a very strict employer; I didn’t expect any leniency from him. But every time I messed up, he would reprimand me harshly in front of everyone. Naturally, I would get upset.
  But as soon as we got home, he would say to me in the kindest voice, “Sunshine, work is work, but home is home. Maybe your boss is a grump, but your dad is a good guy! Could you bring me some tea, please?” He knows I love him and can’t stay mad at him for long! © Not everyone will understand / VK

Have you ever met people like this, or have you resorted to tricks to solve a problem yourself? Share your stories in the comments! Also, check out this article about cunning parents who have an answer to any mischief from their children.