Sometimes people think they have power when they clearly don’t. There could be countless examples of this at school, work, and even while dining at a restaurant. 

What’s really empowering is when people with actual power call out the people who only think they have power. For example, think of a bully at school being put in his place or a boss at work realizing that other employees actually hold more power in certain areas than he or she does.

Reddit user sormatador asked, “What was the best ‘you have no power here’ moment you have ever seen?” Read on for 13 very satisfying examples of people being faced with the reality of their powerlessness.

1. “I Don’t Live Here Anymore”

   Reddit user sunshine2632 shared an empowering moment as a young adult:

   The first time I had dinner at my parents house after I got my own apartment. My dad was giving me grief as usual. Finally, I stood up and said, “ I don’t live here anymore. I don’t have to put up with you this way any longer. I’m going home.”And walked out. Most liberating moment of my life.

2. Last Fight with the Ex

   Written by Reddit user _TakeMyUpvote_:

   ex and i were moving out after a breakup. cleaning out garage. she was being critical of my post-breakup plan of moving in with a coworker until i could find a better place to live, as most options weren’t great.i took a deep breath and laughed. this puzzled her. why are you laughing, she asked? i collected myself and said “because this is the last time i have to listen to this. you don’t get to be critical of anything i ever do, ever again!” it was a really great feeling, because i literally thought of the “you have no power here” as i laughed.

3. How Did the Lawyer Even Think He Had a Case?

   Shared by NeverCallMeFifi:

   I told my ex I was getting remarried. He told me he was going to stop me and put a lein on my house (which I bought with my money six years after the divorce). My son would come home from visitations telling me how his dad was going to stop the wedding and I’d have to pay him all of this money, la di da. Get to court. His attorney goes blah blah blah for what felt like forever. My lawyer (yes, I had to freaking get one) stands up and simply hands the judge the divorce papers showing the disbursement of funds and how my ex isn’t owed anything. Judge looks at ex’s lawyer and basically asks, “did you even ask for this document before filing?” and dismisses the case.

4. Oh How the Tables Have Turned!

   Reddit user daecrist shared a story about the library:

   I wasn’t good at returning library books when I was a kid. I got lectured by my school librarian about it a lot.Fast forward twenty years and I’m a supervisor at the local public library and my former now retired school librarian goes there. One day I see her sneaking around the front desk instead of coming back to say hi to me and I immediately figure something’s up. I go up to say hi and she acts exasperated and tells me she was trying to avoid me because she had overdue books. So I put on my reading glasses, pulled them down over my nose, and delivered the same lecture she’d given me countless times about being responsible and turning in books on time.

5. “I Can No Longer Speak to You”

   Written by ItsMylesNotMiles:

   I used to be a total loss insurance agent. I LOVED when annoying customers would threaten with a lawyer. As soon as you say those magic words, boom, I can no longer speak to you. Send a letter of representation to our office, I can only speak to your attorney regarding the claim.

6. “I Got to Say ‘No'”

   Reddit user mbattagl shared:

   I worked at a grocery store for five years putting up with crazy customers and their awful attitudes.At the end of my tenure our store was set to be closed, and for the last month the store was sold to a liquidation company. Meaning we were no longer under our parent company’s umbrella and were no longer concerned with retaining customer loyalty. I got to tell customers “no” and respond with every bit of sarcasm and disdain to every Karen i encountered for one month until the store officially closed.

7. That’s a Job Well Done

   Written by Reddit user Nathaniel66:

   New CEO came to our deparment on the 1st day of his work. He didn’t have a pass card yet and a lower level employee told him that he can’t enter without pass card. CEO got upset and ordered a worker to let him in, but the worker insisted: show me the pass card, or you’re not entering. Few days later this worker got a bonus.

8. Kind of Equals but Not Really

   kaxobixo wrote:

   I was working as a consultant for a company, there was a bit of a competition between me and this guy, company starts to have some financial issues so I leave and start working for a client of theirs. Shortly after joining they bring in this guy I was competing with at my old job, he was technically my equal except now I was employed by the client and he was just a consultant. He was trying to one-up me during meetings and my boss told him that decisions are made by the company not the consultants. It felt good.

9. They Actually Apologized

   Written by Mangosta007:

   I grew up with my parents having screaming arguments over every little thing (they do love each other – over 50 years of marriage so far testifies to that) and it always upset me.A couple of days ago, they popped into my house to visit for a coffee on their way to stay with friends a few miles away. Within minutes, they were yelling at each other. I took great pleasure in telling them that I would not stand for such behaviour in MY house and, if they didn’t lower their voices, they could stand outside until they learned some manners. The meek apologies tasted so sweet. As did the coffee.

10. It Doesn’t Matter Where You Work

    An empowering moment in D.C. shared by yowzersinmetrowzers:

    Some White House lady sat at my bar and tried to get a drink without ID. She pulled out her White House ID card which had no DOB. “I work at the White House”. I told her that her bosses would be very proud of me enforcing their laws when I didn’t serve her a drink.

11. It Happened Every Year

    Shared by mywifemademegetthis:

    I taught my 6th grade students about democratic processes, and we ran a simulation. Without fail, every one of my classes tried to impeach me.

12. It Wasn’t Even Her Apartment

    Shared by adwight7:

    Girl came into my apartment to hang out with my roommate. Demanded that I turn off the football game I was watching so we could focus on her. I literally said to her, “Who the hell do you think you are?” And kept watching the game. She yelled at me and stormed out. Thankfully me and my roommate never saw her again.

13. Screaming and Complaining Won’t Help

    An example from _Spanish_Inquistion:

    When i was younger and worked at a grocery store, My store did a week where corporate had to work with us every year. This one lady was screaming and complaining that we didn’t have some brand of something and we had the corporate lady standing next to me saying we won’t ever carry that brand.