Among the most obnoxious and difficult people to get along with are control freaks.

Control freaks are individuals who have an extreme need to control everything around them. Their behavior may be marked by obsession, passive aggression, mood disorders, depression, phobia, or over-anxiety.

A control freak is ready to jump at you anytime if he senses that something's wrong with you or what you're doing. He must correct it and make it perfect according to his standard -- and his standard alone.

Photo: YouTube/Psychology Element

Here are the signs that you're dealing with a control freak, which may also mean it's time for you to get as far away as possible from that person for your own peace of mind!

1. They like correcting people. Yes, a control freak thinks that everything should be done according to their standards and opinions. And they are obsessed with correcting every big and small thing, including wrong spelling or pronunciation. They are so scared of making mistakes, and they must not catch others making mistakes too under their watch.
2. They are judgmental and critical of others. Narrow-minded is what control freaks really are. But they think of themselves like gods on pedestals, reigning over poor mortals. They judge others heartlessly and don't accept criticisms in return. And how they love giving their opinion on everything, including how a person should live his life or how to be successful in their careers, as they claim to be.
Photo: YouTube/Psychology Element
3. They don't have team spirit. Control freaks always want to be leaders, not team members. Whether they're the actual leader or among members of the team, they like dictating to everyone what they should do. It's their rules and strategies that must be followed, even if the team has a real leader to guide the group. Getting into conflict just to have their way doesn't faze them. They think it's just another battle that they should win to establish superiority. When it comes to business, these are the types of people who are obsessed with micromanagement.
4. All credit belongs to them. Even if it was teamwork that was responsible for their success, control freaks hog it all. It's their brain, it's their talents, it's their effort alone. Control freaks even think that their team members should thank them for their intellect.
5. Control freaks think they are the savior of the world. Yes, it's extreme, but some people really have such high thoughts of themselves that they think they know what's going to happen in the future, and they will do everything to prevent any disaster. They make meticulous preparations for calamities that they are certain will occur, and they devote a lot of effort to mitigate these. And since they're not real messiahs, a lot of resources get wasted with their predictions and unrealistic preparations.
Photo: YouTube/Psychology Element
6. They will never admit that they are wrong. Even if the evidence is overflowing, you can never get a control freak to admit that he has made a mistake. He will blame everyone, including the heavens, and claim that he's just an innocent victim in case he gets pushed in a corner. He will even do everything to court sympathy, but he won't admit to having imperfections like everybody else.
7. They carry grudges all their lives. Anyone who's hurt their ego deserves their revenge. Control freaks wait for opportunities to humiliate, hurt, and crush their enemy under their feet as much as possible in the public eye. In their minds, they must make that person suffer as much as they've suffered when their mistakes were exposed or when they lost an argument. Control freaks are such bitter losers and one of the worst foes in the world, since they have such a predatory instinct.

To the "mis"fortune of this person, who shared a past experience on Reddit's popular r/MaliciousCompliance forum, the Orignal Poster had a run-in with a control freak as a manager. But still, OP felt, after what happened, it was worth the effort on OP's part.

Photo: Pexels/Marko Stanoevich

With the username u/13aph, here is OP's story: "So, once upon a time, I was a McDonald’s employee. They always put me on drive-thru because I was white and spoke fluent English. (Yes, that’s pertinent. Literally, everyone was Hispanic, and only like two people besides me spoke fluent English.) So I always winged it when greeting customers, and they always liked me. They’d ask about me when I was off, give me little gifts for brightening their day, etc."

However, their manager apparently didn't like the kind of appreciation that customers were showing to OP. She decided to step in and change the friendly ambiance at the store to her standard. She handed OP a script and ordered her to speak from it in greeting customers. OP refused to use it, which eventually resulted in the manager's frustration and issuance of a threat in case she continued to disobey.

Photo: Pexels/Andrea Piacquadio

Here's OP's narration of what happened next: "Here comes the malicious compliance. There was a typo in the script that referred to McDonald’s as McDondald’s. So I’d repeatedly say it, and because everyone has a headset, they’d all hear it. And the staff would chuckle, because most could read English, and they all got the script. My manager was not amused. She told me that I needed to say 'McDonald's.' And I reminded her that she demanded I read from the script exactly what it says. I got sent home that day, and they cut my hours. I still feel like I won."

The misfortune of control freaks is that they are too arrogant to accept and learn from their mistake, hence they lead empty lives without friends, peace of mind, and real happiness. Let's hope that manager got what she deserved.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ieVbR-gQbWI