'I can do this in my head': Teacher makes student show his work, tells him it should take up the whole page, cue malicious compliance

We all remember the people who would do mental math in class all the time. You know, those kids who thought it was cool that they could do double-digit multiplication in their heads. Sure, it could make them seem intelligent, and perhaps they are. But it also makes you straight-up obnoxious, and in some cases (like this one), your work can be straight-up wrong.

Not to take us down a mathematics rabbit hole, but do any of us remember that point when algebra became hard? That point of no return when doing the math in your head was a ticket to getting the problem totally wrong rather than a ticket to being thought of as intelligent. Well, for this adult student taking college algebra, that moment may have happened a long time ago. Unfortunately, he just refused to accept the concept of showing his work because for whatever reason, showing your work is equivalent to showing weakness. What this professor tried and failed to show the student, however, was that not showing your work is equivalent to showing carelessness.

The teacher shared their side of the story via this thread on Reddit's r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit. Keep scrolling below for the full story and for the best reactions in the comments section. When you're finished, take a look at this other tale of malicious compliance where an employee was told to get a competitive offer somewhere else in order to negotiate their salary.