While cleaning a wealthy family’s house, I found a note waiting for me: “We hid 10 ducks around the house so we’ll know you cleaned properly. Put them in the jar when you find them.” Instead of feeling trusted, I felt insulted. After all my hard work, they had left a scavenger hunt to test whether I had done my job.

Tiny plastic ducks had apparently become my performance review. I cleaned the entire house from top to bottom and eventually found all 10 ducks hidden in different places. By the time I collected the last one, I was irritated enough to come up with a little lesson of my own.

If they wanted to play a game, I decided they could experience one too. Before leaving, I hid the ducks all over the house again. But this time, each duck was hidden alongside something important—car keys, wallets, TV remotes, phone chargers, and other everyday essentials.

Then I went home and waited to see what would happen when they returned. The reaction was exactly what you’d expect. The wife panicked, the husband started searching everywhere, and neither could find the items they needed.

When they contacted me, I simply told them, “Find all 10 ducks. That’s where your stuff is.” It took them five full hours to recover everything. Looking back, it was probably my most mischievous moment ever—equal parts satisfying, hilarious, and just a little terrifying.

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