Chances are there are people in your life who talk a lot about working in a place for a lot of hateful years. When I heard people gripe about this, I used to wonder why they didn't just quit. Of course, I was a kid and didn't understand the necessity of a job.
When I started full-time work, I would consider quitting on particularly stressful days. I would swear to myself that after the day was done, I would march into my boss's office and tell him I was done.
I never did because after the stress passed, so did that desire.
However, this is not always the case. My second full-time job was awful, and I started looking for a new job almost immediately. I told myself I'd only stay at the company for six months. Then, the pandemic hit, and as much as I hated the job, I knew I was lucky even to have one, considering how many of my friends had lost their jobs thanks to the pandemic.
The job went from bad to worse. First, my boss asked me to do things that were impossible due to the current climate. Then she got snippy when I told her I was uncomfortable with the idea of coming into the office in person not six months after we started WFH because my dad was in poor health, and I wanted to keep him safe.
Finally, even after it was proven that I was having better output at home than I did in the office, she made me qualify my time with her by sending her daily emails listing every task I did along with every detail of what each task entailed and the time it took to complete.
I was done. I was laid off three hours before I planned to quit (maybe they could tell!). I wish I could've had the satisfaction to quit.
I'm not the only one who was planning to quit with no notice. Redditors have had the same desire, and most of them did it. Now, they are eager to share their stories.
It all started when Redditor BubbaHoStep asked:
"People who quit without notice, what straw broke the camel's back?"
Keep Your Word
"I was one of about 6 people working at a computer repair shop. Boss told us that anybody who passes the A+ certification test would get a $1/hr raise. 6 people take the test, 5 pass it, and I got the highest score of us all. The boss didn't give me a raise because "you're a kid, what do you need with money? You gonna buy toys with it?""
"I was about to be a Senior in high school, 17 at the time. And yes, I quit on the spot and went to work for his competition for $2/hr more than he was paying me."
– McHildinger
One Man Chef
"I was a shift lead in a kitchen where none of the management knew anything about BoH. I ran grill, sauté, expo, and ovens solo during every peak shift. I ordered trucks, prepped all week for weekend brunch, wrote kitchen schedules, coordinated kitchen cleaning projects, contacted vendors for repairs, and generally ran the kitchen’s day-to-day. I was given the keys and started opening 6 days a week. I was working 55+ hours and loving it. I expanded our brunch service to Fridays as well as Saturday/Sunday, and I came up with an early week menu to use up leftover brunch items and minimize waste. I helped grow weekly sales from 40-45k to 75-80k in three years."
"I started having issues with closing management on shifts where I wasn’t there. I’d get in at 6 am to open and the restaurant was left a mess and prep/stocking wasn’t completed. I talked to the staff and tried to get them to help out, but I had no support and follow through from the actual managers. This went on for weeks."
"Then one week I was in at 5 for Friday Brunch prep. I was prepping sheets of bacon and went to the back to pull the biscuits I had prepped the day before. I had left them on a speed rack. I found them on a shelf stacked on top of each other. The weight of the trays had smashed every biscuit into single sheets of dough on the lower trays. The speed rack had the dressings and cold items from the line close the night before."
"I did about 90% of the brunch prep by the time the “opening” manager showed up at 8:30 (we opened at 9.) I told her what was left to set up the line. She asked why I was telling her. I laid the sheets of dough in front of her, dropped my keys on top, and walked out."
"I got nearly 50 calls from them that day and dozens of texts. I didn’t respond to a single one. A few days later, the owner of the store called me and asked who he needed to fire to bring me back. I told him I’d pass and ended up finding another job in a day. A little over a year later, this restaurant shut down and was demolished to turn the space into a parking garage."
– Pickle-Standard
Work = Money
"Dillards. They told me to clock out and work all night because the regional was coming to inspect the store. So they wanted me to work for 8 hours moving around heavy stuff for free. Quit on the spot. Told me I wasn't a "team player". I asked the manager if he would pay me for not working. He said no. I asked him why would I work without getting paid, blank stare."
– lizerpetty
"That's highly illegal. I'm glad you quit."
– ivylass
Absolute Cruelty
"My dad had cancer stage 4 lymphoma. We couldn't have our phones on the floor unless we filled out some paperwork with HR for emergencies. I asked my supervisor for the paperwork, and he said, "Don't worry about it!" well, when his boss visited, he saw my phone and asked me about it, so I told the truth. My supervisor was PISSED. A couple of weeks later I get called into the HR office, my sister called to tell me my dad died. The supervisor wasn't there, but I left early. I took my bereavement and came back to work. My work bestie pulled me aside to tell me the supervisor accused me of lying about my dad having cancer and dying to the entire team while I was gone. I hugged her and just left."
– Corndread85
Literal Abuse
"I was security at a mine in my early twenties. A couple of friends of mine worked for the mine, but we're welders. I found out at 5:00AM check-in that they were killed by a drunk driver the night before. I had to walk to my car and just broke down. My manager saw me walk to the car and get in and started yelling at me, and ripped open my door. I told him I needed some time, he screamed that I was just being lazy."
"I turned to step out of my car and had gotten my arm and leg out when he started slamming my car door on me. I got my other leg out and kicked my door out at him hard and knocked him over, got out and screamed at him. I don't remember what I said, but I remember getting in my car, driving home, taking off my uniform, washing it and my spares, and driving back. When I walked into the entrance building, he was there and had this smug look on his face, and I looked at him, told him to go f**k himself, and then threw my trash bag filled with a weeks worth of uniforms at his face. Never looked back."
"He was later fired after the investigation. They had him on camera assaulting me with my own car door. I received an apology from the company, and the regional manager offered me a job on the spot. I took it."
– AScruffyHamster
Not A Threat Anymore
"I was working at Sears part-time for Christmas. They never trained me. When my supervisor came in for something and found out I was working alone, he ran out before they could ask him to help. My other supervisor had a nervous breakdown and while crying, said he wanted to punch the manager but was a felon and needed the job. I just got tired of the sh*t because I was literally just working for Christmas money. They found me at my other job and asked me to come back because I had figured out how to do the job without being trained. I said no, and they told me I'd never be able to work for Sears or Kmart again."
"Shiver me timbers."
– LoverOfGayContent
Basic Hygiene, Please
"This b*tch kept on bragging about how she never washed her hands, yet the upper management continued to promote her. I worked in the factory that made every donut for every Dunkin' in Michigan, and yes, I mean literally bragged about not washing her hands."
"Do not, I repeat, DO NOT, purchase any product from Dunkin' in Michigan. If you ever order anything from Dunkin' in Michigan that has frosting or sprinkles on it, in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM, you are touching food product from a disgusting [person] who b*tches other people out for calling her out for not washing her hands."
"I know this sounds overly dramatic, but it's true."
– MuSE555
Beach Stay
"After 18 years in retail, I took a vacation to the beach. It had been an ungodly tough year of death (becoming a widow), trouble with my children, money problems, and a boss with an otherworldly hatred of me suddenly having many more things taking up my time."
"They were completely unwilling to be flexible with these new constraints on my time, so I finally just wrote a schedule and took a whopping 3 days to myself."
"I finally felt relaxed and realized I felt so good to be so far away. The day I was supposed to pack and head home, I extended mine and my kiddos’ stays and just never went back."
"They called like crazy, texted, tried to get ahold of me, but I didn’t care. I stayed gone, and it was like a weight was lifted."
"I still have nightmares about that place, but at least I wake up knowing I never have to go there again."
– haylibee
We All Left After That
"Manager was always kinda mean. Threw pots and pans. Threw finished orders that he didn’t deem worthy of the customer. Dragged a customer out of the restaurant while she was having a panic attack because he IDd her well into her meal after she was already IDd for her first drink."
"I worked there for 2 years. I was 22, a lot of the people I worked with in the afternoons were still in high school. I was on the grill when he started screaming at this 16-year-old girl who he told to “man the fryers.”"
"She had no prior experience, it was a Saturday night."
"He started screaming at her because she was slightly backed up but doing extremely well for it being her first time."
"She had tears in her eyes before he shoved her to the side and took over himself."
"The kitchen went silent. Felt like time stopped idk."
"We all walked out together. Nobody really said anything. She left first, then the dishwasher, then me and 2 other guys."
"The manager was cursing, and customers were watching us all leave. The servers were stressed but understood. It felt like sweet relief."
– InsideOutDeadRat
Won't Take It Sitting Down
"I got a write-up. I was a server at the time. I told my managers that I was going on a teaching my interview a few hours out of town. I had graduated and was looking for my first full-time teaching position. This was like…10 years ago or so."
"They put me on the schedule as on-call for that interview day. I reminded them I wouldn’t be able to show, and they told me not to worry. Well, someone called in, and they told me I had to come. I reminded them I had a teaching interview several hours away and wouldn’t make it. They said, “Okay”, wished me luck at my interview, and got off the phone."
"I came into work the next day, and the restaurant owners (not managers, the owners) told them to write me up for not being available. I asked if the server who called off was getting a write up and they said no. So I said to the managers, “so someone can call off with the sniffles, and there’s no consequence, but I’m literally trying to better myself and gave you advance notice, and I’m the one getting the write-up?”"
"The managers looked at each other and said “Basically”. I laughed and signed it and they said they didn’t agree and tried to fight it. I actually believe them. They weren’t the type of managers to d*ck you around.""
"Anyway, one of them said, “I thought for sure you’d quit over this.” And I said I am. He asked when. I told him he’d know when I did."
"I got a teaching job a couple of weeks later and didn’t tell anyone. I no showed on my first contractual day as a teacher. This also happened to be the same week that they had opened the restaurant 26 years prior, and they ran a special on a buffet and certain dinners every year to celebrate. It was always packed, and they had everyone on deck."
"The owners were pissed I didn’t show and threatened to fire me if I didn’t come in. I told them that was fine and said if they didn’t need anything else, I had a classroom to set up. Then I hung up in their face. That’s how they found out I got my first teaching job."
"I’m still friends with the managers. They told me my absence caused a sh*t show because the owners had overbooked and the servers they had on the floor with me had only recently been hired, and they were counting on me basically run the servers. A lot of meals were comped or had an additional price reduction due to poor service. They basically lost money the day I didn’t show.
"Restaurant closed three years later (unrelated to my quitting but still…so sweet to know)."
"Sucks to suck."
– CakesNGames90
This Is Not A Book Club
"I was waitressing at an Asian restaurant while I was in college, I was getting my degree in English lit and I had to read one novel per class per week, so 3-4 novels a week by my junior year. I was allowed to sit and watch TV when there were no customers, but I broke out one of my books for school and literally got screamed at. His kids can study in the back but I have to watch the Grammys?"
– OpheliaPhoeniXXX
Too Little Too Late
"I wrapped my car around a tree driving to work, called work to say I wouldn't be in for my shift from my hospital bed, got mad abuse for "Calling in sick so close to my shift". After I put a picture up on FB of my totaled car, the boss called me to apologize; I told him to f**k off. A week later when I was meant to go back to work I waited till 1 minute to my shift start and called to say id quit."
– Vaiken_Vox
HEADING
"I quit Kohls because one of the supervisors harassed me in front of a customer to get them to sign up for the Kohl's card. The customer clearly felt bad for me, so I signed up, but the supervisor took the credit. It wasn't worth it for me, and I ended up getting a new job, so I quit right then and there."
– Kiwigirl80
Honesty, I have PTSD about getting customers to sign up for cards at the store I worked at, and I was never harassed by a supervisor about it.
If this had happened to me, I would've quit, too!
Do you have any similar experiences? Let us know in the comments below.
@John-mu2js/YouTube
@dsmith8859/YouTube
@tallyholightguy5353/YouTube
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