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30 Stories From People Who Dealt With A Colleague That Walked Out On A Job In The Most Sudden Way
There are various factors that one normally considers before taking the next big step in their career. Even after deciding to leave, providing one’s employer with ample notice might be a respectful and reasonable thing to do, regardless of whether it is legally required.
Having this in mind, it only makes it more unexpected to witness folks quitting on the spot! It is not that one can always know exactly the reasons that led the other person to simply leave and never come back, but considering there were no victims there, it does make for fun and lighthearted stories and these Redditors are sharing exactly these kinds of experiences when they witnessed someone just leave without saying a word or were the ones to do it themselves.
Do you have something to add? Please share your thoughts or stories in the comments!
More info: Reddit
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#1
I quit on my first day of a waitressing job after the GM and his buddies sat in my section and the GM called me an idiot. I put down my tray, took off my apron and dropped it on the table, and told GM to get his own f*****g food. Went to my locker, got my purse and left. Never went back, not even to return my uniforms.
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#2
At one of the c****iest call centers I ever worked at, a lady near me got a job offer over her cell phone during her shift. She left her badge on her desk and walked out. I had big time envy.
Hugh Cookson 1 year ago
I am in awe of anyone who does call centre work. Personally, I'd be running round with a machete on my 2nd day chasing down managers and owners. Fuucking usurpers!!
#3
I worked with guy once, he asked me to cover for him because he 'had to go' I thought he was going to the bathroom. He never came back.
#4
I quit my job last week. I walked in, shook my boss's hand and said "I'm putting in my two weeks" and then he asked if I was serious. So I laughed and said "I'm kidding. I quit."
At my new job today and loving it.
WindySwede 1 year ago
I once told my boss i needed to talk to him on my own, there were some others there as well. Boss jokingly said, are you going to quit? "yes"...
#5
I did that at my previous job. After I put in my 2 week notice they started treating me like s**t, so about a week into the notice, I said screw it and left at lunch and never went back.
#6
I once quit my job at McDonald’s by jumping out the drive through window. True story
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago (edited)
I quit after being written up for a 3rd time for not showing up for a shift the managers were WELL aware I couldn't work, due to being in high school (USA) and having a very specific schedule. This was 35 years ago.
#7
At a place I work at a manager got up from his desk at noon, we thought he was going to lunch. He grabbed his bag, shut down his PC, noticed us looking at him, and he said 'bye'.
We were dumbfounded and looked at each other and said to one another 'did he just quit?'
Yes, yes he did. Never came back!
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
I worked with a very old guy who just walked out the door and said "see ya in church".
#8
I was training this one guy a few years back. He asked me if I ever heard the one about the guy who said he was going to the bathroom and never came back. I said no we've had some walkouts but never that. He then looked me in the eye and said he was going to the bathroom. Never saw him again.
#9
I walked out of my grocery store job after having a meeting with my supervisor. She told me I I wasn't getting my vacation, again, because I was a middle manager and my direct manager wanted that time off, so she was approved instead. The meeting ended, I walked to the doors, took off my stupid f*****g tie, and never came back as an employee. I was also Union so they had to pay me my 126 hours of PTO I had accrued in 3 years of being denied vacation (would have had more but I used like 40 hours worth on 'sick' days in the months before I quit).
F**k you Shawna you stupid b***h! I hope your job was difficult after my meeting with the Store Manager.
martymcmatrix 1 year ago
He shall be avenged. I plead for 250 days of 24/7 whipping the witch called Shawna with the long time untied tie......are there any volunteers, besides me?
#10
Had a boss tell me I wasnt allowed to quit so i threw my apron at him and told him to f**k himself
#11
We had a receptionist that had to run to Walmart for "female emergency supplies." She never came back.
#12
Before I got hired in at my current job, one of the guys also left for lunch and never came back. The guys who were there when it happened still sometimes joke that "He's still on lunch."
#13
LOL. I love this.
Years ago I worked as a mail carrier for the US post office. Three weeks into the job, they sent a supervisor out with me because they felt I was delivering the mail too slowly lmao. 10 minutes into the shift, the supervisor started berating me and screaming at me to not use walkways and instead to walk over people's lawns. I went up to him and told him I was finished. He said, "Yeah, you're finished with this street. Time to move on." I replied, "No, I quit." He was f*****g pissssssssed. He followed behind me back to the post office (I should've slammed on my brakes and let him hit me and then sued). He demanded that I come inside to sign a resignation letter. I laughed and walked away. Never went back.
You don't owe anyone, especially not an employer, s**t.
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
I understand that the USPS is no joke to work for. That said, if you can "get with the program", it's a great gig. I know at least 3 individuals who retired from them, retired young (well under the 65 retirement age) , and retired comfortably. There's a lot to be said for retiring ~42 years old!
#14
I quit my last job by clocking into my break time, getting in my car and leaving. They called a few times, “are you okay? You left and didn’t come back.” Yes, in fact, I am better now that I’m not breaking my back for 10/hr.
#15
I actually ran away from work before when I was 19. I was QA at a frozen food plant and they literally moved me to a different part of the plant (I had been doing a really good job where I was, but the season changed), and gave me more work than I could actually complete, then gaslighted me when I tried to figure out how tf others who had this position supposedly did all the tasks I was assigned. I had a supervisor say she GOT BORED when she did my job previously, and I have no idea how. A few days and a panic attack later, I just...left. They blew up my phone. I didn't answer.
I sort of lied and said I had 'voluntarily quit' that place when applying for jobs after that until I actually started my career and didn't need to list them anymore. Here I am, decades later, in a job where I am certainly making more than anyone who worked with there. I have a hypothesis that they added more tasks to that particular position, but I'll never know for sure. I tried to address it the 'right way' (seeking direction and clarification) to no avail. No regrets.
Tucker Cahooter 1 year ago
Interesting choice of photo to go with this story. I think the BP editors picked the wrong choice for "plant"
#16
At my job when a guy didn’t show and didn’t answer texts the boss called the cops for a welfare check. They went to his address where he lived with his grandparents and they were really worried because he was missing.
When he finally showed up he was told the cops and his grandma were looking for him.
Turns out he was a aspiring rap artist and had been out late and fell asleep at a friends house.
The previous person who didn’t show also had a welfare check called. He’d [taken his life] because he owed the IRS several years of taxes from his side work. He’d spent it all on strippers who really loved him.
#17
I'm about there with my current job. My old boss who I got a long with really well had enough of his boss and walked out, now his boss is my boss. It's a s**t show here. I'm going back to school in September so I'm really just counting down the days and racking up hours. If I get too stressed, I'm out. If they fire me big woop, I already have the reference of the boss who already quit. They got nothing on me. I live 2 mins away from this place so I spend no time commuting.
If my boss is reading this: Fire me, I dare you. Gimme that severance.
Realistic Optimist 1 year ago (edited)
If it's not in your contract, they don't have to give you severance. At least in the US they don't. Awesome if you get it, but don't assume it will be offered. Just a PSA, so my fellow US residents don't get a very unpleasant surprise when they're laid off or fired.
#18
Quit a job at a restaurant recently. Was working twelve hours a day 6 days a week and was one of two people who could run the Make Line at a rate of speed which was extremely efficient. Two weeks prior to quitting I had called in for the day to go to the doctor because I was feeling sick and thought it may be covid. Didn’t want to get my coworkers sick so I didn’t come in that day. Flash forward to two weeks later. All of the bosses decided to have a “meeting” with me and the other person who worked my line. They said we were lazy and that we weren’t to miss anymore days or else. They had told everyone on the team that we HAD covid which is illegal here. They told us if we didn’t want to finish the shift that day we could leave since they had covered the shift. We said “actually I don’t feel like being here.” Never came back. Was still in contact with a few of the crew members who later that week informed us that all the kitchen staff walked out two days later after realizing that all the work had been shifted to them and management was still just hanging out sitting in the office and leaving early every day. Serves em right.
#19
I worked with a guy, middle of shift he says his wife got stung by a bee and he had to go.
I never saw him again.
#20
When I quit my job at McDonald's I told them I was going to the bathroom and I never came back 💀
#21
Dude, i did that last year. My girlfriend thought it was hilarious, not so much me though…I felt guilty. I just said I was going for lunch, got in my car and f****d off home. In retrospect they had it coming.
#22
Years ago I was working for a small company that hired a not smart but very pretty person for Reception. She did not even know the basics for our work despite being there for years. For example, she didn't know that an 11x17 sheet of paper was also called Tabloid size, despite us selling things on paper.
I was the only person running the computers, literally a 5 person business.
The owner and key sales person called me into their tiny meeting room because this lady was upset about something that I cannot even remember. I was super friendly to her and would explain this stuff to her. I liked her. (I am also female.)
I had been working until about 4am the night before because we had a few bit jobs come in and the deadlines were short. I had planned to leave early and catch up on sleep.
Owner starts YELLING at me. Going red in the face. Losing his s**t. She is just sitting there, like she had seen this before and wasn't phased by it.
After him going on for awhile and there being nothing for me to argue with I just said: "I don't need this s**t." And calmly walked out.
I headed over to a nearby business that I had previously worked at and had coffee and hung out... and started work there immediately.
F**k a******s.
Beanz' Mum 1 year ago
This one is confusing.....so the Receptionist had a beef with the OP and the Owner flipped out on the OP?
#23
Where i work someone signed up for overtime showed up and said they had to go to the bathroom real quick. They sat in there from 630 to noon then clocked out and never came back.
#24
That’s awesome! My bro-in-law and I worked as servers at a restaurant. One day during a rush he just walked out because he had finished school and got a job as a teacher. After six months he realized he hated teaching, so he went back to school and they gave him his job back at the restaurant!! So just remember even if you p**s them off you can always go back! Haha
#25
Had this. Except I wasn't production I was the night shift robot tech but I was never really busy besides some daily pms so I would sometimes watch people's posts for them while they smoke or pee. One dude did it yo me three times while I worked there where he would just go to the supervisor and say he's sick and, because my job description said I'd have to help production sometimes if it was really necessary, I would be told to do that for the rest of the day while also having to do my pms. Dick move Tony.
#26
It happened before I worked there at this restaurant, but apparently the dishwasher walked off the job around 6pm. Chaos ensues and various people help out when they can to wash dishes. A couple hours later one of the cooks looks out into the restaurant and here is the now-ex-employee sitting down to a table with his family for dinner, change of clothes and everything. Kitchen manager goes out there and asks what is going on.
Dude says "eh, I just didn't want to work here anymore".
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
But you'll eat there? How stupid can you be doing that the same night?
#27
Friday close of business I brought my retirement papers to Chiefs secretary and told her he needed the envelope that afternoon. Turned around and walked out of building. They owed me 3 months pay so I didn't have to give notice. Didn't feel like doing the political thing with A Holes.
Jessica SpeLangm 1 year ago
Did you make sure to keep a copy of all that paperwork and document everything in case they decided they didn't want to pay you?
#28
At my old job, another receptionist and I got hired about the same time and for at least 6 months afterwards, someone would comment "oh, good, you came back!" after every break and/or lunch we had. It started to make me wonder what I was missing for all those others to disappear.
Sara Wilson 1 year ago
Why not just ask the other receptionist that all this was being said to?
#29
I was a supervisor at a call center. One of my employees went to the restroom and never returned. Lol I don’t blame her the job paid s**t. Earlier in the day (10 am or so) I was talking to her and she smelled drunk
#30
Noice. I ghosted my last job because they were horrible to me.
What do you think ?
Brainmas 1 year ago (edited)
At 15 working at McDonald's, after working 7+ hours on drive through with no breaks, in the middle of rush had a lady who kept changing her full order. I mumbled something out if frustration that no customer could possibly hear, and the DM came screaming out of the office and completely flipped out. I threw my headset at him and told him to do it himself and stormed out. I eventually went back after multiple calls and apologies, and they learned I don't put up with b******t. I'm guessing DM was afraid I'd report the labor violations. The rest of my time there wasn't too bad.
Ranger Kanootsen 1 year ago (edited)
My sister's boss came over to our house searching for her because she failed to show up to work and she wasn't picking up her phone. She became registered as a missing person, and presumed dead. Nobody has seen her since. I miss her.
walkabout 1 year ago
I worked in a fabricating shop with 15 or so other guys. One position there, grinder hand, had a pretty high turnover rate. One day the GH drops by my station and says that he's run-in up to McDick's-did I want anything? Naw. He continues throughout the shop taking orders, leaves at 1200 never to return. I never understood why he thought stealing from a dozen metal workers was a safe bet.
KombatBunni 1 year ago
Faked an injury to get out of working at Myer (big chain department store here in Australia) and told them I quit. Got an email a day later saying I was “let go” and to fill out some paperwork. I said f that and just didn’t reply. 2 months of a s****y job that almost destroyed my sanity.
JustinTime 1 year ago
Had several jobs where I woke up one day and said “NOPE” and went right back to sleep. BTW- don’t join the military.
Mad McQueen 1 year ago
Once at Home Depot I got fed up w manager lies and coworkers from hell. I came back in from lunch. Clocked in. Went to my locker an took all my stuff. Walked to the HR ladies office an said I'm done. She's like why?? I told her everything an she calls the boss right then an he's like yeah well sorry. The job before that the managers were not training new hires an it was a s**t show. I was injured and went to the boss the manager an a person from diff department. Manager goes you should have told them blah blah your fault. The f ing ower said yeah you're fault. I left the office. Finished the day. Decided to see how long it would be til owner said sorry and he didn't. So I just emptied my locker and got in my car and left. I just believe if you aren't happy so getting the s**t stick just leave and find something you enjoy.
Sky Render 1 year ago (edited)
I used to work for an insurance valuation firm, and one day out of the blue one of the long-time employees came to the end of the cubicle rows and loudly declared that she had to move to Idaho to help her sister who had just had a miscarriage. We never saw her again.
Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
I've just handed in 5 months' notice. I'd love to leave now but that would be unfair on my successor.
Midwest Panda 1 year ago (edited)
I did this one time at a big box retailer. I worked morning stock shift in their grocery dept. The 1st supervisor I had got promoted to a dept manager in a different department and the night supervisor went to days and became my supervisor. One day, he cussed me out cause of something silly. Don't even remember what it was. So I planned on working until my lunch break and then walking out. Between him cussing me out and me leaving, he came back and started talking to me (w/out an apology) like nothing happened. After walking out, I just typed up a letter and mailed it to the store explaining why I walked out
Looks like an Angel 1 year ago (edited)
Years ago a job I accepted lied to me about the job I was hired to do, I was PISSED. On my first shift, I walked out the door for my break and just kept walking.....all the way home. This was Pre-Cell phones, so they couldn't get a hold of me when break was over and I didn't come back in.
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
Some of these were funny, some were on point. Many of them were just laziness.
Brainmas 1 year ago (edited)
At 15 working at McDonald's, after working 7+ hours on drive through with no breaks, in the middle of rush had a lady who kept changing her full order. I mumbled something out if frustration that no customer could possibly hear, and the DM came screaming out of the office and completely flipped out. I threw my headset at him and told him to do it himself and stormed out. I eventually went back after multiple calls and apologies, and they learned I don't put up with b******t. I'm guessing DM was afraid I'd report the labor violations. The rest of my time there wasn't too bad.
Ranger Kanootsen 1 year ago (edited)
My sister's boss came over to our house searching for her because she failed to show up to work and she wasn't picking up her phone. She became registered as a missing person, and presumed dead. Nobody has seen her since. I miss her.
walkabout 1 year ago
I worked in a fabricating shop with 15 or so other guys. One position there, grinder hand, had a pretty high turnover rate. One day the GH drops by my station and says that he's run-in up to McDick's-did I want anything? Naw. He continues throughout the shop taking orders, leaves at 1200 never to return. I never understood why he thought stealing from a dozen metal workers was a safe bet.
KombatBunni 1 year ago
Faked an injury to get out of working at Myer (big chain department store here in Australia) and told them I quit. Got an email a day later saying I was “let go” and to fill out some paperwork. I said f that and just didn’t reply. 2 months of a s****y job that almost destroyed my sanity.
JustinTime 1 year ago
Had several jobs where I woke up one day and said “NOPE” and went right back to sleep. BTW- don’t join the military.
Mad McQueen 1 year ago
Once at Home Depot I got fed up w manager lies and coworkers from hell. I came back in from lunch. Clocked in. Went to my locker an took all my stuff. Walked to the HR ladies office an said I'm done. She's like why?? I told her everything an she calls the boss right then an he's like yeah well sorry. The job before that the managers were not training new hires an it was a s**t show. I was injured and went to the boss the manager an a person from diff department. Manager goes you should have told them blah blah your fault. The f ing ower said yeah you're fault. I left the office. Finished the day. Decided to see how long it would be til owner said sorry and he didn't. So I just emptied my locker and got in my car and left. I just believe if you aren't happy so getting the s**t stick just leave and find something you enjoy.
Sky Render 1 year ago (edited)
I used to work for an insurance valuation firm, and one day out of the blue one of the long-time employees came to the end of the cubicle rows and loudly declared that she had to move to Idaho to help her sister who had just had a miscarriage. We never saw her again.
Apatheist Account2 1 year ago
I've just handed in 5 months' notice. I'd love to leave now but that would be unfair on my successor.
Midwest Panda 1 year ago (edited)
I did this one time at a big box retailer. I worked morning stock shift in their grocery dept. The 1st supervisor I had got promoted to a dept manager in a different department and the night supervisor went to days and became my supervisor. One day, he cussed me out cause of something silly. Don't even remember what it was. So I planned on working until my lunch break and then walking out. Between him cussing me out and me leaving, he came back and started talking to me (w/out an apology) like nothing happened. After walking out, I just typed up a letter and mailed it to the store explaining why I walked out
Looks like an Angel 1 year ago (edited)
Years ago a job I accepted lied to me about the job I was hired to do, I was PISSED. On my first shift, I walked out the door for my break and just kept walking.....all the way home. This was Pre-Cell phones, so they couldn't get a hold of me when break was over and I didn't come back in.
Mike Fitzpatrick 1 year ago
Some of these were funny, some were on point. Many of them were just laziness.
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