People In This Online Group Share 30 Of The Most Intriguing “Screw This, I Quit” Stories
There is a reason why the saying “find a job you like and you’ll never work a day in your life” is a thing. But let’s be fair, there’s more to it than just actually doing your job.
It’s about the work environment, the culture and everything else that, no matter how much you love the process, can make any job unbearably miserable.
Well, Redditors have been sharing some of their “screw this, I quit” stories showing just how crummy it can get, making for an entertaining read.
Bored Panda has collected the best of the best stories from the viral AskReddit post and put them into a neat curated list for you to enjoy. So, why don’t you leave a comment and an upvote on the submissions you liked the most!
More Info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
Was at a job for 3 years, consistently in the top 3 of my department in terms of performance. Asked my supervisor repeatedly if I could be recommended for advancement/promotion and he always told me he was trying his best to get me new opportunities. Found out from a friend in a different department that I'd been considered a top candidate for 4 different promotions and each time my supervisor had blocked it.
When I confronted him with this information he told me it was true and he did it because "I could never find someone who does what you do without paying them a lot more". Internally said "f@#k this, I quit" and found a new job within 3 months. Took all my PTO and on the day I came back I quit 2 hours into the day leaving him high and dry at a peak time. F@#k that dude.
I was in the same position for two years and was actively looking at other positions within the same company. Bosses knew about it, it was just time for a change and to advance my career. Great opportunity came up and I was offered the position. However my current leadership blocked me because I received a “promotion” six months prior. That promotion was literally an automatic email that said congrats you’re now level 2 instead of level 1 because I had met my sales attainment and completed all my yearly trainings. Literally an automated email stopped me from getting promoted and bosses said I had to wait another 18 months. Left that company and went to a competitor doing the same thing for better pay and significantly more support.
I was 20 and had been working in a call center for just over a year. I was promoted to an assistant manager with a new compensation structure that was identical to the other assistant manager. Basically you got your wage, a very small % of the total office revenue, and then 10% of your own revenue from when you worked on the phone. My immediate manager and office supervisor gave me this without confirming it with the regional manager who was on a two month vacation in the DR.
When I got my first cheque after being promoted there was no bonus, I was told it would be corrected soon. When I got my second cheque after being promoted there was no bonus, I was told it would be corrected soon. When I got my third cheque after being promoted there was no bonus and I was told we had to wait for the regional manager to come back and authorize it. I was being paid weekly and worked another 4 weeks under the premise that I would get a lump sum when the regional manager returned. The problem was that I sold significantly more than the other office manager. The back pay had grown to such a large amount that when the regional manager did return he questioned why the office manager had given me this structure as he considered it to be too much money.
On my next cheque there was no lump sum and I was told that they were figuring out a new structure. My following shift I stayed home and got a frantic call from the Office Manager asking me why I wasn't at work. I told him I couldn't afford to go to work. He said why can't you afford it? Because I have been getting ripped off for two months, call me back when you have my money or don't call me at all.
Started dating a guy that one of my coworkers liked. He was a regular customer. She started doing things like spitting in his food, telling my boss I wasn't working, writing her name on the checklist of our side work and acting like she did every thing and I did nothing.
Then she stole $100 from my drawer and the boss wanted me to pay for it, didn't believe me because she was friends with the girl. I walked out on the spot. Like a couple months later they caught her stealing again on camera and fired her.
Also the guy is my husband now 😊
I worked for a company for over a year that was contracted to make deliveries for Amazon.
The vans they equipped us with were terribly maintained, and fully unequipped to handle winter weather. I worked with the company through their first winter, which meant sliding all over the road when it was icy and getting stuck constantly every time we had snow. I never had a major accident, though I did have 2 or 3 close calls where only minor damage was incurred to the van.
I decided to stick it out through the summer, when the weather was obviously much better. All summer long they promised us that new and better vans were coming. September rolls around, no vans. October, no vans. November, no vans.
That month we got our first real snow. I got back from my route and immediately put in my notice. My boss told me they would be getting new vans by the end of the year. I told her that was nice and walked.
I got an interview offer from "Vector Marketing" (Cutco) as a teen. I went. It was a knife presentation.
The presenter pulled me into the office for a short interview. Offered me the job on the spot.
"So you expect me to make appointments and travel?"
"Yes."
"And you want me to pay for my own knives, then tell me to sell them to my friends and family for commission."
"Yes."
"I'll just get a real job."
Had my annual review after finishing my first year at a retail store and I got a 13 cent per hour raise. A coworker of mine who drunkenly broken into the laundromat/grocery store in town to steal beer a few weeks prior got a 14 cent per hour raise. And new employees were making 12 cents more to start, than I was one year in. F@#k this, I quit and f@#k you Under Armour.
I was a new sous chef at a country club. Chef wouldn't let anyone but himself do the ordering. His ordering method was to go over a sheet of paper hanging on the line where people wrote down what we were out of. Not what we were nearly out of, but what we were completely out of. Any time I'd try to add items that we were close to out of on, he'd lose his s@#t. We were constantly out of things. One day, we had a huge Easter breakfast event. Dips@#t chef didn't order near enough eggs and we were out of all sorts of other random items. I was out front making omelets for members. Ran out of eggs and stood around for 15 minutes waiting for more while the members became increasingly frustrated then angry. Went to the back to see Chef yucking it up with the FOH manager. Handed him my apron and told him to pound sand. Was at that job for less than 2 weeks.
My son works at a kids event place, he’s the head of kitchen, he tells me all the time how his supervisor never orders what he needs on time or it’s the wrong item, guess who gets chewed out every time by the customers
My wife has one. Her boss suddenly became obsessed with bringing in as many new people as possible. Oddly, he seemed to forget about retaining his current workers. Many, like my wife, were very experienced at this point. You would think that they’d be considered the most valuable employees of the group.
My wife had settled into a nice M-F schedule, with good hours (10-5). Suddenly, her boss pulls her in for a meeting and says “Most of the new employees can’t work nights or weekends due to personal conflicts. I’ll need you to switch to a 1-9 schedule and work Saturdays.”
My wife was caught off guard and responded “When you hired me, I told you that I had conflicts in the evenings and weekends, and that I would be able to work within that schedule!”
The boss got all serious and said “Listen, I think I’ve been more than generous and accommodating of your schedule needs. I think it’s time for you to show us some of that same flexibility.”
My wife started crying immediately and stormed back to her desk. She called me and said that she thought she needed to quit, but wanted to make sure she wasn’t crazy. After listening to what happened, I said that boss could go to hell and she should never look back. She took her free water bottle and never returned.
I’d be like: “look, I have been here longer, deal with it.”
Was told in the interview that it was show up between 8-9, leave between 4-5. There’d be no more working late nights, or having to work on weekends, which was great.
Within 2 month realized they were lying through their teeth. I was given enough work for three people, with no direction on how to do it. My manager was so scatter brained, he could never give me any help when I asked. No one talked for 8 hours a day, and it was just an unbelievably bad work culture.
I’d get to work usually at 8:30, and leave at 4:30 while eating lunch at my desk. I came in one day and was told “since you’re leaving so early, I can only hope you’re working from home.” Then the next week, we’re told we have to come in for a full day Saturday because we had New Years Day off that Monday. My final straw was when I left at 2:30 one day for a doctors appointment. When I came in the next day, my manager pulled me into a room and said that I didn’t have enough accrued PTO to do that, and he was going to dock my pay (in a salaried position). Went in the next day, told him it wasn’t working out and put my two weeks in. On my last day, he told me I could leave at 11:30 so I did. When I got my final paycheck, he docked my pay for the remainder of that day.
Luckily, the recruiter who got me the job followed up to ask what happened, and I was completely open and honest with her. Apparently, that manager has a very high turnover rate for the position I was in, and the recruiter told me that the CFO is looking into replacing him.
Years back, a new manager was proud that an employee quit because he was so... ahem... tough (okay, a screamer). He pissed off several more employees. One day, he kept poking an employee in the chest while berating him. That is assault. The employee shoved him against the wall and yelled back. The manager was better behaved after that.
Many many years ago I worked at a place called Atomic Burrito. I only worked there for 4 days. I was washing dishes and the manager walked by and started yelling at me for using soap! He said soap cost money and we were just putting the same food back in the pans anyways... I quit right there. Noped the frick right out the door.
That's the time to call the health inspectors. They'd shut the place down for not following the health code. Kudos to you for not following their orders!
Currently in the US Military. Was back and forth about re-enlisting for another 4 years (have done 9 to this point). I have a 3 year old daughter at home who I haven't seen in almost 2 years for more then 3 weeks. Was talking to an Officer in my chain of command when I told him my thoughts. I had just received orders to remain overseas for an additional 2 years. His exact words were "You've already missed 2 years of her life you can afford to lose 2 more." I went to my Command Career Counselor office that day and signed my intention to separate.
Edit: the officer meant I've already missed 2 years I COULD afford to miss 2 more since I've already know what its like.
I was working in a particular role for a small charity - it was already a busy role, but then due to changes within the company my role got ridiculous. I was the senior manager looking after the budgets and accounts and acting as an accountant so suddenly had to teach myself all about charity tax law (which is not easy), I was managing marketing, media, communications, strategic implementation, a reception and all customer service, a physical and online shop, 10 members of staff, legal compliance including insurance and data protection, health and safety, HR, reporting and end of year audits, preparing papers for and attending trustee meetings, procurement as well as general meetings. To the point where my job had gone way beyond my original job description anymore.
Anyway, despite all the extra responsibilities my boss still expected me to have time to do everything to an extremely high standard and couldn't possibly understand there would be any reason that I was overwhelmed apart from me being s@#t. Strange how everyone in that place also complained about being overworked, and that at one point the staff were going to go to the Trustee board to see if they could get him replaced - it was always everyone elses fault.
He sat me down at my 12 month probation meeting and said that I wasn't doing well enough to be given the job permanently so he wanted to extend my probation by another three months in which time he must see improvements and what did I think I needed to improve. I said that I had been telling him for months what I needed to improve (which was for him to take the fact that everyone was overworked seriously and his expectations of what a human being could achieve were ridiculous at best) which was apparently never going to happen so I quit. He said he didn't want that, I said I did, and just quit. It had been on my mind for a while but that pushed me over the edge. A part of me wanted to stay, to go to the probation hearing and let everyone in HR know exactly what he was like, but I was just so done with the whole thing.
Best decision ever - I now have an amazing job I love for a different charity that actually values what I do and it feels great.
Worked in a Greek restaurant. Owners spoke very little English. Once I was making that tzatziki and the owner started talking to his wife behind me in Greek. Then his daughter joined in. Eventually the owner got my attention and started off talking to me in Greek with his daughter translating.
It gradually went from talking to yelling. Both of them. One in Greek, the other in English about how I’m f!@#$%g up the tzatziki. This went on for about 5 minutes.
I’m just standing there listening to this. Not being able to get a word in until I just snapped.
“SHUT THE F@#K UP”
They surprising stopped. Looking at me like I just killed their goldfish.
“Yeah. I quit”. And I just walked out.
The chef followed. We went to a local bar and drank and talked about how f!@#$%g nuts they were.
I worked as a cashier for a small chain of pharmacies briefly back in 2006. Because I was so easygoing they scheduled me with the nastiest b@#$h they had because I mean, why would you fire someone when you can just ignore the problem and pass it off to someone else?
She had me running her personal errands for months. Demanded that I cash her checks. Pick up her dinner. Hell, she even tried to make me buy her breakfast on my way in. One day, she sent me out at the start of our shift to pick up her dinner. I didn't buy anything because I always ate halfway through my shift and I refused to alter that one singular break I got for her.
When it came time for me to pick up my own food, she refused. She claimed that the "break" I'd taken right after I clocked in to fetch her dinner also counted as my break. She eventually "relented" and said if I wanted to get my own food I could clock out, which I was told I'd never have to do, I'd always be paid for my 15 minute break.
I was so f@#$%!g furious that I called my mom and said I want to quit. I hate this job, I hate this troll, my boss is almost as bad as her, I want out. She said, "Then quit." I asked, "You mean right now? Or put in a notice?" She said, "F@#k it, you're young, it's a s@#$%y job to keep you busy before college, it's not your life, quit."
So I did. My mom was so angry that she said she was coming over, too. She walked right up to my supervisor, said "My daughter doesn't need this s@#$%y job or your s@#$%y attitude, she's leaving" and we both walked out. She was left alone mid-shift at like 7pm with no staff willing to fill in so I'm pretty sure the boss had to get off her ass and fill in as cashier herself.
Waitressing at a small cafe, owner was also the manager/cook. One day, we were in the weeds, getting thrown around left and right, and finally when it slows down, the other line cook messed up. So the owner, who already had had several screaming meltdowns, picks up a plate and throws it right at the server alley. It broke on the wall near my head.
So I took off my apron and waddled my pregnant ass on home. F@#k that. It closed a few weeks ago, which wasn't surprising.
I proved to the CIO, using math, that the Help Desk could not lower its abandon rate to an acceptable point without hiring more people. She responded by telling me that my team just "didn't have enough discipline" and then I got written up. I quit the next day, and told my team "They will replace me with a manager whom the CIO will let hire more people." I was right.
I had a manager who just didn't like me. I don't know why, it happens. But she couldn't keep it professional, and acted as if every mistake I made, I had made on purpose, just to f@#k with her. Meanwhile everyone else told me that they were super happy with me, and I was a great worker.
So she had worked that Saturday, and when I turned on my PC that Monday morning I had about 10 e-mails from her, all with screenshots and rude remarks like "Why is it so hard for you to follow the rules?" and "How did you not know this?" (while she was the one that trained me). F@#k that s@#t, I'm worth way more than that.
I used to work for a big blue home improvement store in the paint department. Not the worst job in the world, but management was s@#t. I just so happened to be getting married later in the year, so about 6 months beforehand I put in my request for leave per the store managers instructions. I got no response from them then, and just figured it would be fine right? It came down to about a week before I was supposed to be married and go on my honeymoon, and I went to double check that my leave had been approved. I was told that it hadn't been approved, and that I was scheduled to work most days that I had requested off. I begged my case that I had put in my request for leave and followed all the proper channels, and was informed that they couldn't give me the time off because the manager of my dept. had requested off and it goes by seniority. I asked what would happen if I didn't show up, since I would be out of the country for my honeymoon, and was told that I would be fired and blacklisted from ever working for the company again. I told them I'd save them the trouble, and walked out right then and there.
Got called into a meeting with my manager (S) and the Area Manager (AM) Apparently someone on my team of 4 people had complained to AM about me, over the managers head.
AM: You're the hardest worker and I know that you put more hours in and always go above and beyond the rest of the team. But that doesn't make you better than them.
Me: (you kinda just said I was better, but whatever) I just want to come in and do my job.
AM: Someone has complained you're being bossy, do you think you are?
Me: I don't think so, can you tell me what I'm doing that's being perceived that way so I can stop?
AM: There's been no specifics, just stop being bossy.
Me: How can I stop a behaviour if I don't have any idea what that behaviour is?
AM: Just stop.
S: Working with her every day, I don't think she's bossy, I think she's assertive.
AM: Stop being assertive, its bothering your coworkers.
S and me: ...
Wrote a letter of resignation there and then. Don't tell your staff, who are expected to work using their own initiative, not to be assertive.
Yeah i hate that too. 10 "Stop doing stupid thing" 20 "What stupid thing exactly?" 30 GOTO 10 I never got a right answer on that question, so here i am.
My boss had my crew and I cut corners on a job, I was fairly new to the position and took what he said as the way it was supposed to get done. Inspectors then came and checked the job because of an unrelated screw-up by another company and in turn found out what we had done. Boss then blamed the whole thing on me and denied he ever told me to do it the it was done. Spent the the next two days replacing all previous work to the way it should have been. Boss then told me that he was not going to pay me for the days of work (14 hours each day) because I was fixing “my f@#k ups”. All the while during the two days getting called a “f@#$%^g idiot” and a “liar”. F@#k you, I quit.
Arrived at the bar to work my shift only to discover that the owners had sacked my manager because there was, in their view, too much wasteage. At the time, he was recovering from major surgery on his arm, he had 3 young children and an 8-months pregnant wife. They thought they were losing money because not every drop of beer poured went into somebody's drink (which is just a fact of life in a bar), and not because their idle toerag son/brother (father/son owner duo) kept coming in with his mates and demanding we give them drinks they didn't have to pay for. Quit on the spot, went to the manager's son's christening a while later. A year or two after that was told the bailiffs had come to visit the bar and left with quite a lot of furniture. Couldn't have happened to bigger c@#$s.
Oh god I bartended for a great boss for 6yrs he sold to a few idiots. They hemorrhaged money bc of everyone they knew drinking for free. They made our lives miserable decided to start making rules that were ridiculous got us on a reality tv show about bar makeovers. Expected us to work for free while filming for 3 days working 16 hour days. I quit the first day wouldn't sign the consent form for the tv show. They closed 3 months later. That bar had been there 25 yrs next to a law school. They killed it in less than two years. They were also so sexist and sexual harassers
Was volunteering in a local charity shop at the weekend. As it turns out, most of the non paid "volunteers" were conscripted from job seekers or community service or whatever. They had to turn up to get their welfare payments etc. Anyway I'd been there about 6 months, was hard graft at times moving sofas round the shop, up and down three floors.
It was a nice sunny day and I was taking my lunch break out the back sitting on a sofa at the loading bay doors in view of a public car park, eating a sandwich with my feet up on the railing. All of a sudden some woman who I've never seen before starts waggling her finger at me like I'm a naughty kid, then shouting at me in a disgusting tone "get up young man, how dare you". She kept ranting on. I'm like who the hell is this. She get can f@#$%d. Slowly I get up and move inside.
Turns out she was the area manager. She pissed me off so bad. I didn't really have an issue with what she was asking, it possibly didn't give a good impression, it was the way she was speaking to me I had a problem with. I think she thought I was the typical conscript who could be abused without recourse as they had to stay there and take the abuse in order to get their payments. Some customers in the shop heard how she spoke to me and they backed me up so I knew I wasn't nuts.
Told her she could stick my volunteering and I got the hell out of there. Never went back. Made me think why should I give up my free time to help this b@#$h on a fat salary hit her targets. I doubt she had a charitable bone in her body. I wrote a two page letter of complaint to the head office but never did send it. Kind of regret that.
I got a write up for cussing to the air when everyone else did it regularly (supervisor was just mad that the inventory part of my job get him caught doing bulls@#t) and when I called HR I was told the only reason I still have a job is because my parents work there and anyone can do my job.
So I told her I guess you guys don't need me then. Packed up my s@#t and left.
A few months later I caught up with a few former co-workers and apparently the company lost two huge contracts because the inventory department couldn't keep up, had to hire 3 people to cover what I did in 30 hours a week, and the supervisor was fired after he was caught stealing a large amount of product (entire pallets at a time).
Summer job in a downtown (scuzzy part of the city) retail store. Repainting the wooden fence around the parking lot. The fence wood was a pattern so on an angle you could see through it. I was painting the one site and a guy walked up on the other side and started pissing on the other side. A stream of piss almost on my head. I yelled and said get the hell out of here. He continued to piss, and then dropped to a squat for a #2. Got up. Packed up the paint brush and paint. Went inside for a break. Boss said what are you doing in, the fence is not done. I said you don't pay me enough to get pissed on.
Worked at a big box office store, on my first week I got held up by a train and was 5 min late. By the time I had gotten there the manager had blown up my phone (15 calls), but since it was winter and I had a big wool coat on plus a sweatshirt, I didn’t feel my phone go off. I got a lecture when I walked in and all morning he kept looking at me like I had killed his pet, about two hours later I got called into the office for a write up. I went in and was very calm about the whole thing, he kept saying I should show more remorse, I told him if 5 min was getting me a write up and a lecture, plus being told I obviously don’t care since I’m not remorseful enough he could keep the job.
Yes, call when late, but 15 calls in 5 min, a first week write up, possibly first offense, and boss attitude calls for a bad working environment down the road. Who knows, person may not have had a car where they could call easily and did not want to drive while holding a phone, and pulling over would create more lateness. Also...wildberry go the phu¢k away, troll.
When I was a student working as a pizza hut delivery driver in the armpit of VA. Had this dumb policy where they pick one driver a night to do all the dishes. You're told to "do them in between deliveries" but that's impossible when you're constantly getting orders. Others are supposed to help out throughout the night, of course nobody did. I was left with about 3 hours of washing dishes at around 1am. I had two finals the next day, and was going through really bad family problems at the time.
I got so frustrated that I just walked out, drove home, and had an absolute mental breakdown due to all the stress that had been piling up. Didn't say a word to anybody, never went back. To this day I feel absolutely awful I left the manager with all that work to do, though she was kind of a b!@#h anyways. Still, feel ashamed that I just walked away from hard work rather than deal with it.
You didn't walk away from hard work, you walked away from abusive behavior.
I used to work at Dollar General. I was about 5 months pregnant at the time and had a lot of tailbone pain. I normally worked freight because even though I was pregnant, I was still the most efficient at it.
At some point my manager had gotten into a serious car accident and couldn’t return to work for a few months. This basically promoted our assistant manager to manager.
Dollar General does inventory once a year for each store and it’s pretty much hell. The only good part about it is that you don’t get a truck that week so there’s no freight to put up. The bad part about it is that you get a huge truck the next week.
So we get through inventory and the next week we got the huge truck as expected. I ended up having a scheduling conflict due to an appointment and wasn’t able to come in during the day on a Thursday to put up freight but could come in that night or another day. So instead of the assistant manager letting me do that, she just took me off the schedule completely and didn’t replace me with anyone. All while we have the biggest truck of the year.
It was pretty obvious she was doing it to be petty so I called the manager bawling my eyes out because it wasn’t the first time something like this has happened. You know who got yelled at? I did. I was 5 months pregnant. Putting up freight even though I was in a lot of pain doing it. Was the hardest worker there. And the assistant manager was being petty. So I was fed up, clocked out for lunch that same day, and never went back.
Bonus story. Two of the people I worked with were robbed at gunpoint right before closing and quit on the spot. A couple months later, the manager had a gun put to his head during another robbery, but he stayed. There was a video on the news and everything.
I worked at a movie theater for about 2 years when Star Wars 7 came out, which was hectic enough. But we also have to work holidays there. So, I was working on Christmas day, when I was informed via radio that one of the theaters had a mess to be cleaned. When I arrived I found a pile of a grown man's s@#t on the ground. I put down my broom and walked out. I never even told them why I left, didn't feel like I needed to justify that.
Working at a tech support call center. I put in for a day off for my birthday a month in advance. Boss forgot to process my request and said I couldn't get it off when I asked about it closer to the date, saying something about time off requests being locked due to "upcoming trainings"
In the late 80s, I was on a YTS course (Youth Training Scheme). I along with everyone else were 16 at the time. Think of it as a mass apprenticeship where you learned a trade you wanted, got qualified at a basic level and put in places where you would progress in your chosen career. One day we were told to attend a toga party, and it was mandatory and failing to attend would result in dismissal. Toga parties are a Roman style food, drink and sex orgy. Illegal for under 18s at the time. I reported it along with the rest of the trainees and the place got shut down less than a week later and the staff were put on what would later become a sex offender's register for grooming.
People In This Online Group Share 40 Of The Most Intriguing “Screw This, I Quit” Stories - Why not say 'We went on Reddit cause we have no ideas of our own'?
I am grateful someone goes to Reddit and copies stuff over, I have tried Reddit, and don't find it user friendly. Did you know that there are several of these "list" sites that copy from one another. Bored Panda is by far the best IMO.
Load More Replies...In the late 80s, I was on a YTS course (Youth Training Scheme). I along with everyone else were 16 at the time. Think of it as a mass apprenticeship where you learned a trade you wanted, got qualified at a basic level and put in places where you would progress in your chosen career. One day we were told to attend a toga party, and it was mandatory and failing to attend would result in dismissal. Toga parties are a Roman style food, drink and sex orgy. Illegal for under 18s at the time. I reported it along with the rest of the trainees and the place got shut down less than a week later and the staff were put on what would later become a sex offender's register for grooming.
People In This Online Group Share 40 Of The Most Intriguing “Screw This, I Quit” Stories - Why not say 'We went on Reddit cause we have no ideas of our own'?
I am grateful someone goes to Reddit and copies stuff over, I have tried Reddit, and don't find it user friendly. Did you know that there are several of these "list" sites that copy from one another. Bored Panda is by far the best IMO.
Load More Replies...