'I hid them all around the facility': Disgruntled employee stashes the company's key collection before quitting, serving his resignation letter with a side of pettiness

Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor

Jul 28, 2023 1:00 PM EDT

When you start to feel yourself becoming the unappreciated cornerstone of your company, it might be time to consider other employment. Your managers might act like they have their ducks in a row, but they always seem to forget who's the one lining 'em up. If you have ever worked for a boss who never recognized your value in the workplace, you can probably relate to this next story. In this case, OP had worked for his company for years, picking up responsibilities here and there until he eventually ran the place only to be forced to make the pettiest resignation of his life.

For OP, his job was entirely tolerable until they sold the joint and were under new management. Unappreciated, belittled, and watching management repeatedly make promises they'd never keep, OP felt the winds of change blow him out the door. It's always been baffling to me when bosses are surprised when a loyal employee marches out on them. How can an employer not imagine their own actions could have been the cause of this? OP's boss's were certainly baffled when they received a lengthy, strongly worded resignation letter, a mysterious message on the wall, and a dozen company keys that were nowhere to be found.

This excellent tale of petty revenge starts with a disgruntled employee and ends with arrogant managers without a leg to stand on and a desperate Easter egg hunt on their hands. For more stories of workplace cleverness, check out this IT professional that applies for his own job under an alias so he can make double the salary doing the same work.