'Printed the proof... and walked straight out': 20+ People who quit their jobs on the spot

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Sep 5, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

When you're pushed too far, sometimes you just can't take the heat anymore. These workers know the feeling all too well, and they shared the moments that were the final straw before they quit their job on the spot. 

As much as you try to vet a company before you join, you just don't know what your job will really be like. You can keep an eye out for red flags during the interview process, but you won't really know what it's like until you spend a few weeks emailing with your boss or calling clients. 

Since we all spend so much of our waking time at work, it can be psychologically draining to be in a job you despise. Maybe it's a micromanaging boss who questions every email you send. Or perhaps you work in retail with demanding customers who insult you day in and day out. There are a lot of reasons that can grow into resentment over time, and then one day, you might just snap. 

These people quit their jobs on the spot, and it seems like none of them regret leaving their toxic situations. Check out all these tales of brave workers who have had enough of their awful workplaces. Then, these chefs and waiters wrote about the funniest and most ridiculous requests they've ever gotten from customers. 

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  • 01
    Purple - 'The boss told him that he had to give him 2 weeks notice, and without missing a beat the guy replied: "For the next 2 weeks you're gonna notice that I'm not here."
    via Romain V on Unsplash
  • 02
    Font - What made you quit a job on the spot?
    via u/Sketch99
  • 03
    Font - Raspberries-Are-Evil. Back in 1998 I was working for Dell selling computers over the phones. People were not quite ordering on line yet. Anyway, it was so easy. I was making close to $100k a year bc of how the commission structure was. living in Austin as a 23 year old. So one day my manager asks me to train a new team of sales people because I was one of the top sellers on the floor every month. I turned this group into the most bad a sales team. My crew of 8 were all in the top 20 every
    via u/Raspberries-Are-Evil
  • 04
    Font - After 2 months, I show up on a Monday and none of the sales people are there except my team and a bunch of other new faces I hadn't seen before. Turns out Dell didn't like paying commissions and health insurance and 401ks, so they fired all the sales people and replaced them with "Temp" workers making $12 an hour. My entire team was the first group of temp works. I was not aware of this. They were told they had to "prove themselves" and be converted to "full time" with benefits. They were
    via u/Raspberries-Are-Evil
  • 05
    Font - I told them they can all go f themselves and quit. I heard that week they cleaned house and everyone, even managers who told me what was happening were gone and all replaced by temp hourly people.
    via u/Raspberries-Are-Evil
  • 06
    Font - BurghFinsFan Being hired to sell cars, then in the middle of training I get pulled aside and told I'm being moved to lot attendant. That position paid minimum wage and I didn't even get a chance to be on the sales floor. Left and never went back. I was in my mid twenties at the time and was trying to find a possible career. Didn't have time for that bulls bait and switch.
    via u/BurghFinsFan
  • 07
    Font - desert_nole 3 I had a very stressful job and was expected to answer Slack messages from my boss at any time, or I would be fired. He was in a different time zone so often I would be woken up at 3 am being yelled at to do something. One day in the office, he was talking about me on Slack S and accidentally posted it to a channel I was in. I was king myself for this guy and he didn't even appreciate it. I packed up and left, best thing I've ever done.
    via u/desert_nole
  • 08
    Font - LonnieJaw748 At 17, I was a young line cook at an upscale Italian restaurant. I was picking everything up so quickly I knew all the stations on the line within 10 months of hiring. I was getting minimum wage (at the time $7.25/hr) and asked for a $1/hr raise to reflect my diverse capabilities. Got denied and asked the chef when I could get it then. She said, "you're too young for a raise, just be happy with minimum wage". In
    via u/LonnieJaw748
  • 09
    Font - response I said I may have to start looking elsewhere for a job who'll pay me what I'm worth. She then said, "don't you know how expendable cooks are? If you leave I can replace you on the spot". So I did. A Sunday evening dinner service, very busy, at the height of the night I and my friend who I got hired took off our aprons and walked off the line towards the front door. He came with me in solidarity, plus I was his ride home. Felt good for a day or two, but I've never quit that way ev
    via u/LonnieJaw748
  • 10
    Font - [deleted] My first job in high school was washing dishes at a pub, I got it so I could buy my gf a necklace that she wanted as a Christmas present. Come NYE they decided to put one person on dishes for a packed evening, I was quickly inundated. Close at 10pm and at 11pm I'm still doing dishes and this fat bi chef is watching me laughing about how "I'm not gonna be able to spend the new year moment with my little girlfriend".
    via u/deleted
  • 11
    Font - I just said "I just remembered I don't need to do this" and walked out of that place and never went back. I'll never know that freedom again haha.
    via u/deleted
  • 12
    Font - dirty_dan_4563 When I was 16, I was a bus boy off the books. Made $250 a week working 35 hours a week because they paid per day as opposed to per hour. Manager comes to me and says they're restructuring how the pay scale is and said he wanted me to work less days, same amount of hours but for half the pay. I made him repeat to me his plan and once he confirmed it I said give me money for the week because I'm leaving.
    via u/dirty_dan_4563
  • 13
    Font - adpqook Not on the spot, but I was passed over for a promotion for a role I'd been doing unofficially for six months. There was no official position for it when I started doing it; it was one of the manager's responsibilities and they "delegated" it to me. Honestly I was happy to do it and I was frequently praised for how efficient and thorough I was doing it.
    via u/adpqook
  • 14
    Font - So when an official position opened up to do it full-time, I seemed like the obvious choice. A bunch of my coworkers didn't even apply for it because they told me they didn't think there was any point since I was obviously getting the job. They gave it to a guy that worked in a different department and had no experience using the complicated system required for that job. Then the manager asked me to train him in it. Except I wasn't really "asked." I was told in a way that sounded like it
    via u/adpqook
  • 15
    Font - I refused. I said to the manager "if I'm not good enough to get the job, I'm not good enough to teach someone else how to do it." The manager then accused me "throwing a temper tantrum." I quit about a week later. Honestly that wasn't the only reason. That was just the straw that broke the camel's back. Even the other managers couldn't believe he said that.
    via u/adpqook
  • 16
    Font - KayTheMadScientist Worked at a restaurant as a server. We'd just catered a large wedding reception. The owner's wife was chatting with the wedding party all night and occasionally getting the drinks. At the end of the night she said she's taking "her share" of the tips since she helped so much. I say fine even though that's illegal in our state. An hour and a half after the party ends the restaurant is still a mess
    via u/KayTheMadScientist
  • 17
    Font - and the owners wife is just standing around talking while I was supposed to clean up. It was almost midnight and I'd worked my other job earlier that day. I walked out without saying a word. They ended up giving me all of my tips on my last check.
    via u/KayTheMadScientist
  • 18
    Font - TerrapinRecordings. I had worked for a cleaning company and I had a total disaster of a person named Tina as my manager for about 4 months. Tina would work the night shift with a crew and basically did nothing. She would leave the majority the work for me to do during the day when it was a lot harder to do as I had my own list of duties as well as whatever she left for me from her own list. I was tettering on the edge of quitting but I hadn't found a replacement when one day I got a call
    via u/TerrapinRecordings
  • 19
    Font - from head office that Tina had quit and for about a month the job was exceptionally better and I effectively was my own boss. Things were going remarkably smooth for again, about a month when I got a text message from Tina asking me to do a bunch of extra stuff. I called the owner and they told me that Tina had approached them about coming back and that they were rehiring her in her former position and I literally just packed up and walked out about an hour into my shift. I had zero inten
    via u/TerrapinRecordings
  • 20
    Font - scooty-boots The debt relief law firm I worked for stole $19,000.00 in incentives for a young family that was in distress and losing their home. It was soaked up in bogus attorney fees and high- fived about in the office.
    via u/scooty-boots
  • 21
    Font - sonheungwin S I got blamed for something that wasn't my fault, was in an argument with our VP or marketing because I had the audacity to suggest a solution that would have avoided our problem instead of accepting fault for something I didn't do. He told me he doesn't pay me to think, so that was my last day.
    via u/sonheungwin
  • 22
    Font - Numerhasit 44 8 & 7 More Not me but a middle aged tradesman where I work. I work underground and it isn't for everybody, terrible environment and what not. This particular individual starting working and after a few weeks decided that it wasn't for him. Bad conditions and hostile supervisor. He approached the boss at the morning meeting and told him that he wasn't going underground and that he was quitting. The
    via u/Numerhasit
  • 23
    Font - boss told him that he had to give him 2 weeks notice and without missing a beat the guy replied: "for the next 2 weeks you're gonna notice that I'm not here", turned around, packed his s and left. Was never heard from again.
    via u/Numerhasit
  • 24
    Font - [deleted] I was hired to do payroll and accounts at a small welding/engineering firm. Entering the timesheets and checking them against rosters and I realised that the tight-a owner had been shorting employees almost 3 hours each week by not paying them for toolbox talks and all that stuff. Printed the proof, told the boys in the workshop, and walked straight out. Emailed the resignation from my car.
    via u/deleted
  • 25
    Font - Jack_ov_most_trades Had a job where the people were toxic, the management was mostly toxic, and the other techs made themselves look better by making other techs look bad. I had 2 guys on my shift who would go behind me during maintenance or repairs and undo stuff I did and call it out over the radio for all to hear, so I started recording myself making the repairs, and when I got called out and showed the video, I
    via u/Jack_ov_most_trades
  • 26
    Font - was told "you're not supposed to have your phone out on the floor" and got wrote up. I walked out with no warning in the middle of the busiest weeks of the year leaving them shorthanded with only 2 idiots to handle calls.
    via u/Jack_ov_most_trades
  • 27
    Font - _nino 62 57 I worked at McDonald's when I was 16. We used to get a free McDouble or hot and spicy with a small fries and drink for our lunch break. One day when I went on break the franchise owner was there and when he noticed I asked for cheese on the Hot and spicy he attempted to make me pay for the whole meal because cheese wasn't free. I thought he was joking so I laughed and started walking towards the break room until he
    via u/_nino
  • 28
    Font - yelled at me not to walk away from him In front of customers and my coworkers. I couldn't believe it, this grown a successful business man was hounding at 16 year old for a slice of cheese. Told him I wasn't ganna pay, put the food down and walked out. They tried calling me to come to work that weekend I told them no thanks and never went back.
    via u/_nino
  • 29
    Font - [deleted] 3 Walked in to the interview, everything went well, accepted the job offer. Went to the front desk to do the paperwork and noticed that the contract had a different pay amount, and that I would be "interning" for the first month for $100/week. I asked first about the amount difference, was told "oh, this the standard contract, it just hasn't been updated for your specific offer." I told them they'd need to edit and initial the changes before I would sign. "Oh...that's not how th
    via u/deleted
  • 30
    Font - I thanked them for their time and left without signing anything. They called me back on the day I was supposed to have started asking where I was. I told them because didn't sign the contract, I was never an employee....hooo boy that was a fun call.
    via u/deleted
  • 31
    Font - Difficult Minute I was getting married. I had a temp job, and told them on my first day that I needed a weekend off in a couple of months for my wedding. I reminded them every couple of weeks, had it on the calendar, and even reminded them that Monday. That weekend came, and I was on the schedule. I told my boss that I needed it off for my wedding, and she said, "You're just a kid, can't you move it? We really need the parts."
    via u/Difficult Minute
  • 32
    Font - Admittedly, I was 21 marrying my 19 year old girlfriend, but yeah. I laughed at her and left. We were scheduled Saturday and Sunday, two "attendance points" and you're fired, so I assumed that I'd be job hunting on Monday after my wedding.
    via u/Difficult Minute
  • 33
    Font - I went to another temp agency on Monday and had a job lined up for Monday evening. On Tuesday, the temp job called and asked if I was coming back. I told that person (the temp agency lady) what they'd done to me, she was upset that they'd done that, tried to get me to go back, but I liked the new job and stayed there.
    via u/Difficult Minute
  • 34
    Font - ElToberino 3 Had a job about 10 years ago doing tech support for an ISP for a week. The pay was minimum wage + bonuses you earned for selling people stuff. And by stuff I mean terrible, overpriced services that you can get online for free. I was still in the phase of training where I had a supervisor listening in on my calls and after a call, he told me I should have paused to try and sell him some s y antivirus service before I fixed his problem. Handed in my headset right there. Felt so
    via u/ElToberino
  • 35
    Font - MEEE3EEEP S I was at a company for about a year and a half as an assistant project manager. In that year and a half, i had 3 different bosses, the newest one being a heavy micromanager, i was getting paid about 20% below the standard salary for the position, overworked without any additional compensation, and the overall culture of the company was just flawed.
    via u/MEEE3EEEP
  • 36
    Font - My boss started nitpicking my work at the end of the day, i told her i had plenty of time to get it done before the end of the day, but she kept pushing and escalating. She was borderline screaming and I just cut her off and said "I'm not doing this anymore, i quit." she yelled back "WELL I NEED IT IN WRITING" and i said back with the straightest face "i don't have to do sin writing." I quietly packed all my stuff up, said good luck to my coworkers, and left.
    via u/MEEE3EEEP
  • 37
    Font - A year later (after working a couple of other jobs), i accepted a Project Manager position with a competing company and make almost twice as much as i was making at the previous. And i get to post on reddit while at work without getting yelled at.
    via u/MEEE3EEEP
  • 38
    Font - Notsurprised92 32 3 3 Asked for a raise and was told okay. Next morning (Friday) I was told by the same person who agreed with the raise that I should put a few more years in and then we'll talk again. Locked my tool box at the end of the day and called a tow truck to pick it up. Shop manager was shocked that next Monday to find a empty spot where my tools were and couldn't understand why I left.
    via u/Notsurprised92
  • 39
    Font - bonsaithot 3 2 S3 & 3 More Lol, I had an inside hint from HR that there was about to be mass layoffs and my name was on the list. I scheduled my week long vacation and returning the day before layoffs were presumed to have happened. My boss REAMED me out for daring to take a vacation. She said I would never advance in the company if I chose such a formative time in a project to take a vacation. She told me I would never be an executive producer if I went on a vacation before project launc
    via u/bonsaithot
  • 40
    Font - (even though I wouldn't be able to touch it for the week I was away anyways) and that I would always be known in the television industry as "lazy". I chilled, took my vacation, and returned. She was mad and said that she was upset with me for having left and "made her" take care of my project for me - chewed me out in front of the entire company in the conference room. I chilled and was like "Aren't you laying off a bunch of us tomorrow? I'm just waiting for you to fire me so I can collec
    via u/bonsaithot
  • 41
    Font - Entire room literally starts panicking and management tries to understand how the fu I knew about layoffs. It was my one true Regina George-causing-chaos moment in my life.
    via u/bonsaithot

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