'[I] and the entire waiting staff walked out': 20+ Workers share stories of quitting their job mid shift

Author image for Brad Dickson
Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Nov 8, 2023 7:00 AM EST

Surely most, if not all of us, have fantasized at one point or another about quitting our jobs on the spot, getting up and just walking out, either silently slipping out an exit door never to be seen again or adding a little fanfare to the occasion and going out with a touch of bravado by telling your boss and coworkers what you really think of them. Yet, for most of us, these fantasies will remain exactly that. When it comes to employment, there's too much at stake, and when you burn bridges, there's no telling what the fallout might be. We still live in a world where referrals from previous employers hold a lot of power, and when your healthcare is tied to your employment, it's kind of hard to safely just walk out the door.

These workers gathered in this online discussion to share their stories of calling it quits, leaving in one way or another in the middle of their shift. Next, see this collection of stories from workers who shared the jobs they were glad to be fired from.

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  • 01
    "[] and the entire waiting staff walked out."
    via Jessie McCall
  • 02
    Posted by u/dativy Have you ever gotten up and quit your job in the middle of a work shift? If so, why?
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  • 03
    TheRealReapz 11 hr. ago I was looking for work and took anything I could find, unfortunately the job I found was telemarketing. I hate myself too. Anyway the work sucked and I hated it, I always took no for an answer and that got me in lots of trouble. They kept putting me in a room with this old VHS tape on pressure tactics and never taking no for an answer. The tape went for an hour so I just had a nap instead.
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  • 04
    Thankfully I was also looking for work on the side and found/got a job at the local supermarket, so I knew I had a backup plan. The next time they put me in that room with that tape, I had a nap again and then when I came out they said "if you have to go in there again your position will be terminated". I just said "I'll save you the trouble, I quit". That really them off because they were already understaffed. 2.7k ↓ Reply Share
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  • 05
    1/p55 Milton Robert 10 hr. ago Same thing happened to me. Everyone yelling at me or hanging up. Boss pressuring me to make more calls. Took my lunch break and never went back 725 Reply Share
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  • 06
    handandfoot8099 11 hr. ago Dishwasher, had worked there 2 weeks. The A/C for kitchen and office both broke the day before I started. Office A/C was fixed the following day, kitchen A/C 'wasn't priority'. It was a heatwave in August, hitting 115° outside. The whole kitchen staff walked out. ↑ 4.0k ↓ Reply Share dreamtofalligators · 9 hr. ago If the kitchen staff didn't walk out, someone would probably have died. Reply Share 2.0k
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  • 07
    DyslexicIdeas 11 hr. ago Day 2. Owner tells me that he pays taxes for us so he pays cash and it is after taxes. So 7.5 and not the 10/hr we agreed to. I walked out and called the IRS hotline to report fraud. ↑ 6.7k ↓ 4 Unicom Topta Reply Share Novel Newt5251 - 7 hr. ago I had a lady who owned a subway do this to me, for like two weeks. She said she was getting my payroll straightened out and when I got my check she took out "taxes" and she actually never paid them either so when I did my taxes t
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  • 08
    thrwawaythrwaway_now 12 hr. ago Temp agency sent me for assignment to a small factory making furniture. 7am start time. At 7:03 or :04, while still waiting for some sort of foreman/ supervisor to come over & say hello, here's what we do here . coupla dudes start shouting at each other & it breaks out into full blown fisticuffs. …….... Yeah, I'd seen enough. Funny how i have a completely crystal clear memory of looking at the clock in my car as i drove away. 7:12am 3.5k Reply Share
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  • 09
    SeveralTheory5 . 11 hr. ago Hope you got paid for that quarter hour. Reply Share 732 thrwawaythrwaway_now 10 hr. ago Lmao! Yeah, rules said i was supposed to have a manager's/ supervisor's sig on an assignment sheet but that never happened, naturally. Thing is, the agency kinda- sorta knew this place was a bit of a dumpster fire. The rep 100% took my word for it. In a good faith move he had me paid 4 hours which was decent of him to do :) Reply Share 1.1k ...
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  • 10
    BoobsCirca1942 12 hr. ago I worked at a car wash during the winter in the wet tunnel. Manager got in my face for wearing a coat that didn't have the company logo on it, but they didn't make uniform coats. Told him to eat my entire and choke on it, and then left. It gets below zero here regularly, I'm not risking my life or even my comfort for $12 an hour. 3.0k 1.1k Reply Share CPOX 11 hr. ago Missed opportunity to say "Wipe down you, and your this!" and " eyebrows!" 291 .. PipBoyDmo 11 hr. ago B
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  • 11
    Raspberries-Are-Evil 11 hr. ago Dell computer sales 1998. They fired 90% of all the commission making sales people and replaced them with hourly workers from a temp agency. They then asked me to train them. I was like, "maybe you should have trained them before firing everyone- why would I train them so you can fire me in 2 weeks?" I then grabbed my and noped out of there! 1.6k Reply Share
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  • 12
    Winstonpentouche. 10 hr. ago Similar thing just happened to them again. They laid off 6.5K workers many of which were on my team when I worked for them (2019-2020, I saw some writing on the wall and bounced, maybe early but justified). They then brought in a ton of fresh college grads because they understand they can work these people to the bone. This lay off affected people who were there for 20+ years and it's all they'd known. 378 Reply Share
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  • 13
    Tensonrom 12 hr. ago I was a cook and new manager kept making me cover dish pit cuz dishwasher was not showing up, because they refused to hire another one and were making him work 7 days/week. I told him if he kept making me close dish pit I was gonna put my 2 weeks in. He said "good" and went back to cooking. So I went and grabbed my shoes and backpack, got his attention, he turned around and I gave him a peace sign and left. Keep in mind i had been there for three years, worked as a busser, d
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  • 14
    Flaky_Avocado_8406 12 hr. ago Yeah me and the entire waiting staff walked out. The new owner of the restaurant i worked for wanted to charge the staff for breakages. ↑ 2.5k ↓ Reply Share epicenter69 11 hr. ago Restaurant owners need to understand that breakages happen and are part of overhead. Glad the whole crew walked. Wonder if the owner was able to keep up. 988 Reply Share
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  • 15
    Dead Hours 11 hr. ago I was 17 and just finshed mopping the floor at closing time and was walking out the door. The owners son walked across the floor in boots covered in motor oil and told me to "mop this up" I dropped the mop on the foor and told him to do it himself. I being paid minimum wage and wasn't going to deal with that :. 1.2k ↓ Reply Share
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  • 16
    Stars CanScream 11 hr. ago Yes. Fe Grod. Was a package handler making $12 an hour. The requirements were insane for the conditions they had us working in. One day, I told my sort manager that I was running to the restroom and he was like "Cmon, man. Can you hold it for another 45 at least?" I told him no, and went off to the bathroom. I was already fed up with the job, but that was the tipping point for me. I got out the bathroom, walked to the time clock, clocked out, and left. A month later, a
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  • 17
    jerrbear1011 11 hr. ago Had a part time job for about 40 minutes in college. Started as a data entry job, paid 7.25. The owner found out I was going to school for an IT related field and starting throwing tasks like updating his website and basic tech support. I left almost immediately. 435 Reply Share
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  • 18
    StrangeCitizen 12 hr. ago edited 10 hr. ago I got a job at a new grooming salon in a Petco. It was a commission based job, and they still had a sign out front saying "grooming salon coming soon". So after a week of making no money, I came into work and the manager said, "You can't wear jeans here.". "Ok", I replied, then turned around and walked out never to be seen again. He called a week later asking me to come back. I laughed and hung up. 1.0k Reply Share
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  • 19
    Agreeable-Yellow6008 2 days ago $10 an hour. My boss would solve problems exclusively by shouting. One day I was super busy, and I skipped putting out a table. I was wrong, but it was one of sixty I put out. The chef asked nicely if I could. I said yeah. I'll grab it. Before I could. I hear just screaming. It's nothing helpful. Just screeching the same words I was told thirty seconds earlier. At that point I was sick of it. I told her "This is why we can't keep staff.". I walked out. I got woken
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  • 20
    Koisplash1794 · 11 hr. ago I was 23 working a construction temp job as a carpenter doing demo at an office they were renovating. The foreman of the company that hired me asked me to do two things, clear out a room and assist the electricians that were working the site. About an hour into that task he came in the building while I was helping the electricians unload materials and yelled at me for pausing demo to lend a hand even though that's pretty much what he told me to do.
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  • 21
    I dropped everything, packed up all my stuff, and told the guy to shove it. Id been treated better by superiors when I was working 2 minimum wage jobs and living out of my car then I had for the whole 2 days I knew this foreman. Reply Share 195
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  • 22
    Ilovekittensomg 11 hr. ago Yes, actually! I had been at this place for a few weeks, it was an overnight delivery job, we'd load our trucks up around 5 pm, and punch out around 7 am. There were some major red flags I had seen, but it built up until one more thing caused me to snap. Some of the things I had seen leading up to this: Poor equipment, and not enough equipment. They had like 12 trucks for 12 routes, and they wouldn't fix anything, so there were broken trucks and you had to get there ea
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  • 23
    The worst pay system I've ever seen. It was so convoluted and it changed often, it was designed to reward those who cut corners and did as little as possible. The people who picked the orders sometimes weren't done on time, so you'd have to wait around to leave. Sometimes this pushed you over the 14 hour DOT regulation, and they'd just tell you to lie and put your time for under 14 hours.
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  • 24
    On top of those issues, it put me on the opposite schedule as the rest of my family, so it was really hard on my home life. Anyway, I had finished about a week of training and went off on my own. First day was ok. Second day I had to hunt down a truck and load straps. I ran all over the warehouse, and talked to 3 different supervisors. It was like pulling teeth just to get the basic equipment needed to do the job. I finally get the stuff, get all my paperwork, get the truck loaded, and hit the r
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  • 25
    when they call me. There's 5 more stops, they didn't give me any papers for it or say anything about it while I spoke to everyone in that warehouse. They wanted me to come get it. I delivered what I had loaded onto the truck originally, brought it back, gave them my badge and said I was done. They tried all sorts of begging and threats, but I've never been so done with a place. ↑ 70 ↓ Reply Share
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  • 26
    DFlippaG 12 hr. ago I worked a door, we barred all the local drug dealers, they came back multiple times over the next few weeks trying to attack us. Came to work one day and they was all allowed back in the pub, the landlord missed the money they put behind the bar. I left, wasn't worth the risk. I just walked off the door and left them to it. Reply Share 420
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  • 27
    Federal-Television12 12 hr. ago Was server. Working for tips only. Had one table in one week. Made 2 bucks. Probably nobody ever realized I was gone. 292 Reply Share 105 ... Moag14 11 hr. ago One table in one week? How bad was that restaurant? Reply Share
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  • 28
    Nismotech_52. 12 hr. ago I walked into work, unlocked my toolbox, took deep breathe, locked my toolbox and drove home. 261 Reply Share radraze2kx 11 hr. ago What kind of work was it? 38 Reply Share
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  • 29
    Ok_Calligrapher1809 - 12 hr. ago I was a convenience store cashier. We got a new manager and just after I counted my drawer she introduced herself and told me "you've heard the term, all runs downhill? Well, that's what it's like to work for me" I said ok, well I dont work for you, bye. 385 385 Reply Share
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  • 30
    xyz1928375 11 hr. ago Yep. I was working as a cook in a small restaurant. Since it was "slow" the owner left to go play tennis while he made me do everything - serving, washing dishes, and cooking. So I was literally the only employee there. And what do you know, that day it got busy and we got a bunch of customers and I ran the entire operation solo - serving, cooking, washing dishes. After the rush died down I quit and walked out. 83 Reply Share
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  • 31
    DON'T BELONG HERE love_is_an_action 11 hr. ago Over two decades ago, I walked out on Tat. They kept scheduling me outside of my availability, no matter how often I brought it to their attention. The last time they did so, I reminded them that my availability had zero wiggle room. They told me to figure it out. So I did. Other than that aspect of things being mismanaged, I liked working there well enough. I had nice peers and all. 130 Reply Share
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  • 32
    yakfsh1 2 days ago Yep. I started a job on a Monday. Friday came and I get a paycheck at lunchtime. Didn't expect that as most places hold back a week. They paid on Friday assuming you are finishing out your day and giving you "credit" for those hours. Anyways I get my check and I notice I'm being paid $2.00 less an hour than we agreed on. I bring it up and the foreman tells me, "Yeah sorry about that I couldn't get the big guy (the owner) to agree to those rates." I'm like, oh and you didn't
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  • 33
    think that might be something I would like to know? His answer, "Well, there isn't much we can do about that now, I'll try and work on him in a month or two", and he turned and walked away. I got up, wheeled my tool box to the garage door and brought my truck around and loaded it up. He comes out just as I'm finished and his jaw drops to the floor and tries to get me to stay. No way dude, you screwed me, I'm out. C-Ya. Called me five times in the next two weeks each time offering more money but
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  • 34
    Moag14 11 hr. ago Had a creepy i manager that would give pay raises to women only. When I found out I had been working there longer and getting paid less because I didn't have I brought it up to him. Dude didn't like getting called out so I told him I wasn't coming back. Finished my shift and didn't come back for my next shift. Dude calls me trying to get me back and I was like nope, if you call me again it better be to tell me my last check is ready for pick up. 135 Reply Share
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  • 35
    xaradevir 11 hr. ago Yes. Worked at a factory, moved from the "temp agency only" product line to the "new direct hire" product line. A year later trained to be a machine lead for one of their fancy products, managing a couple other workers. Something like 6 months later, we all came into work to find they had disassembled the entire thing and gotten rid of it. They sent us all to do miscellaneous scrap and cleaning work for days while they were deciding, probably, what to do with us.
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  • 36
    2nd day of that I realized I was completely sick of the place, nobody there really cared anything about me, and I didn't want to keep doing this . I was on break, just walked to the security check in, dropped my badge, went home. None of my "friends" ever called or messaged, so I was right about that one. ↑ 32 ↓ Reply Share
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  • 37
    ironhead_mule 12 hr. ago I worked for Dis as a installer. Nothing was said to me during the hiring/training process. After about four months of work, my manager complained I wasn't upselling enough new installs (like a basic sub package to premium channels, for example). I told him I had no desire to sell people something they didn't want. He pressed, I walked. To add to it, I was a remote tech (worked out of my house instead of a shop, Dish shipped me all my equipment). I told him he could pick
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  • 38
    baconandpotates 12 hr. ago I worked in retail when I was young. At one job, another employee started violently berating me and calling me names after I asked a simple question. When I started crying over it and walked to the back room to calm down, he followed me and made fun of me. I think he was mentally challenged, but I wasn't going to put up with that kind of harassment at work. I walked out of that store and never went back. 112 Reply Share
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  • 39
    rohlinxeg 11 hr. ago Was working as a telemarketer 20+ years ago. Guy a few cubicles away from me got in trouble for going off-script, flipped out, threw his large computer monitor on the ground and said he was coming back tomorrow to all of us. I took my time eating my sandwich at lunch that day, came back, and decided that I had spread enough misery for one summer. Told my manager and left. ↑ 60 ↓ Reply Share
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  • 40
    OTFoh 11 hr. ago edited 9 hr. ago My husband. He was summoned for an emergency behavior meeting. Started with "even though your numbers are top in the company you get up from your desk for water too many times a day." He said "I'm going to stop your right there, we can make this quick, I'm out"....and immediately left. Worked in logistics. ↑85 ↓ Reply Share
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  • 41
    nachobidnis 11 hr. ago Long story short since I've posted it before elsewhere...For 3 years I watched the owner get in verbal shouting matches with his employees then have a closed door "apology" meeting, and repeat sometimes with the same employees. It was my turn, we did the yelling back and forth, I knew how it would play out. Grabbed my jacket from the office told the 1 coworker I liked who saw our argument "good luck man" and left at 10 am on 3/13/20.. timing could literally not be worse bu
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  • 42
    GoodGodI5uck 2 days ago I was finishing my masters and working part time in a call center for a bank. My first 8 months were great as I was recognized a lot for good work and was pushed to be part of many different initiatives off the phone. Once I had some seniority, I opted for a better shift and my manager changed. This entitled sob was the son of another employee in the bank who held a very high position. The next 6 months were me. He never recognized any of my hard work. I was in the top 3%
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  • 43
    each quarter I won, he decided to nominate someone else. First he nominated a cute girl who recently joined because according to him it will motivate her. That made no sense as quarterly nominations and she was there only a month. She quit 3 weeks later. The second time he nominated another female employee who took countless smoke breaks with him during the shift. By this time I was very unhappy and lost all motivation. On top of all this, it
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  • 44
    wasn't my field. Once I finished my Masters I would be going to a different field. But i still had a few months before that and I really liked the people I worked with. Also the work was literally next door to where I lived. I took 2 weeks off to study for my exams. I came back and found out my ex manager has been promoted to a Manager position of en entire branch to the shock of everyone, even the other managers. I was ready to put in my last few months with a new manager as I knew mostly every
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  • 45
    the floor. I was excited because I was due a bonus which I would have used to pay for my tuition and my mini vacation. Turns out my ex manager gave me a satisfactory review. Even though I was the highest performer on his team by a mile. That cut my bonus by half. I was super irritated and frustrated that it was quite visible. My new manager who was a sweetheart went over my review. He asked me if I was ever spoken to about longer breaks or using too much pause time
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  • 46
    between calls and I said no. He checked the entries of conversations and they were during my 2 weeks off. So he never spoke to me and just put random dates in. My new manager sent this info to the Director and I was called in to her office the next day. Instead of correcting the bs she started making excuses. I was getting so upset that I ripped a poster in her office and wrote "I quit" on the back and slapped it on the table. I left my key card on her table too and walked right out. I texted my
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  • 47
    the bank. I got my full bonus with my last pay as my review was changed to "exceeded expectations". The director had the manager reach out to me asking if I wanted to reconsider and come back. They really thought I was going to sue them or try to. I had no money for that and I was so glad I finally quit. I lost all motivation to work there. Anyways yea, I just ripped that "let's make that someday happen" poster and wrote "I quit" on it as my notice. Reply Share 40
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  • 48
    Girlin Michigan 11 hr. ago I worked in a service department and was on the phone with a customer when my manager came into my work space and started yelling at me for some reason (I'll never know why). I held up my finger and showed him I was on the phone but he kept yelling at me. I told the customer that I would need to call him back, hung up the phone then proceeded to pull a couple pictures off my desk, get my purse, and to the back to clock out. I literally ignored him and just left. It fel
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  • 49
    De MewLalouve 10 hr. ago My boss had the very good idea of firing me when I arrived in the morning, but she still wanted me to do my work day! I escaped through an emergency exit.... ↑ 15 ↓ Reply Share
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