Nightmare Jobs That Made Workers Throw in the Towel Mid Shift

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JR Atkinson • Writer and Editor
Nov 11, 2023 6:00 PM EST

Quitting a job is usually a long, premeditated (at least 2 weeks) process with steps to follow and goodbyes to say. We may daydream about walking out on a whim on a particularly stressful day, but the vast majority of us don't actually do it. When I worked at a coffee shop and had to wake up at ungodly hours of the morning to open the shop, I would always weigh my options: getting up and going, or going back to bed and never speaking to anyone there again. I always chose the former, out of respect to my coworkers and to myself, but I always considered my options. 

Not everyone is like me though, and some folks have found themselves in work situations much worse than simply having to get up early. So when Reddit user dativy opened the floor for folks to share their wildest work walk-out stories, the brave among us opened up. 

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  • 01
    r/AskReddit u/dativy • 2d Have you ever gotten up and quit your job in the middle of a work shift? If so, why?
    via u/dativy
  • 02
    TheRealReapz. 2d 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. Thankfully I was also looking for work on the side and found/got a job at the local superm
    via u/TheRealReapz
  • 03
    handandfoot8099 • 2d 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.
    via u/handandfoot8099
  • 04
    Tensonrom. 2d 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, dishwash
    via u/Tensonrom
  • 05
    Dead Hours • 2d 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 being on the foor and told him to do it himself. I paid minimum wage and wasn't going to deal with that .....
    via u/Dead_Hours
  • 06
    dark_wolf1994 • 2d Similar situation. I started at a McDonald's because I was desperate. First day, it's already 2 hours past the time I was supposed to go home, but they kept telling me I had to stay and wait (for what exactly?). Finally they said sweep the kitchen and go home. I swept into a big pile, was about to put everything into the dustpan when the shift lead came by and said "looks good!" Then she kicked the pile out and said "now do it again." I made myself an ice cream cone and left.
    via u/dark_wolf1994
  • 07
    Flaky_Avocado_8406 • 2d 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. D
    via u/Flaky_Avocado_8406
  • 08
    BoobsCirca1942 • 2d 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.
    via u/BoobsCirca1942
  • 09
    thrwawaythrwaway_now • 2d 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
    via u/thrwawaythrwaway_now
  • 10
    Raspberries-Are-Evil • 2d 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!
    via u/Raspberries-Are-Evil
  • 11
    ConspicuousCat80 • 2d I was a bar back in my 20s, and I had an incredibly emotionally and physically abusive boss. It was a weekend night, and the bar had two floors, and I was the only bar back that night, and there was only one bartender on each floor. At about midnight, food orders would start coming in left and right, and that night was no exception. Between having to empty out ashtrays, pick up dirty glasses, clean tables, wash dishes, and make all of the food orders, I couldn't keep up. My
    via u/ConspicuousCat80
  • 12
    jerrbear1011 • 2d 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.
    via u/jerrbear1011
  • 13
    Stars CanScream • 2d Yes. FedEx Ground. 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, at
    via u/StarsCanScream
  • 14
    zachtheperson • 2d Closest I personally came was giving one days notice when I was a 3rd grade teacher. Basically the entire job was me fighting administration for more than literally zero time to actually do the job I was there to do. When I asked for time to plan lessons, help students who were falling behind, or work on helping special needs students in my class, I was denied every time. No exaggeration, I was in the beginning phases of a mental breakdown. I went in to front office one mornin
    via u/zachtheperson
  • 15
    Fondil-Mahbols - 2d I worked in a Meijer distribution warehouse when I first got out of the Army. I already had one foot out the door as I was awaiting a drug screen as a final step to federal employment as a civilian. I worked in the refrigerated foods section picking orders and loading trucks. The frozen foods were in a deep freezer that was something ridiculous like -10° below if I remember correctly. I was used as a fill-in for the deep freezer some nights when they were short handed but thi
    via u/Fondil-Mahbols
  • 16
    StrangeCitizen • 2d 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.
    via u/StrangeCitizen
  • 17
    Agreeable-Yellow6008 2d $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 up the
    via u/Agreeable-Yellow6008
  • 18
    Koisplash1794 • 2d 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. I dropped everything, packed
    via u/Koisplash1794
  • 19
    OTFoh • 2d 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.
    via u/OTFoh
  • 20
    Chavestvaldt • 2d As a kid I worked at Sears for a summer, as a cashier. Sears is a company that's been actively dying for years, so they were really pushing these credit cards with extremely predatory interest rates - we were required to try to sell them to every customer. I'm not a I so when I was told 'no,' I dropped the issue and carried on the transaction as normal. One day a manager was standing behind me watching me ring out a big line of people. When I didn't try to bully anyone into get
    via u/Chavestvaldt
  • 21
    or acrizz • 2d I was at the height of my alcoholism, working in a pizza shop. I was making pizzas and trying to hold it together while in active withdrawal. Got my paycheck via direct deposit and decided I would move on to bigger and better things that day. Bigger and better things being a big bottle of gas station vodka and some $1 lemonade for a mixer. Don't recommend working in a hot environment as an alcoholic in active withdrawal.
    via u/acrizz
  • 22
    lewd-dev. 2d McDonalds. Our manager Mark was a He chucked the bag of Mcflurry toppings at me during another one of his tantrums and told me to fill it. I threw it back at his head, then threw my hat at him, then my McDs polo,, then walked out half naked. Would have thrown my pants and shoes too but I paid for them. you Mark. ..
    via u/lewd-dev

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antiwork workplace-stories work coworkers i quit askreddit toxic-boss nightmare rage quit reddit thread Reddit quitting toxic-work-environment
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