'I decided to quit on the spot instead of giving them 2 weeks notice': 20+ Employees who quit their toxic jobs and abandoned their bad bosses

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 3, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

The best time to quit your bad job is today, and the second-best time is in two weeks from now. You can do it! Freshen up that resume, get your interview suit dry-cleaned, and call up your references: you can get back out in the field and find the job of your dreams. 

Staying at the wrong job can be comfortable, but unpleasant. Employees get used to clocking in and doing the same tasks day in and day out. They get accustomed to the monotony. But that doesn't make it enjoyable. Plus, the best way to increase your salary throughout your lifetime is to move from job to job. Some estimates say you should change jobs at least every 2 years! You'll boost your salary, get those good benefits, and find yourself taking a vacation in the tropics instead of stressing over your boss's phone calls. 

These people had some pretty good reasons for quitting their jobs, which you can read all about below. Next, dive into the story of a 5-year-old who took a tumble into his neighbor's koi pond, harming some of the guy's $1000+ fish, and leading the child's mom to say, "He's just a kid." 

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10488907264
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 02
    [deleted] My first quitting story - My boss told me that we were going to spend our breaks. doing mandatory Zumba, and I told her I was going home.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 03
    Pyrhhus I put in my two weeks at a call center and my supervisor (who was great the whole time i was there) said "Yeah, I'm just gonna give you two weeks paid vacation. I know how done you are with this place- with your notice in, I give it an hour before you would call the first ride customer you Have a got a
    via u/Pyrhhus
  • 04
    nice life man, it's been good working with you" Wherever you are these days Chris... good call, you were 100 percent right. F that place and its customers.
    via u/Pyrhhus
  • 05
    Ma... Dallas office, well established company with a new CEO. CEO writes an all- company email with some sort of harmless "inspirational" messaging about how we are going to crush it and do well, blah, blah, blah. Nothing to get worked up about. A woman in accounting who was mild mannered and a
    via u/Makerbot2000
  • 06
    Christian Texas lady does a reply-all that says something like: "Like we believe a word that pompous f has to say." She had been with the company for 15 years and came in super early to do the books, so by the time most people got to work, it had already happened. But people there at the time said that her reply-all went out, she made a loud (for her)
    via u/Makerbot2000
  • 07
    squeak when she realized her mistake, calmly got an empty box from the mailroom, packed up her desk, walked out to her car without saying a word to anyone, and drove away. She was never seen again.
    via u/Makerbot2000
  • 08
    LiesureSuitLarry Didn't happen to me but I got to watch this happen. I went into a Taco John's and ordered a super burrito with no tomatoes or black olives, to go. They weren't super busy but there were a couple of orders ahead of mine. So I'm standing near the counter watching them put
    via u/LiesureSuitLarry
  • 09
    items together and I see that they have started on my burrito. The cook loads it up with everything and wraps it up. He has it in his right hand and reaches up with his left to clear out the order on the monitor. He stops for a moment when he realizes that he f ed up by putting everything on the burrito. He is facing me and he turns around and fires a 100 mph fast-ball burrito against the
    via u/LiesureSuitLarry
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    back wall. He walks into the back room, takes off his Taco Johns shirt, puts on a T-shirt, grabs his smokes and his drink and heads out the back door.
    via u/LiesureSuitLarry
  • 11
    30 seconds later the girl running the drive-thru wants to know where Brian is. I pointed him out to her as by now he is walking across the parking lot toward downtown. I told her that I think Brian gave his notice. She says a few choice words and wants to know what I ordered. Way to give it the man, Brian!
    via u/LiesureSuitLarry
  • 12
    [deleted] A co-worker of mine at Subway when I was working during college. It's the lunch shift of one of the busiest shops in the area. Guy gets halfway through making a sandwich, looks at the customer and then our manager and says..." Til next time bro" and just walks out.
    via u/[deleted]
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    Never came back, not even to pick up his final paycheck. When I left to go back to school, I left 100 sticky notes in random places throughout the store that said "Til Next Time"
    via u/[deleted]
  • 14
    Pr... Relayed to me by one of my buddies. Way back when we were still in HS my friend's coworker was getting fed up with the supermarket they worked in. It was a few towns over in a not so nice area and was right off the highway so that made it super busy and a lot of out of town commuters. He was going away to college and hated management. On his
    via u/ProlongedSuffering
  • 15
    last day a woman walks up to his line and tries to brow beat him into taking a bunch of expired coupons. He tells her he needs to check with his supervisor and slowly pulls out a Jack in the Box from under his till and methodically places it on the scanner and just starts cranking the thing. When it finally pops he looks her in the eye and just says "Yeah, he said no". She flipped out
    via u/ProlongedSuffering
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    and screamed for a manager while he just cracks up, takes off his smock and walks out. Edit: Sent a link to my buddy who wanted to correct a few points. Apparently we were older than I remember (Freshmen in college). The
    via u/ProlongedSuffering
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    guy who quit was a HS senior. Also, he said it wasn't as smooth as I made it seem. The person who quit had already told his friend/coworker (same HS I assume?) about his plan and they were both barely keeping it together.
    via u/ProlongedSuffering
  • 18
    jdaaawg80 I was a janitor at an elementary school. I worked there for several years and was popular with that k-1st grade teachers. I had to move to a different shift so I could work another job. So I swapped with another janitor that the 2nd grade hallway teachers liked. It made them mad I suppose and they would file complaints on my work and I
    via u/jdaaawg80
  • 19
    often got called into the office. I was doing my job, but they wanted their other guy back. They were even being ride to me to my face. After several months of this, I get called to the office. My supervisor says "one more incident and I'm going to write you up" I was calm and said, "that's ok, I'd like to put my 2 weeks in". He looked shocked and said "Uh, don't you need some time to think about this?" |
    via u/jdaaawg80
  • 20
    said ""I have. Their opinion of me isn't going to change, and I rather save us some time" while not that epic. The look of "wth?" On his face was priceless. It was nice being able to quit like a calm reasonable person. In conclusion, I went back to school and got a much better job I enjoy.
    via u/jdaaawg80
  • 21
    [deleted] I had to lay off my entire staff (and myself) with 8 hours notice. I was the contract project manager on a government project (office type work). At our periodic review on a Thursday, the government announced they would not be renewing our contract and our last day was Friday (the next day).
    via u/[deleted]
  • 22
    I brought everyone into the conference room first thing the next day, let everyone know that we were all out of a job and that today was everyone's last day. I had everyone email me their resumes, and we went over everyone's on the conference room projector and updated them over the course of the day. I then printed out "reference" sheets for everyone, and we all spent the remainder of
    via u/[deleted]
  • 23
    the day writing letters of recommendation for each other. I ordered everyone pizza, and bought everyone a round of drinks at the bar next door. Most folks had jobs by the end of the next week.
    via u/[deleted]
  • 24
    GreenTunickirk I was working as a field manager for a company that had a small team. They had recently hired 2 new guys who were fairly green to the industry but not totally brain-de d. One guy, let's call him Gary. He's kind of quiet, kept his head down. I had a distinct feeling that he didn't like. me, because as his direct
    via u/GreenTunickirk
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    supervisor it was up to me to train him up. Granted, I wasn't the best teacher, as I was somewhat blunt and direct. But never insulting or demeaning. It's a slow week, and we're cleaning up our warehouse. The five of us are all knocking it out so we can get out early, but Gary is kind of slacking off. Since he's not really putting much effort in, I ask "Hey Gary,
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 26
    can you run the garbage out?" So he loads up the truck and heads out to the dumpsters behind the building (we had a lot of trash). But leaves behind the cardboard... So I think he's making two runs, to kind of stretch out the workload, right? He comes back, and proceeds to not also take the cardboard. "Yo Gary - can you also do the
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 27
    cardboard." He gets ped, storms out to the office, and proceeds to scream about me being a to him, to the bosses. Important note, I did not know this. I figured he was going to hit the bathroom? I walk into the office about 5 minutes later to hear him complaining about how I'm an a hole. The people he's telling this to look at me over
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 28
    his shoulder, and I realize that he's talking mad sh about me. He realizes it, turns around, and it's a classic "oh f So my one boss, he tells Gary that I am his supervisor and while he may not like me, he has to at least do as I ask, provided it's within reason. And taking garbage and cardboard out is part of our regular duties, and we
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 29
    all take care of it. Gary gets insanely p ed, starts screaming about how we're all just buddy buddy, and quits. He removes his keys from his belt (we have truck keys) and literally THROWS THEM at my boss, and storms out cursing. We're all in shock and I'm feeling kinda bashful.
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 30
    Gary comes back in 5 minutes later and asks for the keys... because his own car and house keys were still attached. Once he gets them, he says "f you" to all of us, and storms back out. So epic. To this day, still my favorite of all time quitting stories.
    via u/GreenTunickirk
  • 31
    Cheezburger Image 10488908032
    via Jonathan Castañeda For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 32
    dusk27 Working at Walmart, after a couple years of being a mindless goon, I save up my 2 week vacation and put in for it. Told them I was seeing family. The last day of work before my 2 week vacation, I put in my 2 week notice. Took the manager a min to do the math "So...you're not coming back?" "No. No I'm not. Take care"
    via u/dusk27
  • 33
    Frugalista1 I really like my supervisor but hated my job. He was a real cut up so that made it livable. I got a new job and handed him my written two weeks. notice. Just my luck it was April 1st, he didn't believe me. Every day I'd remind him how many days left. He started getting testy, he'd
    via u/Frugalista1
  • 34
    played a long game himself but this was too much. Apparently he was quite surprised when I stopped showing up!
    via u/Frugalista1
  • 35
    Je... I worked for Best Buy back in the early 2000s, before Geek Squad, as one of their computer techs while in college. The job itself wasn't horrible, but it was boring as h I because anything past a simple upgrade was sent out to some depot, so I wasn't very invested in the job. On top of that, they never got around to ordering my work shirts, so I just walked
    via u/JethroByte
  • 36
    around in a black polo I already owned instead of a black Best Buy polo. You'd think that was a hint that they didn't give a sh about their employees, but then came all the issues with scheduling. I had a very rigid and predictable school schedule: 8AM to 330PM every day. I told my boss. when he hired me about it, and he said it wasn't an issue. However, they kept
    via u/JethroByte
  • 37
    scheduling me for Noon to 8PM or some weird sh that conflicted with my schedule at college. After the first few times of "Where the hl have you been!" it kinda became a running joke...and I realized maybe a better job was a good idea. Cue the biggest shopping day of the year: Black Friday. Store was set to open at some ungodly early hour like 3AM, so they wanted
    via u/JethroByte
  • 38
    everyone at the store at 2AM to get ready. I drag my a in, and an hour later all hl breaks loose. Customers being coworkers being grumpy, and the store manager being a to everyone. It sucked, I was tired, and we quickly figured out that there was no intent on giving any breaks even though we were scheduled enough hours to legally require one.
    via u/JethroByte
  • 39
    About 5AM roles around and coworkers are getting p ed at management for no breaks and started treating customers like crop. Manager comes over and starts yelling, so I take off my name tag, throw it on the counter and tell him I quit, right in front of the computer dept staff and customers and grab my coat and start walking out. He yells after me "YOU HAVE
    via u/JethroByte
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    TO TURN IN YOUR SHIRT RIGHT NOW!" to which I turn around and yell back "I'VE BEEN HERE THREE MONTHS AND YOU NEVER GOT ME A SHIRT!" Petty, but that felt good.
    via u/JethroByte
  • 41
    jasonthomson My cousin got bored and frustrated with his job, decided to leave. Searched and interviewed for a while. Landed a new gig. Friday morning he was going to put in his two weeks notice with his boss. That same Friday she told him, tears in her eyes, that his entire team was being laid off and it was their last day. He got three. months' severance pay.
    via u/jasonthomson
  • 42
    SmallishBirdy Worked in an office supply store's print and marketing department. Should have known the place was not good when the management tells me on day one that the last person who they hired for that position quit "unexpectedly" after a week. Very little/inadequate training, obscene workload, our legally required breaks were often discouraged or
    via u/SmallishBirdy
  • 43
    outright denied, lots of unnecessary stress/pressure, and management was very r de and inept. Y'know, all the hallmarks of a workplace. After about two whole months of this ab e, I finally resolve to quit. I write out a letter of resignation and a two weeks' notice which I plan to give to management after my shift
    via u/SmallishBirdy
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    ends. Flash forward to midway through my shift: I'm desperately trying to clear an immense backlog of orders all while handling the entire department and the numerous current angry customers on my own, which was standard practice. There's a lengthy line at the counter and several people are needing my help at the self-serve printers too.
    via u/SmallishBirdy
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    It's at this time my chief manager decides to come to me and ask me to print off next week's schedule -a feat she can easily accomplish herself in her own office without me. I point out the obvious fact that I'm currently swamped, but I can do it for her if/when things have slowed down. She huffs impatiently in response and insists I do it right then, regardless of the other people I am currently
    via u/SmallishBirdy
  • 46
    helping. Something in me just snaps in the face of her childishness. "I'm afraid I can't print the schedule off anyways, ma'am, as it will likely be incorrect. I'll no longer be working here after today." The manager's eyes went wide. "I'm gonna need that in writing." she inhales. That's when I handed her the resignation letter I had tucked away in my apron
    via u/SmallishBirdy
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    Cheezburger Image 10488909056
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • 48
    pocket (sans the two week notice, of course) which she proceeds to slam down on the counter in front of me. Let me tell you, the woman was seething. "Are you at least gonna stay here 'til close?" I calmly responded. that I intended to. And did. That was the first and only day management made sure I got my legally required break. And the first time I ever heard them mention
    via u/SmallishBirdy
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    that they planned on hiring more people for that grossly understaffed department. Needless to say, I walked out of that place that night and never came back.
    via u/SmallishBirdy
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    TLDR; Worked at a terrible place that was so bad I decided to quit on the spot instead of giving them two weeks' notice like I had originally intended. Sometimes being the "bigger person" just isn't worth it.
    via u/SmallishBirdy
  • 51
    eac555 Worked at a job for over eight years. Was promised a promotion if I stayed when I was about ready to look for something else. Was called. into the office down the road a bit to be informed they were bringing in an ex employee who had quit a
    via u/eac555
  • 52
    year or two before for the job I was promised. I had heard a rumor of this and had already made my decision. The boss looked shocked when I said I quit. I punched out and left. Simple but sweet.
    via u/eac555
  • 53
    macfergus I work at a small local engineering firm owned by a husband and wife. They're fantastic bosses. A couple years ago, we had another husband and wife couple get hired to be drafters. They were pretty lazy employees spent half they - day watching YouTube. That kind of stuff. After about 6 months, the bosses go on vacation. The next day, the
    via u/macfergus
  • 54
    drafter couple come in and say today's their last day. They're moving about 8 hours away. Totally out of the blue. We were all like, "uh...ok..did you talk to the bosses? Did you give any notice??" "Oh yeah we talked to them yesterday and gave two weeks notice, but they said to feel free and go ahead and move so we can get our kid settled in a new school
    via u/macfergus
  • 55
    before the new year starts." "Alright, well good luck" They worked maybe 3 hours but put a full day on their timecard. Then they sent out a company-wide email thanking everyone for being so nice to them while they were here, blah, blah, blah. It was touching. The next day, the bosses call and were like "what happened with so- and-so??" They had no clue.
    via u/macfergus
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    The email was the first they heard of it.
    via u/macfergus

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