'70% of their staff quit': 20+ Job quitters who left their toxic jobs

Author image for Remy Millisky
Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
May 21, 2025 11:00 AM EDT

Quitting a bad job is one of the best feelings ever, and this is your sign to do it today. If you've been waking up dreading heading into the office, or you shed a tear each time your boss emails you, this is your sign to start looking elsewhere. 

When someone announces they're quitting a job, they get this glow to them. They're just so excited to move on to a better, higher-paying job after submitting that 2-week notice that they can't help but be extra bouncy and happy. That grueling long-term project the employee's been working on is now someone else's Sisyphean task. Emails can pile up in their inbox for all they care! Slack messages and meeting invites? Time to ignore all that, kick back and relax, since it's someone else's problem now. 

That 2-week-notice glow can also inspire other employees to quit, too. After all, sometimes you don't realize how miserable you actually are until you've seen someone else achieve their dreams just by walking out the door. So quit that terrible job, if you can — your future self will thank you each and every day! 

Up next, read about the university employee who told off a CFO after being denied a $2,000 bonus: "2 can play that game!"

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    Cheezburger Image 10508025600
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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    "Quitters of Reddit, have you ever quit your job in a blaze of glory & how did it go down?"

    saiyanslayerz I was in a call centre, but someone else quit this way: transferred all customers to the Spanish line. He had a legendary average handle time by the time they figured out what he had done.
    via u/saiyanslayerz

    This guy decided to work neither smarter nor harder, but a secret third thing (avoidance!). 

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    R... Oh YES!! I worked my a off doing like 5 people's jobs in a kitchen. I was a prep cook/saucier/baker I got no respect there. No thanks, just more and more work piled on me. I also found out I got less in tipout than all the men I worked with. When I brought it up with my boss he said I wasn't worth my wage. As soon as he said that I walked out threw my
    via u/Rachellybean
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    uniform at the door and left. They called 2 weeks later after 70% of their staff quit due to the calamity that followed my departure. (no one could do the amount of work I had done and things just fell apart from there.) They fired the guy that said I wasn't worth my wage and asked me back at $7 an hour more than I was making. It sure felt good to tell them I was already making more
    via u/Rachellybean
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    than that by far somewhere else and wouldn't ever go back there.
    via u/Rachellybean
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    fo... I worked in a IT consulting. shop (a large one). One day of November, we receive a mail announcing a 10% cut across the company. This and no cashews for Christmas and no more tuitions. While I don't really like cashews, I didn't really like. the 10% cut which was
    via u/foreveratom
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    1. A breach of contract 2. Illegal in my country 3. After the boss of said company bought a baseball team for his own pleasure. Needless to say I was р ed, along with two other workers. I give a few phone calls. One day later, the three of us walk into the manager's office, announcing immediate
    via u/foreveratom
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    resignation of the three of us. Manager starts to shout how illegal and unethical that was, that we cannot do this, etc. I happily shut him off with the 3 points above. Well, where is the glory you ask? On top of the company being bashed by our customer for having three people leave at once, the phone call I mentioned
    via u/foreveratom
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    earlier was to get us a job in another firm, which we got the next day, included with a hefty 25% more from what we earned. TL;DR: 10% cut, scores THREE jobs in a day for me and co-workers, quits the following day, manager drools out of rage.
    via u/foreveratom
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    GonzoMojo I was getting grief over my inability to keep an old equipment running at this company...I was the only tech guy, supporting equipment that was a decade or older, (receptionist was running a win95 computer), the email server croaked, I worked all night to get it back up, and the boss just complained when he couldn't get in his
    via u/GonzoMojo
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    email the next morning.... was wiped, when he said I was working for free until he got back in his email, I said nope and left....few weeks later he sued me for damaging his network, judgement was in my favor, I got paid for missed overtime and my remaining leave :)
    via u/GonzoMojo
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    Demoktesis I was a telemarketer. It was horrible. I hated my job like any decent person would, of course. But by the second day I came to realize the call list was (a) composed of geriatrics and (b) at least five years old. I learned this the hard way - by having their relatives burst into tears when I asked
    via u/Demoktesis
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    to speak to them. "Shirley's been de d for FIVE YEARS. STOP CALLING ALREADY! PLEASE JUST STOP!" It was the worst job I've ever had, and I've also cleaned toilets. So on day three, I showed up to work and told the boss that I was quitting, and I told her exactly why, in front of the entire office. I don't recall exactly what I said, but at one point I used the word "ghoul."
    via u/Demoktesis
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    I understand two other people quit later that day.
    via u/Demoktesis
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    J... This is less blaze of glory and more the universe aligning randomly in my favor, but here goes: Worked for a rib joint as a rib cook for my first ever job during high school. Not bad for food service and a first job. Owner was a super though, always standing over people's shoulders and micro-managing everything
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    when he was there. Long story short, fourth of July weekend my buddies and I were supposed to go on a long weekend boating trip with family, so I put in for July 4th off in early June, just like everyone else. Denied, told I had to work. My mom said I was young and shouldn't miss something like this trip, so she called the store to explain. Owner tells her to inform me that, if I don't
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    show up on the fourth, I'm fired. My mom hangs up on him and tells me, "It's a food service job, you can find another one easily." I go on the trip, have a great time, and am indeed fired by the owner for not showing up as my mother told him I would not. I'm a little bothered by being fired from my first job, but end up getting work at a pizza place near my house making $1.50
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    more per hour than I was at the rib joint--so no loss. Fast forward a few months and I'm driving home from a cross-country meet. I turn onto my street and there is a car slowly ambling along my street, with a delivery sign for the rib joint I used to work for. I drive slowly behind them (they're clearly looking for an address) since there's no room to pass, until I can get to my
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    house at the end of the block. They suddenly stop with a jolt, forcing me to as well. I'm about three feet behind them, when their reverse lights come on, and they ram into me off center, so that the rear right of their car collides with the front left of my car. Theirs was an SUV and mine was a '87 For Tempo. Our bumpers lock, they pull forward for some reason, tearing off my front bumper and then entire
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    front grill of my car (including the left headlight). The driver jumps out and frantically looks at the situation, says, "Sh, this isn't even my car." Then looks at me and asks, "Was that already loose?" and points at the front of my car lying on the pavement. The lady who was waiting for her pizza/rib delivery
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    (who I know), comes out, looks at the situation, and says, "Can I just have my food?" She gets her food, the driver gets paid, looks at me and says, "I gotta go talk to my boss." Gets in his car, and drives away. Panicked by this, I pick up the front of my car and toss it in my backseat. Then proceed to drive after him. Sure enough, he pulls into the
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    strip mall where the rib joint is and goes inside. Turns out the driver was using the owner's car to make a delivery because his was in the shop. I called the cops on the way over and asked them to meet me at the rib place (Fun fact: How old am I? By "calling them on the way", I mean that I stopped at a drive up pay phone in the strip mall before heading into the rib
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    joint). They show up, get both sides of the story, and cite the driver for fault since he was going in reverse and hit me while I was stationary. The owner's insurance paid for all repairs to my car, and I got to sit there with a smug teenage look on my face while he argued with the cops about who was at fault.
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    TL;DR: I get fired from my first food service job by the owner. Several months later, a delivery guy driving the owner's personal vehicle damages my car in an accident and the owner has to pay to fix my teenage car.
    via u/JD_T_Wan
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    notjawn Not really a "take this job and shove it!" tale but at one of my old job I had this terrible supervisor who was old, cranky, everything had to be overly-complicated. So I'm sitting in my office going over a stack of paperwork she had asked me to re-do about 7 times just to keep me busy and infuriate me. So finally I just put the stack down and
    via u/notjawn
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    typed up a letter of resignation and went to go see the Dept. Chair in her office. The Dept. Chair just looks at me, sighs like "not again with this old lady" and then offers me a better position. under her supervision. It did turn out that the old lady had numerous complaints
    via u/notjawn
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    over the years and several people quit under her. When I walked out the secretaries just said "Not the first time it's happened."
    via u/notjawn
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    Sleeping_n Worked for family as a nanny. Was constantly getting approached by other mothers in the area to see if I would work for them, but I was loyal to my family. Then the mom started to get a little crazier than usual. I was being asked to clean more, do more grocery shopping, laundry, plan the whole family schedule, ect. While she asked me to do
    via u/Sleeping_n****
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    more and more stuff, she just started to get grumpy and rode towards me. After a few months of this, I asked her about it to see if everything was okay. She then proceeded to yell at me about all the extra things I did around the house was a screw you towards her and that she paid me good money (she paid 11 an hour, while I was doing work that nobody would do for less than 15-20) so I basically
    via u/Sleeping_n****
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    left. I found a new job that paid more, and had me doing less work. She tried to hire me back a few weeks later since she wasn't having any luck with finding new nannies. It felt good letting her know I found work before she could find someone new.
    via u/Sleeping_n****
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    TL;DR: worked my a off, got yelled at, then she asked me to come back because she couldn't find anyone who would do the same work load as me for cheap.
    via u/Sleeping_n****
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    We've all been there...

    Scaarr This one time i woke up from my alarm clock going off. It's my alarm for work. I turn off my clock and go back to sleep.
    via u/Scaarr

    This person did what we all wish we could do, and slip back into a blissful sleep instead of hauling ourselves into work. 

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    12 11 10. 9 69 20. 3 4. 50° 5.
    via Getty Images For Unsplash+

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

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    someguy1994 I was one of those people on the streets asking for donations. I hated the job because the supervisors would always tell us to be "assertive", which really is just another word for "get that donation no matter what". It p ed me off trying to force people to give me their money.
    via u/someguy1994
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    And so on the 2nd last day, (last day didn't go so well because it was raining) all I did was talk to people just for the heck of it. I met so many cool people, including a English man that was a former-firefighter that collected fireman hats.
    via u/someguy1994
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    [deleted] I had a job as a Senior Network Administrator. The company only had 200 people working for it, and an IT group of about 10 people. That is a horrendously bad ratio (20/1). I worked there for about 4 months, but quickly realized why: The IT manager was a maniacal, self serving ah le.
    via u/[deleted]
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    We had a girl working the main support line, and she was really good at it. Well, one day, he called her up (he worked on a different floor) and proceeded to berate her over the phone until she was effectively crying in front of her coworkers (keep in mind, 9 of the 10 of us were crammed in a tiny little office, built for 3 people). He would do that to everyone; doing it to the guys was just as unacceptable, but to
    via u/[deleted]
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    make her cry over the phone was just too far. He told me that I wasn't being resourceful enough when I was able to find servers without asking, and then only asked to confirm if I had the complete list afterwards. I never had any true, granted access to anything, despite being in a senior position, yet was able to produce a list of serious problems with
    via u/[deleted]
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    the network. When I submitted each issue, I just got a blow off response. He told me to just, effectively, "keep studying your microsoft textbooks" (they wanted me to get some low- grade microsoft certification). I had a masters degree and a professional designation in the field, yet he deemed it critically important that I do wrot memorization tasks on the command line switches
    via u/[deleted]
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    to move a users mailbox. This is like being asked to do janitorial work when you have demonstrated skills and experience managing departments. I had told him that I wanted to help the other senior staff as they were massively overworked. Nope, didn't care. I am a very technical person, and extremely proficient at what I do, yet I
    via u/[deleted]
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    was writing reports for the department (I found out later that people were raving about how good they were). Every day I went to work, I felt physically ill. I didn't want to be there, and I always felt like my job was just one tantrum away from it being my last day. I was fed up with his terrorization of the department. Every external indication that I had was that the company thought highly of the HR
    via u/[deleted]
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    department, but had no idea what was going on within it. Then, one day, I got a call from a friend asking if I "knew someone who was looking for a job". Less than 24 hours after that call, I was offered a new job for more money, being an IT manager at another company.
    via u/[deleted]
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    Now, for the blaze of glory. I emailed him my signed (print/scan/send, paper) resignation, CCd to HR. He begged me to stay (over the phone, he was on sick leave, yet was calling in, yelling at people). I told him. "no way". I went and told HR, and spent 2 hours describing what a horror show the department was. They were shocked. They didn't know what to do; I knew all of their holes, all of
    via u/[deleted]
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    their problems. The HR guy was really awesome, and handled it like a pro. He knew that my direct coworkers would have to process a quit request, so he asked if I would like to tell them. I stood there and told them that I was leaving, and that they would be getting the request shortly. I was still "the new guy", so they didn't know how to react. My boss freaked out that I told them, as he figured he
    via u/[deleted]
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    could still keep me on. For background, they had been looking to fill my position for 6 months (in a recession! They couldn't find someone who was perfect, and apparently I was). Management asked me to leave early and "see them the next day at 10" (I normally arrived at 8:30). I knew they talked about it between management, and they really didn't know how to handle it. I just wanted to
    via u/[deleted]
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    be gone. My boss, who was still out of the office, had to be conferenced in. The other managers left the office, and he proceeded to just yell at me, calling me immature. He still begged me to stay. I just let him throw his tantrum. He complained that he was "on sick leave, and thats why he is so moody"; bulls . They let me go that day instead of wasting the next 4 weeks.
    via u/[deleted]
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    Walking away from the office at 11AM on a friday, with the sun shining, and a new, fun job awaiting me for Monday, was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced. I knew from the moment I wrote that letter of resignation, that I couldn't stay. If I remained, I would always have that axe over my head; they would never be able to trust me fully, so
    via u/[deleted]
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    my job would always be in jeopardy. I had to leave. My new company is far more relaxed and fun. I can do what I need to do, and don't have to worry about someone breathing down my neck, or making me feel like sh.
    via u/[deleted]
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    ziptie1 Sorry i couldn't sum it up more. So i was out canvassing for a home improvement company with my team (door to door advertisements trying to get people to sign up for a "Free" estimate) in the middle of the summer. Our team took one neighborhood, while the other team canvassed another. The team
    via u/ziptie1
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    leaderwould go between areas keeping an eye on us. After a while i started getting the impression that a couple members of my group were getting exhausted from the heat, so i texted the manager asking for him to bring water that is kept in the company vehicle. He replied that he would be there in a few minutes. 15 minutes later i text him again, and he gave me the same response. Half an hour
    via u/ziptie1
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    later, i text him again, and he replied that it will be a while, as he is talking with a police officer. At this point, i was pretty sure that a couple of my team members were about to pass out from heat exhaustion, so i make the decision to round up my crew, and drive them with my car to the nearest convenience store so we can all buy some water. We got there, bought the water, and went back to the
    via u/ziptie1
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    neighborhood as quick as possible, for fear i would get in trouble. Next day, every person that was in my car gets called into the directors office. (Basically the boss of our team leader). She promptly. informs us that the vice president of the company watched us pull up to the convenience store, and sit there on company time for about a half hour before leaving. I knew this was
    via u/ziptie1
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    false, as i left as quick as possible for fear of this situation in the first place. Without asking our side of the story, she immediately tells all 4 of us that we are fired. so again, looking out for my team, i interrupt, and explain the story, and that decision was one that i alone made. She then thanks me for taking responsibility, and that i will need to turn in my company shirt after washing
    via u/ziptie1
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    it, (it was summer, and walking through neighborhoods all afternoon, that thing got nasty) as i am terminated effective immediately. At this point im ped off, so i take the shirt off, throw it at her, and exclaim, "You wash it, i dont work for you." and stormed out.
    via u/ziptie1
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    [deleted] When I was 16 years old one of my first jobs was at Marshall's, the department store. Basically folding clothes, helping people find stuff, cleaning the fitting rooms and bathrooms. It wasn't all bad because I was one of the few males that worked there and two of the hottest girls from my high school were co-workers. I had this boss named Mr. "J",
    via u/[deleted]
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    he was an older guy in his late 40s that drove a beat up 1980s porsche (in 1995) and thought he was the man. I knew he had slept with a couple of the teenage staff in the back. Anyway, I had plans to go away on spring break with my family but Mr. J said I had to work or he'd fire me. So being 16 and liking money, i stayed around for spring break, while my family went to Florida. The dude told me I
    via u/[deleted]
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    needed to start working during school hours and pushing 40 hours a week or he'd fire me, when I told him h I no, I had to go to school, he serioulsy asked me "what's more important to you, school or this job?", I was like "UHH SCHOOL BECAUSE I DON'T WANT TO WORK AT MARSHALL'S FOREVER", he got into an argument with me about how great his life was, and look at his Porsche, all the
    via u/[deleted]
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    girls he gets, etc and I didn't feel like arguing so I let him schedule me for the next week. I called into the regional manager, quit, told him about this conversation and to review the security tapes for a couple nights I knew he was in the employee bathroom with teenage girls. Evidently they saw them go in together, asked the girls about it who confirmed he
    via u/[deleted]
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    had been threatening them with their jobs if they didn't play with him, he got fired, they payed me in advance for 6 weeks of work I never completed in exchange for a NDA. Hoping that statute of limitations is up :)
    via u/[deleted]
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    Cheezburger Image 10508027392
    via Benjamin Child on Unsplash+

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

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    gormulka TL/DR I turned off the music and the lights in a very popular night club during peak hours and walked out the door when management p ed me off. A nightclub I worked for did not properly respect the technical expertise I brought to the table. Running the technology behind the biggest nightclub in the area
    via u/gormulka
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    that regularly welcomes 1000+ patrons every Friday and Saturday was no easy task; 20 TV screens, 3 projectors, 7000 light fixtures and a handful of lasers needed constant attention throughout the night. Not many people in my area know how to do what I do. One night a couple of issues start occuring. My manager came over and started
    via u/gormulka
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    giving me sh. I assured him that his crop was not going to get the problem solved any sooner, and pretty much told him that at the people helping you is not a good way to lead. He told me to get the f out and stormed off to yell at the barbacks for something or other.
    via u/gormulka
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    Knowing I'm not a dime-a- dozen server or barback, I decided to put management in their place. I shut off the lights and the music in the middle of the night and walked out the door. No one could figure out how to get it going again. Manager runs out to stop me. He started to apologize, but I cut him off with "sit the f down and listen to what you did wrong tonight."
    via u/gormulka
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    [deleted] I recently quit a busser job. nothing so special but the last couple days there I stop giving a sh to my coworkers so I said whatever i really thought to any of them who asked. in the process told off 5 people, and hit on one.
    via u/[deleted]
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    L... I worked for a valet company that has the reputation of being the worst in Atlanta. We were paid zero per hour 95% of the time (except weddings) and made tips only, they routinely put me on shifts where working 8 hours would net me $20-30. They promised for months that they would put me on good lots to at least average minimum wage but never
    via u/LAULitics
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    did. I was given sh for not being able to take an extra shift during my best friends wedding that I requested off for months in advance. I finally called my boss and let him know if I didn't get better shifts the next week I would be leaving. The next week my shifts were all the same and on the first two days of the week they have me on a lot where I parked a single car on an 8 hour shift.
    via u/LAULitics
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    I made $5 in tips and spent $7 in gas to get there. I called my boss the next night and said "Hey T, you can find someone else to cover the rest of my shifts. this month. This is the lowest paying job I've ever had, so f you I don't work for you anymore."
    via u/LAULitics
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    They also had the audacity to try and force me to buy an $80 jacket, by fining me for "dress code violation" while I was making next to nothing. They called a week later and tried to get me to come back to "talk it out", I declined.
    via u/LAULitics
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    SomeNiceB Maybe not a blaze of glory for my coworkers, but I felt glorious, anyway. I was working at Radio Shack. It was fun at times, but I didn't really enjoy it. I didn't believe in what I was selling at all. But then the manager started telling us we had to push Radio Shack credit cards. We were located in a low income
    via u/SomeNiceB***F******
  • 71
    area. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck you, Radio Shack. So one night when I was off I just walked in, set my keys on the counter and said "I quit." The asst. manager was an old friend, and he says, II ... Really?" Responded, "Yep." He says, "Alright man. I'll see ya later." And that was that, we hung out later. Walked to the liquor store next door and bought a bottle of Hennessey.
    via u/SomeNiceB***F******
  • 72
    Negativecaps I quit my first job (Subway) after only a few months. My manager had fallen quite ill and the store was being looked over by 3 different female managers from different stores. I really didn't appreciate that they were coming in and expecting us to do everything like they did in their store.
    via u/NegativecapS
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    I was stocking the chip rack after a lunch rush, because I was asked to by Manager B 1. Not even a second later she is screeching at me that somebody was waiting in line and why am I not making their sandwich. I had enough of this yo-yo bulls I dumped my huge box of chips on the ground, took off my apron, hat & nametag - - then I proceeded to walk
    via u/NegativecapS
  • 74
    over (stomp like an enraged elephant) every bag of chips on the floor. I got to the front door and said something snarky to the occupants of the restaurant. I don't remember my words verbatim, but it was most likely, "Hahaha, now you have to make this lady's sandwich. PEACE" I don't care. I was 17 and they had it coming.
    via u/NegativecapS

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