‘In our team of 12, I am the 6th person to leave in the last 8 months’: Worker leaving toxic job refuses manager’s attempt to guilt them into staying 2 more weeks and walks out after firmly saying no

There's something hypnotic about bad jobs. They pull people in with routine, disguise exhaustion as loyalty, and convince everyone that leaving is betrayal. This story isn't just about quitting, it's about waking up from that toxic trance, about the moment you realize the office drama, the performative guilt, the endless apologizing were all just shadows flickering on the wall.

I think what eventually led me to study philosophy is just being a curious kid who grew up to be a curious person, and what I find interesting about this story is how enchanted we all can be in every situation of our lives. It's like we can't see any light at the end of any tunnel, and then the minute we step out of that specific tunnel, the disenchantment hits so hard we can't even remember why we were there in the first place.  

Without getting too deep into caves or philosophy, one of the most famous philosophical ideas,  which is obviously not about toxic workplaces,  fits here perfectly. Plato's cave is about perception and illusion. People live chained inside a cave, mistaking shadows on the wall for the real thing. Once someone breaks free, walks into the light, and finally sees the truth, they wonder how they ever believed the darkness was home.  

Workplaces like this one are modern caves. Everyone around you complains but stays seated. The manager tosses around fake empathy, the kind that sounds like concern but feels like control, and it keeps people hypnotized into thinking professionalism means obedience. The fluorescent lights hum, the corporate slogans hang like commandments, and before long, you forget you even have legs that can walk. 

Author image for Etai Eshet Etai Eshet
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  • Smiling woman in an office holding a cardboard box with personal belongings, suggesting a job transition or departure.
    via Nicoleta Ionescu

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • Then someone quits, calmly. No theatrics, no begging, just a simple no. That’s the light at the cave’s exit, blinding and obvious and a little laughable. Suddenly, you remember nothing, there was real,  not the pressure, not the guilt, not the illusion of being needed.  Leaving a toxic job doesn’t just change where you work. It rewires how you see the whole system. And once your eyes adjust, you realize the shadows were never that scary. They were just a bad lighting setup in someone else’s cave.

  • I finally confronted my manipulative manager on my way out.

    After 4 years in a job that was draining the life out of me with its toxic culture, I finally found a much better role and submitted my resignation.
    via goalie_tripe
  • In our team of 12, I am the sixth person to leave in the last 8 months because the place has a revolving door.
    via goalie_tripe
  • They simply don't know how to treat people with the most basic respect. My manager is a master of manipulation and tried to guilt-trip everyone who left into staying longer.
    via goalie_tripe
  • When I told her I was leaving, she was surprisingly cool and supportive at first. Then she asked when my last day would be.
    via goalie_tripe
  • I told her I would only stay for this week, and her face completely changed. She started aggressively clicking her mouse while looking at her calendar.
    via goalie_tripe

  • 'Yeah, that's not going to work for me. Sorry.'

    Woman sitting at a desk with her feet up, smiling while tossing a paper airplane in a casual office setting.
    via Pixel-Shot

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • She mumbled for about a minute, saying, 'Oh, that's really bad. This is very bad timing,' clearly expecting me to feel guilty and offer to stay longer.
    via goalie_tripe
  • All I said was that I would spend this week wrapping everything up to help the handover, and I left her office.
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  • About 10 minutes later, she came to my desk, leaned over, and said in a low, serious voice, 'I just got off the phone with HR.
    via goalie_tripe
  • You know that two weeks is the professional standard, right?' I looked her straight in the eye and said, 'Yeah, that's not going to work for me.
    via goalie_tripe
  • Sorry.' She stared at me for about 10 seconds, probably still processing that her usual tricks weren't working.
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  • Finally, defeated, all she said was, 'Okay.' and walked away. In that exact moment, she knew she no longer had any power over me.
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  • The feeling was incredible.
    via goalie_tripe
  • Soapy_Von_Soaps I would have said, yes I know it's 2 weeks but if you are going to be like this, then my last day is today.
    via u/
  • BirthdayCookie She TOTALLY would have given you 2 weeks if she wanted to fire you, right? Totally.
    via u/
  • KnottaBiggins There's no law regarding "two weeks." And it's only standard because a lot of people respect what it is meant as. It's not a "professional standard," it's a "professional courtesy." You give two weeks notice to a place you still respect but are leaving for a better opportunity. The less respect the employer earned, the shorter the notice. You've actually given more notice than required by giving one week. "Bye, Felicia."
    via u/
  • Doenicke I don't understand this 2 weeks rule. Since it's apparently isn't a rule and you can go home the minute you say you quit, why do people let managers and bosses that don't have any power over them after the quitting still stay? Of course i mean if you already have a new job waiting. To just burn all bridges and not get paid for two weeks seems kinda stupid, but the bosses is of course not expecting any wonders that last weeks anyway.
    via u/
  • Far-Ad-9073 I had a manager tell me that once, two weeks is standard for a professional environment as to not burn any bridges. She expected me to keep taking on new projects for my last week... uhm. no. I died laughing right in front of her, I didnt tell her but had already been hired at the new job, signed everything. I told her if this was a professional environment I would have treated it as such, but since you never authorized my PTO days when I asked even months ahead of time ever, you nev
    via u/

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