70-year-old boss screams at 26-year-old employee over non-issues every day 'I want to quit today. Like take my lunch and not come back.'

Emmy Pratt • Senior Editor

May 1, 2026 12:30 PM EDT

He is everything that is wrong with the workplace.

This might be a hot take, but nobody does a better job because they are constantly being screamed at by a superior. If you're continually being criticized, no matter how well or poorly you perform a task, you'll likely feel like trying hard is a fruitless endeavor, so you stop trying.

There's a difference between talking loudly, as people from different cultures often do, and yelling in a way that berates or belittles somebody. Getting yelled at by a family member or coach is bad enough, but having to put up with your boss screaming at you is a whole different level of demoralizing. In that scenario, your literal ability to survive relies on your willingness to tolerate disrespect. You can't just walk out of your job if you don't have anything lined up, especially if you're living paycheck to paycheck. Of course, you don't have to put up with it. You can always leave a bad job and find a new one, but that requires a level of self-respect and willingness to get the respect you deserve.

The 26-year-old woman in this story has just started a new position as accounting department manager at a small company. She's been handling Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Payroll for the past three months. While she enjoys the work itself, she can't stand dealing with her awful boss.

“My boss is an old man, like in his mid-70s. He’s a micromanager, constantly berating me for things that can easily be fixed. Like he’ll literally scream at me and slam his hands down on his desk and threaten to fire me over something as simple as not picking up the mail early enough in the day. (I pick it up at 11 am every day, he was yelling at me about it at 10 am this morning).”
via Age Cymru

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This bad behavior on his part has not come without a cost to her mental health. She's been struggling with sleep, and the stress has ruined the diet and exercise routines she used to have before starting this godforsaken job.

"I’m jittery all the time and have to constantly walk on eggshells while I’m at work for 9 hours a day."
via Curated Lifestyle (Unsplash+)

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
There's nothing she wants more than to leave this job behind, but she has her doubts about the consequences of doing that.

“I want to quit today. Like take my lunch and not come back. But I feel guilty that my coworkers that I actually like will have to pick up the slack until they find a replacement for me.”

She's clearly a sweet girl who does not want to do harm to others by making them do more work for her insane boss, but that shouldn't be her burden to bear. She needs to protect herself first before trying to protect her coworkers from this nefarious man.
via Age Cymru

_{Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.}
What would you do if you were in her shoes: quit without a job lined up, or grin and bear it until you can get out of there with a new job in hand?