Boss Buys Entire Office Lunch For Their Good Performance, Except For The Employee Who Submitted His Resignation 2 Weeks Ago

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jun 11, 2026 8:30 PM EDT

Talk about petty!

There's this pervasive idea that most workers are lazy and will do anything to avoid doing work. While there are definitely people like that, I'm inclined to believe there are many more workers who go above and beyond and never get credit for it. Everyone's worked with someone who clearly loves the company far more than the company loves them back. They will work as many hours a week as they can because they care so much about the results that come from putting in a hard day's work again and again. Anyone who works with someone like that should see how invaluable they are to the operation as a whole, but not everyone does. A lot of the time, the hardest workers don't get anything to show for it. 

Once you leave a job, you realize that the love and care you have for a company isn't always reciprocated. The second you move on to bigger and better things, they resent you for not being 100% loyal to them. The boss in this story proved that his employee was probably leaving the company for good reasons. He treated him with the utmost disrespect during the week leading up to his departure. 

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  • Models representing coworkers eating lunch purchased for them by their boss, while their coworker who is leaving the company is excluded from the meal.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    Models representing coworkers eating lunch purchased for them by their boss, while their coworker who is leaving the company is excluded from the meal.

  • I got snubbed from a free meal at work because I submitted my resignation.

    I submitted my resignation about 2 weeks ago, my last day is Friday. I'm moving states and starting a new job that I'm super excited about on Monday. When I
    via u/Lazy-Combination5253
  • put my notice in my boss was fine to my face, but apparently upset and bitter that I'm taking a lot of SAP knowledge with me. His true feelings got back to me of course,
    via u/Lazy-Combination5253
  • because people talk. He randomly decided to buy everyone lunch today for our good performance the last few months, I was intentionally left out since my last day is Friday.
    via u/Lazy-Combination5253
  • Free lunch isn't a big deal, it was an unexpected surprise for everyone else. Just mildly infuriating to see everyone with their free meals while I eat the last remaining rice cakes
    via u/Lazy-Combination5253
  • in my pantry to prepare for my move
    via u/Lazy-Combination5253
  • Rice cakes, which are not enough to sustain an adult for lunch.
    via Maryam Sicard (Unsplash+)

    Rice cakes, which are not enough to sustain an adult for lunch.

  • DudeBruh588 Seems like he is just petty, at my job they typically have a "going away" lunch when people resign.
    via u/DudeBruh588
  • whatdoihia Petty is right. And not very smart to burn bridges. You never know where a former employee may end up. I've had some join customers and refer business to us. And have rehired employees years later.
    via u/whatdoihia
  • NigilQuid Considering OP said they're taking a lot of knowledge with them, this seems quite short- sighted on the manager's part
    via u/NigilQuid
  • Winter-Editor-9230 SAP knowledge isn't easy or cheap to replace either. They will suffer from their absence
    via u/Winter-Editor-9230
  • klb979 What is SAP knowledge?
    via u/klb979
  • AnnOnnamis Canadians and their knowledge of the sticky tree substance used to make syrup. Systems Applications Products. SAP is an enterprise-level integrated software product. You can customize it, which makes. knowledgeable developers (who program in ABAP and Java) valuable.
    via u/AnnOnnamis
  • SwiftUnban which is why his boss is ped, he doesn't want to pay them what they're worth, and they know they'll get a 25%+ increase in most places. My work place hates training people on multiple things because of this, because once they have that knowledge and experience they know they'll bounce for a much better wage
    via u/SwiftUnban
  • Grillard My dad used to say, "Treat the people who work for you well, because you might be working for them one day."
    via u/Grillard
  • Karrion8 The power move is to buy everyone lunch tomorrow except for him.
    via u/Karrion8
  • Old-Cook-8121 See this would unironically be my response. Coworkers get two meals and you let the boss taste their own medicine
    via u/Old-Cook-8121

  • It's not as if his coworkers were in a position to stand up for him to their boss, so this might be a nice gesture! Although the boss might retaliate against the employees who accept this lunch, if they all do it together, the boss hopefully won't fire them over something so petty. 

  • employees eating pizza together was bought by their coworker, who is leaving the company on Friday, and who was excluded from their boss's office lunch earlier that week.
    via Getty Images (Unsplash+)

    A representation of employees eating pizza together was bought by their coworker, who is leaving the company on Friday, and who was excluded from their boss's office lunch earlier that week.

  • Savings_Difficulty24 When I quit my last job, I left a few days after the beginning of the fiscal year. So I completed the full fiscal year, but because bonuses weren't paid out for the year until 2 months after the start of the new one, | got snubbed my $2000 bonus
    via u/Savings_Difficulty24

  • This is all too common. Some companies will even take away your bonus if you leave too soon after you get it. 

  • Ramulus 14 You're living rent free in their head!
    via u/Ramulus14
  • MW1369 Why wait til Friday? Just leave now. You already have your next job lined up
    via u/MW1369

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Tags

bad bosses employee coworkers lunch performance mildly infuriating workplace quitting resignation
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