Recently, Reddit user u/Sketch99 posed the question, "What made you quit a job on the spot?"
And there were so many responses from people who were overworked and mistreated by their employers. Here are some of the top-voted answers:
1. "After working my ass off during the pandemic and being promised an additional bonus, I received a 'low performance' review conveniently timed a day before my bonus was to be paid. The low performance feedback canceled my bonus."
"Given all the other bullshit I was putting up with, I broke and quit. I had a nice month off, and my new job pays significantly more. Never work for people that don’t appreciate you; there are always others that will."
2. "My grandfather, who I considered like a father, passed away after a long stay in hospital. We were closer than he was with his own kids, and our bond was quite special. I spoke to my manager about getting the day of his funeral off — since I was organizing part of the arrangements and having a day or two of bereavement leave — and he agreed."
"The day of the funeral finally came, and the staff started calling me, leaving me messages asking why I wasn't at my shift. They were telling me, while I was in a suit and hosting family members at the funeral home, that I had to find someone to replace me or would face repercussions. Needless to say, I told them to figure it out and never looked back."
3. "Worked a retail job as a cashier. One part of that job was to sign customers up for our (rather predatory) credit card. We were supposed to ask every customer. Well, I was helping a woman and told her she could save money if she signed up for the credit card. She seemed interested, but I could clearly tell that English was not her first language."
"I grabbed a pamphlet and made it abundantly clear that it was a CREDIT CARD, not a rewards account. When she understood, she said, 'Oh no, not today.' Understandable. Well, I didn’t know a supervisor was standing behind me. After she left, he asked why I did all of that, and if I tried to talk every interested customer out of signing up. When I explained myself, he said, 'Next time, sign them up. They don’t know any better.' Handed him my red vest. That was it."
4. "I worked at a sushi restaurant, and we had a secret menu that no one went over with me. The owner was sitting with a guest (I guess they were friends) and he ordered one of the secret menu items. I said, 'I’m sorry, we don’t have that.' She immediately stood up, started to scream at me, and called me a 'fucking idiot.'"
"Then, she snapped her fingers, saying 'BITCHES' to call the other servers over. At this point, I was taking my apron off and grabbing my keys to walk the hell out of there."
5. "I worked as hard as I could to unload pallets of merchandise. I always thought I was so damn fast. I studied the process, and I believed I perfected it. EVERY SINGLE DAY, my manager came up to me and told me I needed to be faster. So I did, and the fast pace made me lose a little focus, causing me to break a finger."
"I let management know that I might be a little slower due to my injury, and they straight-up told me, 'We won’t tolerate any laziness.' They wrote me up when I didn’t meet their ridiculous standards. So I went home after my shift and never returned. Never called, never formally quit. I just never came back."
6. "Asked for a raise and was told okay. Next morning, I was told by the same person who agreed with the raise that I should put a few more years in, and then we’ll talk again. Locked my tool box at the end of the day and called a tow truck to pick it up."
"Shop manager was shocked that next Monday to find an empty spot where my tools were and couldn’t understand why I left."
7. "Worked as a cashier in a local shop. One night, two guys came at me with knives, trying to get in the till. I just walked away and said, 'Have at it.' It wasn't worth the minimum wage to get into it with a couple of guys waving knifes at me. After they ran out of the store, I picked up my mobile and called the police, then called the store manager."
"The next day, the district manager met me as I turned up for my shift. Her first words were, 'It was very unprofessional of you to be on your phone while at work.' I laughed at her and told her she could take this as my notice and walked out."
8. "I got mugged during a pizza delivery and came back to the shop, crying and panicked. Had my phone, wallet, and pizza taken. Told my manager what happened. 'Are you hurt?' 'No, but I lost my phone and wallet. I need to call the police.' 'No time for that, here’s your next delivery.'"
9. "Worked at a grocery store when I was a teenager. I was out on my own, working anything I could to make ends meet. I guess I didn't work hard enough being a one-man crew. My manager decided to tell me to go faster (impossible) and do even better for my $4.25/hour."
"I tried explaining I was going as fast as personally possible when he decided to say, 'You'll do what you're told, as fast as you're told, if you want to keep this job. You should be so lucky.' Decided right then and there. 'Bro, I'd rather starve than work for some stupid fuck.'"
10. "Once as a teenager at a new job, I got my hand smacked by the owner the first day because I was writing with my left hand. Walked out."
11. "I was asked to lie to parents and cover up a kid failing (in elementary school) by support staff. When I confronted the principal about it, he said that she was just doing her job, and I was not a team player for not doing so."
"So I explained the situation. Same response: I should have helped in covering it up. As soon as the kids went home, I started emptying my desk."
12. "Getting reprimanded for not pushing a patient into getting a dental procedure he didn't need or want."
13. "I was working at one of those stands that sells frozen ice cream droplets. You know the ones. It was at an amusement park. I scooped some ice cream balls into the plastic tray, slid my scoop over the top to knock off the excess ice cream, then handed it to the customer. A wild manager appeared! He told me I didn't level off the ice cream correctly."
"He took the scoop and small bowl from my hands and leveled it off just like I had. He then dumped it out and made me do it again. Mind you, I still had a long line of customers. So I did it again. This time, he also was not pleased and berated me. So now, I was confused as to what I was doing wrong and had a line of customers staring at me, leaving me thoroughly embarrassed. I proceeded to overfill every container and hand them out to each customer, while not taking any money from them. Then, I simply walked out to my car and drove home. There is no time when it's appropriate to scold and reprimand an employee in front of customers."
14. "A local pizzeria was notorious for its 'strict' management. My car broke down on St. Patrick's Day, when I was scheduled to work. I had to pay $50 to get it towed home, and I called in to tell the manager what happened. He yelled at me and accused me of making up excuses to go out and drink."
"I offered to show him the receipt and repair bill, and he just hung up the phone. A day later, he called me and said, 'We're cool, but you owe me a shift.' I told him that I couldn't take more shifts because I was a full-time student. He said he didn't care. I went in on my next scheduled shift, picked up my paycheck, and told the nearest manager that I quit."
15. "I was a bouncer at a bar, and I had to clean a football-sized wad of toilet paper and shit out of a toilet."
16. "Was hired to sell cars. Then, in the middle of training, I got pulled aside and told I was being moved to lot attendant. That position paid minimum wage, and I didn’t even have a chance to be on the sales floor. Left and never went back. I was in my mid-20s at the time and was trying to find a possible career. Didn’t have time for that bullshit bait and switch."
17. And finally, "Went to the toilet before a meeting to negotiate a raise. I heard both directors of the company (small firm, everything ran through them) talking outside the window, saying that they were going to flat-out refuse any offers and 'make the asshole work overtime to prove his loyalty,' and 'he has no prospects anyway, where will he go?'
"Entered the meeting with my signed and printed resignation in hand, slapped it on the table after sitting down, and stood straight back up, saying 'Meeting over.' I now work for a successful company, part of a brilliant team, and obtainable progression with a great work-life balance. If you're being mistreated at a job, overworked, underpaid, whatever it may be: Get your affairs in order and walk."
