Reading the stories of other people’s work can make you feel hopeful. These are some of the best we can find on the internet.
1. Laid off the entire staff.
From Redditor u/shortadamlewis
I had to dismiss all the staff (and myself) with a notice of eight hours.
I was a contract project manager for a government project (office type work). In a regular review on Thursday, the government announced that it would not renew the contract, with the final day being Friday (the next day).
I took everyone to the meeting room early the next morning and let everyone know that we were absent from work and that today is everyone’s last day. I asked everyone to email me their resumes, checked the projector in the conference room, and updated it all day long. Then I printed an “introduction” page for everyone, and we all spent a day writing recommendations to each other. I ordered pizza for everyone and bought a drink for everyone at the bar next door. Most people were working by the end of next week.
2. Telling the exact thing to the customer.
From Redditor u/jessdb19
An unnamed photo studio. They were pessimistic as a whole. For example, it doesn’t request a customer’s image, so the customer can come to another session and buy something else.
My regional manager was a bitch and ridiculed employees behind them. (She named one girl horse/mule/donkey because she had big teeth. One girl was nicknamed “H00ker Beth” because her outfit was more explicit than SHE liked. Etc.) I think I had a name for sure, but I hated her terribly.
The company also sucked us in and automatically logged off, even if we continued to work. There was no overtime if expected. And if you did it for more than 40 hours, they split it so that you get 40 in one week and 40 in the next week.
So one day (Thursday), a woman came looking for an invitation she ordered for her child’s birthday party. They are nowhere. “Oh, she didn’t order because she didn’t like it,” is what she told me when I called the store manager. Now I have enough of this place and I’m ready for another work starting in two weeks. Then I told the woman what SM said and gave her company number.
She yelled at them in front of me, and they were basically ridiculous. While she was waiting, they called me and began to curse me about how I told my clients this/that/everything. They said they would pay for this. I laughed and said, “Stop it, it’s not worth it.” I called the girl and told her I was gonna quit.
I gave the woman some free gift vouchers for her problems and closed the store and left.
The regional manager gave all employees my cell phone number to make a joke with me. She also tried to call me several times and left some threatening voicemails about how it would ruin me and my career. I’m still waiting for it.
When I finally went to see my friend that weekend, it was as if the weight had lifted off my shoulder. I slept for 12 hours that Saturday.
3. The supervisor blocking promotions.
From Redditor u/Kilen13
I’ve been working for three years and have consistently been in the top three in my category in terms of performance. I repeatedly asked my supervisor if he could recommend me a promotion, but he always said he was doing his best to offer me new opportunities. From a friend in another department, I was considered one of the best candidates for four different promotions and knew it every time the supervisor blocked them.
When I presented him with this information, he told me it was true, and he said, “I can find someone to do what you do without paying more.” I said “f*ck it” internally, I quit and got a new job within 3 months. I took all the PTO and on the day I came back, I dropped him into 2 hours of the day and kept him high dry during peak hours. F That man.
4. Pulling out Jack in the box.
By Redditor u/ProlongedSuffering
It was handed to me by one of my friends. Long ago, when we were still in HS, my colleague’s friend was fed up with the supermarket where they worked. There were several towns in a not-so-good area, which was right next to the highway, so it was very busy and there were a lot of commuters from the town. I went to college and hated driving. On his last day, the woman approaches his rope and tries to threaten him to accept a bunch of expired coupons. He tells her that he needs to verify with his boss, slowly pulls Jack in the Box out of the box, puts it neatly on the scanner, and begins spinning things. When he finally appeared, he looked into her eyes and just said, “Yes, he said no.” She shouted in amazement.
5. A Non-Grata person.
From Redditor u/Wencar
I had a one-year contract job. As the year was approaching and I didn’t want to continue beyond the end date, I told my boss (completely stupid) not to renew my contract. It was six weeks before the contract ended.
From that day on, I was a non-Grata person in the office. I did not receive the CCs by email. They didn’t invite me to the staff meeting. One day, they held a “team-building” event outside the office. I appeared at work, and there was no one in my department. I read books and surfed the WWW all day long.
The last day was around 1 pm, and I said goodbye to people in other departments. The boss comes down and says, “I need to be in the office right now.”
I used the phone to call someone, and they told me they were planning an escape party for me! Six weeks after being treated like shit, they wanted to give me a cake and feel better.
I didn’t say anything, I sneaked up on the (already cleaned) desk, got out of the front door, got into the car, and went home.
Apparently, they started calling me for about 30 minutes, and they noticed that I was gone and my boss got angry.
I decided not to send a record of my work so that I could get unemployment insurance. I sent an email to her boss, boss, and CEO explaining what she did. They got my ROE within 3 days. If you do not have a final salary, you will file a complaint with the government. And see where it goes. The next day, I passed through the Purolator and found out that she was fired two months later.
6. Choice words for daughter by the officer.
By Redditor u/srekalz
Currently in the US Army. I went back and forth to reconnect for another 4 years (I’ve done it 9 times so far). I have a 3-year-old daughter at home, but I haven’t seen her for nearly two years and more than three weeks. When I shared my thoughts with him, I was talking to a chain of command officer. He has just been ordered to stay abroad for another two years. His exact word was, “You have already missed two years of her life and you can afford to lose another two years.” That day I went to the Command Career Advisor’s office and signed my intention to separate.
7. No shirt given.
From Redditor u/Jethro Byte
While in college, I worked for BestBuy back as one of the computer engineers before the geek squad in the early 2000s. The work itself wasn’t terrible, but I wasn’t really involved in it because it was boring as something other than a simple update was sent to the repository. Besides, they had never ordered my work shirt, so I walked around wearing the black polo shirt I already had instead of the black best buy polo shirt. I think this shows that they didn’t care about their employees, but then all the schedule issues arose.
I had a very strict and predictable school timetable. 8:00 A.M. to 3:30 P.M. every day. I talked about it when my boss hired me, but he said it didn’t matter. But they scheduled me from noon to 8 pm. Or some weird shit that went against my college schedule. After the first few times of “Where were you?” It became a bit of a joke and I realized that a better job was a good idea.
Enter Black Friday, the most important shopping day of the year. The store was scheduled to open very early like 3 am, so they asked everyone to be at the store at 2 am. I drag my ass and after an hour the hell is released. Customers are stupid, colleagues are in a bad mood, and store managers are jerky for everyone. It was sucking and tired. We soon realized that we weren’t going to give a break-even point, even though we had enough time to legally enforce it.
At around 5 am, colleagues got angry with management for the lack of breaks and begin treating clients like shit. The manager passed by and began to scream, so I took off my name tag, threw it at the counter, and started walking with my coat in front of the computer department staff and customers. He shouts to me, “You must deliver your T-shirt now!” I look back and shout, “I’ve been here for three months and you’ve never got a T-shirt for me!”
Little, but damn it felt good.
8. Quitting in a reasonable and calm manner.
From Redditor u/jdaaawg80
I was an elementary school janitor. Worked there for several years and was popular with nursery teachers up to the first grade. I had to change the shift so I could do another job. So I switched to another janitor who the sophomore ward teacher liked. I think it offended them, they complained about my work and called the office on a regular basis. I worked, but they wanted to get their other janitor back. They were rude even on my face.
A few months later, they call me to the office. My boss says, “Another case, and I will write to you.” I calmed down and said, “OK, I want to put in two weeks.” He looked surprised and said, “Well, do you need time to think about this?” I said, “I have. My opinion will not change, and I want to save our time.” It was nice that I could quit as a calm and rational person. Finally, I went back to school and did a much better job I enjoyed. I got it.
9. My last day.
By Redditor u/FlammusNonTimmus
I worked in a restaurant. Actually got a better job than being given hours and issued a two-week notice as a concession (a few days seemed like a week due to the date of the new concert). I didn’t have two weeks, so I took a lecture on why I couldn’t go back to work. So I politely suggested, “Let’s say today is my last day.”
I was relieved.
10. Told her “it was nice.”
From Redditor u/mgraunk
I worked for over a year at a company and my job was to deliver for Amazon.
The pickup vans they equipped us with were very well maintained and were not fully equipped to withstand the winter weather. I worked for the company in the first winter. That is, I was always stuck across the road when it froze and every time it snowed. There were a few close calls that caused little damage to the truck, but no majors.
I decided to do my best during the summer when the weather was obviously nice. Throughout the summer we were promised new and better trucks. September is coming. There is no pickup in October. There will be no pickups in November.
That month we had the first real snowfall. I came back from the route and posted a notification immediately. The boss said he would buy a new pickup by the end of the year. I told her that it was nice and then walked off.
11. The lady hit the Reply-All.
From Redditor u/Makerbot2000
A well-established company with a new CEO. The CEO writes a company-wide email with some sort of harmless “exciting” message about how we work, somehow. There is nothing to worry about.
An accountant woman with gentle manners and a stubborn Christian woman from Texas replies, “as if we believed in a word from that pompous person.”
She had been in the company for 15 years and came so early to sort the books, so by the time most people got to work, that had already happened. But people told her that her “reply-all” had gone out, to which she squeak-replied and then quietly took an empty box out of the mailroom, packed her desk, and without even saying a word to anyone, walked towards her car. They never saw her again.
12. He told that he couldn’t afford it.
From Redditor u/catch22milo
I was 20 years old and worked in a call center for over a year. I became an Assistant Manager with the same new compensation system as others on the same post. Basically, we received our salary. This is a very small percentage of the office’s total income, which is 10% of his own income since he was working on the phone. My direct boss and boss gave it to me without asking the manager of the area who was on vacation for two months in the Dominican Republic.
After the promotion, I got my first paycheque. There was no bonus, but I was told that it would be fixed soon. When I received my second paycheque after promotion, there was no bonus again. It was said that it would be fixed soon. When I received my third check after being promoted, I was told that there was no bonus and I should wait for the local manager to come back and approve. I worked for another four weeks, assuming I was paid weekly and would receive a lump sum when the regional manager returned. The problem was that I was selling much more than any other office manager. The delay in payments was so great that the local manager came back and he felt he had too much money, so I wondered why the office manager gave me this structure.
On my next check, there was no lump sum, and they told me they were discovering a new structure. On the next shift, I was at home and received a desperate call from an office manager asking why I wasn’t working. I told him I couldn’t afford to go to work. The manager asked me why. Told the manager that I’ve been working for two months, so if they have the money, call me or don’t call me at all.
They never paid me.
13. It was a joke to the supervisor.
By Redditor u/Frugalista1
I love my boss but hated my job.
I got a new job and was notified in writing two weeks ago. My happiness was April 1st, he didn’t believe me. I reminded him of the remaining days every day. He got frustrated and played a long game himself, but it was too much.
Apparently, it was surprising for him when I disappeared!
14. The guy threw away his keys.
From Redditor u/GreenTunicKirk
I worked as a field manager for a company with a small team. They recently hired two new men who were fairly environmentally friendly to the industry but weren’t completely brain dead.
There was a guy named Gary. He was a little quiet and kept his head down. As his direct boss, it was up to me to train him. I was obviously not the best teacher because I was a little direct. But never insult or degrade.
We were cleaning the warehouse late in the week. Gary goes a little lazy, although the five of us eliminate them all so they can get out early. He didn’t make much effort, so I asked him, “Mr. Gary, could you give me some trash?” So he loads the truck and goes to the trash can behind the building (we had a lot of trash). But he leaves the cardboard. So I think he’s doing two runs to stretch the workload, right?
He goes back and doesn’t even take the cardboard. “Yeah, Gary, can you do cardboard as well?” He gets angry, rushes to the office, and he started yelling at the bosses, for me being stupid.
Important note, I didn’t know. I thought he went to the bathroom.
I stepped into the office about five minutes later and heard him complain about how stupid I was. People say this to make them look over their shoulders, and I find them talking crazy about me. He notices and looks back, and it’s the classic “oh f*ck”.
So one of my bosses tells Gary that even if I’m his boss and he doesn’t like me, at least he should do what I asked him to do as long as it makes sense. And taking out trash and cardboard is part of our normal work, and we all take care of it. Gary gets angry and begins shouting that we are all friends and walks away. He unlocks his belt (we have the truck key) and literally throws it at my boss to blow the curse.
Everyone was in shock and a little embarrassed.
Gary comes back five minutes later and asks for his key because his own car and house keys were still installed. As soon as he finds them, he tells us all “f*ck you” and the storm subsides.
Very epic. To date, it’s my favorite job quit story.
15. Over the Burrito.
By Redditor u/LiesureSuitLarry
I set foot in Taco John’s and ordered a super burrito without tomatoes or black olives. They weren’t too busy, but I had some orders before me.
So I stand near the counter, watch them put together the items, and see them start my burrito. The cook fills it with everything and wraps it. He holds it in his right hand and raises his left hand to erase the sequence of monitors. He then stopped for a moment when he realized that he had put everything in the burrito and wasted it. He’s in front of me, turning around and shooting a 100 mph fastball burrito into the back wall. He enters the back room, takes off his Taco John’s T-shirt, puts on his personal T-shirt, picks up cigarettes and drinks, and exits through the back door.
Thirty seconds later, the girl performing the drive-through wants to know where “John” is. I pointed out that he had already crossed the parking lot in the middle. I told her that I think “John” gave his notice. She says some chosen words and wants to know what I asked for.
16. A vacation saved up.
Redditor u/dusk27
When working at Walmart, I save and dedicate a two-week vacation after a few years of being an ignorant bully. I told them that I had to see my family. I posted a two-week notice on the last day of my two-week pre-vacation work. The driver took a minute to do the math “So, aren’t you coming back?” “No. Take care of yourself.”
17. Zumba being mandatory.
Redditor u/AllYouNeedIsJoy
My boss told me we were going to have a break with the obligatory Zumba, and I told her I was going home.
A little story: It was a camp for kids I was a cook at. The kids came on Sunday and left on Saturday, so I was there all week, preparing four meals a day and an afternoon treat for 100 people. The break that day was only one hour before lunch, but I worked daily from 7 am to 11 pm ($200 a week).
