Best walk off the job story

[Stormy Kromer]

I just read walked off like a boss on this topic and didn't want to hi-jack it.

I would love to hear the stories from the members here about walking off a job. Being fired or "resigning". We've all been there. There are jobs I should have quit but didn't.

Anyway. I'll start.

When I turned 50 I FIRED and moved to a small town. I thought it would be fun to have a job and wanted to help people. I got a job at the local nursing home as a cook. I loved it. I like to cook and I like old folks. I would show up early for my 6 am shift to have coffee with the early risers and then go cook breakfast for the building. My co-workers were great. Real straight shooters working for that minimum wage. The folks staying there were paying about $8k per month and the people taking care of them are making minimum wage.....

I loved to visit with the residents (aka customers) and make small talk. I could work hard at the same time. I was young, strong and fast and got my work done before it needed to be and had time to visit. One day my boss pulled me into her office like I was a high school kid and told me "Stormy, we pay you (minimum wage) to feed these people, not be their friends!" I said "I quit" before she said "you're fired" (not the good kind of FIRED). I took my uniform top off and placed it on her desk and walked out the building with no shirt on out to my truck in 30 degree weather and drove 10 miles home. I thought to myself I could buy the place and go back and fire her, but I didn't.

I was already FIRED and thought a job helping old folks working for minimum wage would be rewarding and fun. I was wrong.

Anyone else have a good walk off story ?

 

[jazz4cash]

Good story and good thread topic.

 

[Tetto]

I just read walked off like a boss on this topic and didn't want to hi-jack it.

I would love to hear the stories from the members here about walking off a job. Being fired or "resigning". We've all been there. There are jobs I should have quit but didn't.

Anyway. I'll start.

When I turned 50 I FIRED and moved to a small town. I thought it would be fun to have a job and wanted to help people. I got a job at the local nursing home as a cook. I loved it. I like to cook and I like old folks. I would show up early for my 6 am shift to have coffee with the early risers and then go cook breakfast for the building. My co-workers were great. Real straight shooters working for that minimum wage. The folks staying there were paying about $8k per month and the people taking care of them are making minimum wage.....

I loved to visit with the residents (aka customers) and make small talk. I could work hard at the same time. I was young, strong and fast and got my work done before it needed to be and had time to visit. One day my boss pulled me into her office like I was a high school kid and told me "Stormy, we pay you (minimum wage) to feed these people, not be their friends!" I said "I quit" before she said "you're fired" (not the good kind of FIRED). I took my uniform top off and placed it on her desk and walked out the building with no shirt on out to my truck in 30 degree weather and drove 10 miles home. I thought to myself I could buy the place and go back and fire her, but I didn't.

I was already FIRED and thought a job helping old folks working for minimum wage would be rewarding and fun. I was wrong.

Anyone else have a good walk off story ?

That’s crazy! Wow what a feeling that must have been!

 

[street]

I just read walked off like a boss on this topic and didn't want to hi-jack it.

I would love to hear the stories from the members here about walking off a job. Being fired or "resigning". We've all been there. There are jobs I should have quit but didn't.

Anyway. I'll start.

When I turned 50 I FIRED and moved to a small town. I thought it would be fun to have a job and wanted to help people. I got a job at the local nursing home as a cook. I loved it. I like to cook and I like old folks. I would show up early for my 6 am shift to have coffee with the early risers and then go cook breakfast for the building. My co-workers were great. Real straight shooters working for that minimum wage. The folks staying there were paying about $8k per month and the people taking care of them are making minimum wage.....

I loved to visit with the residents (aka customers) and make small talk. I could work hard at the same time. I was young, strong and fast and got my work done before it needed to be and had time to visit. One day my boss pulled me into her office like I was a high school kid and told me "Stormy, we pay you (minimum wage) to feed these people, not be their friends!" I said "I quit" before she said "you're fired" (not the good kind of FIRED). I took my uniform top off and placed it on her desk and walked out the building with no shirt on out to my truck in 30 degree weather and drove 10 miles home. I thought to myself I could buy the place and go back and fire her, but I didn't.

I was already FIRED and thought a job helping old folks working for minimum wage would be rewarding and fun. I was wrong.

Anyone else have a good walk off story ?

That is absolutely insane! I didn't blame you for walking out. I would bet you were missed a whole lot!!

 

[corn18]

Subscribed.

 

[street]

I walked off a job after I retired also. I had a local concert guy ask me if I would be willing to help him do a few concrete jobs in the summer. He said maybe 2 or 3 weeks through the summer would be all he would need me. I said I would do that.

He was a person that always worked mad and was on edge all the time. I knew he was hard to work for because I had known him all my life.

We were pouring a large concrete slab and got it already one afternoon and were to pour the next morning. He was just impossible that week to work with. We got the cement and he started up and I said I'm done and walked off. Here the truck of cement was there, and it was only him. Lol
He called later that evening and was so sorry and said his wife is so mad at what happened he didn't know if he would get back in the house. She knows what he was like.
Long story short he and I talk and get along good today, but he knew he was in the wrong. I worked my butt off for him and he knew it, and he told me that also.
He ended up getting the person that we were pouring the concrete for to help do that job. He needed someone to help and was in a bind. Lol

 

[arch57]

In 1991 was working as a lead software engineer at a small audio company with a VP of engineering who was a major a$$hole. I had been interviewing locally but market was tight back then. I did get an offer at a company that wasn’t too exciting and I literally had the offer letter in my back pocket as I was fed up working with this VP.
We were at yet another contentious meeting and he was chewing us out for being late when I stood up, called him a di*k and stormed out of the conference room. I ran to my office grabbed my coat and ran out the door.
I was in my early 30’s with two small kids and a big mortgage but knew I could latch on with that other company. I was driving a red 1987 Ford Mustang with the 5.0 liter V-8 at the time but it was in the shop so I had my wife’s sky blue Plymouth minivan that day. I see the VP running out the door and everyone watching from the windows. He tries to block my path as I leave and instead of peeling out in style with my Stang I’m revving the minivan trying to get it to lay some rubber. He did back off finally and I bolted for 3 days.
Finally the President of the company called me an begged me to come back so I laid down some conditions and got a 10% raise. They fired the VP 6 months later. I never told my co-workers I had that other job offer when I left so I became a “legend” at the company.

 

[Surewhitey]

Going to be a good group of stories...

Mine isn't spectacular, but I like the way it went. I left a company in decline in many ways. I thought going to a big public corporate company would be a great change as I always worked for small business.

When I was brought on, I was given a 6 week "training". Went off site for a grueling training on a custom estimating software (poorly done, imo). My brand new laptop wasn't working properly and multiple IT guys couldn't find the problem. Frustrating when you get training remotely and can't "practice" with the new tools given. Finally 3 weeks later the 4th IT guy finally figured it out.

When I got the job, I just began listening to ChooseFI on my commute. 6-7 weeks and I later heard one of the guys say that the break in period was for both the employer AND the employee... A few days later, I decided to start a small business with something I enjoyed. 3 years later & still going...

Bad thing is the group seemed to be a good bunch... Never really got to see.

 

[Octogirl]

Agree. I think bad management is behind the great resignation. Stressed out managers take it out on employees.
There s an expression- "People are usually quitting their boss, not the job"
I see this a lot.....people leave a job and get another with a competitor.

I quit my full time job in 2020 and still think about what a toxic environment it was. The boss had been promoted beyond her abilities.

 

[casole]

Love this topic!! I took a break from financial services at 40 (I'm 56 now) to work in the travel business. It was a call center but had some travel perks which was the main draw for me (I got cheap tickets to Paris, didn't last long enough to go anywhere else lol).

Anyway, sometimes you really are too old to be putting up with bs, like timed bathroom breaks, "coaches" listening to your calls to provide "feed back" and the relentless stream of calls. The environment was hostile and tended toward humiliations and backstabbing for clients to get sales - calls were routed "round robin" so some sneaks were giving their cell phone numbers out for callbacks to close. Gotta respect the hustle ha. Glengarry Glen Ross vibes. All highly encouraged like some kind of hunger games lord of the flies s**t. I developed laryngitis from being on the phone so much, and stress I think, I was out three days and got put on warning bc I was new. I got tapped on the shoulder while I was on a call to go talk to my first of a bunch of different managers. So rude lol.

Anyway about four months in one morning I was like um why am I here? I had nothing else lined up. But I was gone. I went on break, timed of course 15 minutes. I sat there for about a half hour smiling. Most peaceful half hour of my life. I told my supervisor I needed to talk with her. Told her "yah this isn't for me" to her credit she asked if working with another manager would help. Nope. OK so when would you like your last day to be. Today. She was mad. I didn't care. I stayed long enough to let about a dozen calls go to voice-mail while I ripped them a new one in an exit survey and hopped on the train home.

Not super epic, but for this "play by the rules" gal it was epic for me. I still know to this day that my husband is a keeper bc he kept saying "just quit" nothing about bills or mortgage. We still laugh about it

 

[casole]

"One day my boss pulled me into her office like I was a high school kid and told me "Stormy, we pay you (minimum wage) to feed these people, not be their friends!" I said "I quit" before she said "you're fired" (not the good kind of FIRED). I took my uniform top off and placed it on her desk and walked out the building with no shirt on out to my truck in 30 degree weather and drove 10 miles home. I thought to myself I could buy the place and go back and fire her, but I didn't."


Hahahaha that is awesome!! You pulled an Antonio Brown!!!

 

[bobandsherry]

Agree. I think bad management is behind the great resignation. Stressed out managers take it out on employees.
There s an expression- "People are usually quitting their boss, not the job"
I see this a lot.....people leave a job and get another with a competitor.

I quit my full time job in 2020 and still think about what a toxic environment it was. The boss had been promoted beyond her abilities.

Yes, that was reason for me, management sucked. My boss, her boss and that boss. They all came in and pushed out my manager, yes 3 for 1.

Came time to get my annual bonus award. My manager had me call in, wondered if I was pleased with my bonus this year. I said, why would I be, I consider it a slap in the face. You rated me for my job appraisal as exceeds (12th year in a row, usually represents the top 10% of staff), most of my team was exceeds and I was very disappointed. She sounded confused. She said it's $x more than last year, and that's better than most. I said I don't know what you are looking at but it's actually 20% less than last year and I told ya then that was disappointing. She still sounded a bit confused. Then looked in the system. Seems her managers manager decided to reallocate my money to some others. I told her I consider then that they really don't appreciate my contribution, at which she pointed out she rated me an exceeds. My response was my compensation didn't represent that. I informed her that as a result I was giving them two week notice and ended the call. Two weeks later I was out of there, despite them asking if I might be interested in staying on for a period of time. I suggested that whoever got the chunk of my bonus could step on up.

Truth be told I was ready, had been planning, and they just gave me the right incentive, ironically by not giving me the right incentive.

I learned later that they thought I was a lifer, and at 55 I'd just be willing to stick around. I guess they didn't believe it when I told them the year prior that I had "f/u" money, and I work because I enjoy the job and people, and once people and job aren't fun I'm out of there. 6 years since then, i don't miss it.

As a side note, within 6 months after I left all of her direct reports had left, another retired early like me, one quit without a job just couldn't put up with the crap and figured she'd find something. Several others left for other internal opportunities in a different line of business and some found other jobs outside the company, feeling it was too toxic in that area. My manager was let go shortly after that, landed in another area and then was gone from the company shortly after that.

All management needed to do was listen to what the employee surveys said, everyone was negative on their experience within the group. Management just chose to spin it and lost many good people. Oh well..... It gave me a great story to tell and helps me share with others how not to manage their staff.

 

[skyking1]

I'm an equipment operator, and for the most part I stuck it out and waited for the layoff when either they did not need my help, or want it.
One notable day the foreman had no good help laying the storm system in a large parking lot. I was the only guy who knew what was what and I was the operator. I think that really chapped his hide, and he started taking his lack of knowledge out on me. It ended when he wanted me to dump some bedding essentially right on him, screaming at me.
Screw that. I grounded the bucket, got off the excavator and told him what for and got in my car and never looked back.
Another good time, this foreman who was known to be a screamer came up to the excavator and rattled off this ( complete BS ) laundry list and said I WAS FIRED!!
I nonchalantly stepped right out of the front window, placed my nose on the end of his and said "If I'm fired, get me a ride back to my car and two paychecks RIGHT NOW!!"
That was the contract, paid in full at the moment of separation.
He backstepped and blustered a bit, and said get back in that thing and get something done.
I worked another 3 weeks there before two check day

 

[tmm99]

This thread makes me want to get a job, any job, just so I could do what the OP did!

No, seriously, all joking aside, I did fantasize about doing something similar at my last j*b before I retired, but I didn't actually do it.

 

[teetee]

I just read walked off like a boss on this topic and didn't want to hi-jack it.



I would love to hear the stories from the members here about walking off a job. Being fired or "resigning". We've all been there. There are jobs I should have quit but didn't.



Anyway. I'll start.



When I turned 50 I FIRED and moved to a small town. I thought it would be fun to have a job and wanted to help people. I got a job at the local nursing home as a cook. I loved it. I like to cook and I like old folks. I would show up early for my 6 am shift to have coffee with the early risers and then go cook breakfast for the building. My co-workers were great. Real straight shooters working for that minimum wage. The folks staying there were paying about $8k per month and the people taking care of them are making minimum wage.....



I loved to visit with the residents (aka customers) and make small talk. I could work hard at the same time. I was young, strong and fast and got my work done before it needed to be and had time to visit. One day my boss pulled me into her office like I was a high school kid and told me "Stormy, we pay you (minimum wage) to feed these people, not be their friends!" I said "I quit" before she said "you're fired" (not the good kind of FIRED). I took my uniform top off and placed it on her desk and walked out the building with no shirt on out to my truck in 30 degree weather and drove 10 miles home. I thought to myself I could buy the place and go back and fire her, but I didn't.



I was already FIRED and thought a job helping old folks working for minimum wage would be rewarding and fun. I was wrong.



Anyone else have a good walk off story ?

After watching the movie 'I care a lot', I will choose not to live long enough to be put into a nursing home.

If the grim rippers are to get your soul when you die, the management of the nursing homes are to get the rest before you die. My mother and sisters were employees in nursing home for 5 yrs each and they have permanent injuries to show for it.

 

[Keim]

Ive done this twice. Heres the 1st time. If y'all are nice i will tell the story of the 2nd time later. It is truly epic, involving police, lawyers and fraud.

The First Time
My first job as an executive director-servibg the chamber of commerce. A very public job in my small town. I came on board in a trying time. They had gambled on a fundraiser and lost their collective shirts. There were several months where we almost didnt make payroll. I spent most of a year cleaning up a huge mess. We ended the year with a small surplus thanks to me.

Over the course of that year i ran afoul of 2 micromanaging board members. (As part of a divorce one tried to dictate to his ex what brand ketchup she could use). It started to come to a boil when they tried to make me fire my best staffer.

It boiled over when i was an hour late to a two hour meeting. I got reamed by Mr. Ketchup. Badly and erroneously. I thought it over for the weekend. Realized i could easily win the battle, Mr. Ketchup was demonstrably wrong. But the war would suck.

I resigned that Monday, giving 2 weeks. I was immediately threatened they would go after my reputation if i said anything publicly about why i quit. "This is a small town, and you'd do well to keep quiet about this." I used that time to inform each board member exactly why i quit and what behaviors led to it.

I enjoyed watching kharma slap those two hard over the next few years. Job losses. Divorce.

Two weeks after quitting with no employment lined up Lehman Brothers went bankrupt, and all major local employers instituted hiring freezes as we entered the great recession.

Fun times.

 

[old medic]

Many years ago I was working construction while going to medic school at night, volunteering with the local fire dept. Well we have a major accident, truck flipped and 4 people with injuries. I go to the hospital with the ambulance to help, and get clinical hours, end up at the hospital till 530 in the morning.... So at 6 I call the boss and explain I can't come in due to being up all night... He starts fussing and tells me I need to get my priorities straight or find another job. I Crawl into bed.. pissed... but fall asleep... several hours later I get woke up by the phone ringing.... literally someone calling about a job application I had put in a year earlier at a tire store, asking if Im still interested, and when can I start.... $1 more than was making....
The following evening the construction boss call raising hell That I didn't show up for work... I replied... " You told me to find another job"
Funny thing is I just retired for working with the same ambulance service...

 

[Out-to-Lunch]

I have read @Koolau's story once or twice, but I hope he offers it up here. It was pretty good!

 

[Badger]

I'm fairly patient and generally not interested in confrontation unless pushed too hard so this is not that exciting. My first year teaching was at a highly respected school but they liked to remind us that we were lucky to teach there. After a few years I finally had enough of the administration patting themselves on the back while feeding me a line of BS. I lined up a position at another highly respected school then walked into the admin offices during registration (the busiest time of the year) and announce I would not be coming back the next week. It gave them a couple of days to try and locate someone capable of teaching Chemistry, Anatomy/Physiology, and Advanced Zoology. Any one of those would be difficult to fill with a competent person on a good year. Not my problem.


Cheers!

 

[NextInLine]

I replied... " You told me to find another job".

Nicely done. Wonder what’s his reaction?

 

[JoeWras]

OP's story is the best! I have no stories about myself. I have witnessed things. The best being the following.

While on vacation, in a small city, we're waiting in line at a fast food place. In all the customers' sight, the manager blesses out a worker. Mgr and wrker were 30 somethings. It went down like this:

Mgr: You have to put the fries under the lamp. This is the third time you forgot! Get your act together.

Quitting Wrkr: Alright, that's it. You know what? This gig ain't gonna work out. I'm gonna end up in jail. <walks out>

Mgr to wrkr 2: Make sure he punches out. Remember what happened last time when Sally didn't punch out?

Wrkr 3 comes to the front and asks Mgr: What happened? I saw Jim walk out the door?

Mgr: He quit

Wrkr 3: Did he punch out? <in my mind, I always hear a rim shot>

​

There's such a rich back story here that we got from context. Clearly, this manager has issues.

 

[Mark1]

My buddy, always called it "dragging up", which means quit on the spot, pack up your welding tools, and go get a new job down the street. His favorite story, was dragging up one time Off-shore when he couldn't find a place to sit to eat his lunch. "Get me a d*mn chopper, I'm out of here".

I googled it and it actually showed up in "Urban Dictionary"
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=drag up

 

[MRG]

When I was a kid I worked in a sawmill. We had contract laborers for excess work, many of these guys worked on my crew inspecting/sorting lumber. To be truthful most of these guys werre homeless alcoholics who couldn't work a regular 40 hour job because it got in way of their drinking. They could sober up a couple days, work, get a bottle and not show for a while.

This day the regulars were getting out of the van when I saw a new face. Apparenty coming off a multi day drunk, looking lost, dazed and confused he asked someone "where he was?". They responded back "you're at XYZ lumber company. You're here to work!". "Oh hell no", the guy responded as he took off on a dead run down the road. Never saw him again.

 

[FLSUnFIRE]

They responded back "you're at XYZ lumber company. You're here to work!". "Oh hell no", the guy responded as he took off on a dead run down the road. Never saw him again.

I'm glad I was between sips of my coffee or I'd be cleaning up a mess instead of replying.


Love this thread. I don't have any good stories of epic walk outs but maybe a toxic boss thread someday. I left because she would not approve my vacation for my honeymoon planned a year out because I was "too important" but then assigned me to a longer time traveling to support a source selection that would have me sequestered. When I did leave (for essentially another department) very politely and negotiating working in both offices during transition she called me an "F'ing traitor" and proceeded to cut of her nose out of spite a bit. I left because she would not approve my vacation for my honeymoon planned a year out because I was "too important" but then assigned me to a longer time traveling to support a source selection that would have me sequestered. Good times, I love being FIREd.

 

[JoeWras]

This day the regulars were getting out of the van when I saw a new face. Apparenty coming off a multi day drunk, looking lost, dazed and confused he asked someone "where he was?". They responded back "you're at XYZ lumber company. You're here to work!". "Oh hell no", the guy responded as he took off on a dead run down the road. Never saw him again.

Good one. There's always a backstory. Imagine his drinking buddies somehow getting him on that van before he completely came out of his haze. I'm sure they had a good laugh and a couple of shots (bottles?) to celebrate their prank.