Most of us have quit a job at least once in our lives. Sometimes we've simply outgrown our role and feel the need to expand our horizons.
Other times, though, our coworkers, bosses, or clientele can inspire us to make an exit with their infuriating behavior. Obviously, there are times you have to remain in the field for longer than you'd like just to make ends meet. I know I've had my fair share of jobs that I would have walked out on in a heartbeat if I didn't have bills to pay.
That said, I've never made my exit quite as dramatically as the folks below. They didn't just leave — they left their mark forever on their boss and former cohorts.
I remember wishing I could do something like the cinema worker in #5 back when I worked with a difficult manager in my college town's theater, but I never dreamed of actually doing it!
Take a look below and let us know in the comments if you've ever quit a job with as much gusto as the folks in these stories.
And don't forget to SHARE with your friends!
Thumbnail sources: Flickr, Pinterest
1. Who's The Boss
"My boss was never in the office and wasn't even there for me to turn in my resignation… So I took a video of me dancing on his desk and singing about how he's never there and sent it to his boss." – AnotherCleverGuy
2. Proper Paperwork
"I had a friend who worked in the same place as me. If you want to take a day or days off, you just ask for a 'vacation slip,' and it basically asks what days you need off and why.
"Under 'days needed off,' he put 'forever,' and under 'reason,' he put 'this place sucks.'" – raq0916
3. Blaze Of Popcorn Glory
"There was a [shipping company] strike in the '90s and I was employed by them in high school as a sorter… All these boxes full of microwave popcorn and VHS tapes would slide down the belt and about half of the popcorn bags would explode or break. After about an hour, there was popcorn dust all over. I asked my boss for a mask, and he said that they didn't have any. Some of the drivers walked by wearing masks, and I followed them and found a cabinet full of masks. I confronted my boss, and he was like, 'The masks are for drivers only.'
"So I went back to the sorting area and just stopped working. I just stood there. The belts were backing up with these boxes of popcorn and they would burst and clouds of powdered popcorn butter would fill the air. I waited about 45 minutes before the belt shut off.
"I walked out through a haze of popcorn dust, with alarms blaring, people running everywhere trying to figure out what was going on. A lot of people didn't get their VHS tapes that week." – rikers_evil_twin
4. Played Out
"I was working at the most pissant radio station imaginable. The notoriously cheap, abusive and dishonest owner, a fella named Wes, had just screwed me out of a promised bonus. It was the latest in a long line of dishonest acts and I had had enough.
"The rest of the sales team was afraid to stand up to Wes and he screamed abuse at them constantly. So I engaged in a very public shouting match with Wes in the lobby, saying all the things everyone there had always wanted to say. Then I swept the contents of the front desk onto the floor and stormed out.
"Instead of leaving, I went to a pay phone and called the radio station request line. In a fake Southern accent, I said, 'Hey y'all, I just told my cheap, no good, lying piece of human garbage boss to go to hell. Play me out with, 'Take this Job and Shove It,' and dedicate it to my former boss, Wes!'
"The disc jockey had no idea what had just happened in the lobby, so he enthusiastically played my recorded dedication and added, 'This one is for you Wes, choke on it you sack of crap!'
"The building had speakers inside and out constantly playing the radio feed, so I got to hear Wes get clowned by his own radio station before driving off into the sunset." – LAND0KARDASHIAN
5. Making A Scene
"Worked in the cinema as a teenager. Came in late for work after they changed my schedule during my days off and didn't think to mention it to me. Boss lost it and started shouting at me.
"So I let her rant away for a good 15 minutes while I was at my locker clearing it out. When it finally clicked that I wasn't listening or getting ready to work, she stopped and asked what I'm doing. I said, 'Going to see Lord of the Rings with the lads who've just finished as I'm doing nothing else with my evening, may go for a pint after. What's your plans?'" – definitelynotme_
6. Sincere Sympathy
"I wrote my two-week notice on a condolence card that said, 'I can't comprehend the depth of your loss.'" – Prettygoodpizza
7. Snow Fight
"My wife worked for a coffee shop a few years back. She got another job, so requested reduced hours. This didn't happen for three straight weeks.
"During that third week, she had a soccer mom from hell try to get her attention by throwing snowballs at her through the drive-thru window. My wife then stopped what she was doing and tossed this soccer mom's iced tea at her (which exploded everywhere) and slammed the window.
"Five minutes laterm she had written her letter of resignation, with the only things she could find: a purple crayon and a sticky note." – The_MonBear
8. Playtime
"A buddy of mine was working on the line in a clean room. He walked up to the white board at the top of the room, and wrote 'All work and no play makes Dan a dull boy,' and left." – wet-paint
9. Alter Ego
"I wrote this long, crazy letter about my real job as a superhero, and that after an injury sustained during yet another epic battle to save the Earth, it had been necessary for me to hide my true identity and get a 'cover' job during my recovery. Now that I was all better, I had to go save the world again.
"I pinned this note to my manager's door, announced I was going out for a cigarette (I don't smoke), and drove off." – Reddit user
10. Candid Camera
"[My friend] was working at a dive bar where the boss was SUPER micromanaging — to the extent that he had several surveillance cameras installed, not for security, but so that he could monitor the employees when he was not around.
"She comes in to work on her last night with a shirt that has 'I QUIT!' printed on it in large letters. She makes sure the cameras see it, but proceeds to work her last shift. Boss calls and asks her if she has anything to tell him. She turns, looks the nearest camera in the 'eye' and says 'nope,' hangs up, and finishes the last shift, never to return." – justaboy
11. Popping The Question
"Told the boss (terrible boss and human being) that I would give her an additional month if she could tell me my wife's name.
"I had worked there for nearly three years, got engaged and married while working there and she had met my wife on multiple occasions. It was a small mom-and-pop company with less than 10 employees.
"When she couldn't and attempted to shift the conversation, I called her out and said I was done in two days." – mr_irwin_fletcher
12. Bittersweet
"About 10 years ago, a guy I used to work with submitted his resignation letter written in icing on a sheet cake. His boss or the HR rep had the wherewithal to snap a picture of it with their phone for record-keeping purposes.
"And then everyone had cake." – Tichrimo
Have you quit a job in an even more bizarre way? Do you know someone who has? Let us know below and be sure to SHARE with your friends!
These stories are based on posts found on Reddit. Reddit is a user-generated social news aggregation, web content rating, and discussion website where registered members submit content to the site and can up- or down-vote the content. The accuracy and authenticity of each story cannot be confirmed by our staff.
