What's the most amazing "didn't quit" story you know of?

[Mr Slugger]

The fastest resignation thread got me thinking. What's the most "should have quit, but didn't" story you know of from your places of employment.

The story I got is we had a new part timer years ago. He basically got the job because his wife was pregnant and wanted to make some extra money. And this liquor store was in a more big city setting. So we had went over things with him. I mean you've got to go over getting robbed, and all that stuff, but at the same time it was a nice neighborhood, the neighbors were friendly, nothing bad ever went down, etc. It was a good neighborhood. There was only one way in one way out going right by the police station.

Well his first night alone one of the neighbors decided to chase the neighborhood kids down the street with a gun. Firing it off, passed right in front of the liquor store. Within a few minutes there was like 10 cruisers in front of the store, cops telling the guy to drop the gun, etc. Of course I learned about this the next day when he came in. Didn't phase him really. I was just shocked he didn't leave.

[draftermatt]

I've got one: Me.

First month there, overwhelmed, first time in a professional office, spent every lunch period in my truck talking to my GF (now wife), ran up a $500 cell bill because of it, just to be able to hear a friendly voice.

After 5 months getting thrown into being the leader of my department (only 17 years old) because the other guy fired himself (long story).

Yet I stayed, and I'm still here, for some reason.

Though to be honest I would have stayed at the liquor store too. Sounds like a fun evening to be honest with you (or a typical Saturday in my old neighborhood).

[Javarod]

The fastest resignation thread got me thinking. What's the most "should have quit, but didn't" story you know of from your places of employment.

Well his first night alone one of the neighbors decided to chase the neighborhood kids down the street with a gun. Firing it off, passed right in front of the liquor store. Within a few minutes there was like 10 cruisers in front of the store, cops telling the guy to drop the gun, etc. Of course I learned about this the next day when he came in. Didn't phase him really. I was just shocked he didn't leave.

Chuckles, "Sounds like a fun show, but then I'm weird like that. Back when i worked for Superior Snacks here in Phoenix (long gone company), one morning about 5A i come stumbling in (literally, it'd been a rough week) with my Jack In The Box killer breakfast in hand (1100 calories), and see someone i didn't recognize in the repair area (door not being locked wasn't uncommon, one driver often came in 4 to 4.30A and would leave the door unlocked but lock the gate when he left since drivers come in usually around 5 or so). While my brain is processing this, I hear the sound of someone turning the tumbler on the drop safe, which is in a different room. I left, called 911, and when the police came, they caught one trying to sneak across the loading dock out front. A pat down revealed he'd been armed. Combine this with a $425 paycheck and days as long as 16 hours, its amazing I left only when they tossed me out (my route'd been sold)."

[wagegoth]

I heard of a legal secretary who basically dedicated her life to her boss. (I got this secondhand from someone who worked with her.) She did everything for him: buying personal items for him, buying gifts for him to give, bringing him coffee, picking up meals, picking up his cleaning, working obnoxious amounts of overtime, etc. He never said, "Thank you," got her a gift, anything.

When she died, he not only didn't attend her funeral, he didn't even send flowers.

[BrassCowboy]

My first week of my first job.

We had just closed the store for the night (10pm) and my coworker is going over a few things with me. At this point only him, me and the manager are left. Well, coworker finishes showing me how to do things, when the manager walks up.

CW: "Ok. I showed him how to do it. It's 10:15 now. Can I go home?"
Manager: "No."
CW: "Why not? I showed him what you asked me, and I stayed 15 minutes past what I'm scheduled. I have class tomorrow. I mean the schedule..."

At this point the manager flips.

Manager: "I DON'T GIVE F#CK WHAT THE G#D#MN SCHEDULE SAYS! YOU LEAVE WHEN THE REST OF US LEAVE! I DON'T GIVE A F#CK!"

I just stood by speechless, watching it all go down. Funny enough, CW left that night after the tirade. I came in for work the next day (why? I don't know) and he didn't quit either.

[ravenrose]

After 5 months getting thrown into being the leader of my department (only 17 years old) because the other guy fired himself (long story).

Can I ask what is even *involved* in firing oneself, nevermind the whole *idea* behind it?

[Misanthropical]

When I worked Mall Security, I got my review (all the reviews I had gotten with the last Security company I worked at were excellent for over the 2 year time I was with them) and everything I did including how I wore my hair was marked as poor. I always got to work 15 minutes early and never missed a day, but my attendence was also marked poor.

My boss told me he didn't agree with all of it, but signed it anyway. I wrote my objections on the back and gave it back to him.

I called the hotline and made a complaint about my treatment and my review, but still didn't quit.

I didn't quit till the person who investigated my claim told me he didn't see any wrong doing. I told him that is what I expected from a company that investigates itself and I didn't appreciate that the only reason I got such a poor review was because I wasn't fucking the boss and he could shove the whole thing up his ass sideways. The only woman on the security team who got a review better than poor was the one who was fucking the boss every chance she got.

I then and only then called my boss and told him I quit without notice and what he could do with the job. My husband went with me to give back my uniform. When my boss saw my husband the boss hid in his office.

I still got unemployment, because they knew that I could bring them down if they fought it.

I now make a whole hell of a lot more money than anyone on that security force makes, including the boss. Plus, my boss now treats me with respect. listens to what I say and takes me seriously. Also, he doesn't expect me to sleep with him.

[draftermatt]

Can I ask what is even *involved* in firing oneself, nevermind the whole *idea* behind it?

The guy got into an argument with our direct supervisor about the mandatory Saturdays we were starting that weekend. He told our Sup that under no circumstances would he work Saturday. Sup told him that he could come in on Sundays then (guy was Jewish so he wouldn't work Saturday since it's the Sabbath). Guy then refused to work any weekends (despite the fact that everyone else was going to) and said "You'll have to fire me" so Sup says "ok, you're fired". After he left Sup called and said "you can come back" guy refused to come back then went for unemployment, which the company fought (guy then threatened to sue for Jewish discrimination if he didn't get unemployment). Unemployment caved soon after.

[Rapscallion]

There's one still in progress.

We have a colleague I'll call J for sake of legalities. He's sodding useless.

In the rota meeting, someone will say that their team needs one and a quarter persondays on a certain day, and someone else will say that they can have J for a day, which is their quarter. They're not joking. Nobody wants him. Some people are fought over to get them into certain teams. He's fought over for people not to have him in their teams.

An entire department was reorganised primarily to get him out of a job he was epically failing at (we currently don't have a way of getting people out of high-profile positions where they are failing - yeah, some of our systems suck). That's the level of general half-assedness that's going on with him.

He drives approximately nearly forty miles to get to work - the next furthest is about twenty miles (most are within five miles). To those in the US, please note that we in the UK have a much closer system of towns and villages, and this level of movement is sodding ridiculous for an ethical company. This is a journey he partakes of every day during rush hour.

Despite the restructuring, which everyone knows was mostly down to him, and even he knows it, and despite knowing that nobody wants him in their department, and despite him looking for work elsewhere, and despite fuel prices, we still can't seem to shake him off.

Rapscallion

[LibraryLady]

My Story May Be a Real Bad One. (Long and sorry in many ways)

I've been working at my current job for 20 years. The last one has been a nightmare.

The horror started with my annual review of 2007 that took place a few days before my 60th Birthday. I was emailed my written performance review to read and sign before the meeting. The review wasn't great but it was generic. I printed it off, signed it and put in the Boss's box.

The meeting was something else again. By the end of it I felt as if I'd been smacked with the salmon but it wasn't a joke. I was told that I was a liability to the Library. My interaction with the public was as best unhelpful. At worst, it was hostile. I could not be allowed to work with the public except for an odd 15 minutes at a time when Reference people took their breaks. When I was out there, I'd have to be on my very best behavior. The Library couldn't afford a complaint about my service.

I was also told that my writing skills were shockingly poor. I mentioned that no one had spoken to me about their concerns. I was told that the combination of poor interpersonal skills and poor writing skills meant that no one in the Library wanted to talk to me. Why am I beginning to feel like the kid in Middle-School that no one wants at the lunch table?

On my birthday, I received the final written evaluation that would be sent to HR. It included all the awful things about me that were not there when I initially signed off on the review. I knew that was not legal but, knowing how bad the Boss could get, I decided that to protest could only make things worse. I had no idea how much worse things would get.

Right before Christmas I was called in again. According to the Boss my memory had been failing at an alarming rate. Boss suggested that I might have Alzheimers or a brain tumor. If so, Boss would help me leave the job on disability. As a condition of continued employment, I had to have a medical evaluation. It was done and I got a clean bill of mental health. The Boss was not pleased.

A few weeks later I asked for some vacation time in March. Here's what I got in response.

"I'm reluctant to grant time off for you because you may not be here eight weeks from now."

I got the time by responding, " X. if I'm still here in March, I have plenty of vacation time in the bank to take. If I'm not here, the question is moot, isn't it?".

At the end of May the 20th Anniversary luncheon was scheduled and I was still there. I went. Boss went. We sat at the same table but there were plenty of other nice people there and the time was most enjoyable.

The lunch was on a Friday. The following Monday morning I received an Email from Boss.

"I hoped you enjoyed your lunch. I certainly enjoyed talking to everyone at the table, including you. Please be prepared for a meeting next Monday with the
director of Human Resources concerning your future at the Museum."

Nice, ain't it to have a week to stew about what's going to happen to you when you know it isn't going to be good.

We had the meeting in his office and there was a lot of talk about the stiff learning curve that the Library would face in the years to come as it embarked on a bold, new plan. There was a lot of talk about how I shouldn't have to spend the twilight of my career in frustration and defeat.

I was essentially told that I was a Dinosaur and presented with a letter that I would not be allowed to refuse. Here are the stipulations:

1) As of June 30, I will be fired from a full-time job at the Museum. I will be considered a retiree by the Union

2) As of July 1st, I will be hired as a part-time employee at the Museum. I will work 3 days a week for a maximum of 20 hours.

3)My duties will focus on Reference work and Bibliographical work. [Ah, there's the rub!]

A year ago I was told that I was too horrible to work at the Reference Desk. Now, I will be spending a great amount of my time there. I've been told that I can't write but I will have to write answers to Email questions.

Also, Boss asked for an entry to the Library Blog. It was so well received that Boss has asked me to prepare at least one Blog entry a month for the year I will remain at work. Can anyone see the irony here?

[Arm]

Good lord, man.

The next year isn't looking to great either. Here's hoping you can find something to take your mind off it in the other half your week. Carefully plotting your revenge from a lightning-silhouetted tower, while your hench-beasts prepare massive clockwork instruments seems about right.

I especially love the bit about how they've got all this new technology coming in (no, they don't, it's a museum. It may be new to the museum, but it is not new) and they're sure you don't know how to use it, which is why they want you to do the blog.

It all makes sense when you do this!

Left is up! Sideways is future! The colors!

[smileyeagle1021]

I've got a few... I'll start with mine

Parking enforcement... that is a job that I shouldn't have quit... I should have never taken it... they did warn me before hand so I can't complain too much... I had to provide my own vehicle, no fuel reimbursement, doing a job that makes most people hate you... oh and get the stunning pay of $9 an hour to do it... yeah, I did quit after 3 months though without notice when someone nearly succeeded in hitting me with their car.

the call center, the first time I had a phone die in the middle of a call... sadly the incident where I ended up out of frustration sending a service request form saying the center was a fucking disgrace was the 3rd time that had happened

My mother had a doozy of a shoulda coulda woulda quit story...
she was working for a tribal government... and her boss was a huge racist and sexist (in his mind my mother was going to screw things up... either unintentionaly because she was a woman or intentionally because she was white)... the straw that should have broken the camels back was when he told her she must partake in a native american religous ceromony or face disciplanary actions... she had reasons to object, both religious and health (the ceromony involved tabacco) reasons... yet rather than quitting she did the ceromony... yeah, there's no bitterness in our family against that tribal government at all... (for the record, the tribe she worked for is full of good people and historically have been a noble people, their modern government though was a special kind of stupid).

[Akasa]

My first tech support job did several things that were illegal, and if I'd known then what I know now I would have quit the first time my check was late.

Aside from checks always being a couple days late there was this one time that the AC in JULY in TEXAS died and they forced us to keep working. The only way they would let you stop was to almost pass out from heat stroke.

Oh and then there's the not allowing you to take your 15 min breaks, or getting in trouble for having to go potty "too often." Or how about being the only non-smoker so ALL the smokers go out to smoke together leaving me ALONE with a call q with a wait of over 2 hours every half hour?
Or the denial of bereavement leave?
Or me having to be curled up in pain with tears streaming down my face under the desk to get to go home early?