Former Food Service Workers Reveal Why They Quit Their Jobs On The Spot
"You can't fire me — I quit!" Who among us hasn't wanted to yell this at one point or another? That said, some people have found their working conditions to be so cruel that they’ve felt they had no choice but to quit on the spot. What exactly pushed them over the edge? Well, these former food service workers turned to Reddit and BuzzFeed to share with the world the moments they decided they just couldn't take it anymore. From villainous bosses and unhinged customers to gross working conditions, the question isn't so much why these employees quit, but why they didn't do it sooner!
Please note, answers have been edited for length and clarity.
"I don't deserve to be treated like this"
“I worked at a fancy restaurant for my city’s nicest hotel. One fateful night, we were a little busy but we were nearing close, so it slowed down. I was proud of myself because I hadn’t made a single mistake. Then the phone rang for room service.
I was in the middle of taking an order when a new hire suddenly started asking me questions. When I tried to direct her over to the assistant manager, he got mad at me and started yelling. Long story short, I forgot the room number because I had three different conversations going on. He went on a tirade about this and started calling me names as I was making the drinks at the bar and said something that made me think ‘I can’t do this anymore. I don’t deserve to be treated like this.’
I took the soda hose that was behind the bar and sprayed him with it. Then I dumped the drinks I made into the ice so they couldn’t use it to make more drinks. I grabbed my stuff and left.” — Pretentious Banana, Reddit
"I was bleeding like crazy"
"Let's just say that I used to work at a place named after a day of the week — do with that what you will. I quit serving for good after a man applying for a job in the kitchen ran into me and caused me to drop all of my table's food. He was running and collided with me. Plates shot out of my arms, and one even hit the window and shattered. A piece of plate cut my leg open. I was bleeding like crazy. I apologized profusely to my customers, and they blamed me for running into him. The assistant manager ended up comping their whole meal, and somehow, I got written up for it.
Later in the week, our general manager returned from vacation and wondered why I had quit. He called me and asked, so I explained. He believed me and asked me to come back. I refused. The restaurant business is so toxic. I wouldn't ever go back." — katieh101, BuzzFeed
"The store had to shut down for several days"
“I worked at a KFC in the '80s. We had a really cool manager… [he] was hired to turn around the store and he was given a budget to buy new equipment. He also saved money on paper products and got the store really clean with our help. At the end of the year, he was fired by the upper management for "spending too much". They then brought in a new manager who immediately set about giving us all a hard time. Everyone walked.
The store had to shut down for several days and the new guy brought in his family to help run it. The store shut down permanently a few years later. The district manager offered me a job in management, but I just didn't trust them at that point.” — EurassesDragon, Reddit
"The look on his face made it so worth it"
“I worked at a Denny’s and we had an assistant manager that was very full of himself. I was scheduled to get off at 11... I got everything done and had no tables when my relief came in. I started to clock out. The assistant manager strolls in and says, ‘Hold on, hold on, where are you going?’
I finished clocking out and said, ‘Going home. See ya tomorrow.’ He stopped me and said, ‘What about this?' He opened the pie oven and it was disgusting. One of the waitresses skipped it on her side work. ‘Tracey messed up. She’s off the next few days, so you’ll have to ask her about it Thursday,’ I said as I started to leave.
‘Get over here, NOW!’ he said in his most authoritative voice. I turned around and he pointed at the oven and said, ‘You’re going to clean this oven from top to bottom. THEN you’re going to go clean the dessert cabinet. After that, you can go ahead and clean out the ice cream freezer. I want them spotless.’
I stared at him for several seconds before flicking my name tag off and throwing him the bird. The look on his face made it so worth it...” — VespineWings, Reddit
