Have you ever Rage Quit a job?

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Rage Quitting... do you have any stories to share?

I have a few "Eff this place, I QUIT!" stories from when I was younger... from 18 - 21 yrs old, I bounced around jobs and dealt with some super shitty conditions and things eventually blew up.

First one... I worked at Jacks Tire & Oil in Orem for a couple years. Worked my way into the OTR/commercial tire side, running a service truck.

I worked a long day one Friday mid-Summer with several difficult service calls and was a couple hours late coming back to the shop, well after business hours (after 8 pm). I was exhausted, sweaty and tired... couldn't wait to go home and rest.

I pull the service truck into the yard and see 3 semi trucks with trailers all lined up... 2 needing new tires, one flat repair and only ONE guy working on them.

I park the truck and the guy working tells me that the manager told him I'd help once I was back from the service calls. I was so pissed... everyone else had been sent home for the night and there were a few more hours of work. I apologized to Travis (who was a super nice guy and a hard worker) and told him I was done... "This is total bull$hit, I f**king QUIT!" Told him to call the manager in to help with all the work he'd scheduled well into the night.

I walked to my Jeep smiling and felt a massive weight off my shoulders as I hauled ass away from that shitty job!

Sorry to have left you hanging Travis!! Felt bad about leaving him, it wasn't his fault... the manager had pulled shit like that in the past. I hated that company, managers and how shitty they treated the employees. Even though I didn't have a backup plan, I was happy to walk away from that joke of a job.



Another story from my time at Jacks Tire and Oil... they had a contract to maintain a fleet of 150 belly dump trailers at a company in Spanish Fork. The heat reflecting off aluminum belly dumps was crazy in the Summer. Every other Saturday 2 of us got dropped off for 8+ hours with a tire maintenance utility trailer. It had a compressor, tools, etc. We had to check every single tire on all the trailers and fix any problems.

We had no food, water or access to a bathroom... one really hot day in July I got sick, bad... heat stress. Felt like I was dieing... massive migrane headache, dizzy, nausea, etc. I laid under a trailer trying not to pass out the rest of the day. Had to wait it out until they came to pick us up, beg the manager to let me get some water and Gatorade on the way back to the shop. 🙄
 

Greg

I run a tight ship... wreck
Admin
Another one... about 19 yrs old at the time. I got hired by a small machine shop, about 20 guys working there. The pay was minimum wage, like $4.75 an hour. I spent 2 hours getting trained on running a CNC machine, then 2 hours working on my own. It was incredibly monotonous production work, you'd check tolerances of the parts with a mic every 5 completed parts and make adjustments, if needed.

Lunch time rolls around and I walk to the parking lot and notice nobody else is leaving, they're all hanging out around the business. I find my trainer and told him I was going to get lunch. He tells me it's company policy that employees stay on site for lunch, but it was unpaid. I didn't have any food with me (because nothing was said at any point before) and was pretty hungry.

Told him at that point I wasn't interested in working there, if I couldn't leave to get lunch. Said I didn't care for the job either and I was quitting... He asked about paying me for the first 4 hours of the day. I told him I didn't care, it wasn't worth the shitty under $20 paycheck anyhow. 😆
 

Thursty

Well-Known Member
Location
Green River
No cool rage quit stories to tell, but there were plenty of days in the LE world where I would have loved to throw my badge on the boss’ desk and tell him to come get his patrol truck out of my driveway before I set it on fire. 😂
 

shortstraw8

Well-Known Member
Never rage quite but remember sitting 200' on a tower in ~20° getting the call that I the job I interviewed for in tech and yelling down to the ground foreman telling him I quit. He responded and said he can't allow it in more colorful language and getting the same response from the boss.

Wanted to rage quit when I worked at bigO as a teen but just gave 2wks, horrible management with one that would blame his laziness on techs.
 

Medsker

2024 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon 392
Location
Herriman, UT
When I was in college full time I was working 3 jobs. Two part time and one full time. I was like a tea kettle ready to explode from lack of sleep and too much work and school. The full time gig was at Smith's ice cream plant in Layton. I worked nights and one night the maintenance man did something really stupid that effected my work. I grabbed him by the collar and threw him up against the wall and walked out. It felt so good to be rid of that job!
 

The_Lobbster

Well-Known Member
As much as I’ve wanted to, my dad always taught me to never quit a job until I had another lined up.

Closest I’ve got though was on the last day of my two weeks, got drug into the office for some BS. Once I explained my side and they understood I was in the right, they asked me to go complete the job I was pulled off of. Thankfully I was smart enough to pack my tools all up before heading to the office, so I politely told them I was done and that they could find somebody else to do it.

Was a nice Friday afternoon break at least til I started at UVU the following Monday.
 

Pile of parts

Well-Known Member
Location
South Jordan
The common theme here is that people don't quit jobs, they quit management. I have not ever rage quit, but I have lined up other work and left jobs due to management styles that I didn't agree with. In fairness, I've even had conversations with managers to try and help them understand what does and doesn't motivate me with their management style.
 

Johnny Quest

Web Wheeler
Location
West Jordan
I quit a job during my annual review. It was a fun job that paid horribly, had a very inconsistent schedule, and the commute was a rough. I already had something else lined up and was planning on giving my notice, so when I asked my boss (who was not my favorite person) to sit down for a few minutes, she said something along the lines of “oh perfect, we need to do your review anyway”. The scene was set.

She went first. She talked about all the things I was doing, and actually had a pretty positive reflection on my performance. She then said she was going to bump me up to $X/hr, which was like a $0.23 raise or something insulting like that.

So I thanked her, signed the paperwork, and the review was over.

“Ok, what was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“I’m quitting.”

[stunned awkward beautiful confused silence]

“I found A better job, with better pay, better hours, and a better commute. This is my notice.”

The last two weeks were very relaxed, and I pretty much came and went as I pleased. I don't think she said a single word to me the whole time, and I finished out my last shift, dropped my stuff at the front desk, and left with a huge smile on my face.
 

Thursty

Well-Known Member
Location
Green River
We fought constantly. But now I’d give anything to go back to those days
Working for your dad seems to go one of only two ways. I worked for mine in his precision grinding shop from ages 12 to 26. The idea was for me to fully take over his small business but the work was too tedious and monotonous. Dad was very understanding about my reluctance realizing his work only appealed to a very specific person, which is why he was successful. Regardless, those were the best working years of my life.
 

DesertRam

Active Member
I worked for my dad for four summers in college. 99% of the time it was awesome. We made many memories and still talk about those times, even after ~30 years. At times, I threatened to rage quit college and just work with him full time. His response was, "Come college start day, you're fired."
 

Herzog

somewhat damaged
Admin
Location
Wydaho
I have never rage quit, but when I do I will cover the tile floors in halls in PAM cooking spray right before Christmas break and watch all the people slip as they are running out of my room to go on break.
I feel like you wouldn't even need to rage quit for this. Just pay one of the 'people' to do the spraying for you. :D Also, film and post it please. You have a couple weeks to prepare.
 

glockman

I hate Jeep trucks
Location
Pleasant Grove
Through college I worked for Waste Connections hauling roll off dumpsters until the dumps closed, then I did most of the truck maintenance in the shop to 8 or 10pm. Worked great for my college schedule and they got a driver and a mechanic for a driver wage.
When I got hired at Micron, it was a $7 hr raise. I gave my boss at Waste Connections the rest of that week and 2 full weeks notice. On my last day I was scheduled to work till 5 pm but had to take off an hour early to get some paperwork to start at Micron on Sunday. Around 10 am, I told my boss I needed to leave early. He freaked out and started yelling that he had customers waiting. I told him I had lost hundreds of dollars giving him more notice than I needed to and that I was done, he could figure it out, handed him my shop keys and walked out. That's the only job I've ever left on anything other than stellar terms.
 

Coco

Well-Known Member
Location
Lehi, UT
I have worked in the tire biz a long time. Same company every time, and my late grandfather/uncle own it. There was several times I wanted to say eff this place and walk out. Especially in the early years through high school when they would have full on yelling matches throughout the shop.

When I started in high school I was more the shop cleaner. Ride my bike from my house in Lehi down to the shop in AF after work and on Saturdays, and they would give me a ride back home after work. I wanted to move up and start working on vehicles. They started working me into some tire work and oil changes. I got my license and started driving, and went full time after I graduated. I still wanted more, and was treated like the relation versus the employee. Treated worse, held to high standards, scrutinized more harshly. I still wanted to do more and become a heavy tech, but my grandfather flat out told me with a laugh 'you won't be a mechanic.' It was time to leave and look for other opportunities. I found another job with a promise of training and moving up to more mechanical work, plus they were closed Saturdays.

They had been bringing vehicles to our shop for emissions tests since they were not certified, and I got talking with one of the techs and they were looking for someone to come over there. It was a small shop in Lehi with 2 main techs, and the owner, that was it. I got hired on. Started with all the grunt work. Cleaning up after them, spraying and cleaning vehicles to pin point leaking, cleaning and clearing snow. I kept telling the guys that I was hired on with promise of working on vehicles, and they finally had me doing some stuff, but it wasn't fast enough for them, and they were not training either. The two techs turned out to be total assholes. Constantly belittling me, and making fun of how slow I was, or the lack of mechanical knowledge I had. Really making me feel like shit. I had grown up helping my dad build several Jeeps, and was always in the garage, but this was my first 'real mechanical' job where I was still learning the ropes, and doing work in shop rate times. Give me a f*&%ing break. The owner and I were good friends, he had done work on my families vehicles from time to time, and replaced the clutch in my Samurai. He was stuck because his two techs, though total assholes, were his main workers. I had been going in to Low Range Off-Road for parts for my truck and such and was asking them if they were hiring. After 2 months of the same shit, I reached out to LROR to see if they were hiring yet, and they finally gave me a shot. I turned in my uniforms, and told him sorry, I just can't deal with the hostile work environment anymore. He completely understood and we left on good terms. This is the only job I have ever left without a notice. That shop is now completely gone, and he is doing construction. He still comes in for all his tire work.

Full circle I am back at the shop. I came back with terms that I wouldn't deal with the same shit I did before, and it has mostly been a lot better. Still there are promises that are not being kept, and part of the reason I have looked at moving. We will see what happens.
 

Tonkaman

Well-Known Member
Location
West Jordan
I have worked in the tire biz a long time. Same company every time, and my late grandfather/uncle own it. There was several times I wanted to say eff this place and walk out. Especially in the early years through high school when they would have full on yelling matches throughout the shop.

When I started in high school I was more the shop cleaner. Ride my bike from my house in Lehi down to the shop in AF after work and on Saturdays, and they would give me a ride back home after work. I wanted to move up and start working on vehicles. They started working me into some tire work and oil changes. I got my license and started driving, and went full time after I graduated. I still wanted more, and was treated like the relation versus the employee. Treated worse, held to high standards, scrutinized more harshly. I still wanted to do more and become a heavy tech, but my grandfather flat out told me with a laugh 'you won't be a mechanic.' It was time to leave and look for other opportunities. I found another job with a promise of training and moving up to more mechanical work, plus they were closed Saturdays.

They had been bringing vehicles to our shop for emissions tests since they were not certified, and I got talking with one of the techs and they were looking for someone to come over there. It was a small shop in Lehi with 2 main techs, and the owner, that was it. I got hired on. Started with all the grunt work. Cleaning up after them, spraying and cleaning vehicles to pin point leaking, cleaning and clearing snow. I kept telling the guys that I was hired on with promise of working on vehicles, and they finally had me doing some stuff, but it wasn't fast enough for them, and they were not training either. The two techs turned out to be total assholes. Constantly belittling me, and making fun of how slow I was, or the lack of mechanical knowledge I had. Really making me feel like shit. I had grown up helping my dad build several Jeeps, and was always in the garage, but this was my first 'real mechanical' job where I was still learning the ropes, and doing work in shop rate times. Give me a f*&%ing break. The owner and I were good friends, he had done work on my families vehicles from time to time, and replaced the clutch in my Samurai. He was stuck because his two techs, though total assholes, were his main workers. I had been going in to Low Range Off-Road for parts for my truck and such and was asking them if they were hiring. After 2 months of the same shit, I reached out to LROR to see if they were hiring yet, and they finally gave me a shot. I turned in my uniforms, and told him sorry, I just can't deal with the hostile work environment anymore. He completely understood and we left on good terms. This is the only job I have ever left without a notice. That shop is now completely gone, and he is doing construction. He still comes in for all his tire work.

Full circle I am back at the shop. I came back with terms that I wouldn't deal with the same shit I did before, and it has mostly been a lot better. Still there are promises that are not being kept, and part of the reason I have looked at moving. We will see what happens.
Sometimes you just have to see if the grass is greener for yourself. Otherwise you’ll always resent the missed opportunities.
 
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