What it’s like to quit your job in a blaze of glory

Instead of quietly handing in their notice, these guys went to town

He looks polite but he's gonna throw all his files everywhere when he leaves (REX Features)

It is generally advisable upon departing a job to get your things together and leave the premises quietly so as not to burn any bridges with your former employer.

If you want a good reference and to go on to get another good job, bowing out with dignity at the end of your notice period is the best way to go.

However, users on Reddit shared recollections of clocking out for the final in a “blaze of glory” when leaving jobs they hated.

Out of the frying pan...

A user called Planned_serendipity1 described how his friend quit his job as a chef, writing: “He was a cook at a busy restaurant. The general manager was a real a*****e and treated employees terribly. My friend and another cook got fed up and decided to quit with a bang. They were working a busy Sunday brunch and they started slowing down the orders. The uncooked orders kept stacking up and up. Then they told the manager off and quit.”

Last orders

Another user, Gympowers, wrote about how he went about getting money owed to him after leaving his job at a pub.

“I had my hours cut from 40 p/w to 6 p/w. Then on my latest paycheck saw that they'd been paying me below legal minimum wage. I went in to the pub manager, asked him for the difference; his response was “how long is a piece of string.” Got out my calculator, worked out the exact length of said piece of string, he got pissy, marched to the bar, grabbed a handful of cash (far more than he actually owed me) and sent me on my way.”

Early retirement

EarlyRetirementWorld explained how he wanted to retire early, but did not want to be left out of pocket.

“I was planning on retirement this year at 50, but because I was under official company minimum early retirement age, 55, I would have left with little after 18 years. Our department manager was pretty clueless and regularly abusive to his staff. Over the last year I did what I could to p**s him off any chance I got, while still doing my job exceptionally well.

"In September I called him out under our HR policy for harassment to senior management and demanded that actions be taken. Because I was a grunt worker and he was a senior manager, they sided with him and released me 'without cause'. I received 18months severance pay (1 month per year service) plus my annual bonus (prorated).”

School's out

Blazax recounted the story of his teacher, Mr F, who was let go from his small private school at the end of term.

“On the last day of school, we always had an assembly with the whole school and parents to give out awards and for teachers to be announced for the next year, and for those leaving to say goodbye.

"Now the headmaster is known to be a giant d**k. Everyone just disliked him. That past year, they decided to not renew the contract of this favourite teacher for whatever reason. So when the headmaster announced Mr F would not be coming back, there were loud “awwwws” from the audience. He asked if Mr F wanted to come up to give a last word, and he says yes. He goes up and he says 'I have not been notified until this morning that my contract has not been renewed. This decision is one that will negatively impact both me and my family, thanks to headmaster. To all of you students, work hard. And to you [headmaster]…' then Mr F swore at the headmaster, dropped the mic and walked out, to huge cheers from the students and the parents was deafening.”

Ham-fisted revenge

Kadno told his friends’ story after he quit his job at Burger King, by really throwing in the towel.

“We were working at a Burger King when we were like 15 - 16. It was actually the day after he already quit, but it was super busy and some people called off. So they called to see if he could come in (I think they offered him like time and a half to make up for it) so he agrees. He's the only one in the kitchen on a busy Sunday after church rush. The managers were just bullsh**ing, standing outside smoking and doing anything they could to not help him, so he got frustrated, threw a package of ham through the ceiling and walked out.”