While we all dream of ascending to more influential roles within our careers, it's evident that each step of the ladder comes with its own unique set of drawbacks. If you're a manager, sure, you have a greater pay-check and added responsibility, but it can also be a rather thankless job. Case in point: a bunch of managers and supervisors took to Reddit to share stories of times when they had to fire employees on the spot, and they are seriously cringe-worthy.
1. Harsh
"He slashed my tire after I told him to go work instead of sitting in the break room."
2. Sounds fair enough
“I gave my secretary a document that I wanted incorporated into a letter I had written, and she hucked the document like a frisbee into her trashcan. It was literally my only copy so I had to walk over and fish it out. That was her last day.”
3. This is not the ambulance driver you'd want to have in an emergency...
“I once had an employee snap chatting as he drove an ambulance with a crew member and patient in the back, through an intersection during a red light.”
4. A PR nightmare
“I had an employee who got drunk on her lunch break, flipped her car, went to jail, mugshot with our company logo on her shirt. Perfect.”
5. An unsuccessful coup
“I work in pizza delivery and we had a guy back in the day (fellow manager) who tried to shut down the store 5 hours before the time that corporate set for us to close. He clocked every person out and sent them home and then just refused to take the phone calls or anything like that.”
6. I have no words
"Rubbing a pregnant co-workers belly 3 times after being asked to stop and then asking her if her husband was good at sex."
7. This is beyond creepy
"Guy had a crush on a female co-worker. He passed her a note at work one day with a gob of hand lotion inside it and the words, "I got really excited thinking about you earlier.
Girl freaked out. Went to management. Guy got escorted out."
8. Anger management training?
"Years back a co-worker got into some trouble for something and got called into the owner’s office. Few mins later we heard a huge thump, idiot broke his hand on the boss's desk during their disagreement. He got a police escort off the property."
9. I hope the birds were ok!
"I had an officer under me. He was reported in a tree. I went to investigate the last place he was seen. He was still there, attempting to pepper spray birds. I wish I could have made that up."
10. Yes, that's a fireable offence
"My husband is a manager and his employee somehow had another employee’s ID and then stole that person’s check and cashed it. Caught it all on camera. She still denied it."
11. Never, ever, add your boss on social media
"Had a girl call in and say she was terribly sick. She’s friends with me and the other two bosses on social media. An hour after calling out she posts pics of herself at a local pool."
12. Ever heard of patience?
"Setting a paper packing machine on fire because it got stuck."
We all have that one co-worker who we look at and just think: "how the hell do you still have a job?"
Maybe they're lazy and can't be bothered ever doing anything useful, maybe they're consistently late and calling in sick, or maybe they're just straight-up incompetent. Ultimately, it doesn't matter, they still have this uncanny ability to not end up with a pink slip by the end of the week. By the way, if you can think of a colleague who is like the,, then I've got bad news for you: you are the incompetent person. After all, there's always one.
Recently, an AskReddit thread asked Redditors what were some of the craziest things their co-workers ever did at work that they didn't actually get fired for. As I'm sure you can imagine, their answers were pretty hilarious. So we've decided to collate some of the best examples to check out yourself.
1. mallow-cups-fo-life
"A cashier would drop cash on the floor, bend down to get it, stick half of it in his sock, then proceed with the transaction as normal. All management did was move him to the floor. He only got fired a few months later when he snuck onto a register, did it again, then went back out to the floor and hid the money in a display. His pot dealer then came into the store, grabbed the cash and replaced it with some pot. Only then did they realize that’s what he’d been doing the whole time."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
2. Blublblub
"I had a project manager once that single-handedly torpedoed a $10 million contract through his sheer incompetence and hubris. The customer got sick of our company not hitting the impossible goals this idiot set and his condescending treatment of them (yes, he treated the customer like crap along with his own people) and cancelled it resulting in 20 people losing their jobs. This guy didn't lose his job however because he was friends with someone on the board. He got another project to work on with no repercussions."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
3. Byizo
"Used his corporate credit card for over $10k in personal purchases. He was reprimanded, but not fired OR made to pay the company back. Within the next year he did the exact same thing and only then was he fired."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
4. InfiniteSandwich
"I worked at a school for kids who need emotional support. We had a classroom aide who would scream at kids until they cried and then actively mock them for crying. These kids were 7 and came from horrifically abusive houses. It sucked to work in a place that allowed abusive behaviour to continue. She was close family friends with the principal. It's very hard to help a child when they learn from a young age that adults aren't able to make things better and adults are capable of incredibly mean things."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
5. BroodingBryanAdams
"Forge a document (it was so obvious), then lie about not forging it, then admit to forging it once lie was just slightly questioned. One partner at the firm wanted her fired, but another one didn't, the forger stayed."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
6. MormonBikeRiding
"Had a girl steal money from other crews bags in the locker/change room. Instead of firing her they just took the door off the room and put in a camera so now we have to show up to work in uniform with a shirt over it, it's very hot here and I end up sweaty by the time I get to work. She also called in one time saying her sister died and needs time off. She never had a sister. After all this, she got rehired after she quit for another job that didn't end up working out."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
7. Heidismiles
"There was a sales guy who was generally not expected to be in the office most days. He was supposed to be out making sales. But he just never did. At one point he had been working there for a year, and he asked me (thetech-savvy receptionist) how to enrol a new customer in our system. We were pretty sure he had another full-time job."
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Getty]]
8. WarmProfit
"Saw a guy whip out his dick and start running around trying to piss on this one guy. He got a splash on him too. Active duty military here, for anyone curious."
If you've dreamed about quitting your job on the spot - without bothering with a notice period or a formal resignation letter - then join the club!
Unfortunately, absolutely hating your job is something that we all go through. You may hate everything about the job or just certain aspects - but eventually, you get to the point where enough is enough.
But while many of us would love to quit abruptly, give our boss a piece of our mind and then not turn up for work ever again - unfortunately, it's not really feasible for the average Joe.
But one woman was brave enough to share a briefly-written note with her boss, telling him she wouldn't be turning up for work ever again, citing the boss' supposed "rudeness" as the reason.
The woman, who quit her job at a Target store in the US, shared the note to Reddit, with the caption: "the note I left on my TL desk after my shift" alongside a relieved emoji.
It read: "Hey Jordan! Just wanted to let you know that I will not be returning to work tomorrow or next week! Thx hun! – M."
The note continued: "P.S. I will never understand why you were so rude to me!"
And she ended the note with a drawing of an (ironic) smiley face.
Credit: PA Images
The response the woman got was divisive, with some praising her and others telling her it was the wrong thing to do.
One person told her: "Good job! I walked out of my job at Target too. I was the only one working in the food corner (before they all turned into a starbucks) and they would just f**king leave me there, even when I would be paging for help. I hated that job.
"And I always smelled like popcorn."
However, others felt the action was only "burnt bridges" for the former Target employee.
One wrote: "Y’all may laugh and cheer on how to leave a job- but trust me, once you step foot out of retail and into a more professional career, you’ll see what we’re saying about burning bridges and about how to leave a job."
Credit - Reddit @keon[/caption]
We've probably all had that job we wish we'd flounced out of in true style. The one we begrudgingly showed up for every day and did our time, secretly building up our private list of resentments against the boss from hell. Hopefully, for most of us, that doomsday scenario of a job is in the past, but I imagine most of us eventually left it by meekly saying it was time for pastures new and wishing that hated boss the best for the future. Sometimes it's just not worth burning those bridges.
But these 30 people weighed up all the evidence and decided not to keep their head down and play it safe but to go for the adrenaline rush of going out in a blaze of glory where they say the thing they always wanted to say in the most memorable way possible.
[post_page_title]#1 This Actually Quite Lovely Cake[/post_page_title]
To be fair, not ALL of these entries involve someone burning their bridges with all their pent-up vengeful rage. This one's actually rather lovely.
[caption id="attachment_4460" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Twitter @flackhackjack[/caption]
It's honest, kind, compassionate and expresses something sincerely without resentment, and showcases their fine baking skills into the bargain. A superb way to quit!
[post_page_title]#2 This Very Public Dressing-Down[/post_page_title]
Jamie sounds like a pretty nasty piece of work, and like he thoroughly deserved any embarrassment that came his way from having his flaws displayed publicly on his storefront for all to see.
[caption id="attachment_4463" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit[/caption]
My favorite thing about this one is that, despite all the obvious anger in the message, the employees writing it were restrained enough to use different colored pens to make it look more striking.
[post_page_title]#3 This Masterful Error Message[/post_page_title]
This one is possibly my favorite. I wouldn't even know where to begin when it comes to tinkering with the inner workings of a computer to make this error message come up, so hats off to whoever did it.
[caption id="attachment_4464" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @assumetehposition[/caption]
I like to imagine this popped up in the middle of an already stressful admin day in order to have the maximum disruptive impact.
[post_page_title]#4 This Lovely Bottle Of Whiskey[/post_page_title]
Another kind one, this - not only will it have taken a bit of time and showcases their design skills, it's nice to be gifted with a bottle of whiskey when an employee resigns - you'd think it should be the other way round!
[caption id="attachment_4465" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - imgur[/caption]
Let's just hope the boss thought to read the label before drinking it and did actually notice that it was someone's resignation letter, and not just an anonymous gift.
[post_page_title]#5 This Very Frank Letter[/post_page_title]
For all that it's fun to bake a special cake or make a secret error message inside your boss's computer, sometimes the best way to make someone face up to their failings is just to tell it like it is.
[caption id="attachment_4466" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @gahdzuks[/caption]
Sounds like this employer deserved every bit of scathing honesty that letter delivered.
[post_page_title]#6 This Illuminated Sign[/post_page_title]
Fair play to this guy for not giving in to the temptation to swear. After all, a sign this big could easily be seen by little kids or easily offended types.
[caption id="attachment_4467" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
did
Credit - Reddit @peaceman582[/caption]
Whether the boss did go on to change the sign himself, or just hire another disgruntled employee, is something we'll never know I guess.
[post_page_title]#7 This Very Subtle Price-Tag[/post_page_title]
At first glance, it'd be easy to miss the rather angry message hidden in this price tag, but for anyone who really wants to read every single feature, there's something there to be discovered.
[caption id="attachment_4468" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @mastranios[/caption]
I wonder how long it took their boss to stumble across it and figure out why their employee has been so absent recently?
[post_page_title]#8 This Guy Left Stickers Of Himself Everywhere When He Quit[/post_page_title]
This particular one was found on the back of a clock two years after this employee left.
[caption id="attachment_4469" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
really
Credit - Reddit @captaincatchem[/caption]
A fun legacy to leave behind for yourself, but the real question is - why the lightbulbs?
[post_page_title]#9 This Shelf-Stacker Who Just Snapped[/post_page_title]
If you really want to make sure the people you work with remember you with absolute hatred, leave them with an aisle of hundreds of cereal boxes that all need to be individually turned back the right way round.
[caption id="attachment_4470" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @SpikeBoyBebop[/caption]
Or they could just leave it as is and let their customers feel dizzy.
[post_page_title]#10 This Road Sign[/post_page_title]
For my money, this one's a little mean. Ten out of ten for publicly venting your frustration in a stylish way, but hey, no need to take it out on innocent motorists, y'know?
[caption id="attachment_4471" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @slappyjay[/caption]
I wonder if he was fired because he'd pulled this sort of stunt before? Might explain it.
[post_page_title]#11 This Passive-Aggressive Letter[/post_page_title]
This letter does a really good job of maintaining a classy, detached, sarcastic passive-aggressive tone right up until the final sentence.
[caption id="attachment_4472" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @leviathin[/caption]
But do you know what? I think that last sentence really makes it.
[post_page_title]#12 This Message In A Variety Of Marker Colours[/post_page_title]
Another message where the writer contains their anger enough to be able to use multiple different colored markers, though this time they even have the presence of mind to mention it.
[caption id="attachment_4473" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @downvotes___really[/caption]
I assume the request for a reference was granted, seems totally fair enough, really.
[post_page_title]#13 This Drawing Of A Dinosaur[/post_page_title]
Full marks for creativity. Full marks for cuteness. Full marks for brevity and clarity of message.
[caption id="attachment_4474" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @An_Arrogant_Ass[/caption]
Zero marks for finding a proper piece of paper to draw it on as opposed to a receipt.
[post_page_title]#14 This Neat Bit Of Revenge[/post_page_title]
The best of these are the ones that leave their employers with serious questions they'll have to fend off from the public afterward. This one will certainly require them to explain their behavior.
[caption id="attachment_4475" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @JordanAsshole[/caption]
And good on them for keeping the tone so reasonable at the same time!
[post_page_title]#15 These Twin Cakes[/post_page_title]
This one might not have the embarrassing, passive-aggressive detail of some of the best of these, but you can't argue with the level of time and effort put into making these rather lovely-looking cakes.
[caption id="attachment_4476" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @dudeperson33[/caption]
I think the "Me Too" one looks slightly better, overall. It's those purple icing flowers that tips it, I reckon.
[post_page_title]#16 This Boss Wouldn't Give Their Employee Their Last Paycheck Without Them Submitting A Resignation Letter[/post_page_title]
It's fair to say this fulfills those requirements with the minimum of effort and the maximum of style.
[caption id="attachment_4477" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @Swinging_Phallus[/caption]
Waste of good paper, though.
[post_page_title]#17 This Roll Of Toilet Paper[/post_page_title]
What this one loses in legibility, it makes up for in imagination and inventive use of metaphor.
[caption id="attachment_4478" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @Girlofgodsbadday[/caption]
The guy's a decent artist, too. Hope he went on to draw many more toilets.
[post_page_title]#18 This Sympathy Card[/post_page_title]
It's always hard to know what to say when someone experiences a bereavement. A "sorry for your loss" card never really feels like quite enough. So it's nice to finally see one be given a proper purpose.
[caption id="attachment_4479" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @springmint5[/caption]
I dunno what the relationship between employer and employee was here, but if someone left this for me, I'd genuinely find it very funny.
[post_page_title]#19 This Bit Of Rival Advertising[/post_page_title]
Publicly quitting and letting the customers know how bad the bosses are is one thing, but recommending they go to a rival store is really rubbing salt into the wound.
[caption id="attachment_4480" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @JeremyChrist[/caption]
I hope all the loyal customers followed the staff over to whatever their new venture was!
[post_page_title]#20 This Poem[/post_page_title]
Honestly, from a poetic standpoint, this isn't great. The rhymes are a bit basic and unimaginative, I think. But it's the principle of the thing, I guess.
[caption id="attachment_4481" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @Nickemmanuel[/caption]
And in principle, it's pretty great.
[post_page_title]#21 This Use Of Homer Simpson's Catchphrase[/post_page_title]
Sometimes when the perfect words have already been used by somebody else, the best thing to do is just to use them again.
[caption id="attachment_4482" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @I_Drink_Pee[/caption]
After all, talent copies but genius steals.
[post_page_title]#22 This Lesson On Time Management[/post_page_title]
We've probably all been lectured by our boss on our time management once or twice. The opportunity to turn the tables is pretty irresistible.
[caption id="attachment_4483" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @jeseely[/caption]
The inclusion of the "Help Wanted Apply Within" sign immediately after quitting is a nice touch, too.
[post_page_title]#23 This Sympathy Card[/post_page_title]
We already saw a sympathy card used to excellent effect earlier on. This one is even more delightful.
[caption id="attachment_4484" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @ThatsAGreatPost[/caption]
Let's hope the boss hadn't had any real losses around the same time or this would end up being very insensitive!
[post_page_title]#24 This Email Printout[/post_page_title]
I think Angelina's quit in fine style here, with her head held high. What I'd like to know is - did she quit by sending this email? Or by printing it out and putting it into her boss's hand?
[caption id="attachment_4485" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @heathbickerstaff[/caption]
I assume it's the first one, but it'd be funny if it was the second.
[post_page_title]#25 This Out-of-Office Reply[/post_page_title]
A lot of people set up auto-replies when they leave their jobs to make sure any emails end up with the right person.
[caption id="attachment_4486" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Reddit @keon[/caption]
Probably not many of those auto-replies are quite as to-the-point and brilliant as this one.
[post_page_title]#26 This Very Silly Letter[/post_page_title]
This letter starts with an admirable professionalism and formality, then quickly descends into something delightfully silly.
[caption id="attachment_4487" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - imgur @iamchris4life[/caption]
Spencer seems like a lot of fun. I hope he found a more fulfilling job after this.
[post_page_title]#27 Another Illuminated Sign[/post_page_title]
The use of the Douglas Adams quote is nice, though whether or not it has any relevance to the job in question isn't quite clear.
[caption id="attachment_4488" align="aligncenter" width="800"]
Credit - Reddit @JTsnidely[/caption]
Maybe this was a cinema that paid its employees in fish for some reason? In which case, the perfect note on which to quit, really.
[post_page_title]#28 This Lovely Greeting Card Design[/post_page_title]
Ah, the old "It's not you, it's me" get-out. Always the easiest way to break something off. But sometimes it's nicer to just be honest.
[caption id="attachment_4489" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Instagram @stumpedforwordsdesigns[/caption]
The smiley face is cute, too. A lovely way to quit, overall.
[post_page_title]#29 This Bill[/post_page_title]
Whoa, Sally, whoa! Some very strong language on this one, and she seems to be taking out her frustrations on her customers and not her boss! Not cool, Sally!
[caption id="attachment_4490" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - Instagram @yugatron[/caption]
Sally must have had a real nightmare boss to quit with so much anger. Let's hope she found somewhere nicer to work!
[post_page_title]#30 This Fire Exit Cake[/post_page_title]
Sometimes a picture says a thousand words, and the sight of this guy making his escape in cake form is better than any number of angry letters.
[caption id="attachment_4492" align="aligncenter" width="600"]
Credit - imgur[/caption]
The icing looks tasty, as well.
Knowing when you're going to get paid is an important part of any job.
But for one man, asking about payday meant being fired from a role before he'd even started.
The shocked employee took to Reddit to share a text conversation he had with his new boss the day he was supposed to go in and sign the new hire paperwork.
It all started when the man - who goes by doggolover482 on the social media platform - asked how often he would be paid in his new role as a tutor.
In a screenshot of a text conversation between him and his new boss, things start friendly. The manager seems alright with the question and responds that payday is "bi-weekly".
The man followed this up with another straightforward question: "When will be my first payday?" However, this was clearly a step too far for the boss, who texted back that they had changed their mind.
"I would hire someone whose desire is to work with the company," they added.
Credit: Reddit / u/doggolover482
The boss then appeared to cancel a prior arrangement for the new hire to come into the office later that day.
The Reddit user - by now understandably bewildered by the conversation - texted back: "I'm sorry? I don't understand. I do want to work with the company. But pay information is important for me to properly budget for bills."
Despite this (entirely justified) explanation, their boss took this as another cue to fly off the handle. They texted back that they were "looking for an individual who is willing to work with the flow, with the environment" and that they weren't "looking for any candidates whose priority is only pay."
"[You] didn't ask me about any other staff, uniform etc. [You] have been only asking me [about] pay. So I am not interested in such a candidate," they added.
The Redditor argued his case back, saying that while his priority was the job, he still needed money for gas, food and shelter. He didn't share what his boss responded or whether he ended up taking the job, but it seems fairly clear from his post that he didn't.
Credit: Reddit / u/doggolover482
Credit: Reddit / u/doggolover482
Many users in the comments were of the opinion that he was better off not working for such a crazy boss.
"I can say is thank goodness you found out! You don't work for such an a**. Here's to you finding something even better," one wrote.
"Massive red flag. You dodged a bullet," agreed another.
I don't know about you, but I think that everybody should work a job in retail at some point. It's not the most glamorous or lucrative of jobs, but it keeps you grounded, and allows you to pick up some underrated people skills, not least the ability to handle all kinds of people, and all the entitled insanity that working with customers brings.
It's hard work, folks. You'd think that taking orders and flipping burgers doesn't sound like too much work, but when you consider the number of fights and other crazy things constantly going down in restaurants, you'd be surprised. Not only that, but many people take these jobs on as a side hustle to help keep the lights on.
So when you come across a fast food employee asleep, you should always try to be sensitive to their specific plight, and employ all of your empathy in helping them get through the rest of the day. Don't - to think of a random example - take your phone out and make a recording, then upload that recording to Facebook. That's not a good look.
Funnily enough though, that exact thing happened earlier this week in Cheektowaga, New York, and the manager of this particular Burger King had to step in and defend his employee.
Angelo Butera is the man behind the camera on this occasion. He was next door with his roommate at the 7-Eleven when they came across the as-yet-unnamed employee, and speaking to the Cheektowaga Chronicle, he tried to explain that he was just concerned for her safety.
"I wasn’t trying to make fun out of her, I just drove by and seen this girl lying face down on the concrete, so I was making sure she was okay, and the video happened," he said, but the way that he compassionately said "this b*tch crazy as f*ck" might throw that particular theory into doubt.
Either way, Butera's video has been shared over 4,000 times since Sunday, and a manager's been forced to explain what actually was going on in this video. Also wishing not to be named, the manager stood by her employee, and told all of her critics on social media exactly where to go.
"We don’t have outside seating, so she was sitting on the sidewalk trying to take her break which she is allowed to do under the Labor Law,” the manager said. “Social media is completely blown out of proportion, and people take pictures of stupid things just for their own likes."
"She’s a teacher, and she’s trying to pay off her student loans and everything by working several jobs, and this is not the media she needs.… People need to mind their own business and find out the real story before they go posting crap on social media."
The manager also revealed that the employee in question is working extra jobs to help pay bills, and is pretty upset that she's unwittingly going viral. Well, folks, there you go - this is a case of someone online posting a video to Facebook, and everyone immediately jumping to conclusions and trying to publicly shame someone just trying to get by.
I'm sure that next time, everyone'll have learned their lesson, and take the time to find out all of the information before they start forming opinions on social media. I bet they're doing it right now for this article!
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