That Resignation Was Perfection
I used to work at a supermarket. My boss was, in a word, unreasonable. Just for starters, he’d expect us to show up in the most Hellish of weather with our clothes looking absolutely pristine and get upset if we have so much as a wet spot on our shirts.
His attitude on the floor was much the same: perfection, ALWAYS perfection, and the slightest deviation from perfection gets you shouted at, at a minimum (even if that’s something you have no control over, like a slight dent in a cardboard box).
He was not in charge of our paychecks, so he wasn’t causing any problems financially, but I was literally only working here until I could get a job ANYWHERE else.
One day, I was talking with him about something I don’t remember anymore, when a worker from the night shift showed up and handed him an envelope.
Boss: “What the h*** is this?”
Night Shift Worker: “My resignation.”
Boss: “Absolutely f****** not. You don’t get to just fail to show up to your—”
[Night Shift Worker] laughed in his face.
Boss: “What the f*** is wrong with you?
Night Shift Worker: *Smiling.* “Oh, that’s cute, you think you get a say in this.”
The smile disappears.
Night Shift Worker: “I don’t think you understand what a resignation is. This isn’t something you have a say in, this isn’t something you get to refuse, and this isn’t something you can stop. This is a notification that tells you that I’m not working here anymore, and you acting like a s*** doesn’t change that fact, any more than you ignoring your bills means you don’t have to pay someone.”
Boss: “I’m not about to—”
[Night Shift Worker] throws the envelope in [Boss]’s face – literally – and walks out.
Boss: “Hey! You get back here!”
Completely abandoning our conversation, [Boss] chased [Night Shift Worker] to the parking lot and kept yelling at him as he got into his car and drove off.
That was enough to convince me that sticking around would do more harm than good. I handed in my own resignation the next day (to someone OTHER than [Boss]) and redoubled my job-hunting efforts, swiftly getting a position in a much healthier workplace.
