Take this job and shove it

The BBQ Pit
1

Well after the latest in a series of insults I have decided to quit my crap job in retail. I have 3 years of college, surely I can get something better for the next year until I graduate. The final straw for me was a few weeks ago the boss/owner of the store requested that I call him at the close of that day and read him the gross and net receipts.
That’s reasonable…probably a good idea. I did so and when I called him the next night and the boss told me that it was just for the previous day.
Now weeks later his wife calls me and demands to know why I am not calling with the totals. When I tell her what her husband told me she has a fit at me for not calling in. The next day her husband whines that he never told me any such thing. Buddy, its not my fault you are an incompetent merkin whose pride won’t allow you to admit your wife really runs the show. Then he notices my backpack and tells me I am banned from bringing books to work…out of thin air he decides on a new ‘rule’ just for me! every one else reads the newspaper or “Modern Maturity” magazine on their shift, why can’t I read my Serbo-Croatian language guide or my European History college textbook when there is nothing to do.
Then he suggests I should change my appearance, wear nicer shirts to work. Damnit when I get paid more, I’ll start buying the nicest fucking shirts money can buy, until then I am wearing my cheap ass two year old shirts whether anyone loves it or not.

But then it gets scary. My first couple of weeks on the job several months ago, he didn’t have checks printed so he paid me in cash. Now he wants me to pay back the cash so he can write me back in new checks. I am not going to borrow money from someone or get myself in debt, however temporarily, to cover my boss’ idiot ass. He blames me for slow sales when no one with a modicum of sense would pay $20 bucks for crap that could be bought for $9 at any Walmart in America. I actually feel I am suckering people out of their money when they buy shit at his crappy little mall store.
This is just part of it, I could say a lot more petty things. But they add up to make my job a misery.
Well as you can see I am not very good at ranting. I am actually trying to hold it in until I get my next paycheck. Then I want to let him and his wife have it.

Anyone else have a “take this job and shove it” episode? I put it in the pit because I would like to borrow some choice phrases for my own dramatic- hopefully in full view of several customers - meltdown. I want some good tell off lines…and inspiration!
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Oh, and if anyone tells me I am the one with a poor work ethic or just to grin and bear it. Go feltch you ass with an iguana - preferably one with a bad mite infection and diarrhea.

2

There’s nothing quite like a job in low-end retail or service to teach the value of a college education.

Hang in there through the crap jobs. It will get better over time once you have your education. A lot better. Then you’ll be laughing out your ass at employers such as your present boss, who will still be trapped in their miserable little worlds: worlds which you will have left far behind you.

3

Actions speak louder than words. I left several jobs by merely walking out. Another was left by calling in & saying I’m not returning. Best of luck!

4

This job sounds quite dreadful, and the boss sounds like a first-class JERK. Oh my gosh!

This is (in my experience) a quite common phenomenon. There is a really transparent (IMO) reason why he made up the new “rule” for you.

You are reading something “high falutin’” or above average - something different. And God Forbid you show a little education or uniqueness. It pisses him off. It makes him feel - I dunno - self-conscious. Don’t you know you are supposed to be a mindless, uneducated, bland drone with no unique interests?

On a simlar vein - I had a boss tell me that I couldn’t doodle on scratch paper in the break room. Hey - there were all these old sheets of paper, old paperwork, crap paper, and I drew on them, ON MY BREAK. Other people would scribble on them, so I thought I could too. The problem is - I am a pretty good artist, so my “doodles” were outside of the ordinary. (Realistic portrait sketches, that kind of thing.) This upset the boss, so she fabricated the “don’t use our scratch paper” rule just for me. (I also found out that another boss, who was even weirder and more psycho, secretly HATED my “doodles”, but she never came out and told me this. I guess she had enough sense to know that it would make her look like an ass. But apparently she bitched to other people about it.) Anyway, after that new “rule” was made, I just brought in my own scratch pad and still doodled.

The crappier the pay, the better they want you to dress. Ain’t that the way it always is.

This is just beyond comprehension. I am at a loss.

I’ve never just walked off of a job right on the spot, but I do have one satisfying story about quitting. (I’ve told this story before on this board, so forgive me if you’ve heard it.) This happened with the same boss that had the “don’t doodle” rule.

I was hired with certain days off. Sunday, primarily. (I also had a college class that I was attending, so I got that day off too.) I put on my job application that I was unavailable on these days, over and out. It was mostly a part-time job, so everyone had unavailable days.

Anyway, after a long while, (and several bosses) this particular boss decides that my “reasons” for having these days off aren’t good enough. The “reason” was that I went to church on Sundays. I didn’t make a huge deal of it, but that was the reason. (Also, I wanted to have a day that I could count on having off, so I could do other family things. So, it was a “family” day.)

Anyway, to make a long story short, the boss kept on nagging me to work Sundays, I kept on refusing, until one day she just put me on the schedule for Sunday, and told me I had to do it. So I put in my two weeks notice right then and there. I could tell she was really shook up, and shocked. She obviously thought I’d cave, she didn’t think it was that big of a deal to me. She was wrong.

Ah, that was satisfying. I know I really threw her for a loop by quitting like that. She just didn’t get it.

It was a frigging part time job, EVERYONE had days that they couldn’t work. I think she just had a problem because it was church, which to her was unimportant. She completely missed the main concept - that I was HIRED with the understanding that I got the day off, so dammit, I was going to have that day off. It was none of her business what I did on that day, she was in no position to judge its “worthiness”.

5

I left my last job because my stuporvisors selectively enforced a number of policies, then fell back to the “well, this institution has 11,000 employees, so we have to have the same rules for everyone” cop-out.

Then, I find out that if I’d had doctor’s notes (one for every thing I needed an accommodation on), they would’ve looked the other way. So, I’m supposed to inconvenience my doctor and myself (to the tune of fifteen bucks an appointment to get these notes) because my stuporvisors are too afraid to exercise their own judgment and common sense. Um, no. I would gladly lend them my copy of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” so they can read for themselves what pregnancy entails.

And, last night I got an e-mail from a former co-worker to the effect that they actually MISS ME and NEED ME! Wow! However, if they called to offer me my old job back, I’d turn it down without consideration.

Robin

6

I have my favorite personal “take this job and shove it” story posted on my web site:

http://www.thejtrain.net/badfollower.html

My mom wants me to find this guy’s house on the day of my med school graduation and leave a case of jelly on his front porch.

Dr. J

7

Well Doctor J, I gotta love this part:

8

It seems that cuate has beaten me to it! After seven years of faithful service, I am terminating my employment tomorrow. I have been through good and bad times, met friends and my husband there, and really enjoyed learning alot about different software and hardware related to printing. Unfortunately the straw stacks have been piling up lately, and Friday came the one that broke the camel’s back. Now, over the years I have always secretly threatened to quit (to myself) and promised that I would go back to school. I am finally going to do it! I am scared. I have worked here for 7 years, built knowledge based on my company experience and basically dedicated myself to the job.
And now… the reasons!
I have a one year old son. We have made it a year with only two illnesses that required me to be absent from work, and then only for less than a week. I have come in early (before 6am) to finish my day’s work before (but in all honesty my current position doesn’t allow for this) and tried my best to always make plans to accomodate my absence. This constitutes an “attendance problem.” I could see that it is inconvenient for my fellow employees. That is why I would never play “hookie” - what I don’t understand is why my absences are problems when our branch has not gone for several months without someone calling sick (usually the same handful of coworkers)every week, and none of these people have these “attendance problems.” Never mind that they don’t try to find replacements or, at the very least, worry sick that they are somehow screwing over their fellow coworkers. Enough about that.
Part two: I have an assistant manager with an anger management problem. Everything is “his way or the highway” and unfortunately his way is unusually confrontational. He believes (and has no problem saying) that everyone else is incompetent, and no one at the branch really works but him. He has said on several occasions that most of the people we work with are stupid, and he is forced to “dumb down” his speech and instructions for them. When angry he regularly slams doors, punches walls and finally says “I give up!” and walks away. He made me so angry last week that I actually cried at work. I never do that - I hate crying in front of people. Most coworkers have given over to sighing “Just let him have his tantrum” and ignoring him. He has a particular problem with one employee and I have heard him say something to the effect of: “Well, a hundred dollars could just disappear from her cash drawer.” I thought it was pretty funny at the time but I think he’s serious now.
Maybe this doesn’t sound so bad, but the daily tirades have become tiresome. So I am quitting my job without another one lined up. I am not too proud to clean toilets or flip burgers to supplement my husband’s income. Whatever it takes for my son to have what he needs, and that includes a happy mom.
So, boss:
Take this job and shove it. I ain’t workin’ here no more!

9

Cuate, do not, under any circumstances, give your boss any money, ever. In employment, money only goes one way. If you were to give your boss cash and his cheques to you bounce, you will have to go through unbelievable hoops to get your money back, with no guarantee that you will ever see it again, even with a court order from small claims court. This kind of asshole plays the system like a violin. I can’t think of any circumstance that would make it plausible that an employer would ask an employee for cash that doesn’t start major alarm bells ringing for me.

I think I’m going to start a thread in IMHO regarding abusive bosses/co-workers. I had a boss at one company years ago that would yell at staff, punch walls, just generally freak out at any moment. I will never work for or with someone like that again; it’s inexcusable in the workplace. (I needed that job really badly, and I had never encountered workplace abuse before - I didn’t even realize what it was at the time.)

(Rez, your post was great, but some paragraph breaks would have made it much easier to read. My opinion, for what it’s worth. :))

10

Well, I did go and start an “Abuse in the Workplace” thread - it can be found here.

11

quote by Yosemitebabe:

You are reading something “high falutin’” or above average - something different. And God Forbid you show a little education or uniqueness. It pisses him off. It makes him feel - I dunno - self-conscious. Don’t you know you are supposed to be a mindless, uneducated, bland drone with no unique interests?

End quote.
You are so right!!! This is good knowledge to remember and it applies to many people including many family members! If you are seen to do or read something ‘high falutin’ like this, it makes people want to try to ‘put you in your place’ or something.

 I think Yosemitebabe has it right in that it makes people insecure and they try to protect their ego by attacking you.  In your bosses case, I'm sure he gets a joy out of running a business and being able to pay so little and be able to order people around.  When you show, through reading of intelligent college material, that this is temporary for you and that you will be more successful soon {probably even more than him!}, then  it threatens his way he derives joy in the world.  That is that he is much more successful than others.
12

This guy may be stiffing Social Security, Workman’s Comp, or State Unemploymeny Insurance.

That happened to my sister once. Her bum boss took money from her checks, & then kept it.

She called the 3 agencies listed above & checked. Sure enough, he was cheating, & she got the cash reward for fingering him.

Whenever you quit, call or write tocheck this out. Most people don’t, & there is that reward.