Tell Us Your Best and Worst "Two Weeks Notice" Stories

I was the good employee many times, gave 2 weeks notice to companies that while I didn't hate working there there was better opportunity at the next one.  Until I worked for the "Prince of Darkness"  (LOL)  

I had been a commercial HVAC service tech in the van, company had a great reputation, good group of guys in the field and a solid customer base.  One day the owner asks me to try out doing sales ( I had previously been a marine engineer and did a stint building submarines so had a degree and some pretty good experience in project management)  

Many years later I'm still not sure if others pushed him into asking me to do sales but the school of hard knocks I went through in hind site should have been a red flag.   Maybe he thought I'd fall flat on my face and ask to go back to the van like several guys before me had done?  We'll never know for sure but I have a pretty stubborn streak built in and failure has never been an option so in spite of circumstances with the owner I ended up doing pretty well.  I will say that while he was never an easy person to work for he did pay all of us well.

Eventually he heard the siren song of people looking to buy the company and he and a couple of the senior guys got big pay days, the rest of us got to start justifying our existence to our new corporate overlords.  I was in my early 40's at the time working 12 hour days not including commuting and getting progressively more burned out.

Fast forward to one evening in the office (we used to stay "late" for a meeting on Thursday nights, we often wouldn't get out of our meetings until 7:30)  I stop by the owner's office to wish him a good weekend (no Fridays for the main man) and he starts screaming at me about some issue with a customer that I was supposed to have dealt with in front of all my coworkers.  I'm clueless because satan has forgotten he never discussed this with me.   At this point I'm considering all sorts of creative ways to murder someone but oh there would be witnesses.  Many (20) years later I'm still amazed I didn't cause this individual serious bodily harm, I don't recall before or since feeling the amount of anger I felt at the time.  (Yeah, time to go!)

I had vacation coming up a week or two after and I remember it being mid week at our summer place on the lake.  It was a perfect summer day, the kids were jumping off the dock, my wife and I were sitting watching them and it hit me like a bolt out of the blue.  I turned to my wife (who probably thought I was having a stroke) and said "why am I killing myself for this SOB, all of this is paid for, what more do we need!  AKA the "Epiphany"  

It's funny how life works out.  The week after I got back from vacation I ran into a guy from my apprenticeship class that had started his own company. He'd tried to hire me before and when he asked this time I said that we should talk. 3 months later I quit no notice on the first work day of 2004 because the SOB held our bonus checks until Christmas Eve.  

That was 20 years ago and the owner's son who worked summers when I started is now the CEO.  I've been working 4 day weeks since 2018 and dropped to 3 at the start of this year.  I figured I'd make less money when I left the previous company but as it turns out I likely did better financially and gained a better work / life balance.  The CEO values my experience and wants me to stick around as long as I want to.  Win / win.

TLDR: Take care of your family and self first.  Money isn't everything but sometimes when you stand up for yourself good things happen.

Got hired as a journeyman painter by an out of town contractor who was painting a pulp mill when I was in college.  I wasn't a journeyman, but I knew how to spray paint and the company needed painters, so I paid my union initiation fee and got a bright, shiny, new union card.

Worked there a little more than 3 months and the foreman starts talking about laying people off as the job winds down.  I had a bit of seniority, so would have likely have made it a few more months. 

Thing was, the new college quarter was starting in a couple of weeks and I was going to have to quit.

Went and talked to the foreman and told him he should lay me off instead of another guy.  "He has a Wife and Kids", I said.  "I'm Single", I said.  "It will be Easier for Me", I added virtuously. So they laid me off...

...and I collected unemployment through most of that school year. 

Since there weren't any more union jobs painting steel that year, my monthly "job search" consisted of stopping by the union office and checking the job board.  If I remember right, unemployment benefits got extended that year because the unemployment rate was so high in our little county.

I didn't feel too bad about it. The guy I saved really did have a Wife and Kids and it was the only time I ever collected unemployment.

I was a service writer in college. I had an assistant service manager and service manager above me. After a while, I found my niche in problem solving. Have a weird problem? Go find Opti. All my bosses liked me, and were pushing their boss to promote me or give me some type of advancement path. It wasn't a secret that I wouldn't stay without advancement. I had a couple convos with their boss and promises were made and went unfulfilled, after a while I was offered another job for a competitor, so I accepted it. I put in my 2 weeks and my bosses were very understanding. When I closed up that day I got a call from their boss. "Give me a month, Ive got another job for you" I told him he had two weeks.
 

Two weeks came and went and didn't hear anything until almost closing time on the last day. "You're not actually leaving are you?" Yah I told you, you had two weeks. More promises blah blah blah. The next Monday I started at my new job.

I kept getting calls from the big boss asking if I would come back for the new job, and I just always told him we'd talk when something was available. Then I started getting calls from my old bosses, every day or two "Hey Opti, how did you solve this problem, what'd you use for this, you ever ran into this?" After a couple, I told my old boss I was no longer in his employ and If he needed technical support my rate was 145 and hour with a minimum of 1 hour. I was half joking, and he said "I can do that. Big boss told us not to take you out of the system because he was trying to bring you back, so Ill just put some hours on there." I thought he was joking but for the next few months Id get a check every two weeks for a couple hundred dollars.

I was working as a composites trimmer at a teir 1 aerospace supplier. I had about 3 years under by belt. The joke was that we were a training facility. We'd hire anyone, but the pay was pretty low for the industry. The common practice was to work there for a few years, then take that experience and get a "real job"

I didn't really enjoy my job, but I was damn good at it. Every time I took a vacation it cost the company $60k, because whoever tried to do my job while I was gone would invariably ruin an entire run of parts.

I had become friends with the machinist and inspectors. Independently several of them had invited me to apply to work with them. Unfortunately they weren't the ones that made the decisions. I filled out applications at least 6 times, but never heard anything about it.

The trim shop was really starting to adversely effect my health so I was getting desperate to transfer out. I put in an application for the delivery driver position. I didn't get it, but a weird thing happened. I got called into a meeting with the shipping manager where he thanked me for my interest and explained to me why I didn't get the position. I was confused by this and he told me it was standard procedure for in house transfers to have a follow up meeting regardless of outcome.

Weird. It's never happened with any of the other 6 transfers I put in for. The only difference was that I had delivered this application directly to the shipping manager instead of my own supervisor. It dawned on my that my other transfers had found their way into the circular file. We'll, berk that.

At this time there was also some shady stuff going on with the company trying to force the union our, an effort that was ultimately successful. It was rapidly becoming a worse place to work. 

We had just finished paying off my SWMBOs law degree and she said to me "Quit your job, go back to school." well, you don't gotta tell me twice. It took about 6 months to get everything arranged to start school, but I would start my AS on the first of the year. We had the last 2 weeks off at this job so at the beginning of December I handed in my 2 week notice after the morning meeting.

Sealed in a pastel pink envelope with flowers on it. inside: a sympathy card.

"We have lost someone special, but only through our love and memories can we withstand the greif"

Handwritten below that:

"December 15th will be my last day."

The president of the company dropped onto my shop before lunch to find out what they needed to do to keep me there.

I told him that was a question he should have been asking 3 years ago.

I left, finished my degree during Covid, and found a job as a machinist. I'm... OK at it. I make nearly twice what I did in composites, and I'm generally better off.

Was a service writer for Pep Boys, was also in college, getting paid with the GI Bill so the job was basically just fun money.

GM in training for another store shows up "ok, this is John, John is going to be joining us and learning how to be a GM, so help him out and lets all have a good time"

Ok, whatever.  Another manager.  Wheeeee

Find out that John is going to be making the schedules, so I tell him what my schedule has been and why it is what it is (basically open during the week, only available on Saturday morning and nothing on Sundays so I could study for Mondays)
"Ok, that sounds good, I'll make a note"

Everything is fine for the next two weeks.  After that I see my name on the schedule for Sunday.  I tell John "hey, there's been a mistake, I can't come in on Sundays, the schedule needs to be fixed."
I forget what he said, but the gist of it was "whatever.  That's the schedule, I can't change it."
"Ok, well I told you weeks ago what my schedule was, I'm going to stick to that."

Saturday comes in, I come in and work in the morning.  He comes in for the mid-shift and immediately flips his E36 M3.  No ramp up, just 100% flipping his biscuit.  So I matched energy.  Devolved into a shouting match and I ripped off my shirt and threw it on the ground, gave him a couple expletives and left.

The area manager had to end up calling me and begging me to come back in.  John had to give me an apology in front of everyone (my requirement before I'd start working again.)
I stuck around until the next E36 M3 show and then I quit with no notice.

Such a horrible company to work for.

In 1996 I was a Sous Chef at a place called Sweetwater's in Burlington, VT. A couple of buddies called me one day and asked if I wanted a job in the Carribean. I said I'd be there in 2 weeks. I gave my notice that night and spent the next 4 years in paradise working 3 days a week while earning my rent in one night. I was 26.

I know that is not an exciting 2 week notice, but look at it this way:

I'll be 54 this year and all I want to do is retire and live in the mountains of TN berkeleying with old cars and slinging hot sauces. The reality is I could die today and smile knowing that I spent 4 years berkeleying off in the Carribean in my prime, which is better than retiring at 60.

There are stories. Some say Living Legend. I am Duende.

preach said:

But look at it this way:

I'll be 54 this year and all I want to do is retire and live in the mountains of TN berkeleying with old cars and slinging hot sauces. The reality is I could die today and smile knowing that I spent 4 years berkeleying off in the Carribean in my prime, which is better than retiring at 60.

There are stories. Some say Living Legend. I am Duende.

Very well done, sir!

A Hungarian friend of mine took of to Mali and opened a dive shop with her husband.  For 6 months it went great, then she got pregnant and couldn't quite work as much as she wanted to, then their business partner lost interest and they eventually lost the shop and moved back to Budapest.

People around us had to tell us that my friend failed.  Because from the way we saw at things, for two years my friends stood on the absolute top of the world and no amount of nay-saying could take that away from them

In reply to preach :

I used to work with a guy who had spent a year selling ice cream out of a grass hut on a beach in Tahiti.  I asked him why he ever left, and all he could say is "I don't know..."

Not a quitting/firing story, but a retirement one:  I had a boss who was going to retire.  His last day of work was supposed to be Friday, but he had a couple days of unused vacation left and he wanted to avoid the whole retirement party/listening to tributes/having to give a speech business, so on Wednesday he walked around and said goodbye to the few of us in his department and took off at lunchtime - he literally dropped his pencil on his desk in mid sentence and walked out the door.  On Thursday a woman from human resources came around looking for him to do an exit interview, and we had to tell her he was already sitting on the beach in Hawaii.

A buddy from work decided it was time to retire. One of the funniest guys I ever met. Well the day comes and he told all of his coworkers, his bosses up to the Superintendent level and anyone else he had an opinion about exactly how they could take a flying berkeley on a rolling donut before he left that Friday.

At some point during that weekend he did the math and realized he retired too early and had to go back to work. I am not sure what crow tastes like, but I bet he knows.

preach said:

At some point during that weekend he did the math and realized he retired too early and had to go back to work. I am not sure what crow tastes like, but I bet he knows.

I've been really tempted to tell some people what I really felt about them as I was leaving a company, but my business is a pretty small world and you never know when you might need to cross the bridge that you burned again. I've wound up working with people that I haven't seen in years on more than one occasion. We just hired two people that had worked with 4-5 of my current employees 7+ years ago. 

stuart in mn said:

In reply to preach :

I used to work with a guy who had spent a year selling ice cream out of a grass hut on a beach in Tahiti.  I asked him why he ever left, and all he could say is "I don't know..."

 

A buddy went on a trip in 2012 or so and while on the trip stopped at an ice cream shop. While talking to the owner he found out it was for sale, and included the apartment above. Within 60 days he went from a high stress job to living above his shop, slinging ice cream for 4 hours a day. I think the buy in was $50k or so.

And so, on to the next story of a job I didn't get, and one I quit. 

I had to get out of my first veterinary position before it destroyed my health. I got a call from a professor/fishing buddy at the vet school who said I should talk to two of his vet school classmates. 

One of them had sold his small animal practice and was doing mobile vaccine clinics on the weekends, the other had a mostly equine large animal practice. They offered to each employ me part time. 

We moved across the state, rented an apartment, and I started working the weekend vaccine clinics. The large animal vet strung me along for a few months, while talking about getting me set up with one of his old trucks. I would ride with him on some of his calls and met some clients.
 

One night I went with him to the polo field to treat a colic. We were in the stall with the horse getting ready to treat him. The horse was nervous and accidentally stepped on the other vet's foot, to which the guy responded by kicking the horse three times. 
 

Wouldn't you know, that didn't have a calming effect, and now I couldn't get the twitch on the horse. I had him step back, got a lead shank from one of the grooms, and walked the horse out into the shed row. 
 

As the grooms sat on the tack trunks watching, I talked softly to the horse, rubbed his head and ears and scratched his withers. Within a minute he was relaxed and I slipped the twitch on so we could tube him. 
 

I was just doing what I did best, and it took another vet that knew us both to point out that I had made that guy look bad. I never got that job, he just started avoiding me after that. 
 

I continued working on the weekend vaccine clinics, and my wife found a full time gig as a substitute teacher, but I needed to be doing more. The vet that owned the vaccine clinic company told me he would buy a practice and set me up to work for him there during the week. 
 

He proceeded to buy the practice, and I started working there, but it turned out that he didn't want to pay me any more than I had already been paid for the weekends. 
 

I talked to him several times about our situation, my student loans were due, and we weren't making enough to cover expenses. No offer was made, all he provided was a sympathetic ear, which doesn't pay the bills. 
 

I found another job listing, interviewed and signed a contract, then gave my two weeks notice. That was followed by the recurrent theme in this thread, "what would it take to get you to stay?"

He had to hire someone else to work the office he had bought, later selling it to her for more than it was worth.

The next guy turned out to be an unethical quack, a story for another time. 
 

A less exciting story than the sympathy card, but I remember my first real "job" K-Mart. I'd started as a cashier, moved to the floor, to layaway manager and finally onto electronics manager. I'd been there for a few years and realized retail sucks and I don't like people very much.

A friend of mine was the receiving manager and I asked if I could join his crew and work in the warehouse. A lateral move, same pay more labour less people. He was 100% on board but I'd have to talk to the operations manager to approve the transfer.

I dropped into his office, told him what  I wanted to do, and that the recieving manager had already approved it. He shook his head and said "Nope, we can't lose you off the floor."

I handed him an envelope containing my typed up two weeks notice. and told him "you just did."

He looked very surprised

"Wait, can't we talk about this?"

"We just did."

Not sure how ethical this is but after putting in my two weeks to take a lateral move I was called in for an exit interview.   They made me an offer to stay that was open for negotiation if the offer wasn't good enough.   I took their offer to my new employer with an option to match it, they did.   The old employer offered to take me back with a raise if I changed my mind, so that was nice, I don't burn bridges unless they are unsafe and beyond repair.

Every machine or die shop that I have been in is full of old guys that will retire in the next 5 years, I have 15 or so to go.  Sad for my industry but good for me.  

This is probably a pretty weak two weeks notice story, but I decided to move to Oregon, put in my two weeks notice at the three person shop (including me) where I was working. My boss (sincerely) wished me good luck. I couldn't find a job in Oregon.  I also couldn't find a job in Albuquerque. Returned to Illinois and my old boss not only rehired me, he also gave me a 10% raise. 

In reply to akylekoz :

interesting how this has changed. In 1980 in high school I was at a vocational HS learning machinist skills and the hot spot was becoming a mold maker - guaranteed 50 hours a week.  

Then around the year 2000 my mold maker buddy told me it declined due to import dies and all he did was clean up new dies.

Now it sounds like it's hot again! Good for you.

I really have nothing of great substance, but my company fumbled the bag bigtime at my last job.  I was doing a very niche, unique thing in a larger company, and I was the only one on staff that knew how to do it, had the resources with which to do it, and was able to customer-face.  Sort of like a production/sales intermediary, but with engineer-level technical skills.  I'd been there 15 years and knew that submitting my notice would be a major issue.  I negotiated with my next (and current) employer a 4 week hiring gap just to give my old company time to hire/train-up/develop someone to replace me.  A lot of the people there are still friends to this day, and I didn't wanna bork them all. 

So I give my notice, they lose it, instantly refer to my noncompete in the meeting, to which I reply that I'm going completely out of industry and they can shove the noncompete.  I stayed on for 4 weeks, and ownership did not do one single thing to prepare themselves for my departure until Friday morning on my last day... They bring in the owners son.  There was nothing I could do in the 4 hours I had with him.  So so so epically dumb. 

They had no choice but to hire me back on as a consultant for 3 months to train this kid up and do all of the customer presentations after hours until he was ready.  That was good, sweet sweet, green cash money, hahahaha.  I had them by the nards, and everyone freaking knew it... and I tried to warn them and be nice about it. 

MrsRecon got her Bachelor's degree and began teaching 3rd grade a couple years ago; she loves the teaching part. The school's administration, on the other hand, is a trainwreck. Issues with student behaviors and trying to run multiple programs without the requisite staff have caused several problems this year (including a violent [he punched a teacher] student remaining in a class because of the lack of staff trained to deal with him).

The 3rd grade team consists of 4 teachers; #1- who constantly runs around doing her own thing, #2- who is extremely negative when the kids are not around and probably shouldn't be teaching, #3- who is holding the whole team together (and is a friend of ours), and MrsRecon, who is still pretty new at this teaching gig.

April rolls around, and the 3rd grade team is informed that the district is cutting the budget and eliminating several positions, one of which  is 3rd grade. Teacher #3 says Ok, I'll move to the open 1st grade spot since that teacher is retiring. MrsRecon is less than thrilled, because it means 1) Her class size will increase to 30 students from 22, and 2) she will be wrangling two grown-ass adults instead of teaching kids. We discussed it and decided to quietly check for open positions at some of the surrounding rural school districts.  

It turns out a small district 45 minutes north of us has an open 3rd grade position. MrsRecon applied, interviewed, and was offered the position, all within a 3 day period.

MrsRecon and I discuss it, she accepts, and she drafts a letter of resignation. The only person who had any idea of what was going on was teacher #3, who is moving to 1st grade anyways.

The resignation letter hits the principal's desk, and it's like a bomb went off...

New job?

15-18 students, dedicated staff for students with issues, and a 2k+ pay raise, plus a 4 day school week. 

MrsRecon definitely won this one...

Recon1342 said:

MrsRecon got her Bachelor's degree and began teaching 3rd grade a couple years ago; she loves the teaching part. The school's administration, on the other hand, is a trainwreck. Issues with student behaviors and trying to run multiple programs without the requisite staff have caused several problems this year (including a violent [he punched a teacher] student remaining in a class because of the lack of staff trained to deal with him).

The 3rd grade team consists of 4 teachers; #1- who constantly runs around doing her own thing, #2- who is extremely negative when the kids are not around and probably shouldn't be teaching, #3- who is holding the whole team together (and is a friend of ours), and MrsRecon, who is still pretty new at this teaching gig.

April rolls around, and the 3rd grade team is informed that the district is cutting the budget and eliminating several positions, one of which  is 3rd grade. Teacher #3 says Ok, I'll move to the open 1st grade spot since that teacher is retiring. MrsRecon is less than thrilled, because it means 1) Her class size will increase to 30 students from 22, and 2) she will be wrangling two grown-ass adults instead of teaching kids. We discussed it and decided to quietly check for open positions at some of the surrounding rural school districts.  

It turns out a small district 45 minutes north of us has an open 3rd grade position. MrsRecon applied, interviewed, and was offered the position, all within a 3 day period.

MrsRecon and I discuss it, she accepts, and she drafts a letter of resignation. The only person who had any idea of what was going on was teacher #3, who is moving to 1st grade anyways.

The resignation letter hits the principal's desk, and it's like a bomb went off...

 

New job?

15-18 students, dedicated staff for students with issues, and a 2k+ pay raise, plus a 4 day school week. 

MrsRecon definitely won this one...

Tell me more about this 4 day school week!!!  That sounds very unique (and very awesome).  Congrats to MrsRecon!

Our company was lead by an owner that would try to impose  a new corporate culture every time he read a new book published by some Silicone Valley Tech guru.

One day, after all my staff had gone home, my supervisor came by  my desk to lay-out the latest crackpot management philosophy from the home office. Since finding people for what we did was near impossible and with a long learning period, she ended with "I sure hope nobody quits over this". ....as I slowly raised my hand. I was already planning to retire, but since this was not a company that was good to its workers, I kept it under my hat. I put it down as "Retiring" in 4 months. 

In reply to golfduke :

Many districts in Idaho are already at or moving to a 4 day school week. Class is 7:15a-4:00p, Monday-Thursday.

There's still a big debate as to the benefits, but it appears to be gaining ground nationwide. 

4-day study from 2021

In reply to Recon1342 :

Today I Learned.   Neat! 

The only job Dana ever walked out on. 

When we first moved to Smithton, Dana got a job at the speedway up the street. 2-10, 5 days a week working every other weekend, paid every Wednesday. For the first 6 or so months, it was great and exactly as described, despite some serious corporate issues with speedway at the time. 

Fast forward to 18 months on the job. Several big management changes, in store and corporate, had resulted in a lot of one family having a lot of control and numbers in the store. A family that drinks together and covers for each other all the time. Fourth of July weekend, Dana winds up spending 40 hours there between Saturday and Monday because the family is all out partying together and nobody will go in to work. This became a regular occurrence 

It wasn't even getting called to cover a shift during our honeymoon that did it. 

One Saturday in September, while being one of the two of the supposed to be 8 people working, family manager calls her and tries talking her into doubling out because she's to hungover to come in. As the weekly delivery truck finished dropping pallets of cold goods on the floor that needed to be put away. 

Finally, I get a text, "would you be mad if I quit?" berkeley no, you should have quit months ago. 

So at 2pm, she texted Mikayla, the management head of the nepotism family "I finished my shift, the truck is still on the floor because it was just me and Renee, and I berkeleying quit". Then she blocked every single person that worked there's phone number and Facebook. 

Only job she ever "walked out" on without notice. Frankly it was a long time coming. I'm still pissed neither her or any of the other former employees went to the labor board, ever. Blatant health violations, work hour violations, pay violations, there was a litany of problems that really could have done some damage to the company before they were bought by 711. 

She started at Dick's 3 weeks later, at $4 more an hour without needing to deal with the public, and has been generally happy since. The raises are a bit weak, but they really look out for the employees. 

The recession hit the aviation industry kinda hard back in 2008, and this company was trying hard not to have its first layoffs.  They were doing so by letting people go for weird reasons.  I was let go for a "Class D misdemeanor" that I didn't even know I had.  I got busted for driving with a suspended license (I didn't pay a ticket off before I went to bootcamp, and my license was suspended.  I found out during a traffic stop.  I was young and just thought it was another ticket I had to pay).  Anyhoo, they said I should have checked the "are you a criminal"  box and I hadn't...

Having no job, I decided it was time to go back to school in an effort to find more stable employment.  To make ends meet, I walked into a TGI Fridays and promptly ran into an old manager I used to work for.  "Any position, it's yours" he said.

I took a job waiting tables in the less desirable sections, and quickly worked my way into the bar as a bartender while doing my University studies full time.

Bartending is a bit of a "give and take" when it comes to pouring drinks (especially if you free-pour, which we did).  If you're a regular or just a nice person you'll get a splash extra.  If you're nasty we tend to pour less.  In the end it all evens out, and we have a hard and fast rule that we do NOT give away the bar.  And to make sure, the bar manager counts the bottles every so often.  It's an involved process for them and usually takes a while.

One day the manager that hired me moved on to greener pastures.  His replacements were two managers where were significantly more junior, but I had worked for them both before and didn't have anything bad to say about either of them.

Except...

Except when these guys came in, they did so with one idea in their head "everyone here is trying to steal from the company".  The cooks, the waiters, and especially the bartenders.  Any minute now we were going to steal a bottle of liquor and bring it home with us, and they just KNEW IT.

Every day one of them came in to count the bottles.  Every day they screwed it up.  Every day whoever was on shift was accused of stealing.  Every day we were able to find what was supposedly missing.  Never one did we get an apology...

One day it was my turn.  I got called into the managers office and was asked to explain why there were three bottles of expensive Crown Royal missing and why they shouldn't fire me on the spot.  I thought this odd as it wasn't a busy day (it was a Tuesday) and I certainly didn't remember pouring any Crown...  Not to mention that stealing three entire bottles of the new and expensive stuff was probably the dumbest thing anyone could do, and would almost certainly not go unnoticed...

I took their paper and looked at the inventory.  Knowing the bar layout pretty well, and what was in our cabinet, I simply asked "Did you check the display case?  Because these are the exact bottles that are in our display case"

They hadn't.  "You got off easy this time, but don't let us catch you again" was pretty much how that meeting ended (mother-berkers, you didn't "catch" me THIS time...).

I had enough.  The only person I was feeling bad for was for the actual bar manager.  She was caught in the middle and doing her best to mediate, but the next day she called us all in and in her exhaustion with the whole situation explained to us that we all had to attend a "why stealing from the company is bad, and how we promise not to do it anymore" meeting, hosted by the two new managers.  It was going to be a two-on-one between them and the respective employees and we were all to pick a date and time before we could be put on the schedule for our next shifts.

"When would you like to come in?"  She asked.

"Oh, I wont be in next week" I responded

"But if you don't come in, then I can't put you on the schedule"

"I know.  I'm telling you I'm quitting"

That weekend I was on shift both Friday and Saturday night.  All the regulars came in at one time or another (word got around kinda quick as most worked at other restaurants in the area, and would come in after their shifts). I've never poured heavier, I've never had the bar busier, and I've never made that much cash in two nights.

The bartenders working with me let it play.  We all figured since we were judged "guilty" anyway, then there was nothing left to stop us from doing it.

I went back into aviation the very next week.

I was at my last job for a short time. After about day 5, it was apparent things would not work out. I was told my technical skills are poor, I didn't take good notes in meetings, I was too slow. If I wanted a chance to be an elite team member, I would need to work overtime, on my own time (I.e. unpaid) to study technical manuals and our work so I'd be up to my boss's standards. I was also told that the rest of the team "worked hard to accommodate my schedule." Know what my schedule was? 7:30-5. Apparently working anything less than 14 hours a day was an insult. 

So I quit with another offer in hand after being berated about doing something "wrong". Then, the tune changed. "Oh, we didn't want you to leave" and talks of me staying. Was told I could come back. I will not go back. Goodbye.