At its best, resigning from a job is straightforward and simple. You tell your immediate supervisor that you need to quit, state a reason why, and give your official notice. No big gesture, no bad blood, no problems.
However, sometimes it’s awkward because you love the job you’re in. Or sometimes it’s awkward because you really don’t, and haven’t hidden that fact. Other times it’s awkward because your boss caught you looking at PEDESTRIAN JOBS in the middle of your shift the day before.
Regardless, what’s so good about a resignation is it puts the power in the hands of the employee. You are allowed to go out on your own terms, and ain’t heaven or hell going to stop you.
We asked people for their wildest resignation stories, and let’s just say, they didn’t hold back.
So for those of you who are looking at leaving your current job but need an extra kick of inspiration for the final push, here’s a bunch of top notch resignation stories.
1. Jamie’s Irish Goodbye
Full disclosure: I myself am a fiend for an Irish Goodbye at a party. Nothing gives me a rush like ducking out of a gatho without telling anyone.
However, I’ve only ever pulled off an Irish Goodbye at a house-party, or similar event. Jamie on the other hand, has seen it pulled off with much bigger stakes.
“A senior person in an old job of mine was a massive hot head, and had already gotten in trouble for yelling at people in public,” shared Jamie.
“He was having a disagreement with one of the other senior managers over something silly, went out for a cigarette to cool down, and just never came back.”
Look… I won’t deny I am a teensy bit impressed. It’s one thing to leave a party without a word, but a whole job? Unfathomable.
@sparklinghosewater irish goodbye
♬ original sound – simon mayer
It must be said though, this is definitely not a move that’ll earn others’ respect. Behaviour like this is harmless enough at a party, but in the workplace it has consequences for other people.
And it did not win the ex-worker any popularity, as Jamie said: “He’s still in the industry. Every time I see his name pop up I just roll my eyes.”
2. Ethan’s Receipt Resignation
Often, less is more. This could has never more been the case than in the case of Ethan, who was finally fed up with his fast food job after several years in the kitchen.
“I worked at this place for four years and saw a bunch of people quit in different ways during that [time]. From the moment I knew I was quitting there was one thing I’d heard heaps of people say they saw someone else do that I wanted to try,” Ethan said.
“So after my shift finished one day, I ordered myself a meal and borrowed a pen from the staffroom. Jotted down a couple sentences saying cheers and see ya, and handed it to my manager… on the back of a receipt.”
According to the former fast foodie, their manager was indifferent to the resignation’s unusual delivery method. Apparently they’d seen it before.
Can’t blame Ethan’s taste though. The classics are popular for a reason.
3. Joel’s Fast Food Farewell
Here comes another classic from the world of fast food, this time from Joel who reckons he caused a bit of a stir and left with a bang.
“A few years back, the fast food restaurant I worked for was having some big change-up that essentially meant there was going to be a higher base rate of pay for managers, but a lower one for casual workers,” Joel alleged.
“They wanted to communicate this pay-rate change to their whole staff — who were predominantly high-schoolers BTW — about how good this change was for them by holding a big meeting at an RSL with hundreds of workers from different stores.
“I was pretty fed up with the job for a while at that point, and this was the last straw. So when I turned up to the meeting I brought a whole bunch of resignation letters to give out at the door to anyone looking to quit following their upcoming pay deduction.
“They started cutting all my shifts pretty soon after that stunt. Good thing I had the letter already written.”
Power to the people, Joel.
4. Mac’s Journalist Japes
This one is a little bit inside baseball, but as a person who makes a living from doing write-ups, I simply had to share this story another journalist shared with me about someone they saw quit a writing gig.
“I once worked for the company that no journo wants to work for, but will at some point in their life because rent isn’t free,” said Mac.
“By virtue of the company, anyone working there whose ethics weren’t below sea level was always looking for other gigs. You couldn’t walk anywhere without tripping on someone’s resignation letter.
“One day, I’m sub-editing another writer’s piece about a media head honcho buying a yacht or something, and the poor guy must’ve taken it personally.
“Because at the bottom of the article there was a sentence saying: ‘This is my official two-week notice. I’m getting off the [Masthead] yacht.'”
As a writer, this one hits the spot. Aaaaand cue my editor scrolling to the bottom of this article to see if I’ve attached any surprise notes.
5. Reddit’s Restorative Moment
It wouldn’t be a good list without the inclusion of the good people of Reddit. Always with a tall tale to share, there are a bunch of subreddits on the site dedicated to purely resignation stories and tips.
However, in trawling through the countless tales of people quitting their bad jobs in badass ways, one person’s story stuck out to me for how the people in it managed to help each other out in a tough situation.
“I had to lay off my entire staff (and myself) with eight hours notice,” the Redditor wrote. Rough start.
“I was the contract project manager on a government project (office-type work). At our periodic review on a Thursday, the government announced they would not be renewing our contract and our last day was Friday (the next day).
“I brought everyone into the conference room first thing the next day, let everyone know that we were all out of a job and that today was everyone’s last day.”
Now at this point, I was worried while reading this. Rest assured, its inclusion on this list is for wholesome reasons, as the Redditor went on to explain how when life handed them lemons, they made lemonade for the whole office.
“I had everyone email me their resumes, and we went over everyone’s on the conference room projector and updated them over the course of the day.
“I then printed out ‘reference’ sheets for everyone, and we all spent the remainder of the day writing letters of recommendation for each other. I ordered everyone pizza and bought everyone a round of drinks at the bar next door. Most folks had jobs by the end of the next week.”
6. The Mal Award
I would not be completing my journalistic duties if I were to write about the best resignation stories, and I did not include the legendary Australian tale that is the end of Mal Meninga‘s political career.
In 2001, former rugby league player and coach Mal Meninga announced a press conference to declare his debut onto a new field: politics.
Reporters swarmed to the event. Everyone wanted to know what had inspired one of Australia’s top coaches to go from the footy field into Parliament.
Naturally, “Why?” was the first question anyone asked. So when questioned on what inspired him to run for his local seat, Mal gave his reasoning.
“The thing about that is, I guess, I was a public figure and I was put on the podium where I was just a person out there…” Mal answered, trailing off.
He then laughed for a second, and contemplated something to himself before speaking again: “I’m buggered, I’m sorry, I have to resign.”
Peep the video below, which in just 31 seconds contains the entirety of Mal’s political career.
30. Mal Meninga announces he is running for parliament and quits in the same interview after being asked the tough question of why he is standing as a candidate pic.twitter.com/P2B1CDPnMa
— Batshit Australia (@batshit_auspol) February 24, 2024
And with that folks, I believe there are no greater words to bless you with as you look to make your next resignation.
I’m buggered. Bye.
Lead Image: Getty
Author’s note: You’re the best.
The post 6 Of The Best Resignation Stories You’ve Ever Heard In Case You Needed Inspiration For Yours appeared first on PEDESTRIAN.TV .
