Young and dumb. At the age of 16 I was told that I was the youngest shift manager in the history of McDonald's. After being seriously ticked off by the store manger, I organized a walk-out that included 5 high school friends. So, at 12:30pm on a Saturday- 6 people walked out of store and left another manager and one other person with no cooked food or toasted buns. Needless to say it was a bad decision.

I started working at a large convenience-store chain here in Atlanta several years ago. After roughly 6 hours on the job, I decided that I wasn't cut out for standing on my feet for an entire shift; I told my supervisor that I was going out to my car to get something to drink...but I never came back. Fortunately I was able to pick up my paycheck from a different location so I never had to face that supervisor again.

I left a note, written on toilet paper, telling my boss 'I quit.' (as a front desk clerk at a Holiday Inn).

I never spoke to that boss again. But the story of how I quit lived on at that hotel long after I was gone (according to friends there).

Do I regret it? Nope.

Did it affect my future? Nope.

Did that job ever appear on any future resume or application I completed? No to that too.

I was working for Target in Nashville, Tennessee, and we had to fire a teenager cashier for not showing up to work on time. As she was leaving, she went to one of the phones in the store and dialed into the PA system. She proceeded to tell everyone in the store what she thought about all the managers, the company and the shoppers. It took us almost 5 minutes to locate her, and by then...it was too late. I ran into her several times after that, and all I could do was smile.

I took a job as a manager of a Video rental store in Knoxville, Tennessee. I was 21 years old and an avid softball player. I started work on Thursday, and I asked the owner if I could take the weekend off because I had a softball tournament out of town. He told me that he would be out of town and that I was the only one who could open the store. Being 21, on Friday, I dropped the keys in the night drop and never went back. I don't think they opened at all that weekend. Maybe that is why I never did get that paycheck for that 1 day.

I found it very hard to leave/quit a job because I too passionate. I value relationship more than anything in the world. Leaving my coworker behind is tough decision for me to take. The very first job that I quit was a Security Guard at Lenox Mall, Atlanta. Though, I found it had to leave, but I have to do it for my own interest because I had a full time job during this time. Till date, I still have a good relationship with people that I used to work with, including my manager.

Perhaps, I still believe that giving employer two weeks notice is a good idea. Leaving a job without a substantial notice can be more disastrous to the employer.

I used to work at FedEx for the graveyard shift loading/unloading trucks (the semi truck trailers) as a second job during the winter in Charlotte, NC. Cold as hell and they were completely understaffed. The supervisor stood around until he feels the need to get on you about your pace. Not long into a shift, I get busy in my truck and he of course has to come over and ask if he needs to show me how to do the job. I told him to please show me with a big smile. As he turns around and begins to throw boxes I hop off the truck and stroll out never to come back again. I hope he had to do some real work that night. Oh yeah, the next week FedEx said they lost my check and it took over a month for their corporate office to get me a reprint. Go figure ;)

After grad school, I got a job with a defense contractor, as a recruiter.

Talk about a bad career choice.

Bored to death and an offer from my preferred profession, I left the open requesitions and my brief case on the desk at lunch. Left a voice message for my boss with my resignation. Pretty cowardly way out I must confess.

Oh yea, the CIA showed up 3 days later at my house looking for me (don't mess with your Uncle Sam). Fortunately, I resolved our differences with a phone call.

Back when I was studying for my MBA in Paris-France, I got an internship at a major oil company :Total Corp. During the interview, I started suggesting new ways to improve efficiency (trying to look smart), so I was informed that I just needed to stick to entering data and was not supposed/allowed to give any advice and participate in trying to improve anything at a large and successful company. Needless to say that I did not want the internship but needed it at the time to finish my degree. I was to start in 3 weeks but I got a much better offer from another company, so I just ignored Total Corp's offer and even forgot that I had accepted by the time they called me on what was supposed to be my first day. I was told that my actions were not professional and that I had promised to start with them, so all I could say was that I am sorry but their culture was highly bureaucratic for me to work there. I guess I had already quit even before I had officially started.

I was the last of 8 people to leave our department. This included three medical leaves (mental reasons caused by the VP) and three people who quit without having another job. The VP was so clueless on how to treat employees he didn't even come talk to me, the last mand standing. I finally lined up another job and handed him a resignation letter. Why he was shocked I was leaving is beyond me. Needless to say he was demoted the following year...

Mine was a little more harsh. I worked as a mobile home salesman and absolutely hated it. My boss was one of those cheesey-grinned, fast-talking salesman that could annoy the paint off a building. One day, my buddy and I found a dead rat and left it inside my boss' heeating duct. His office smelled like decaying rat for over a month before finally he called in an expert to locate the smell. I quit well before that month was up.

I think small business owners need to have a contingency plan for if they lose someone. I gave two weeks notice to my office. This is after informing them awhile ago that I might not be able to stay once the semester started, since I'm just starting graduate school. It *ought* to be totally reasonable.

So far, my boss has no plan to get a replacement, won't take over any of the financial work I'm doing for him in preparation for my leaving, and won't give me time to write up instructions for the next person to come in.

As far as I'm concerned, though, I've done the ethical thing. His lack of preparation isn't my problem anymore.

With my first position out of University, I had grown frustrated and when I decided to leave, I left a pre-programed departure message explaining my frustrations on voice-mail which included the final verse of Mr. Sinatra's "My Way":
"For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught.
To say the things he truly feels;
And not the words of one who kneels.
The record shows I took the blows -
And did it my way!"

While in college, I worked in a shoe store in a mall. One day I was working a 1-9 shift. At about 3 o'clock, while the manager was in the back, I just walked out, got in my car, and left. My cell phone started ringing before I even got to the parking lot, I didn't answer, never went back again, until 2 weeks later when I had to go and ask for my cheque!!! hahah

I worked in a commercial vault in a bank where we handled millions of dollars. I had requested off one weekend to go out of town and had a plane ticket already purchased when my boss told me I was working all weekend. I finished my shift, left my keys in the door and posted a note on the vault door at 2:00 am letting them know I was not coming in anymore. It was definitely not smart but I 'v never listed the job on any resumes.

I went to work for a company, didn't like the atmosphere (stuffy), didn't care for the boss lady, so when an e-mail came in that was short towards me sent to the entire department, I picked up my lunch sack, straightened up my desk and walked out without saying a word (but I had to bite my tongue to prevent it). Could have been much worse I suppose but was proud I didn't make a fool of myself. They called the next day and I said I would never work in that sort of environment again. Goodbye.