Just because you're desperate for a job doesn't mean you should take something that leaves you feeling uneasy.
It's sad how so many people are trapped in jobs that destroy their feeling of self-worth.
There are simple must-haves that every job should supply to staff.
Safety, financial stability, growth, support, basic human dignity...
Is that all really too much to ask for?
Apparently, some companies think so.
I've never walked out on a first day, but in hindsight, there are a few instances I really wish I had.
If nothing else, peacing out on a first day gives you quite a story to tell later.
Redditor Head_Somewhere3770 wanted to hear about the times people said peace out on Day One of a new job, so they asked:
"What was the tipping point that made you leave your job on the first day?"
Free Food
"Went to the first day of training and realized it was a M[ulti]-L[evel[ M[arketing] gig. Stayed for the lunch they provided and then dipped."
- Due_Purchase_7509
Real Housewives Goodbye GIFGiphy
Leave It
"Not quite the first day, but I’d been promised a quite generous pension scheme as part of the overall package."
"Induction day comes along and the pension scheme is described. And it’s not generous at all - in fact, it’s the legal minimum."
"I made every effort to address this, but they were quite clear: that’s the rules, sorry you were misinformed, take it or leave it."
"They were astonished when I chose 'leave it.'"
- jimicus
Anybody Home?
"When my boss didn’t show up."
- GameWaveExplorer99
"My first day working at a new Blockbuster. I was hired as an assistant manager. I walk in and the store manager says 'You've been a manager before?' I nodded in assent, and she literally tossed me the store keys and walked out."
"I ended up keeping that job, but man, it was a hell of a place to work."
- Professional-Box4153
Too Much Yeast
"I worked for a bread factory that put me on the first shift, within the first 10 minutes of being there an employee asked me if HR had told me they had been forced to work 17-hour days. Most of the employees were single moms; one employee told me about her struggles with child care. She wanted to leave so badly, but it was the first time she had health insurance. She lifted up her shirt and showed me a big hernia she needed to get taken care of. It felt like prison. I left and never came back for lunch."
- misslady420
2 Legit NOT to Quit!
"So, it turns out this 'company' wasn’t even legit—they weren’t registered and had no license. They even threatened to make us pay if we quit during the 60-day training period. Fast forward a few months, and they were shut down."
- Mediocre-Food-2292
Peace Out Goodbye GIF by NETFLIXGiphy
I Sense It
"When I walked into the office and immediately felt an overwhelming sense of negativity in the environment."
"The manager seemed disorganized and dismissive, the team members barely acknowledged my presence, and I overheard complaints about long hours and lack of support."
"The final straw was when I was handed a massive stack of work with no clear instructions or training and told to figure it out on my own. Realizing that this was not the kind of work culture I wanted to be a part of, I decided to walk away before getting too invested."
- rajender-meena
It's Purple
"Got hired at Diamond Mazda of Baton Rouge a while back in their used cars team. I explained in the interview process that I wasn't a 'car guy' but had incredible sales numbers in every sales job I had. The manager assured me day one I would get a brief on car info to get me started."
"Day one, I show up, and he tells me no, I am not getting a brief on car data, and I can forget about that. The rest of the sales team spends the days creating fake calls and pages for me that four times send me walking across the lots and properties to people and buildings that don't exist, each time to come back and find the contents of my desk and my chair in the ditch out behind the offices."
"They wouldn't tell me how to read the numeric code on the windshield that had the price on it. Finally, when a customer asked me to tell them about a car I explained 'It's purple' we both laughed hard, I quit about 7 hours into day 1 right then and there."
- Flailing_Aimlessly
I Gagged!
"I was hired to work at a sandwich shop. I did an hour up front figuring out where things were and then I was told to go to the walk-in fridge to get something. The smell… my f**king God. There was unwrapped food on the floor, open pails of stuff with no lids, rotten vegetables. It smelled like a corpse and looked like a dumpster. I gagged, took my apron off, and just left."
- Massive-Lab7553
Dynamics
"After college, I got a job at a small tech startup. They prided themselves on a 'dynamic work environment' but that was code for no formal breaks and an expectation of 24/7 availability. The kicker? They paid in 'stock options' they assured would be worth thousands when the company took off. After two weeks of sleeping with my phone under my pillow and watching my social life disappear, I realized my mental health was worth more than speculative stocks. Handed in my two-week notice the next day."
- Klutzy-Bee-8783
Immediate Out
"I was a carnie for a single day."
"Responded to a Craigslist ad for a traveling carnival in my area looking for help immediately. At the time, I was actually a fairly talented street performer already just looking for a more stable gig during the week."
"The thing I didn't know about traveling carnivals is that some of the employees aren't really traveling with the carnival but more like.... enslaved by the carnival."
"All the other employees were from far-off states, broke, optionless, earning $1 per customer of whatever attraction they operated. They just lived with the carnival, and that was their life."
"Maybe 50 people came through the entire carnival during that time. I earned $1 for a day's work (this was in like 2011)."
"I took my carnival shirt off at the end of my shift, handed it to the guy who hired me, and quit on the spot."
- AlexMulder
I choose Carvel!
"At 14, I tried working for Dickie Dee Icecream for one whole day—riding a bike with a cooler in the sweltering sun. They paid you on commission based on sales, but you had to buy your own dry ice. So after sweating all day, you ended up with nothing. This was in the mid-80s, and I really hope this kind of job doesn’t exist anymore!"
- Puzzleheaded-Lake120
Valentines Day Food GIFGiphy
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
"Started at a daycare and they were hitting children. Like full-on slapping them in the mouth. Shoving their heads down on the table when they wouldn’t eat lunch. TWO-YEAR-OLDS. I started hysterically crying and told the owner, she said 'Maybe this job isn’t for you' and I walked out. I only worked there for 4 hours. Called corporate and everyone else I could think of. Heinous place."
- MPD1987
The Dry-Heave
"Got a job at a warehouse to make some extra cash one summer. Was trained on the cardboard/trash compactor. In one box, someone had left a few cups, and when I tossed it in, one of the cups was full of someone’s dip spit. Dry-heaved and walked to the bathroom to clean up. Then walked to my car and peace."
- Croast78
What a Mess
"When I realized the work environment was completely toxic everyone appeared stressed, and there was no communication or support. I realized immediately away that wasn't a situation where I could see myself thriving, so I opted to leave before things got worse."
- aluustful
See Ya A Sometimes Thing
"Landed a gig fresh out of high school at a local print shop, was told I'd be designing cool graphics for local businesses. The first day, they handed me a broom and told me my job was actually to sweep floors and clean the machines, with graphics being a 'sometimes thing.' The place was filthy like it hadn't seen a broom in decades."
"As I swept, I found a dead rat behind one of the printers. I was then told to dispose of it and continue cleaning without gloves or proper gear. Took my lunch break early and decided no amount of 'potential graphic design opportunities' could make me come back to rat-sweeping duty. Left and never returned."
- theposearchive
Good Lord.
How do half of these places even stay open for business?
With the sheer volume of overly qualified people in the world, how do half of these bosses get into these positions of power?
I know I've met some of these people in my restaurant days.
You can't escape them.
That's why it's good to walk out sooner rather than later.
Life lesson? Listen to our guts and go!
