Well, that's one way to tell
your boss you're going. Photograph: Dan Chung for the Guardian
In a difficult job market, the
pressure is greater than ever on workers to keep their heads down, accept poor
terms and conditions, and serve and flip those burgers with a winning smile for
their boss and a kind word for the most irritating customers. Sometimes,
though, a tiny voice of frustration breaks through. This month it was reported
that one troubled, alcoholic court stenographer in New York had made his
feelings known with surprising directness – instead of typing up court
transcripts, it is alleged, he simply typed "I HATE MY JOB" over and
over and over again.
If you are contemplating the
moment when you finally light that torch and set every bridge ablaze, here are
some other sources of inspiration.
1 Stuff your food
The epic screed that denounced
Whole Foods philosophies as "complete and utter bullshit" has to be
among the greatest of resignation letters. The anonymous Toronto employee went
on to say the shop's "sandwiches are the stuff of nightmares". Then
the writer took apart their most-hated colleagues. They suspected one of being
a sociopath, another of being a chauvinist. One unlucky colleague was simply
advised: "We get it, we get it. You go to the gym. Nobody is impressed. In
fact we all just laugh at your inferiority complex." Years of frustration,
perfectly vented.
2 And the band played on
Joey DeFrancesco, a
23-year-old room service worker at a hotel in Rhode Island, delivered his
resignation letter in 2011 – along with his very own marching band. During more
than three years at the hotel, he had supported a drive to unionise employees,
and his relationship with management had grown rocky. The video of him handing
the letter to his angry manager, while the band strikes up a fanfare, has now
been viewed almost 4.5m times on YouTube. And it led to the website Joey Quits,
where hotel and restaurant workers write about their experiences and organise
for better terms and conditions.
3 Prepare for a bumpy landing
Few stories rank higher in the
annals of aplomb than that of air steward Steven Slater. In 2010, he claimed a
passenger had been rude to him, launched into a stream of expletives over the
public address system, grabbed his bags and a couple of beers from the galley,
activated the inflatable slide, and headed out of the plane – and out of a job.
The incident led to serious legal repercussions for Slater, who apologised for
his actions, but provided a vicarious thrill for millions of disgruntled
workers.
4 Making a song and dance
Which office worker hasn't
looked out over a sea of desks, a warren of cubicles, and dreamed of roaring,
dancing or screaming their frustration? Marina Shifrin went ahead, and made a
video last year, set to Kanye West's song Gone, in which she danced all over
the office, at 4.30am, to announce she was quitting her job creating film
content. Her main complaint was that her boss cared only about page views;
presumably the 17.5m YouTube hits on her video made him feel pretty queasy.
5 It's not cricket, but …
Of course, sometimes, however
open you are about your feelings, you just can't shake that pesky job. In 2003,
Scott Murray started a cricket match report on the Guardian website: "WHAT
SORT OF LIFE IS THIS AND WHAT THE HELL AM I DOING BOARDING A TRAIN FOR MOORGATE
AT 6.30 IN THE MORNING", and continued in that vein, prompting a rolling
conversation among readers about the existential despair of the modern
workplace. He still writes for us regularly.
• Have you ever resigned with
a dramatic flourish - or dreamed of doing so? Tell us about it.
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