15 People Whose Jobs Are Like a Never-Ending Headache

Let’s be honest, work isn’t always sunshine and promotions. While some people deal with the occasional awkward meeting or missed deadline, others find themselves in truly unbelievable workplace situations. We’re talking about the kind of days where you question reality, your career choices, and maybe even humanity itself. If you’ve ever felt like your job was a little too chaotic, these stories will make you feel seen.

• My boss shouted at me because I took a phone message for him, because he was already on a call. Apparently he was eagerly awaiting the call I answered and would have preferred I had interrupted him.
  I said, “Do I look like a mind reader? Cut me my check; I quit.” He tried hard to backpedal, but there had been many, many previous straws. © JohnE*******t / Reddit
• Many years ago, my dad was a manager of the meat dept at a chain grocery store. A new store manager came in and told him that whenever steaks started looking a bit gray, rather than mark them down a bit (they were still ok to eat, just older and unappealing in appearance), he was to slice them laterally, position the bright-pink interior up to repackage, and keep them the same price. My dad soon quit over that, as he couldn’t in good conscience do it. © who-took-my-hat / Reddit
• My manager started snapping her fingers in my face, 3 inches away from my eyes saying in a slow drawl, “Youuuu’re doinnnng it wroooong, hellloooo that’s not how I told you to do iiiit” when I was folding the shirts somewhat slower and less optimally than I was shown (though achieving the same fold — also it was my third week and one of 20 folds I had to learn on that job). I walked right then and there. © MisfortuneGortune / Reddit

• A teacher at our school was constantly being reported by her assistant for grossly and absurdly exaggerated offenses because the assistant doesn’t like the teacher she’s been assigned to this year. The teacher is new to our school.
  The assistant is related to a high-ranking administrator and has already been moved several times. Administration kept writing up the teacher, despite her protests that the complaints were absurd, and she repeatedly requested that this assistant be reassigned.
  The teacher finally had enough and quit. Administration then spread a rumor that the teacher had to leave her job for “mental health reasons.” © thecountessofdevon / Reddit

• Two individuals at work are having an affair. Both are married, and neither is as discreet as they think they are.
  Both of their partners are aware that something is going on. Some of this drama spilled out at the most recent company picnic, which ended with people yelling and screaming obscenities at each other.
  But that’s not even the wildest part. The latest news is that the woman wants to get pregnant, but the man does not. Apparently, she’s gone off the pill. Meanwhile, he’s starting to get cold feet about the whole situation and has begun flirting with the receptionist. © asdkasjdf / Reddit

• I was tired of doing a 3 person job: My boss following me around, calling me at home, during meetings, when I was sick, talking to me outside the bathroom door — it was making me crazy. The final straw was when I came back from vacation one day to find piles and piles of work that other people could have done. I quit, packed my stuff, and left. © TweedS****r / Reddit
• I was a program director developing and piloting a new program. After a year of being overloaded and telling our exec director I either needed a second person or a smaller caseload, he pulls me into his office and goes, “We don’t really think you’re a good fit for this position, but you’re a bright young lady, and we’d hate to lose you. I’m giving you the option to stay and be my secretary. You have until 7 am tomorrow to decide.”
  I took an early lunch, walked to my other job, asked if I could take on more hours, walked back, and told him I had found other employment and would have my stuff cleared out by noon. © Intrepid_Knowledge27 / Reddit

• I worked for a website creation company back in 1999, managing the website for a big brand / large bank that was sponsoring a round-trip paid ticket to the Super Bowl. I worked on the website that collected all the entries, and I posted the rules that the company’s legal department wrote to describe the rules of the contest.
  A random winner was to be selected for the prize, and I wrote a software tool to randomly pick the winner to be used when the contest was over. When the contest ended, I was told to forget my tool, forget the rules, just look in the database and find someone in South Florida (where the Superbowl was in 1999), so the company wouldn’t have to pay for airfare. © midnite*** / Reddit
• I worked for a healthcare facility that started collecting private patient information to share with insurance companies in order to secure better contracts. This wasn’t diagnosis data; it was lifestyle data, including spending transactions (they were trying to find ways to obtain that information when I was leaving).
  When I asked if patients were aware, they always gave a vague answer, which essentially meant no. © Objective_Regret2768 / Reddit

• I work for a very prominent doctor in my city who runs a solo practice. His wife is the practice manager. They hired a cute blonde RN in her early 30s (married) to work part-time. I work next to her, and she tells me everything.
  The doctor started hitting on her in person, through intraoffice instant messaging, and via text. The latter two methods caught the attention of his wife. Instead of apologizing for the extreme discomfort this caused the nurse, the wife progressively and passive-aggressively pushed her out of the practice by gradually reducing her hours, making her track everything she did minute by minute, and generally creating a hostile work environment.
  She’s gone now. It worked. © SynapseForest / Reddit

• I work in a bakery in a grocery store that has black mold growing in the walls. My employer refuses to do anything about it, and I have pictures documenting the mold that date back over a year. We even called corporate about it, but they haven’t taken any action either. In the four years I’ve worked here, I’ve been sick constantly, and I’ve had a lingering cough for almost the entire year.
  I’m seriously considering calling OSHA and/or the local news. © ThatB**chIrene / Reddit

• I was denied a raise by HR after consistently working 60–70 hours a week. My VP, who had supported and requested the raise for me, told me to stop putting in the extra time, work my 40 hours, and spend the extra time applying for new jobs. Within a month, a meeting was called to “mutually part ways” because my work wasn’t getting done.
  I was gratified to learn that they had to hire two people to do my job after I left. © scoyne15 / Reddit
• I made the mistake of trusting my boss to be a good person (and not a corporate slave worried about his own standing in the company) and telling him about an opportunity that came my way, genuinely asking for his advice.
  I told him I could stay on for up to 2–3 months if needed to help ease any new team members into the role. Two days later, I was called in by HR and told that my last working day would be 2 weeks from that meeting.
  I also lost the other opportunity (I don’t know if my boss had anything to do with it or not). I had to move out of the country because I was on a visa that didn’t allow me to stay. This essentially ended what was possibly a very promising career. © mentlu_manja / Reddit

• One co-worker had a bunch of cash stolen from her purse. Everyone knows who did it. Not only was the alleged thief the only one not in attendance at a meeting when the money went missing, but she also suddenly started avoiding my co-worker, even though they had been friends before. Additionally, she would have had to know exactly where the purse was stored in order to sneak in and back out without being noticed.
  Now, no one in the office is talking to the alleged thief. That’s our version of office justice, since management can’t fire her without more proof. © IrianJaya / Reddit

• At my last workplace, the VP of HR started having an affair with the (married) Manager of HR. She got a divorce, and a few months later, she ended up leaving the company when the VP of HR started cheating with another employee. This was a big company, by the way, with over 10,000 employees. © Pizzacrusher / Reddit

Your job shouldn’t feel like a prison you can’t wait to get away from. Unfortunately, many awful bosses make employees count the seconds until it’s time to go home.