Published: Saturday, August 21, 2010
Walking off job: A fantasy fulfilled
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Associated Press/Joe Imel
When Mary Phelps-Hathaway of Columbia, Ky., was fed up with working at a restaurant where her boss was sleeping with the other waitress, she took orders at the start of dinner rush then walked out the door. She says making that move is what made her successful as an equestrian journalist.
NEW YORK -- Hasn't everyone thought about doing it?
When the cubicle started to feel more like a prison than a calling? When the bossiest boss had a smile that was just too smug? When the piddling wage seemed not to be worth the aggravation?
Defying the rules, telling people off and walking off a job isn't usually a launching pad for public acclaim and admiration.
But few have fulfilled that particular working man's fantasy in such grand fashion as JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who left his job via the plane's emergency chute, beer in hand.
Slater's sudden exit has rekindled memories of workers' liberation, and sparked wistful excitement among workers who have long fantasized of choosing pride over pay.
Samuel Rodela still remembers the morning a decade ago when he spent his 1.5-hour commute contemplating how he would make his exit from an office that had turned oppressive, with building resentment and stifled creativity.
In the end, the web designer went with a simple approach: He walked into his office with a box and immediately started packing his belongings. When his hated boss asked what he was doing, he turned to her and uttered a few words usually not printed in newspapers.
Then he walked out the door.
Rodela still believes that even in a daunting economic climate, professional opportunities will arise for those who refuse to settle.
That's what Mary Phelps found. After being scolded for the last time by a boss she believed was treating her unfairly while sleeping with the other waitress on her shift, she seriously considered knocking over the giant pot of tomato sauce sitting on the Italian eatery's stove.
Instead, she walked to the front of the restaurant and took orders from six tables sitting down at the beginning of the dinner rush. Then, before bringing anyone so much as a drop of water, she left.
Now, nearly 30 years later, the Columbia, Ky., resident credits the experience with helping to build her career as an equestrian journalist.
However satisfying they may be, such dramatic exits may not be good career moves.
Unless someone is being sexually harassed or suffering similar abuse, anything less than two-weeks notice might come back to haunt him or her in future job searches, said Roberta Chinsky Matuson, a human resource consultant and writer on workplace issues.
When the cubicle started to feel more like a prison than a calling? When the bossiest boss had a smile that was just too smug? When the piddling wage seemed not to be worth the aggravation?
Defying the rules, telling people off and walking off a job isn't usually a launching pad for public acclaim and admiration.
But few have fulfilled that particular working man's fantasy in such grand fashion as JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater, who left his job via the plane's emergency chute, beer in hand.
Slater's sudden exit has rekindled memories of workers' liberation, and sparked wistful excitement among workers who have long fantasized of choosing pride over pay.
Samuel Rodela still remembers the morning a decade ago when he spent his 1.5-hour commute contemplating how he would make his exit from an office that had turned oppressive, with building resentment and stifled creativity.
In the end, the web designer went with a simple approach: He walked into his office with a box and immediately started packing his belongings. When his hated boss asked what he was doing, he turned to her and uttered a few words usually not printed in newspapers.
Then he walked out the door.
Rodela still believes that even in a daunting economic climate, professional opportunities will arise for those who refuse to settle.
That's what Mary Phelps found. After being scolded for the last time by a boss she believed was treating her unfairly while sleeping with the other waitress on her shift, she seriously considered knocking over the giant pot of tomato sauce sitting on the Italian eatery's stove.
Instead, she walked to the front of the restaurant and took orders from six tables sitting down at the beginning of the dinner rush. Then, before bringing anyone so much as a drop of water, she left.
Now, nearly 30 years later, the Columbia, Ky., resident credits the experience with helping to build her career as an equestrian journalist.
However satisfying they may be, such dramatic exits may not be good career moves.
Unless someone is being sexually harassed or suffering similar abuse, anything less than two-weeks notice might come back to haunt him or her in future job searches, said Roberta Chinsky Matuson, a human resource consultant and writer on workplace issues.
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