Teachers Share The Worst Parent Experiences They've Ever Had

Parents can be a nightmare for teachers, especially when they feel the need to micromanage their child's education. Those that go to the opposite extreme of just not caring aren't any better, though.
A nice balance of letting the child learn to operate independently and caring enough to keep them safe may seem like an unattainable goal after reading some of these parent-teacher nightmares!
Reddit user murdocnickles asked:
"Teachers of Reddit, what's the worst parent experience you've had?"
You Really Should Care
My mother had been terminally ill for two years. She had a heart attack and went into a coma. I lived 500 miles away, so I packed up and hurried through the long journey to make sure I got there before she died.
Unbelievably, she hung on for another four days, so I was gone for two full school weeks. I did all of my sub plans electronically, and I had an assignment for each day, to be turned in by the end of the day.
I had one child, with an IEP, who did jack crap the entire year. Well, you can imagine what he did while I was gone. If you can do less than jack crap, he did less than jack crap.
His mother called to speak with me after she saw that he had zeros for the assignments that were due while I was gone. I gently explained the reason for my absence, that my mother had died, and that I was not in the classroom to monitor his instruction.
Mother proceeds to rage on me. She tells me "I don't care if your mother died or not, my boy does not deserve zeros "
WTF? WTF??
Hockey Is A Dangerous Sport
Had a parent accuse me of hitting her child and bruising him. Was called into the admin's office and asked what happened. I explained that the incident the parent is referencing where she thinks he was hit happened in a different room, across the building nowhere near me. It was so clear cut untrue I wasn't even asked a followup question. They just said "Oh that's true, you can leave." Understand as a teacher being accused of striking a child you are almost always dismissed on leave while they look into it unless the claim is just flat out unbelievable. That's how clear it was I did nothing.
So she continues claiming I hit the child and saying she's gonna get a lawyer and sue unless I am fired at once. The school stands their ground saying they know for a fact I did nothing and will not fire me for no reason. We later find out her child did in fact have a bruise on his arm. He ALSO had a hockey game that same night before he went home. Just guess how he got that bruise. The school even pointed that out and still she continued to say I did it and she would sue.
My principal calls me into her office and explains that the parent is still accusing me, they know I did nothing and not to worry as they were going to get their lawyers on it. This whole process took months and only ended when the school's lawyers contacted her and essentially said bring us to court if you want to waste your money.
At Least Most Of Them Aren't This Bad
Parent teacher conference: Father pulls out his phone and looks at it the entire 25 minutes. Could visibly see the kid deflate as his father found his phone more important than his son. I felt awful, and got a new understanding for the boy's bad behavior in class.
Second parent teacher conference: Mom fuming with anger and screams at, and belittles daughter for 25 minutes straight. Daughter is crying all the time and is completely annihilated. The daughter's crime? She had done a crossword in class when I asked her to read instead, she generally acted like a normal kid.
No funny stories here. Over all though, I've had a lot of really supportive and reasonable parents.
Edit: I have gotten a lot of questions about the crossword thing, you can tlread the thread for elaboration.
I'd say what my real failure in this situation was not mentioning the crossword, but not standing up to the mother and just declaring "enough".
I failed the daughter in that moment not because I mentioned the crossword, but because I as an adult did not stand up for her when she was being torn apart by her mother. To be honest, I didn't know what to say or do, so I just froze and waited it out. I have thought a lot about this incident after it happened, and hope I have the skills and guts to handle it differently if something like this happens again.
Definitely Know Where He Gets It
I have a student who does f*ck all and laughs at me when I try to talk to him about it. Parents wouldn't answer phone calls so I made sure to talk to the dad at parents evening (had 120 kids to see in 2.5hrs so cannot always see everyone). When I talk to his dad what does he do? Snigger at me like his son does and says nothing else! At least I know where he gets it from!
Paper Trail To The Rescue
My school had a policy all tests under 70% needed to be signed by a parent and returned to the teacher within 3 days. Parent and student didn't comply. I called, e mailed, and sent notes. No response. Finally progress reports go out and the next day mom finds me greeting students at the door. She decides this is the perfect time to rip into me and let me know how I've failed her student.
She did this all while I had a class full of students. When I finally got a word in I said this wasn't the tine for us to discuss her daughter's private information especially in front of all her classmates and I would love for to email me some times she was available to meet and shut the door.
She then went down to the admin office and unleashed on the principal. I was pulled from my class to come to the "meeting." I was verbally assaulted for about 2 minutes while my principal sat quietly watching and typing while she pulled up all my e-mails to the parent and checked my communication log (online spreadsheet we kept on the server outlining all communication that was phone call or notes).
The principal found no fault with me asked the parent if she was going to keep her daughter enrolled at our school, a private Catholic school, and then had parent go over and resign parent code of ethics contract. I went back to my classroom quite triumphantly. Parent ending pulling kid over Christmas break to a school that fit their needs more.
"Just Try Harder"
A mom asked me why her son who is absent from my class 19/20 schools days every month was failing my class. I said he needed to come to school in order to pass the class, and she insisted that I was responsible for his failing & that I needed to try harder to teach him when he was there.
I wrote a different kid up for skipping my class (he was with another teacher & lied that he had my permission) & he got 4 days of ISS (not in my control to assign punishments) & the mom emailed & insisted: a) her child "did nothing wrong" bc he was still on school grounds and b) that I was "out to get him"
In College?!
I am an organic chemistry professor at a college. I had to inform a mother that I can not discuss her son's grades with her but that she should speak to her son if she had any concerns. The student in question showed up to very few classes and didn't have enough lab hours to sit for the final.
I Don't Think Any Class Can Prepare You For That
A parent told myself and my coworkers that she didn't believe black people could properly raise children.
All my coworkers in this meeting were black, and mothers.
It was my first year of teaching, and my bougie private college education courses never covered "dealing with racists," so I just slid under the table as far as I could until the meeting was ended by a coworker.
BONUS STORY: I had an 8th grade student with a GPS ankle bracelet to match his difficult behavior. When mom came into the meeting, she was so high she started making up Bible verses.
Practice Makes Perfect
I'm a private teacher, I teach English and French. Dad brings his kid for the first time, boss introduces me as the teacher. Dad looks sceptical, (I should add that I'm 22) proceeds to ask me how I am qualified to work there, in a very offensive way. I told him that I finished at the best university in my country and I had a degree in French and English studies. Then he started kind of compensating by saying 'Well, I too have a language exam ya know.'
Few months pass by, the little girl is very sweet and she's smart but it's obvious that her parents don't care to make her learn the words or help her practice, and I can't work wonders only an hour once a week. So dad comes in furiously because his daughter got a C at the end of the term, and basically says that his kid is not stupid enough to only achieve a C (true, btw), so therefore I'm the one who's not qualified to teach and he doubts if I can even speak English properly. I explained to him that first of all maybe if I couldn't speak English, I wouldn't be working as an English teacher, and second of all, all the kid needed was 30 minutes of practice every day which they as parents were responsible for. Needless to say, I don't teach that girl anymore.
It's All Your Fault
I had a mom in the front office, demanding to see me. She wanted to fight me because I refused to tie her son's shoe. He was in 8th grade and not in special ed.
Seen Some Things In 13 Years
This is my 13th year teaching, and I've had some doozies. I think this one takes the cake though:
I had a parent go through the phone book and start calling all of the people with MY LAST NAME because she was upset that her child *may* need to be retained for first grade. The only reason I knew about this, is that she reached my parents, who refused to give her my phone number. (And then who called me in a panic about this crazy parent trying to find me).
Not A Great Example
The classic loud custody arguements at dropoff, in front of the whole class (and the mortified child). Just super icky and trashy.
There was also the one who never picked them up and expected them to walk home in -40C "to teach them independence". She was just sleeping at all hours as a result of depression. I hate to say that was "the worst" because it was a mental health illness that was obviously reported ASAP.
Only So Many Chances
I'm a professor at a university. Several years ago I was teaching an online class during the summer break. As you may guess, these tend to be rather intensive and require not only a great deal of time but the ability to work independently and be self-motivated. Since I'm not physically present to remind students to do their work, if you have a tendency to slack then it's pretty easy to fall very, very far behind quickly.
One of my students somehow missed the first two weeks of the four week course, despite multiple reminders and constant check-ins. It was a bit surprising, since the student was not attending my school but taking the course as a transfer credit (the student's home university did not have a course in my field so he had to arrange months beforehand, with my help, to have the credits approved). In the end, it turned out the student had lost the password for the website and hadn't wanted to contact IT by phone or by live chat to have it reset. However, the IT department couldn't really reset the password by email so the student apparently had their father do the phone call. This should have been a warning of things to come.
Now, I get it. My students are often young and inexperienced and can make frankly ludicrous decisions. I'm pretty forgiving, so I arranged with him a revised schedule to make-up the missing work. I also gave him a few other options, so he could fairly make-up the missed points if the revised schedule was too onerous. I do this regularly for all my students, I want them to do well and I want to be fair. As long as you do the work you get a fair grade. I kept in touch with the student regularly and reminded them of the revised schedule, the other options available, and, of course, what would happen if the work wasn't completed.
Guess what. The make-up work wasn't completed and the student failed. It was a shame, because the student had otherwise good marks in the around 35-40% of the work that was completed. The student, who had stopped responding to my messages during the last week of classes, suddenly bombarded me with emails in a panic. It turns out they would not be able to graduate without the credits and could I give them another chance?
Nope. I told the student they had their chance and if they thought I was being unfair they could bring it up with the head of the department with a grade appeal.
The next day I got an odd message. The student had given my email to their parents and now I was receiving constant emails from a person who no doubt is the bane of every poor customer service representative on the planet. She raged that I was a monster to fail her little baby. Didn't I know how hard he worked, on his summer break no less. He really wanted to graduate with his friends this term and his life would be ruined if he didn't walk with them. A real professor would have ensured the work was done. I was a incompetent fool to not recognize her child's genius and I should grade her child on the work completed and not factor in the missing work. My course was a joke, an easy A, and I should be thankful her child deigned to join in because I clearly didn't get students like her child ever before.
I didn't respond, since that would violate the student's right to privacy. I did notify the student that someone claiming to be their parent was sending me inappropriate emails. The student responded that their mother had a point and would be conducting negotiations on their behalf from now on. Knowing that neither seemed particularly capable at this point, I told the student that there were forms that needed to be filled out before I could even acknowledge they had taken my class. However, I didn't provide links to these forms because clearly basic computing was beyond the student and their parent.
So, I continued to ignore the raging parent. Who started to try to play on my sympathies. Her child was disabled, didn't I understand how hard life was for a person with autism? Fun fact. I got the autism and a Ph. D. So when the student followed-up, asking if I what I heard changed my mind I brought up how the Disability Resource Center could provide aid in the future, since they had been such a help to little ol' autistic me. This, oddly, got them off my back. Sort of. The student appealed all the way to the top, lying on the appeal forms in a way that was easily disprovable because my little autistic mind knows to keep records and messages of all my students. I could also demonstrate how many chances the student had and how other students who had fallen behind had been able to catch up with these allowances. The appeal failed and somewhere out there my student and their mommy and daddy are probably still co-depending away with a big old F on their records.
Let Them Be Adults
I work in Student Services at a pretty big University, we legally aren't allowed to release information about our (adult) students to anyone except them without their written consent to do so. We get SO many helicopter parents calling up either on behalf of or without their childs knowledge.
I think the worst I've ever encountered was a woman who had called regarding her son. We told her that we can't tell her anything without his consent, so she said she'd get him to contact us. We get an email from not his student email address, feels a bit iffy so we probe a bit and ask them to confirm some things that only he would know regarding his studies. Turns out she had made a fake email account to get permission.
She then called multiple times in a row trying to get different operators to get a different answer, she had a friend call on her behalf and also had friends come in (she lived in a different country) and talk to us on her behalf. We could not tell her anything.
Eventually, we spoke to the student about it and he sort of knew it was happening but didn't know the extent. He gave us permission to talk to her regarding his finances and student Visa conditions, but we aren't allowed to discuss grades or enrollments. She did not enjoy being told that, to say the least.
Honestly, if your kid has made it to University cut the strings.
Still Have To Do The Work
7th grade science here. Right before winter break the 7th grade team is informed we will get a new student, totally fine. It's the school nurse's kid. She has a 504 plan with the normal routine accommodations but includes one where she is allowed to wear hats/headwear in the classroom. As far as accommodations go, this isn't that bizzare.
Fastforward to the week we are back from winter break. I introduce her to the room and move on with the lesson. She reports to mom that I paraded her around the room and embarassed her. I receive a LONG email from her and i get to have a little meeting with the principal about the incident. Students in the room were asked to write statements and everything. I was mortified and furious. Thankfully nothing came of it as my students told the truth and that was that.
During the next two months she turns in wildly incomplete, blank, or otherwise subpar work. She would claim to not understand how to turn in the work. But the whole school turns in digital work the same way and there are no problems in her other classes woth this.
As that is going on the weekly emails began. Which became daily emails. Every day a long ramble of an email from the mother saying I am not following the accommodations her daughter needs, that I am not being nice to her. Eventually the guidance counselor and assistant principal take turns sitting in my room during that class for a week to observe. Still, the emails come. Some demanding a one on one meeting and all i can think is HELL NO!
We offer a parent teacher conference with all of her teachers but she refuses. Eventually she gets her wish though by formally accusing me of not following the 504 accommodations plan, which is pretty serious if that was the case.
At the meeting a provide all the evidence I had logged, which is what I did for all students that needed accommodations and what does this parent do? She starts sobbing! Y'all, i was so done with her at this point amd thankfully thats where it all ended. The daughter was eventually put into an online class and spent the time she would have been with me in the library. That mom was straight up crazy.
Medications Are Prescribed For A Reason
This one kindergartener started having pretty severe behavior problems halfway through the school year. His parents had decided that he was magically cured of all his problems and pulled him off all of his behavior medications.
He would hit and spit on other kids, run out of the building, chuck chairs in the classroom, and chuck his lunch everywhere. His mother's solution to all of this: give him a box of granola bars. She tried to say he was just hangry and wanted me to treat train him to misbehave.
Last I heard, he got so bad he actually had to be sent to another school to be in a behavior-focused classroom. The granola bars did nothing.
Get Out While You Can
Last schoolyear(2017-2018), I temporarily taught Jr. High at a Catholic school which I was essentially forced to "resign" from(I had a psychotic principal, and it's a very long story).
Anyway, aside from the principal, most of the parents were crazy helicopter parents who thought there was nothing wrong with their kids at all. With this being said, there was a husband, and wife couple who made my life a living hell(and probably cost me my job).
Their daughter was a Straight A student, and very well-behaved, but she would go home, and tell her parents that my teaching was "ineffective", and wouldn't prepare her for high school(it was my first official year as a teacher too). Anyway, I guess the parents were secretly emailing the principal bold-faced lies about me. Some of the claims were I would "play on the computer" during class, or I would purposely let students argue with each other to get a "rise", and other completely bizarre lies. They did this to get me fired.
My principal told me she didn't necessarily believe them, but since they were the "backbone" of donations for our school(AKA rich parents), she was going to be extremely strict on me, and micromanage every single thing I do with a strict observation which would probably terminate me, or she would give me the option to resign with a severance check(this happened right before our Christmas Break too).
I took the money, and ran.
She Can Barely Speak Korean Yet
I worked at an English kindergarten in Korea for a couple months. One girl was 3 years old and got a 98/100 on her test. I had a mom come in and chew me out. I couldn't understand her. The only English word she kept saying was "WHY." I felt really bad because I couldn't explain myself properly, but hell lady, she's 3 years old. She can barely speak Korean.
Taking Responsibility Is An Important Life Skill
Broadly, the parents who don't believe their children made any mistakes, didn't do their work, or said or did anything bad. Then in turn, blaming me for being a bad teacher while cussing me out.
Not only is this incredibly frustrating and demeaning, but now the kid knows they can not only get away with stuff, but disrespect you in the process since their parents essentially gave permission.
Every person, and every relationship, is unique, and that includes what makes each partner deeply and truly happy, or annoyed.
Since all of us have our little quirks, it makes sense that our partners would enjoy some of them but not others.
But it's hard to tell how each behavior will be received.
Redditor HotWife_Aisha asked:
"What quirky thing does your partner do?"
Nightly Comfort
"She makes this cute nasally 'hmm' when I get in bed after she's asleep. I don't know why but it makes me happy."
- cranberrystew99
It's the Effort That Counts
"My wife never screws a lid back on a jar. She just gives the lid a 1/100th of a turn so that it just sort of, kind of, possibly latches just long enough to make it halfway from the counter to the fridge."
- EconomistOpposite908
Unexpected Collections
"She hoards gas station cups. The disposable ones. That most people would throw away."
"She's not re-using them, either. She just empties them in the sink and then leaves them next to the sink."
"I regularly go in and throw them away, but I think my record disposal at one time was like 15. Just chillin' in our bathroom."
- ThePhiff
What Personal Space?
"My wife is native Italian."
"Italians are weird. It's like they have ZERO concept of personal space."
"I, am a New Yorker. Personal space, is our thing. You don't get too close... you don't rub up on people on the Subways... you leave a little space between the person you are talking to."
"Italians, will get up like nose to nose with you. Stand RIGHT behind you. Like leaving NO space."
"Often I will be in the kitchen, making tea or something and I turn around and BAM, it's like my wife wants to stand in my shadow. Or I am getting something out of the closet, and back up, and BAM, she is like right there... trying to become ONE with me or something... instead of walking around, and just leaving that inch or two of personal space to allow movement."
"All her relatives are like this too. When they talk to me, it's like they are standing on my toes... that close. Like, back the f**k up a step or two. D**n, it's creepy."
- The_REAL_McWeasel
It Gets Better Before It Gets Worse
"Any recently decluttered area becomes new grounds for more cluttering."
- CriticalStation595
His Version is Better
"He cannot properly remember the lyrics to any song. And he insists on singing it his way even after he’s been corrected about the lyric."
- bambi__eyed
Personal Dictionary
"He stutters for a word, and when I give him the word he's looking for, he says, 'YES! THAT!' and goes on with what he was saying."
- harmicistt
Sharply Endearing
"She literally cannot stop dropping and breaking things like plates, sunglasses, etc."
"She's a really talented athlete and smart to boot but oddly clumsy. I think it's cute... But it gets expensive."
- Agreeable-Change-400
Make It an Experience
"He likes a special kind of spoon for his coffee."
"About two years ago, when I realized that our set of cutlery was missing several parts (where the h**l do they go?!) I bought a new one, but since the old cutlery was alright, just incomplete, I didn't throw it away. Now we have two sets of cutlery in the drawer, but always use matching ones for the table."
"Before that, my husband had complained that sometimes he won't find a clean teaspoon because they were either dirty or in the dishwasher, so I bought a separate set of six teaspoons that look different from both of our cutlery sets."
"We have also a few of these teaspoons that you sometimes find in the big teabag boxes of Ahmad Tea, which I drink daily, as a freebie. So all in all, there are four different kinds of teaspoons in our household."
"He only uses the fancier ones from the second set of cutlery for his coffee, because they look nicer, he says."
"He's never asked me for it, but he did mention it once when he was making coffee for himself."
"Since then, every time I bring him coffee, I make sure that it's served with his favorite kind of spoon. He's over 60 and some would regard it childish, but what's the harm in considering his preference?"
- Halazoonam
Surprise Kisses
"One day I went to kiss my wife and she just started breaking out laughing. She tried and tried to keep a straight face to kiss me back but couldn’t."
"When she could finally contain her laughter enough to talk, she asked, 'What if I just blew into your mouth when you tried to kiss me?'"
"Just the thought alone had her in stitches for a solid minute. Predictably, she blew into my mouth when I went to kiss her after this exchange. That was a couple of years ago and she still does it here and there, but not often enough that I keep my guard up. It catches me off guard every. Single. Time."
"Anyway, she’s hilarious and I love that she keeps me on my toes!"
- Puzzleheaded_Ad6097
Comfy Blanket Burritos
"She wraps herself in a blanket and adorably says that she’s a burrito."
- kvndubbb
Cute Ulterior Motive
"Every time SHE wants to do something, she will say it in the form of a question directed towards me."
"Like, 'Hey, do YOU want to have a bite of one of these cookies?'"
"Or, 'Babe, do YOU want to try this wine?'"
"I don’t actually think she realizes she does it every time."
"To clarify, this isn’t a bad thing. It just makes me laugh every time before I inevitably say, 'Yeah, sure.'"
- camehereforfriends
That One Time...
"When she’s telling a story and says 'the other day,' it can mean any time from this morning to five years ago."
- Hotel_Porcelain95
Internal Dialogue
"He talks to himself. Homeboy's internal monologue is external."
"It's kinda nice never having to wonder what he's thinking."
- insertcaffeine
The Good Outweighs the Bad
"The annoying thing: uses every knob as a hanger for some bag or kitchen towel. Every time I have to use a drawer, I have to move something."
"The cute thing: she is very excited about the little things in life. We went on a walk today with rain boots to jump in each puddle on the way."
- jbensh
Every person has their own little set of quirks that makes them truly themselves.
Some of these actions might prove to be annoying to some people, but to just the right person, it might prove to be their favorite thing about their other half.
The amount of shows that have aired in the history of television is a lengthy one, and the ones we know of are the ones that have been picked up by the networks.
There are tons of other ideas that have been pitched that have not seen the light of day and some that have been produced and presented as pilot episodes but eventually scrapped due to a variety of reasons.
The ones that have come to fruition but caused an uproar were mentioned when Redditor Future-Game asked:
"What is the most controversial TV shows of all time?"
Shows pushing the envelope were so risqué. Some aged well over time. Others didn't.
Taboo Topics
"I don't know about all time but the time it aired here in Canada, the original Degrassi High series. They covered so many topics that weren't really covered on mainstream shows back then. Even still somewhat taboo today. And everyone my age watched it and talked about it the next day."
– YEGMusic43
Outing Ellen
"When Ellen Degeneres's character came out as gay on her sitcom, there was a f'king firestorm."
– seanofkelley
Tame Drama
"Believe it or not the comedy SOAP was highly controversial when it premiered in the late 70s. It's done by the same people who did GOLDEN GIRLS. SOAP is so tame by today's standards a ten year old could watch it."
– ComedianRepulsive955
Chappelle's Show.
"I like South Park as an answer, but if we are talking about pushing boundaries, Chappelle's show at least deserves a mention. The Black, White Supremacist alone was wild to see on TV, and it was the first episode of the show to air."
– WaKa_
Reality bites. So did these reality competition shows.
Trash Talk Show
"Jerry springer, what a sh*t show."
– Jok3r609
When Looks Are Everything
"The Swan - a show about generally average, everyday women with low self esteem (due to a variety of factors), receiving plastic surgery and whole makeovers. Every episode would feature two ladies and a "winner" would be decided between them. At the end of the season, all of the winners would be put in a pageant to compete and see who would be dubbed 'The Swan'"
– DungeonFam30
Questionably Racist
"Takeshi's Castle / MXC wasn't exactly controversial at the time, but the production of that show seems awfully exploitative by today's standards (and for the English dub, horribly stereotypical and downright racist at times). We've since watered it down severely with versions like Wipeout, but the real ones know what the lineage of shows like that is."
– plasma_dan
Ultimate Exploitation Of Privacy
"Big Brother. How about we mix the worst people with the most exploitative form of entertainment whilst also casually normalising invasion of privacy."
– JFSOCC
Just because it was family friendly didn't mean everyone approved.
Representation Matters
"Sesame Street - When this show debuted in 1969, TV channels in the southern US refused to air it because it’s racially mixed group of children playing together was too controversial."
– virago72
Beavis And Butt-Head
"Surprised I haven't seen Beavis and Butt-Head on this list yet. When it came out everyone was freaking out."
– l06ic
Swearing
"Southpark, we went from outrage at Bart saying "eat my shorts" to Cartman feeding children their parents."
"I mean swearing on TV was less prominent , then Southpark pushed that forward quickly as well, all of a sudden "A**" and "Bullsh*t" were on standard TV."
– nonaestet
Every now and then a show comes out and sends audiences clutching their pearls.
But sometimes, even an episode from a relatively tame TV show can send viewers reeling with topical moments.
Examples of this include the much-hyped same-sex kiss on Melrose Place in the 90s that was ultimately edited to imply the act and the One Tree Hill arc that explored school shootings–which was considered daring and admirable at the time for addressing a malaise that continues plaguing the US today.
There are few feelings more frustrating and disappointing than realizing that a job simply isn't a good fit.
To some people, a job is a job, so they'll force themselves to go to work to earn the paycheck until a better job comes along.
Others however will come to the decision that the pay, be it big or small, simply isn't worth the monotonous, soul-sucking, or downright toxic atmosphere they need to report to, and quit with no prospects in sight.
Most people do this after a few months, or even a year, giving ample notice so as not to burn bridges or potentially harm their reputation.
Then there are the extreme cases, who leave the office for the very last time on their very first day, never looking back and not having one ounce of doubt or guilt about their decision.
"Anyone here who decided to leave their job on the first day? What made you decide to run right away?"
Questionable Ethics
"They wanted us to make our first sales to friends and family members."
"F*ck that."
"If your first option is for me to make money off the people I care about most, there's really nowhere to go but down (morally)."- Mxysptlik
Thrown Into The Deep End
"They sent me to a room to do a bunch of on-boarding paperwork and those incredibly dull orientation videos companies love so much."
"Less than 10 minutes into it the manager comes in and tells me they need to cover the sales floor immediately because I was the only person for the department that day."
"No training, no computer logins, no idea where anything in the building was or who any of the dozens of other people wandering around were or even what was really expected of me."
"Just go and solo a department that usually had between five and eight staff at any time."
"I gave it a shot for like 45 minutes, and realized the whole place was staffed by miserable entitled f*cks who went out of their way to avoid work."
"I just walked out without saying anything."- SlothOfDoom
Being More Knowledgable Than Your Bosses
"I'm a fish hobbyist and I got a job in the fish department at PetCo."
"On my first day they wanted me to take out all the rocks (substrate) from each tank, scrub them and put them back in the tanks, one tank at a time."
"Moving substrate releases bad bacteria and can get the fish sick or kill them."
"I explained this to them and said that it was best to just do a water change for 20% of each tank."
"They said, basically, sorry this is what corporate says and you have to do it."
"I was like, 'Okay, I'll do it after lunch'."
"I never came back from lunch."- adura_grounded
Not Honoring Their Contract
"They lowered the rate from what was agreed upon and became upset when I spoke up about it."- Wonderful-Job3514
Mis-Management
"Wendy’s."
"There was an assistant manager whose only job seemed to be pacing around behind us during lunch rushes, repeating in a dull monotone, 'c’mon, let’s make those burgers. C’mon, let’s go faster, make those burgers'.”
"When I didn’t make burgers fast enough because my only training consisted of watching a 30-minute video, the manager sneered, 'why don’t you just go wash dishes, then? You CAN wash dishes, can’t you?'"
"That’s when I walked off the job."- LanceGannon
And You Thought YOUR Boss Was Horrible...
"I didn't even last a full shift."
"It was Pizza delivery."
"It was the early 90s; I was 20 M[ale]."
"My first shift was in torrential rain, driving a 1967 VW Beetle (with a flat windscreen)."
"Two orders required me to go back because the pizzas weren't the ones ordered."
"Then I arrived back to see that one of the other drivers had been shot in the leg with an air-rifle by Ricky the Shift-Manager.
I started at noon."
"Quit at 8.30pm."
"Can't remember if I was ever paid; didn't care."- EvilBosch
Knowing Their Self-Worth
"I was a car mechanic fresh out of school, hit up a local shop that hired."
"Their working conditions were trash, I bailed after the first day."
"Second one wasn't much better, in fact it was far worse, but I saw more potential in the work and needed the experience."
"It was a privately owned bus company that needed a mechanic to service their sh*t."
"It was the middle of winter and the garage had no heat, it was badly equipped, no car jacks so laying on the cold ground, etc."
"Also as it turned out, the fleet consisted of brand new buses that had to be serviced at the dealership to maintain the warranty, so I had no work whatsoever."
"Instead the guy wanted me to do basic maintenance work around the HQ."
"Mind you it was so cold outside that in 10 minutes I couldn't feel my fingers and if I went inside the main building to heat up, he complained that I wasn't working."
"Caught pneumonia after just 3 days, went back a week later when I was feeling better and quit."
"Third time was the charm."- DangerousTrashCan
And Yet, They Don't See A Problem?
"We hired someone to work at a freezer warehouse and he only showed up for one shift."
"He seemed ecstatic about the pay (20/hr for basic material handling, picklines, etc) but seemed to realize that humans hate being treated like machines and that's simply not worth it so we never saw him again."
"He was not the only one."
"My favorite time is when my manager hired 18 new people because he fully expected 80% of them to flake and not show the next day."
"Sure enough, only 3 even showed up."- ASaltyBiscuit
Did They Actually Think They'd Get Away With It?!?
"Was supposed to be an office job, straight salary."
"Got there the first day and it turned out to be door to door sales, commission only."
"Not even people who had expressed interest."
"Just literally cold calling but in person at their door instead of on the phone."
"Didn't even stay to hear the end of their explanation of how really if you think about it this is the job they advertised and interviewed me for, just better because..."
"I don't know, some bullsh*t, as I said, I had left by then."- Zer0Summoner
Not Once, But Twice
"I actually did this twice."
"The first time was because I was a college student and needed a job to pay rent."
"Got a job working in a new call center that had opened up in my home town."
"It was awful.""The atmosphere was toxic, the boss was a horrific a**hole, and there were all sorts of shitty 'metrics' and goals, etc. you had to reach."
"I just never went back after the first day."
"Called them the next morning and told them it wasn't for me."
"The second time was a deal where I interviewed for a job that I was pretty excited about where I was going to be leading a team dealing with advocating for some issues in international politics."
"I was super excited."
"The interviews I had were done in a cafe."
"They sent me the address of the office and I arrived for my first day and it was some decrepit, barely standing office with the most outdated computers and office equipment."
"The 'team' I was going to be leading had been referred to as 'a small team' in the job interviews."
"In reality it was one lady who didn't speak either of the languages I speak."- mejok
Third Time Definitely Wasn't The Charm
"$20 for parking wasn't included in for being an employee."
"This was when min wage was 11.50.so you work 2 hour and pay your employer."
"F*ck that."
"Another place I worked open kitchen caught fire."
"All the customers could see this."
"They didn't make anyone leave."
"They kept putting food out!"
"They expected me to clean up their now burnt kitchen."
"Nope nope nope."
"Another place had defrosted chicken by leaving it outside of the fridge over night."
"On the floor."
"During the summer."
"Rats scurried away from it when we turned on the light."
"Called the safety department on that one."- Elfere
Inconsistent Would Be An Understatement
"Slowly started changing the terms of employment during the day."
"Started off '10 hour days 5 days a week £8/hour'."
"Shifted to 'sometimes you have to work weekends too'."
"Then 'actually it's crunch season right now so we're going to expect you to work Saturday and Sunday this week."
"Then 'actually we'll need you to stay Saturday and Sunday most weeks'."
"Then 'You'll be working Saturday and Sunday for the foreseeable future'."
"Then 'We'll need you to stay a few hours after work today'."
"Then 'Actually you'll be working 12-14 hours a day 7 days a week for the next 6 months'."
"Yeah nope."- NewRoundEre
We've all had jobs we've hated, which we muddle through just for the money.
However, one's self-worth is always more important than a paycheck.
And when you notice your self-worth or safety being threatened, always best to act on it immediately.
School can be a dangerous place.
Indeed, with bullying remaining an ongoing problem, some students are afraid to even set foot in school.
Then, of course, there's the terrifying fact that school shootings remain a shockingly common occurrence in the United States.
As a result, it's not only the students who find themselves scared to go to school sometimes but also the teachers.
With the current climate, sometimes when a teacher sees a student behave in even a slightly peculiar manner, they tend to assume the worst.
Thankfully, sometimes their fears are unfounded.
Other times, their fears were heartbreakingly accurate.
"Teachers of Reddit, what is the scariest thing you have ever seen a student do?"
"Boys Will Be Boys" Is NEVER An Excuse
"Literal first day of school a student, 7, grabs a girl that was getting off the bus, from behind, and pretends to cut her throat with his finger."
"Whoa nelly, instant front seat, instant write-up."
"Principal 'boys will be boys, ignore it."
"Third day of school same student gets up, while we're doing 55mph, and 'finger gun's' several students in the back of the head, execution style."
"Mother of god, BIG write-up."
"Principal 'Boys will be boys, you cant put him in the front seat for that, it was playful'."
"No, no the absolute f*ck it was NOT playful."
"He did the same thing the next day."
"But this time I had the principal time-stamped on my camera telling me I wasn't allowed to put him in the front seat, AND him doing it again."
"I wrote up the kid, AND the mother effing Principal."
"Instant sh*t show, pulled into saftey office at work with transportation director, warned I could lose my job if I escalate this sh*t."
"But I didn't back down."
"I wanted that kid off the bus, but if i couldn't have that, i NEEDED him in the front seat AWAY from everyone else."
"I got it, principal was banned from coming within 50 feet of my bus."
"She couldn't stop herself, and did so after two weeks to tell me i was an awful person."
"She was immediately removed from her position, because i wrote her up AGAIN."
"They gave her a councilors spot at the high school to finish the year, not sure if she did."
"ANYWAY, new principle rides the bus, tells me he's got the kid now--and the kids so f*ckin scary that they have to have him in his own class, with TWO adults--but that the mom refuses to get the kid any help or admit there's a problem."
"I'm told not to allow anyone within 3 seats of him." - Reddit
Ignoring A Problem Will Never Solve It
"He didn't really do anything that scary while he was with me but he did bloody scare me after he was gone."
"I had just become the class teacher of 30 9th-graders in the middle of the school year and had to tell a student that he was expelled because he had only shown up to class three times in six months."
"We had a nice chat before that, I had told him I felt I was missing the bigger picture here as I was new to that class, but that I still felt bad because he didn't seem to be the kind of guy who just skipped classes because he didn't feel like leaving his bed."
"He was very polite, thanked me for being gentle, shook my hand, turned around and clocked another student, breaking his nose, ran out of the room and pepper sprayed the door area to cover his retreat."
"So that was awkward."
"Days later I finally had time to go through the administrative files of my new students."
"His file was full of drawings."
"He liked to draw in class when he still came."
"He drew mainly AK-47s."
"He was born in Russia, we were in Western Europe."
"Around the AK-47s, love poems to the AK-47 in Russian, scenes of, well, AK-47s in action, and lists of fellow students."
"My predecessors had confiscated these drawings and his hit lists and put them away in a file that most people wouldn't even touch because it's mainly for documentation of things you already know when you are their teacher."
"Nobody had told me that there might be a f*cking problem waiting for me."
"Nobody had told the social worker of the school, probably because he didn't disrupt classes."
"Also, nobody had told me that the other student and his pals had bullied him relentlessly for a year before he decided to stay away from school."
"I guess I wasn't told that because no teacher knew as they hadn't f*cking cared to find out why he was spending recess alone, sitting for himself with a thousand-yard stare."
"I learned that when the other students had warmed up to me and started telling me things like this."- gelastes
Thank Goodness She Had The Good Sense To Leave
"I was teaching grade four and had announced my pregnancy to the class when I was about 4 month."
"Everyone was so excited."
"One little guy however, made it his mission to try and ‘hurt my baby’."
"On several occasions he kicked a soccer ball at my bump, would try and trip me and one time even said ‘let’s meet this baby’ while opening and closing scissors."
'There was some other contributing factors but I ended up taking leave early due to anxiety over this."
"So, so weird."
"When I returned the next year he had moved to a different school."- gaanmetd
Obsession Leads Down A Dangerous Path
"I had a student who became obsessed with my colleague."
"He started to believe he was in a relationship with this other teacher and it was the only reason to live."
"He’d corner the teacher a lot trying to get them to be alone."
"He told other students they were in a relationship."
"He even sat outside the teacher's apartment after following him home once."
"When I heard and saw how his crush was escalating I talked to the teacher and reported my concerns to admin."
"The other teacher was afraid he would lose his job because we are in the south and he’s gay and so he didn’t know how to handle the situation but was very uncomfortable."
"He was right, the student totally flipped out when admin and guidance confronted him."
"He assured them it was a real relationship, and started trying to corner other staff to find out who told."
"He was escorted off campus by police multiple times."
"The teacher was put on leave and just quit and moved to another state, after which someone told the student I’d been the one to report to admin."
"He started following me trying to find out where the teacher moved, interrupted my classes over and over even though I didn’t teach him, wanted to know what the teachers new address was, and threatening me."
"I had to be escorted to my car at the end of the day several times."
"We were all afraid of the student."
"He once stood outside the school for hours in front of the flag pole crying."
"I was sure the kid was going to hurt himself or someone else."
"I begged everyone to get the kid help."
"His mom didn’t believe any of it was true and refused all help that was offered like counseling and a psych eval."
"She told the school that if they called her again making up stories about her son she’d sue."
"It was a mess."- kllove
Heartbreaking
"Not evil scary, just scary."
"My dad was the elementary school principal and there was a little girl in one of the younger grades who would fall asleep during class and wouldn’t wake up no matter what her teacher or my dad or the paramedics my dad called would do."
"She’d eventually wake up on her own after several hours."
"She did this randomly, scaring her teacher, my dad and her parents a lot."
"Sadly, eventually, she died in her sleep at home."- tangcameo
The Sad Reason Some Schools Have Metal Detectors
"Pull a switchblade out & threaten another student."- F0ggers
Desperately Searching For Validation?
"Had a student tear up a bunch of kids' artwork, jump on a table, and throw said artwork at their faces all while shouting, 'I'm THE BEST! I'M THE NICEST! I'M THE GREATEST!' And laughing."- Mixedstereotype
"I have had several dangerously violent children over the course of my career, but it's been really bad the past three years."
"Kids trying to steal my teacher scissors so they could stab someone, flying desks and chairs, kicking and punching adults, self-harm, physically attacking younger students, vandalism, screaming and crying so loud no teaching can happen, growling when angry, running away."
"It never surprises me to hear of kids my students' ages being put in handcuffs."
"I teach Kinder and 1st grade."- azemilyann26
One Only Hopes They Did Something!
"I’m studying to be a teacher currently, and on one of my three-week placements in a school, a third grader had a notebook full from front to back with only the word 'stop. bad. don’t. dirt. sad'.”
"Repeated over and over and over."
"Yes it was reported, the school knew all about this, but as I am a student teacher, they didn't give me much more information."- NoLifeExperienceYet
Schools should be a sanctuary of learning and encouragement.
Making it all the more heartbreaking to think that some teachers and students enter the halls of their schools fearful for their lives on an almost regular basis.