Aha!
Something I can relate to. I have had several jobs in my time, and have quit, so far, all of them.

My first ever decent, full time, actual hard work job was, as I think I might have mentioned before, a sugar boilerer (they told me that's how it's spelt) in a sweet factory near where I live. Although for the first little while it was interesting, after a bit it became incredibly dull, monotonous and really quite lonely. I was young, only 19, and had a lot of responsibility placed on my head.... something I didn't cope well with. The main problem was, however, that it was a family run business..... my immediate boss was the owners son.

For an overview, it is important that you get an idea of our physical comparisons, me and my old boss. I was 19, 5'7" and weighed at the time about seven and a half stones (I was very thin, but had been stressed out so much by work that I didn't eat much at the time). He was about 6', 30, and was into bodybuilding.... he was quite heavily muscled and I'd say about 15-16 stone. He was also, I'd imagine, damned handsome from a lady's perspective, but this was counterbalanced by hos foul breath.

The long and short of it was that my workload had increased massively over the year-and-a-half I had been there and so had my hours. I was expected to start early, stay late and had once been threatened with the sack for being 50 minutes early rather than the full hour. Basically, I was young, I was a worrier, and I just basically hated the job. I gave them a months notice and prepared to leave.

After that, I began to be treated like absolute shit by my boss. He ridiculed me every chance he got and tried to belittle me in front of everyone in the factory (I was pretty popular there, everyone seemed to want to mother me :P) I managed about a week and a half before I snapped.

You see, I might have been small, but I was not thick. I have a 145 IQ, and while I know this is hardly mensa, it was waaaay more than my boss. And the one thing, the ONLY thing guaranteed to snap my otherwise infallible patience is to make me feel stupid.

The first time was on a tuesday. I had about a week and a half left of my notice to work. I was left with a million things to do as usual, and one of them involved *his* forklift. Which of course, he now needed *IMMEDIATELY* "HURRY UP! HURRY UP! RUN! MOVE IT" he was following me around shouting *RIGHT* *IN* *MY* *FUCKING* *EAR*. "I need that forklift NOW" he wailed.

"WELL FUCKING TAKE IT! IT'S YOUR FUCKING FORKLIFT YOU FUCKING TAKE IT!"

He looked like I had just shot him. I had turned round and was facing him full on. He could not believe it. I felt like a GOD!

He started mumbling something about how dare I speak to him like that, but I was emboldened. "You won't be my boss for much longer, mate. Don't fucking speak to me like that. If you want the forklift, fucking take it and bring it back when you're finished." He turned and stormed off, as did I. It was then I noticed the ENTIRE FACTORY had fallen silent. I got a round of applause in the tea room that day for standing up to him, turned out they had all noticed how badly I was being treated. He caught me in the warehouse, where no-one could see, and tried to give me a decidedly calmer dressing down for being insolent, at which point I calmly pointed out that if he treated me with respect, he would get respect. He disagreed, saying (and I couldn't believe this) he was my boss and would treat me how he wanted. I just walked off.

The following week, everything was going wrong again. He was again on my back and was now blaming me for everyting that went wrong in the whole factory. I again snapped and shouted "Tell you what, Tom, it mus all be fucking MY fault then eh?" He must have been waiting for this, as he immediately shouted "OFFICE! NOW!" As he strode through the office door, he almost took it off it's hinges. At that point, I realised I may have been about to receive a stern beating. This only quickened my step.... I was at the end of my tether.

He launched into the "who do you think you are?" speech as soon as he got behind his desk..... had he remained my side of the desk, I might have been a little less bold. I cut him off by asking who he thought he was. "You think cos you pay me a pittance you can speak to me like shite? I've broke my fucking back for you, I've worked every overtime you've asked of me, I've never fucking compliained before now. I'm fucking sick of being treated like this you stupid, STUPID man. And I'll tell you what else for fucking nothing!"

I paused. He bit.

"Wh.... what?"

"I'm going fucking home."

He managed a "good!" and strode out of the office behind me. I went back into the factory, told my trainee replacement to take over, I was going home, bid a few people goodbye and walked out the fire exit.

The idiot was so thick he waited by the main exit for me, not realising that his "don't go out the fire exit" shite no longer applied to me. Apparently, according to the guy I was training to replace me, he ran all through the factory looking for me, and when he realised I was gone, his bottom lip was trembling.

It was this incident that confirmed my belief that brains are better than brawn.

I've only seen him once since. He was in a video rental shop when I walked in. He slammed the video he was looking at down and walked out.

Again. I felt like a GOD! :P

Oh heavens. Apologies for length, and it's not often I get to say that.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Thu 22 May 2008, 16:51, 10 replies)

IQ
Actually... it depends on what scale IQ is measured on. There are several different ones, though all have 100 as the middle point. On some of them 145 is Mensa level.

Good job though, standing up to that wanker :) *clicks*
(calamarain just invented dehydrated water, Thu 22 May 2008, 16:56, closed)

I've done a few
online ones and those ones on the telly with Anne Robinson :P

I always seem to score around the same, between 145 and 138.

It doesn't half impress the ladies!* :P

*lies.
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Thu 22 May 2008, 17:09, closed)

I'm not quite sure...
...how that constitutes a triumph over intelligence over strength, but well done nonetheless.
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Thu 22 May 2008, 17:10, closed)

Looking at it.....
I suppose I should have added the utter confusion and inability to answer me as soon as I started fighting my corner. He'd obviously been practicing what he was gonna say.

Plus, he was big, rich and handsome, and drove a sports car. Allow me my victory :P
( baw__bag contains traces of nuts on, Thu 22 May 2008, 17:17, closed)

Good on you!
I would've never had the courage to stand up to anybody when I was at that tender age. Now I'm the approaching the wrong side of 35, it's not often somebody has a go but of they do I like to verbally put them down as opposed to resorting to violence. Far more satisfying.

***Click***
(Taunting Lunatics Belming at you since, Thu 22 May 2008, 17:27, closed)

have a *click*
for getting one over on a sports-car driving moron!
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Thu 22 May 2008, 17:27, closed)

A very satisfying story!
Well-written, gets a clicky-wicky from, er, me-y wee-y?
(Adamish Time of death, Thu 22 May 2008, 18:57, closed)

As they say
the pen is mightier than the sword...

The spoken word is mightier than the pumped up git with a sports car.

Same thing.

Well done.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Thu 22 May 2008, 22:13, closed)

Congrats
On standing up for yourself. It's always good to get the feeling of 'getting one over' on people like that. Even if it only lasts for a second or two!
(uk_viper stopped lurking on, Thu 22 May 2008, 23:29, closed)

An excellent story!
*clickety-click*
( Mike Fishcake teamfishcake.co.uk - better than your mum's face, Fri 23 May 2008, 13:40, closed)