Take This Job and Shove It
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Ya'll better not try to stand in my way —David Allen Coe, "Take This Job and Shove It"
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A character is in a job that's making him or her miserable by the day. Never mind that it's their (probably only) source of income; the plain and simple of it is, the job sucks and is draining them of their energy and patience.
Maybe it's a Dangerous Workplace they're employed to. Maybe they're working for Incompetence, Inc., and very possibly there's No Such Thing as HR. Perhaps they have perpetual insecurity about how safe their job is, and it's not helped by the overbearing supervisor or office manager they've got. Maybe they just recently got Promoted to Scapegoat or have to put up with an incompetent boss. It could be that they're the Beleaguered Assistant, or the Only Sane Employee in an office populated by those who should rightly be certified insane. Or, chances are good they've been subjected to the Delegation Relay one time too many. Or perhaps the boss is a Corrupt Corporate Executive and the character's morals can't allow them to stick around that kind of environment.
The reasons vary, but the result is the same. Resentment builds... Tranquil Fury is fostered... and then the character's patience goes flying out the window.
"You know what? TAKE THIS JOB AND SHOVE IT!"
Depending on the situation and the person who delivers the line or its equivalents, it can be a Crowning Moment of Awesome, even more so if the recipient thoroughly deserved it. Bonus points if the employer/supervisor is a parent or relative or somebody who's SUPPOSED to be a good guy.
Note that it doesn't have to be the word-for-word line of this trope's title that is said; the manner of Rage Quit displayed against the supervisor/boss is essentially the heart of the trope.
Be careful, though; if done too often, it may lead others to query why you always leave one job after another (in which case, it might be you who has the real problem). If the person goes on a violent rampage instead of simply quitting, that's Going Postal. If they have to return humbly, that's Crossing the Burnt Bridge.
Film
- Take This Job And Shove It (1981), starring Robert Hayes. Its title was taken from the song listed above (which, incidentally, was part of the movie's soundtrack).
- In Demolition Man, Lenina Huxley (played by Sandra Bullock) finally grows exasperated with her police chief and tells him to "take this job and shovel it." John Spartan (played by Sylvester Stallone) points it out moments later:
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John Spartan: "Take this job...and shovel it." |
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- In Wanted, Wesley quits his job in a spectacular fashion; slamming all of his co-workers and breaking his keyboard across the face of a particular one who'd been sleeping with Wesley's already unfaithful girlfriend.
- The most recent version of The Producers has Leo Bloom pull one of these on his boss. And then on Max later on when Springtime for Hitler defines its trope, too.
- One of the most famous scenes in Half Baked is this trope.
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Scarface: (at random customers) Fuck you, fuck you, fuck you, you're cool, and FUCK YOU! I'm out! |
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- In The Incredibles, Bob's patience with his humdrum insurance job and his Obstructive Bureaucrat boss Mr. Huph finally snaps when Mr. Huph threatens to fire him for wanting to stop a mugging in progress. Mr. Huph gets Punched Across the Room and through several walls and winds up in a full body cast. Oops.
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Bob: I'm fired, aren't I? |
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- That Thing You Do: Jimmy quits the band in the middle of a recording session by singing, "I quit... I quit... I quit, Mr. White!"
Live-Action TV
- The Prisoner does this with his espionage job during the opening credits. It's apparently what causes his former bosses to capture him and send him to the Village.
- Chuck. The title character said this to Emmett at the end of the show's second season. At that point Chuck had realized he didn't need his cover at the Buy More since he was intersect free. He also had a lot more experience so he could easily find another job. Casey also quit too. Though despite this, he always manages to find himself back at the Buy More.
- In an early episode Roseanne quits her job at the plastics factory this way. The entire workforce follows suit and walks off the job behind her.
- This is essentially Jeffrey's reaction on Fresh Prince of Bel Air when the kids fake his winning lottery ticket.
- Happens several times on Drop the Dead Donkey, particularly to Henry when an old friend dupes him into thinking he has been offered a BBC job which turns out not to exist, and in the final series where Globelink is shutting down and some employees believe they can get better payouts if they get fired rather than simply laid off.
Music
- The Trope Namer is a song of the same title by David Coe from his 1978 album Family Album; the song has since been covered by Johnny Paycheck (which spent two weeks at No. 1 on the country charts) and the Dead Kennedys. The song itself conveys the bitterness of a man who has worked long and hard at a thankless job.
Web Comics
- In Cigarro & Cerveja, Cerveja's resignation letter is a very Cloudcuckoolander-ish take on this, rather than an actively malicious one.
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In the name of Thor, god of thunder and disco, I hereby abdicate my position of corporate lackey to my boss, who happens to be bald. |
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- Liz does this pretty early on in Dead Winter, one she's fed up with the asshole customers and her assholier boss. Immediately after this, though, she realizes she's in the middle of a Zombie Apocalypse, making her dramatic exit sort of pointless (and dangerous, since later on her boss goes completely nuts and, as promised, starts hunting her down with murderous intent).
- In PvP Robbie and Jase say this word for word to Cole when they win the lottery.
Western Animation
- The Simpsons had Homer quit his job at the power plant this way at least once, in the episode "And Maggie Makes Three," when he finished paying off the mortgage on his house. Here it is. Of course, as we all know, he had to return somehow.
- In another episode, when Homer was working at the Kwik-E-Mart to pay for Lisa's pony, after Lisa gives up the pony he tells Apu, "You can take this job and restaff it!" Referencing the song, but not the exact quote.
- In a different episode, "Lisa vs. Malibu Stacy," Grandpa Simpson is working at Krusty Burger. He eventually quits after he starts complaining with his friends about what's not on the breakfast menu, plus the fact that he's supposed to be old. As he puts it:
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The good Lord allows us to grow old for a reason: to gain the wisdom to find fault with everything He's made! |
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- After the election of Barack Obama, Randy Marsh of South Park triumphantly quits his job, telling his boss this. After all, Obama's going to make everything better, so he doesn't need a job anymore!
- Done by Bob on The Oblongs:
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Bob: You can take this job and post it! As vacant! Because I quit! |
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Other Media
- There's an Urban Legend about a prank played on a guy by his co-workers. While out at dinner, they copied the numbers from his lottery ticket and gave them to a waitress. The waitress then came up and said the winning numbers had just been announced, if any one was interested, and read out the numbers they had given her. The man checked his ticket, double checked it, and then announced that he was quitting. He then went on to thoroughly insult his boss, all of his co-workers and also announced that he'd been having an affair with his secretary. End of job and end of marriage.
Real Life
- The JetBlue flight attendant incident.
- "Joey Quits," where a disgruntled hotel employee brought a marching band to announce his resignation.