“I need to talk to you about my vacation request.”
“I’ve already told you, the answer is no.”
“I know,” I said, pulling out the letter. “That’s why I’m giving you this.”
He looked confused. “What’s this?”
“My two weeks’ notice.”
His face drained of color. “You can’t be serious. You’re quitting? Over a vacation?”
“No. I’m quitting because I refuse to work for someone who doesn’t value employees’ lives outside of work. My grandmother is dying, and I won’t miss my last chance to see her because you can’t manage without me for a week.”
He leaned back, visibly annoyed. “You’re throwing away a good job for sentimentality?”
“No, I’m choosing my family over a toxic job. There’s a difference.”
As I turned to leave, he called after me, “You’ll regret this, Mindy!”
Not a chance.
Over the next two weeks, Mean Boss tried everything—guilt-trips, bribes, even thinly-veiled threats. But I held my ground. On my last day, as I packed my desk, my coworker Jen approached me.
“I heard Mean Boss is freaking out because he can’t find anyone to cover your work next week,” she whispered with a grin.
“Karma,” I said, smiling.
As I walked out, I said my final goodbye to Mean Boss. He tried one last time to justify himself. “Running a business is hard, Mindy. Sometimes tough decisions have to be made.”
“And those decisions always come at the expense of your employees’ personal lives? How many have burned out because of your impossible standards?” I shot back.
He looked down, defeated. “I’ll… think about what you said.”
“You should,” I replied, walking out with my head held high.
A week later, I sat on a beach, holding my grandmother’s hand as the sun set. Despite her frail condition, she was smiling.
“I’m so glad you’re here, sweetheart,” she whispered.
“Me too, Grandma. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
Just then, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Jen: “Mean Boss is pulling 16-hour days trying to cover your work. He’s a wreck. Guess he finally realized how much you did!”
I chuckled softly.
Grandma looked at me curiously. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing important,” I said, squeezing her hand. “Just a reminder that sometimes, doing the right thing pays off in unexpected ways.”
And as the golden rays of the sunset warmed my skin, I knew I had made the right choice. Karma had taken care of the rest.