There are many jobs where it is necessary to work some weekends to ensure the work gets done properly and on time.

What would you do if you had other commitments on two weekends in a row, both of which were approved in advance, but then your boss demanded that you come in anyway?

That is what happened to the person in this story, so when his boss said this might not be the line of work for him if he can’t make it work, he called his bluff and quit, putting the boss in a tough spot.

Check it out.

Manager told me to choose between the military or my job so I quit…

I was active duty in the army for 3 years, and following that shifted into the reserves for another 3 years.

I was moving from one state back to my home state during the transition from active duty and needed a truck scale to weigh the moving truck before returning it so I could be reimbursed for the move (the army pays you to move between duty stations and when you ETS from active service).

While looking for a truck scale I found a place that I thought would have one, but it turned out to be a company that installed and certified scales.

The branch manager and I hit it off as I was explaining what I was there for and he said he would like to interview me for a job.

SWEET! I needed something anyway to support my family and the job sounded pretty exciting.

Within a couple of weeks they had hired me and I got started learning the ropes and getting the necessary certifications.

Things went well and I became one of the go to guys when they needed some of the more intricate work done.

I had several job sites I would go to on a regular basis where the customers loved me.

You might be surprised at all the places where scales are used to measure product and sell things, from labs with tiny scales weighing to the hundredths of a gram to big truck scales installed at job sites to weigh debris from various construction projects.

The job was tough physically at times, but I actually really enjoyed traveling all over the state and getting to meet some really awesome people.

Fast forward a little over a year after I started at the company.

Things had been going really good and I was going to school in the evenings to get some education and further my career.

No big deal, some jobs are like that.

Now, sometimes the job required all hands on deck on the weekends for some of the bigger jobs, like truck scale installs at customer sites for one reason or another.

Normally this was fine, and there had never been any issue for me working the weekend, unless I had drill with my reserve unit, but the company was fine with that as long as I got the needed paperwork from my unit listing the dates I would be drilling.

This all changed at the end of May, after I had been at the company for over a year.

I had requested time off over the Memorial day holiday weekend to take my wife to Myrtle Beach as a late honeymoon.

The weekend before that I had drill and so was also unavailable for work.

The Thursday before these back to back weekends, which had been understood to be weekends I would not be available, my boss called me after I had left the shop for my jobs for the day.

Boss: Hey, I need you to tell me which of the next 2 weekends you will be able to work. We have 2 big jobs and we need everyone available.

Me: Ummm, you know I have drill this weekend and you already approved me being off next weekend to go out of town.

Boss: Well, I need you at one of these jobs. So which one will you be in for?

Me: I can’t this weekend because drill is mandatory, and if I cancel the hotel that I have booked next weekend it is gonna cost me money in cancellation fees.

People have lives outside of work.

Boss: Look, we work in customer service, if you can’t be available to work then maybe you should look for a job not in customer service. Call me back or let me know when you get back to the office which weekend you will be working.

This call was at like 8:30 in the morning, and I still had several jobs to do for the day.

I called my wife and told her what happened and that I might just quit.

She said I should do what I thought was best, and maybe it would be good to be able to focus on school more and try to find something where they were not going to treat me like that.

I spent the rest of the day contemplating what to do, and by the time I got back to the office that afternoon I had made up my mind.

I walked into the bosses office.

Me: I thought about what you said this morning and you were absolutely right. I quit.

Oh, now he is all concerned? Too little too late.

Boss: Whoa, don’t be hasty. I can work it out so you are good the next couple weekends and don’t have to worry about the jobs.

Me: I already made up my mind, you tried to hold the fact that I have drill over my head and make me work the weekend you knew I was taking my wife out of town.

Boss: Well, go home tonight and think about it and let know in the morning after you have had some time to think.

I went home and gathered all my uniforms up, washed them and removed my name tags.

He really didn’t think this through.

I think he thought I was going to come back the next day and change my mind, because he had be scheduled for several jobs solo that day when I arrived at the office.

He was sorely mistaken.

I turned in my uniforms, collected my tools and left after he and the branch manager both begged me to stay, saying they didn’t have anyone to take my jobs and I would be hurting the company if I didn’t stay.

I focused on school the next few months, and wound up getting a job in IT where I was making a lot more money with a lot less stress on my mind and body.

Managers are always surprised when employees call their bluff.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say.

Good tip right here.

This is a very important lesson.

I thought it was as well.

They just can’t believe someone would choose anything over their job.

This commenter’s dad got a great deal.

Will bosses never learn?

Based on Reddit, it seems the answer is no.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.