“I’m done” has become a not-so-unusual refrain among American workers, who have been walking away from their jobs in record numbers this year. Some are prioritizing their physical and mental health over the demands of a job. Others simply want to find employers willing to pay more. Still others have found the pandemic has served as an unwelcome memento mori, reminding people who have put aside personal or professional goals that they don’t have an infinite amount of time to get things done.
Sometimes they’re quitting quietly. Often they’re not. One group of Burger King employees in Nebraska took the “take this job and shove it” genre of quitting to the next level a few weeks ago, when they commandeered an illuminated sign outside of their fast-food restaurant. “We all quit,” they wrote in large letters normally used to announce burger deals. “Sorry for the inconvenience.”
Even amid the so-called great resignation, giving notice via a giant sign was a kind of statement-quitting of the sort you see in movies. But recent history is filled with audacious examples of sudden goodbyes. Can you guess which of these quitting scenes happened in real life and which were developed in Hollywood?