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I quit work by accident

FearofUnknownSenior Contributor13 Oct 2025, 10:31 am AEDT

I quit work by accident

One day at work, a creepy man came screaming asking how to grow marijuana which he claims is for medicinal use but even so, it is illegal to grow marijuana in New South Wales. He came asking for the Boss and the Boss wasn't there yet but the Finance Manager was and she witnessed the incident. Being as frightened as I was, I tried to call the Police and when she stopped me, I tried to report online the incident. Basically, my Flight or Fight response kicked in and when the Boss did arrive in not his usual attire, he opened up Google which said that in ACT, you are allowed to have some pots of marijuana. This made me remember when I saw 2 pot plants being moved around which made me even more suspicious of the Boss. In the end, I called my Dad who was just around the corner working and told him to pick me up asap.

When I arrived home, I called the Local Police Station and nobody picked up. So I called Crime Stoppers and made a 10 minute report, which included giving them my Boss' full name and phone number. I basically said he is suspicious of growing marijuana and gave them the address to the shop I worked at too. Then I refused to return to work, even days after when he had asked a colleague to call my Emergency Contact who is my Dad. Eventually I cancelled Centrelink as I needed a mental break.

All in all, it was my Dream Job and because of this incident, I "accidentally" quit my job which Centrelink put me into and had me working there for 8 months. I eventually apologised to my Boss by email about a year and half after this and he said he forgave me but will definitely not let me go back to work. He was also receiving Wage Subsidy from Centrelink.

I really regret all of this happening. If it wasn't for this Marijuana-growing incident, I would not have left work like that. I was extremely frightened and needed to be back at home. I didn't mean to quit my Dream Job.

Have you been so scared like me that you accidentally made a mistake? Has anyone quitted their job and then regretted it afterwards? Have you experienced a Flight or Fight response before? What do you think of my story? Would you have tried to call the Police too? Please share your thoughts. Thanks.

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In response to: I quit work by accident

Ruby26Senior Contributor27 Jan 2026, 12:43 pm AEDT

Re: I quit work by accident

@FearofUnknown I'm sorry that this happened to you. What was the mistake that you think you made? You aren't allowed to legally sell seeds for growing cannabis. If a customer is being aggressive towards you at work, the right thing to do is call security and your boss. If the workplace doesn't have security and you are in fear of being physically harmed, the correct course of action is to call the police.

It sounds like the boss was selling cannabis products, which you had a right to express concern about to the police. The next course of action should have been to contact your boss's boss and explain that you felt unsafe coming into work until the situation was resolved. Cutting contact with a paid workplace is generally not done until you have informed them in writing that you have quit or are taking stress/sick leave. But under this particular circumstance, you were frightened and had a rational concern that the organisation was involved in something illegal. I can understand why you would cut contact with them right away. I would only consider this a mistake if you had the resources to explain what was going on and chose not to. It sounds like with the level of distress you were feeling, you weren't capable of contacting the workplace again until you felt safer. It is better to cut contact than express vulnerability around an unsafe organisation.

Yes, I have experienced fight/flight responses before. But if you just found out that your job involved selling illegal drugs, that is a rational reason to have a fight/flight reaction. In this case, your body was right to signal to you that it was time to take flight. Fight/flight is only a problem if it causes an irrational response. If you had assaulted your boss, I would be saying that your fight response was extreme and needs to be better regulated. But just leaving the workplace sounds like a reasonable response.

Here are the circumstances that I would have called the police:

1. If the customer threatened me or aggressively touched me. OR

2. If I saw evidence my boss was growing cannabis plants or had intent to sell cannabis plants. I can't tell from your story if "2 pot plants being moved around" was evidence in itself or not as I wasn't there.

Here are the things I would NOT have called the police over:

1. A customer politely asking if you sold cannabis products (sounds like this customer was NOT polite though)

2. The Boss googling drug laws

3. Plants being moved around if I had no idea if they were legal ones or not (I would just assume they were legal.

In response to: I quit work by accident

tymeModerator29 Jan 2026, 5:10 pm AEDT

Re: I quit work by accident

Hey @FearofUnknown ,

Thanks for linking me back to your original thread here.

One of the biggest learnings I have every learnt from the workplace is to NEVER react when emotionally driven.

I have also reacted impulsively in ways I later regret. I say things I regret. I write emails I regret. I make phone calls that I later regret. All because our amygdala is busily firing away and we no longer respond with a rational mind.

Over the years, I've grown a few more white hairs, and with this, the need to STOP. BREATHE. COME BACK. THEN RESPOND.

It saves us from a lot of trauma.

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