I've been a automotive technician at a family owned garage/bodyshop for the last 16 years. When I started there the owner and his youngest son ran the service desk and his oldest son ran the bodyshop. Fast forward to a few years ago and the owner, who's the greatest boss I have ever had and someone who truly appreciated and respected his employees, stepped away from the business due to age and health issues. He still pops in from time to time and drinks coffee and bullshits. Since his departure there has been a steady decline both in atmosphere and work quantity and quality. Combine that with the fact his eldest son is now running the show. He is a very abrasive, condescending person who doesn't talk to you, he talks down to you. We aren't employees to be respected, we are the help. His arrogance is so thick you can taste it. No one in the shop gets along with him and we all dread any interaction with him due to his attitude. He knows best. He has all the answers and won't take any advice from the professionals he employs because we can't possibly know what we are doing. So, needless to say the environment had become very toxic because of him. I try to avoid him at all cost. Sometimes that is just not possible. Last year I injured my arm. I was using a breaker bar to try and break free a stuck component and when I was pushing ( try to pull when breaking shit loose if you can it will prevent injury like mine) extremely hard it suddenly broke free and my arm hyper extended. I heard a small pop and felt tremendous pain. As this line of work regularly results in injury, I didn't really realize how bad it was and thought I would just go home and ice it and relax like Ive done countless times before when my back or body hurts. Well, it didn't get better it just hurt like hell constantly. I approached my boss about the injury and informed him we need to make a workers compensation claim. His first response wasn't asking how I was, if I was ok, what happened or lets get this taken care of. It was ” I wonder how much this is gonna cost me!” He has insurance, it cost him nothing. It was that moment that solidified in my mind I am busting my ass and working for a person who couldn't care less about me. My health wasn't even a concern, it was cost. That was the moment I said to myself fuck this I'm getting out. It took a week of asking him to file a claim, and finally putting it in writing and dating my injury, so that he legally had 5 days to make a claim or face possible legal repercussions from the Dept of labor. My main lateral tendon didn't tear but it stretched out, ripped in a few places and then bundled up. This effected the blood flow to the muscle tissue leading to the tissue becoming nacrotic. I had to go through 2 cortisone shots, 2 prescriptions and 3 months of physical therapy before they finally decided it's not getting better but worse and I ended up requiring surgery. They had to remove the muscle from my elbow in 2 places, cut out the nacrotic tissue, grind my bone down and reattach the tendon. I was out of work for a month and did 3 more months of physical therapy. My arm is not the same, it hurts everyday and makes being a mechanic a daily struggle with pain. After my surgery I immediately doubled down looking for jobs. After almost a year and 6 months, countless offers and several interviews I landed a job I wanted. I was looking for just the right job and found it, thank God. When I turned in my 2 weeks my boss didn't say “sorry to see ya go” or ” thanks for the years of hard work”. It was ” well that's incredibly soon” I said ” No, it's 2 weeks, that's why it's called 2 weeks notice”. It didn't cost him a dime. But it did cost him a loyal, hard working, dependable employee, that knows the ins and outs of his business and was nothing but an asset. If your not appreciated at work, don't waste your time. Most employers couldn't care less about you. Needless to say I've been nervous and anxious about quitting a job I've had for so long and starting a new one. But I realized how miserable and depressed my current employer made me and decided I'm done feeling this way. Once I turned in my notice I felt a huge wave of relief and all this stress I've been holding onto left. I feel great and excited about my professional future for the first time in a long time. So any people out there on the fence about quitting a toxic job, don't give up. I was looking and interviewing for a job for over a year, and I was becoming discouraged and felt trapped. The depression was real. But I kept at it and it worked out. So keep your chin up folks and don't give up. Know your worth and don't except anything less.