30 People Share Their Best ‘Not My Problem Anymore’ Moments And They’re Incredibly Satisfying

There’s a specific kind of relief that comes from realizing something that’s been weighing you down is suddenly not your responsibility anymore.

Could be a toxic job, a dysfunctional relationship, someone else’s mess that you’ve been cleaning up for years—doesn’t matter. The moment you decide you’re done and actually walk away, everything shifts.

These are real stories from folks on Reddit who hit their limit and said “not my problem anymore,” whether that meant quitting mid-shift, walking out of a marriage, or watching chaos unfold after they stopped holding everything together.

Some of these are petty, some are justified, and a few are just people finally prioritizing themselves after spending way too long taking care of everyone else’s problems.

These are the moments when people stopped, dropped whatever they were dealing with, and simply left.

1. What’s the weirdest “this isn’t my problem anymore” moment you’ve ever witnessed?

Once I was walking to pick my daughter up from school and I saw this lady jogging with the most beautiful dog and I complimented her on her dog. She replied with “that’s not my dog!” in an irritated tone. And just like that the dog was my problem and following me. Long story short, she was my dog for 16 years and such a good girl.

2.

When my ex left she drained the bank accounts. When she called me three years later and wanted to get the divorce out of the way (she was engaged) she told me what it was going to cost. I told her this one was on her.

Probably won’t make the top ten here but it felt SO good!

3.

Maybe not the weirdest but quite unusual, I saw (what looked like) a homeless person stealing sandwiches from a local Tesco on Christmas Eve. I looked at the security guard who was watching the man, as the man approached the exit the security guard decided to go and tidy some shelves.

4.

Not what I witnessed, it was what I did.

My then husband called me and told me he’d been arrested for drunk driving, as happened way too often, and needed a ride. He was at the police station and they’d charged him but were letting him go on his own recognizance. I don’t know why I agreed as we were already separated and living apart.

When I got there I told him I’d give him a ride back to his car but he was not coming home with me. A cop overheard and said, “Ma’am you can’t take him back to his car, he shouldn’t be driving.” I said, “OK, fine. You keep him then,” turned around, got in my car and drove away without looking back. I was so done with his alcoholism and everything that goes with it.

He was unavailable to attend our divorce hearing because he was in jail for the DUI.

5.

I held my husband together for 25 years. One day I just stopped. We separated, his crash was swift.

Funny thing was everyone loved him and thought I was a witch.

Then the calls started—where is he, he doesn’t return calls, he misses events, he doesn’t show up for work, is he ok?

I told them now you see who he really is without all my effort. I am done, not my problem.

6.

My cousin had recently divorced her husband, but they were throwing a joint party for their daughter’s First Communion. At the restaurant, their younger son started to get antsy and act out in front of the dad. He yelled my cousin’s name, clearly expecting her to jump up and rush over to parent their kid. She just looked at him from her table and asked, “what is it?”

The look on his face when he realized she no longer had to come running when he yelled for her was priceless.

7.

At my last job the manager didn’t let me take a day off for a funeral, so I offered to leave early instead. They agreed and a few days later, three days before the funeral, they told me I couldn’t leave early—“there’s no leaving early, you can’t go.”

The next day, before my shift even started, I brought a resignation letter written in pink glitter pen and left, not even waiting for the manager to arrive.

For the record, the job was sorting used clothes, not something where being away for four hours would break the system.

8.

Many years ago I managed a KFC store. For reasons I ended up working open to close seven days a week for months. Things went downhill to the point the district manager came in and fired me. I was devastated… for about 30 seconds. Then I realized none of this mess is my problem anymore and walked out with a smile.

9.

Watching my manager quit mid-meeting and calmly walk out while the chaos continued behind him.

10.

Quite a while ago, I worked part-time at Krispy Kreme on the overnight shift. I had improvised a recipe improvement that drastically cut food waste.

One night I came in to a complete mess. A larger store had lost the ability to make product and they told me I’d have to make my run and theirs too—no help, no extra pay. On top of that, they’d messed up the machines trying to speed production, causing a high failure rate.

I took off my apron and said, “No. I’m not doing this. I quit.” And walked out.

11.

My kid was playing another team and one parent was yelling at the opposition coach for subbing their kid so another child could get some game time.

The coach handed them the clipboard, told them to sort it out so everyone was happy, and walked off.

12.

My mom wanted to buy a bread maker for $250 on sale. At checkout it rang up for $2.49. The checker was confused, the manager tried too—still $2.49. They let me buy it for that and pulled the rest off the shelves. The checker just booked it—way above their pay grade.

13.

After 28 years at my company, my manager called loss prevention saying I stole a $.99 hand soap. Video proved I didn’t.

I’d planned to retire in three months, but instead I quit immediately two weeks before Christmas. My manager asked me to do a department hand-off. She did not get it.

The woman who replaced me thought my job wasn’t that hard. Within two weeks she stepped down and my manager begged me to come back and train my replacement.

14.

My “uncle” was married to an absolute terror of a woman. After they divorced we were invited to my cousin’s school play. After the show the ex-wife started a squabble with people in front of her.

I remember seeing him standing there with a “this is my life now” face—then he smiled and just walked away. He collected my cousin and we went for dinner.

15.

I warned my manager for six months that our legacy server would crash if we didn’t upgrade it. He ignored me. I quit for a new job, and three days after I left the server crashed and took the client database with it.

Hearing about the panic from my former coworkers was the most peaceful moment of my life.

16.

We were getting divorced and preparing to move out. My soon-to-be ex announced someone was coming to pick up our refrigerator. The next day the guy showed up and my husband opened the fridge and turned to me angrily: “The fridge still has all the food in it!”

I replied, “Yeah, what’s your point?” He screeched, “You jerk!!!”

So glad he’s in my rear-view mirror.

17.

During my exit interview after ten years, I explained that our department had the lowest satisfaction because qualified people kept getting passed up for promotion. The HR rep asked if maybe we were just venting and creating a toxic echo chamber.

I thought about tearing into her, then realized it didn’t matter anymore and just said, “No.”

18.

I was a shift manager at a sandwich shop. I gave my two weeks’ notice and my boss got mad and said, “Forget it. You’re fired!” I said ok.

The next day coworkers were calling asking where I was. The GM hadn’t told anyone he fired me and the daytime manager had a flight to catch.

“I’m sorry, I got fired. I don’t work there anymore. There’s nothing I can do.”

19.

Not entirely weird, but I saw a pack of Sharpie markers with no price. It rang up for $0. The cashier shrugged and kept going—free markers.

I went back a couple days later and it still wouldn’t come up. This time I got the second set for $5.

20.

My photography teacher tried explaining principles after trying to quiet a class that wouldn’t listen. At the end she picked up her stuff and left the building after yelling we didn’t want to learn anything.

I felt so bad for her—she was passionate, teaching kids who didn’t even want to be there.

21.

I used to run a hemp-based confectionary with my ex-husband and an old friend. He brought his new girlfriend onto the team—of course it caused conflict.

One day he flipped out on all of us. His girlfriend looked at me and asked, “What do we do?” I smiled, washed my hands, and said, “He’s your problem now,” and left.

I asked him to buy me out the next day and went back to bartending.

22.

In second grade a bee was in the classroom. Kids were freaking out. I’m very allergic and one neighbor kid started screaming for everyone to cover me.

The sub kept yelling at us to shut up, started crying, and left the classroom. A few minutes later we heard a car peel out of the parking lot—it was the sub leaving.

We had a different sub after that.

23.

I accidentally punctured a drink on the railing in front of my neighbor’s apartment. I rushed to clean it up, but she stormed out yelling at me while I was actively scrubbing.

I snapped, threw my hands up and said, “You know what, I’m done!” and walked away. She complained to the building manager but he sided with me.

24.

I finally accepted that having a relationship with my parents wasn’t my problem anymore. They told me they wouldn’t change and didn’t care. Something in me felt relief realizing this relationship wasn’t my responsibility anymore.

25.

Watching someone quit mid-shift and walk out smiling while chaos continued behind them. Instant freedom.

26.

I worked in IT and supported a client whose printer sometimes went offline. My desk number was on the printer. A year after they took IT in-house, I got a call: “Our printer is offline.”

I told her I couldn’t help. She asked who she should call. I said, “Somebody that cares,” and hung up. I regretted the tone—but I really couldn’t help.

27.

I was on holiday in a hotel in Madeira when the manager and half the staff quit and walked out. The janitor was doing breakfast service. They stopped serving food altogether.

A bus full of guests arrived and one of the remaining employees refused check-in. I was relieved I was leaving the next day.

28.

In 10th grade English with a sub, a kid half-whispered “Peter picked a patch of pickled peppers.” The sub loudly told him to pack his things and go to the principal’s office.

Soon half the class was sent out for asking what happened. The sub left. The principal came in, said he had no idea what happened, and told us to sit quietly until a replacement arrived. We spent the rest of class laughing.

29.

Guy finding out he’s not the father at the supermarket, then walking away.

30.

A drunken domestic dispute at a party. It started as yelling, then hitting. She hit him repeatedly and everyone watched. When he finally hit back once, the whole party piled on him.

The cops came and a bunch of us had to give statements so the guy wouldn’t go to prison.