I worked for a smallish company doing consulting. I was making $14/hr (back in 1997) and it took my rather young and unjaded self a while to figure out I was getting screwed - it wasn't until I got recruitedby another company that I figured out I could make 2 or 3 times as much.

A friend of mine and I had been working at the same company - he hit burnout, quit, and moved to Michigan. We contemplated starting our own company but the timing wasn't right.

A few months later we had made some really good contacts for going independent and I had to have hernia surgery. So he came to hang out with me while I was getting better. I was on percocet which is a narcotic - needless to say I was heavily under the influence and had no inhibitions.

I promise you that when you are completely stoked on painkillers you have NO inhibitions. So it's a REALLY great time to write your resignation letter, CC a bunch of bigwigs in the company, and pretty much guarantee that you will never work for that company again. Those bridges were not only burned they were destroyed beyond recognition.

The good part is our company started a week later and I never looked back. We are now in our 10th year. I feel restless now because I think it might soon be time to try other things but I'll never regret it.