Beyoncé continues to fuel the Great Resignation with her fiery new track “Break My Soul,” which dropped on June 20. For nearly a month, Queen Bey fans have been “sleepin’ real good at night” and, in some cases, literally quitting their jobs.
The song’s lyrics urge people to step away from people and places that no longer serve them.
From the first verse, Bey struck a chord with fans:
“Now, I just fell in love / And I just quit my job / I’m gonna find new drive / Damn, they work me so damn hard / Work by 9 / Then off past 5 / And they work my nerves / That’s why I cannot sleep at night.”
While some fans have joked about quitting their jobs in the form of some very funny memes, one former Starbucks employee took the track as a sign to actually make an exit.
Giselle Galindo, 22, of San Antonio, Texas, had been working as a Starbucks barista for three years and was feeling burnt out.
According to BuzzFeed News, Galindo had dreams of working in theater, and after landing an acting gig, in addition to a job at a summer camp, she felt the desire to leave her position at the coffee shop.
“I’m just at a point in my life where I was just tired of feeling stuck,” Galindo told BuzzFeed News. “I was going back and forth these last couple of months. Like, ‘Oh, do I want to continue staying here just for the stability of the extra $400 that comes my way every two weeks? Is that what I really want?'”
And so, Galindo decided it was time to “throw in the towel” with Starbucks.
Galindo put in her two weeks notice but still felt mentally drained, knowing she would have several shifts before completing her final day at the coffee chain.
After listening to Beyoncé’s empowering anthem with her girlfriend when it first came out, Galindo took the song as a sign from the universe.
“We started listening, and I kid you not, the minute I heard Beyoncé say, ‘I just quit my job,’ I knew I wasn’t going back to my job tomorrow morning,” Galindo told BuzzFeed News, adding Beyoncé is her role model.
“We both looked at each other, and we’re like, ‘Oh my God, it’s a sign. It has to be a sign.’ [My girlfriend said,] ‘Don’t go to work tomorrow. Yeah, like, don’t even finish your two weeks.'”
Below, check out our favorite “take this job and shove it” memes inspired by Bey’s “Break My Soul”:
Lower-paid employees aren’t the only ones quitting their jobs these days.
A new study from Advisory Board reveals people who work in management and leadership roles are also stepping away.
“These are higher-paid workers who presumably have invested a lot in educational credentials, training or building their career at a company. They’re managers, and they’re leaving pretty good circumstances — that should be worrisome to companies,” Joseph Fuller, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School, shared with the Advisory Board.
Feeling stuck and unhappy in your job is a terrible feeling. Has a song ever inspired you to leave the daily grind? Share your story with PopCrush by connecting with us on Facebook or Twitter.