Burning bridges with an employer.

I work in a call center doing outside sales. The pay is insulting (~$15/hr after commission), everyone in my department is on the verge of quitting or going on a murderous rampage every single day, turnover is through the roof, and management shits on and belittles us because we are peons that can be replaced at a moments notice. Girls in my department talk about how they cry before their shift, and I lay in bed at night unable to sleep due to anxiety about the 10 hours of non-stop stress that awaits me in the morning.

Things have gotten drastically worse over the past few months as business has exploded, but my department has fired/transferred 40% of it's employees and my work volume has roughly doubled (with no additional compensation) and we've been told flat-out that 'things will get worse before they ever get better." I literally cant take one more day of this shit.

Im thinking about using my remaining 100-something hours of paid-time-off by calling in sick for a few days, then claiming to go on a trip, returning to work only long enough to collect my last direct deposit, then quitting. This will cause significant problems for the company, at least in the short term, as there are not nearly enough employees left to pick up the slack, and it will take at least a few weeks to train a replacement. It will be a thinly-veiled 'fuck you' to management. It will also allow me time to search for a new job. I havent started the job search yet, but I have a couple of initial leads. I figure it cant be too hard to find a job that pays the same or more, even in this job market.

Losing the paycheck/benefits will be unfortunate, but my main concern is whether or not this move will hurt my marketability to other employers. My current company is a pretty small, with no connections to any company or even industry I would be interested in, but Im afraid a potential employer might contact my current employer to ask about me. Is this a legitimate concern? Does this happen? Hearing that I flaked out and quit one day wouldnt help me at all. Oddly enough, I know a few people who were fired from my company (not laid off, but actually fired with cause) and had no problem finding employment.

So should I man the fuck up and risk killing myself and/or others by staying with my company until I find new employment, or should I peace the fuck out and spend a few weeks/months looking for a job and not hating my life?

Its not them; it's the work volume, belligerent/ignorant/condescending customers, and shit pay that I cant deal with.

Im sure it varies by state, but any idea what they can say? I kinda thought that. Ive been there for 2 years as of last month. It would still be nice to be able to say Im still with the company while interviewing with others instead of having to explain why Im not. True. But, as Ive learned on this job, the overwhelming majority of humanity, or at least our customer base, are intolerable cunts who I would pay money to watch get curb-stomped. If you can't differentiate between a cocksucker who does cocksucky things, and an innocent soul who happens to work for an inherently cocksucky company but has otherwise not provided a reason for you to believe they are also a cocksucker, you deserve to die. Dont be a dick; I didnt personally overcharge your account - some other asshole who will never have to talk to you or take responsibility for doing so did. Even before I had this shitty job I understood this. BTW, please burn our headquarters down. My tiny cubicle is close to a door; I will make it out.