Just an Asshole

Several years ago I worked for a small internet development firm in the Cleveland area. This firm wasn't doing so good - it was the tail end of the bubble burst, so things were stressful. I was laid off and completely understanding about it. I still worked 8 or 12 hours a week to keep the gears turning and bring in some extra cash. The agreement was cash payment. At the end of the second week, I asked for my pay. "Sorry, the bank closed at 3 and I don't have enough cash." is what he said. I was cool - agreed that we could settle it the following week.

I come in on a Thursday in the third week to find that he's out of the office Wednesday through Friday. Stressful, but I can handle it.

I come in on a Wednesday of the fourth week and he doesn't have the cash. He tells me he'll have it on Friday, and I stress to him that it's rather important. At this point, he owes me something like $800, and I've got a family. I come in on Frday, and he doesn't have the cash, but says that he'll get it to me in the early afternoon after he runs some errands and stops by the bank.

The afternoon rolls around, 2:30 to be exact (remember, the bank closes at 3), and I ask if he's got the cash. "No," he says, "but let me get my stuff together and we'll go right now." Well, right now turned into about 20 minutes of preparation to leave. After the drive to the bank in our seperate vehicles, we find the place to be closed and he pulls into the ATM lane.

He pulls around to where I'm parked and hands me $200 and says "Sorry, that's all I can get from the ATM in one shot." In response, I tell him, "look, I can't keep this up. Either I need paid, or I need to spend this time looking for something that will."

Here's the money shot: "Hey!" he says in an indignified tone, "I'm not your fucking bank, got it?!" My response was to inform him that if there wasn't the remainder of my money on my desk on Monday, I was walking. I got in on Monday, my money was there, but I walked anyways 'cause I was so disgusted by that point.

Poetic justice: that Monday that I walked, and that entire week, he was out of town. I sent him my resignation via email, but something was wrong with his internet while he was out of town, so he didn't even know that his one and only developer (read: his only revenue stream) had quit until a week after the fact. He kept leaving these angry "Why don't you return my calls?" voice mails on my cell. Those were classic.