CONTUMELY

April 16, 2010

Contumely
\kän-‘tä-me-le\ n : harsh language or treatment arising from haughtiness and contempt; also : an instance of such language or treatment*

I really don’t like pestering people for money. However within the past two years, my motto has become “times are hard,” and if I am owed a certain amount for whatever services I may have rendered, I am entitled. I will never forget one of my most nightmarish jobs right out of college. It was for a woman whose head was everywhere except where it needed to be which was developing a sound structure for the organization she was in charge of and getting her new assistant (me) well acclimated to my job responsibilities.
In a total of four weeks, I had only worked for her twice and at the end of November, I knew it was over. It, (for my sanity) had to be. I sent her two copies of my resignation letter and a copy of the hours that I had worked. I expected my money in full and for the both of us to carry on with our lives (hers however dysfunctional it may have been, mine considerably less) and that would have been the end of the story…hey, I never said I wasn’t naïve.
Three months later, I still had not received my money and was peeved beyond belief. I decided to become a pest. Lord knows, I had mastered this trait in other circumstances. After several voicemails and emails, I was left a nasty message from my former boss; her contumely obvious. I was not deterred from my goal and three weeks later, I received my money in full. As unpleasant as that scenario was, I learned something valuable; as nasty as people can be and even if you get cursed out, fighting for what’s right never gets old.

*letter “e” is upside down, creating sound of “uh”