Tell me... He has two kids, and it was a very small company. The trick was, I think he figured he would pay you the least amount he could to make you comfortable. Just enough to keep you from leaving.

Another story, same company:
When I was hired on, I accepted a low salary based on the fact that I was to get a 10% raise fter my 6 mos. probation was over. At that time I was also to be eligible for the profit sharing program. At the end of six months, They cut me a check for profit sharing. Two days later the boss came to me and said "We didn't mean to include you in the profit sharing, but we'll give you a choice. Take the check now, and defer the raise for another 6 mos., or take the raise and give back the check"

Well, I needed the immediate money, and I did the math and the numbers were almost identical, so I took the check. After 6 more months, we were in a staff meeting and he said "Well, the company is doing well, so everybody gets a 5% raise." Now, to me, I should be getting a 16% raise. 10% and then 5% on top of that. Nope, I only got the promised 10%. When I asked him about it later, the response was "Come on Mason, you're already making out like a bandit" At that point, I started looking for another job.