when you have a history of being bullied, it becomes harder to just laugh it off when someone insults you.
when you have a history of being bullied, it becomes harder to just laugh it off when someone insults you.
The sad thing about this is that some of those who were so badly bullied are now even worse bullies themselves because they could not or would not break the cycle. I got bullied myself when I was younger and I do try to NOT wreak the same havoc on others but that does not stop them from wreaking said havoc on others.
For a while we had a bit of a bully climate from some here … I’m glad to see that it is slowly changing towards the better recently.
I was bullied for a time when I was school, had an adolescent weight problem. It turned out to really mold me into a better person, I believe. I ended up in a few fights around the 7th-8th grades and by the 9th, I had respect from everyone, not respect by fear, but a respect by being stand up and never backing down. I ended up using this reputation to lift up people and protect others. It ended up being a career, I particularly enjoyed turning the tables on bullies as a cop. I once caught some teens bullying a poor kid and I proceeded to dress them down in almost drill sergeant fashion and they were so scared of me they couldn’t do anything about it. One later approached me and thanked me, made him “see the light” so to speak.
whenever I tried to stand up for myself, I always ended up making a fool of myself. It never worked.
Don’t let it bother you, some folks are just more adept at confrontation than others. You’re a good big hearted guy who is naturally gentle, so it would be hard for you. I wished I’d known you back then, I think we’re about the same age, other than living in two totally different worlds (Texas vs. New Jersey) we grew up in sort of the same era. I’m 37 now, btw. Being the 7th generation Texan and a 2nd generation Cop, it kinda came natural for me to be a scrapper and to have an iron will against any form of tyranny, even the miniature tyrants that are bullies.
I’m a few very years older than you, but we grew up in the same era. It might have helped if you were there.