Ooh! Bullying is one of my favourite rant subjects...It makes me crazy mad!!
But they don't always win, and no-one who has ever tried bullying me has succeeded.
From my earliest memories in school I felt absolute rage when I saw bullies picking on the poor kids or the kids with alcoholic parents, etc, and as I
quite enjoyed fighting myself, I found a niche market to justify violence/defense to teachers/my parents, while being happy that I helped out students
less advantaged than me.
I wasn't the 'hardest' in my school years by a long shot, but I was known as a psycho who really just wasn't worth the effort. I remember taking out
four 16 year old bullies when I was aged 12 with a handy fire extinguisher next to me on the school wall I was backed into. I shouted at them that
killing me was the only way to stop me getting each of them on their own if they tried it again, yes, a bit psycho, but hey, it worked, I was left
alone.
Nobody bullied fellow students if I was around as I'd just leap excitedly into the fight on the victims behalf, I loved a good fight even if I lost
and got kicked unconscious, and that has happened a few times in my life.
My secondary school (high school) headteacher really liked me as he knew I could always present a good 'reasonable force' situation and that I fought
only bullies, helping to 'police' the violent environment out of sight of his staff...and in the sink-hole housing estate I lived in there were many
violent bullies causing problems in his school.
I've also always tackled bullying in the workplace, from cruel verbal attacks, to physical violence and intimidation, or managers humiliating fellow
workers. In my experience it is fear alone which bullies thrive on, the fear people have which stops them standing up to them.
I worked in an industrial setting some years ago and the workers lived in fear of a big dude fellow worker who 'ruled' the site. He'd take their food
off them, push them around physically, and use vile acidic insults.
He tried it with me on my first day and I told him with an untroubled laugh that I was happy to have a fight either now at work or off site after we
clocked off, or we could just stay out of each others way...there was no fear in my eyes, so he chose to stay away from me. I pulled him up on his
bullying in the food hut one day though when he was picking on one of the weaker guys there, 20 other workers watching in silence and I was the only
one to stand up. It was a sad moment when I realised then in that room those guys were even scared as a combined group. Long story short, words were
exchanged, bully stormed out after backing down to me in front of them, other workers shamed into backing each other up, and bully changed behaviour,
result.
I used to work a frontline welfare job and threats to kill or beat me were so common I only reported them so
when I would meet them on the
street it would help my defense with an official record backing my story up.
Classic lines:
Bully client: I'll find out where you live
Me: I know where you live
Bully client: I'll get you when you finish work
Me: Cool, I should be out the door at 5pm we'll meet round the corner
Everyone who threatened me at some point 'bumped into me' in the street and backed down in fear, or lost the fight. As I said, I grew up in a rough
arse estate where violence was commonplace, and if I'm going to hve a beating I'll always rather take it now than ever be in a situation of having to
look after my shoulder in fear. Nah, that's not my thing, and it never will be.
Fear is all that ever lets a bully win, and I fear being a meek, controlled human
more than any beating, job-loss, or whatever. Even while
about to be kicked unconscious I have shouted "That the best you got? You cowardly bunch of pussys Blah Insult" - and even then, the bullies still
lost because they couldn't beat fear into me as I mocked them - Nope, bullies do not always win, but when they do it is fear which wins it for
them.
Good rant topic OP, thanks
edit on 1Mon, 20 Oct 2014 13:01:11 -0500pm01102014f11pm10 by grainofsand because: Typo, 'scool' to
'school'