Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Bullies #1

As a kid I was bullied a lot and the bullies usually succeeded in getting me scared and upset. But here's one incident when I handled the situation well.
One summer day a girl pushed me down on the sidewalk and sat on my chest. Nobody else was around so I had no help.
She raised her fist to punch me in the face, which scared me, but for some reason I reacted differently than usual. Even while terrified, I felt sorry for her. Instead of crying or begging her not to hit me I calmly explained that nobody in school liked her because she was a bully and suggested if she treated people nicely she would have some friends.
"I don't care if they like me as long as I can beat them up," she replied. But she stood up, walked away, and never bothered me again.
Sometimes turning the other cheek really does work.
That girl moved away soon afterwards so I don't know if she ever took my advice or not, but I hope she did.

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