I'm straight and I was bullied in grade school.
Last edited Sat May 12, 2012, 12:57 AM - Edit history (1)
To give you a little background, my father took off in the Spring of 1962 a couple of months before my 7th birthday. I was in the hospital at the time having just had my tonsils taken out. No great shakes normally, but my sister and I were severe bleeders. When my sister had hers out around 1950, she damn near bled to death. The only reason I didn't was because my parents warned the doctors.
While I was in the hospital, my father told my mother that he was going on a retreat, flew down to Alabama for a quickie divorce, flew out to LA and was married to my step-mother before my mother even knew that she was divorced. Given the terms of his Alabama divorce, my father was technically a bigamist and my mom could have put his ass in jail whenever she pleased. Since this was the early 60s, a "deadbeat dad" was called an "up & coming take no prisoners young business executive".
In 1962, Irish Catholics DID NOT get divorces. Any divorced woman was automatically considered to be a "hot to trot hoochie mama".
I tell you this to set up what happened to me. When I was in Catholic schools, nuns would occasionally make the snide remarks that for the longest time I didn't understand. From about 4th grade I was called names (including some hateful homophobic terms that we all know and that I won't repeat). I had some verbal fights and arguments because I would always talk back. The worst offender was an asshole in my 5th grade class named "clint" (fictional name, changed to protect the shit head that I haven't seen since 1970).
"clint" liked to constantly needle and nag me about my "dead father" & "slut mother". At recesses and lunch and on the way to and from school, he and his cronies were on me constantly! There were only a few sporadic physical scuffles, but I was always being verbally badgered and tortured. I had a level of hatred in my heart that no child should have ever had.
The blow up came during this awful tradition that Catholic schools had at the time called the May Procession. We were all lined up by size and side by side. As we were walking the route to the church, "clint" was behind me over my right shoulder. The SOB wouldn't stop badgering me about, you guessed it, my "dead father" & "slut mother". My mother's boyfriend took a photo as we were walking by. The look on my face was a look that I can only get when I am far and away beyond rage. My mother later told me that she almost crossed over to take me out of line then and there because she knew I was close to blowing.
Now I don't claim to be a particularly unique person, but what happened next is probably something very rare in the unstoried lore of the May Procession. I finally exploded going up the center aisle of the church. While there were 2000+ school children singing "Ave Maria", I turned around, jumped on "clint" and started to beat the living shit out of him. While the nuns were running toward be like a troop of black robed rambos, I was punching "clint's" face and banging his empty of anything but shit head against the side of the pew while calling him a "M***er F***er" at the top of my lungs.
The nuns, I'm sure with good reason, wanted to throw my ass out of the school. In their view, "clint" was a poor innocent victim who was going to get a totally free pass.
They didn't count on my mother. Believe me, you would never have wanted to have my ass after she got through with it that day, but she threatened to sue the school, the parish and the archdiocese if I was expelled and poor little "clint" got a pass after tormenting me for almost 2 school years. There was a meeting with the mother superior, the pastor, my mother and "clint's" parents. According to her, they were trying to browbeat and intimidate my mother into backing down. Eventually there was a compromise reached where it was agreed that we wouldn't be in the same class again and we were both under pain of expulsion if we associated at all for the rest of the time we were in school. For me, there was no loss in that. I always considered "clint" to be an asshole. I didn't care what his opinion of me was. My mother frequently told me, almost until the day she died, that I have a way of ignoring people that will make them feel as if they're being physically assaulted. I first learned how to do that as I completely ignored his very existence and drove him crazy.
I am not advocating violence here. I have respected my wife's wishes, even though I don't always agree with them, that I not teach our son to defend himself. It is a fact however, that once the bullies in my school knew that I was willing to knock their f***ing teeth in, they found a way to live with my the reality of my single parent family.
I wonder if some of the gay bashing bully assholes would have badgered some of these poor young gay people into suicide if even some of those children had broken the noses of their tormentors.
I do know this. When I see romney's phoniness about his conduct in high school, I see the same detestable type of human being as good ol' "clint". This is a man who seriously NEVER needs to be in any position of power.
If he was able to terrorize a weaker person with a pair of scissors and a posse of thugs, what the hell would he be capable of with the power to give the order to drop the bomb and the armed forces under his command?
I shudder.
"The first time someone shows you who they are, believe them" Maya Angelou.
I say again, you've shown me what you are, Mr. romney.
I say again, I believe you.
I say again, no thank you.
PEACE!
= new reply since forum marked as read
...please accept my condolances on the loss of your husband and your son's father. 
Unfortunately, I didn't know that. My son has never been bullied because of his race or for any other reason. He has been blessed in that way.
Do these womwn think that you're a slut if you go out to dinner with a gentleman occasionally (if you do that)? If you are a mom doing the best you can, these people need to lay the hell off!
Once again, my best wishes to your son and to you.
PEACE! 
My boy is 12, so I know what kids can be like. You always love them but you frequently want to kick their arses.
As someone who's been a man for almost 57 years, we men can be real asses at times, in fact, quite frequently! Most of those men probably got their views of women from the back rooms of the video store.
My mom, as most women of their time, thought that she had a long life as a housewife before her and that my father would take care of everything. She learned to be, as you said, one tough cookie. NOBODY messed with her or they didn't do it more than once. Many people were further shocked by her toughness since she was a very petite woman. SHE, along with 4 fabulous uncles, taught me more about being a man than my bastard of a father ever did.
Again, thank you for sharing.
PEACE!
...what a handsome man he was.
Again, ScreamingMeemie, please accept our best wishes for both your son and you.
BTW, Happy Mother's Day!
PEACE!
I was never particularly fond of the idea of being in the "in crowd" either.
BTW, my wife's best friend plays the flute in an orchestra. What do you play?
PEACE!
Some of the rich kids can be such shitheads.
One of them wants to be able to drop the bomb, too. 
PEACE!
BTW, LOVE the kitty! 
PEACE!
When my wife and I taught, we gave bukkies a very hard road to go.
One of the biggest pleasures I had was seeing the look of terror on a bully's face as he realized that he might just get bitch slapped by a GIRL! It didn't happen but I loved the look.
PEACE!
...the LAST thing we need is more of the same.
PEACE!
PEACE!
Bullies are so lame. you ARE better than they!
PEACE!
When my brother was in 11th grade and my sister in 9th something similar happened.
My brother is the type of self-righteous and annoying person who loved the movie "Ghandi" because it was about someone who was almost as holy as he.
When he was a junior, a senior linebacker from the football team was all up in my brother's face and was entertaining his audience by calling my bothr the slurs that gay people are always hearing even though he is straight. My 9th grade sister walked up and knocked the linebacker flat on his ass. 
I loved it. After that, nobody messed with either of them, but people would saythat they better leave my brother alone because "his little sister'll knock the shit out of you".
PEACE!
