Oh, here's another shitty sports/gym related school story.

[LuckyCharms]

For some reason, these memories are flooding back to me today. Kind of bizarre.

This happened in Jr. High, so it was probably 8th or 9th grade (Where I live, you didn't start at the high school until 10th grade, so 9th grade was still Jr. high).

I was fairly popular at school, but I didn't hang out with the jocks, so I wasn't popular with them. They barely knew who I was. I only participated on the track team. I did not play football or baseball, and I didn't wrestle. I wasn't very notable on the track team, but I didn't suck either. I always seemed to come in 4th...about the middle of the pack...always.

I was not an athlete, but I was strong. I was thin, and had a good 6 pack. But you know...nobody would really know that because I didn't play the tougher sports.

They used to have this thing in gym class. It was a competition for something called, I think, "The President's Council on Physical Fitness" or something close to that.

You would team up with a buddy and do these exercises, and the person who did the best would get a certificate (I think) for that particular exercise.

Well, I could do sit ups all day. In the sit up competition, your buddy would hold your ankles and would count out how many you did. I did some ridiculous number of sit ups, and we reported that number to the gym teacher. I won the competition and got the certificate or whatever. Problem was, the jocks didn't believe I did that many. NO WAY DID HE DO THAT, NO WAY. The gym teacher told them..."well, I was kinda of watching him, and he was going at a pretty good clip". Didn't matter. About 5 of those guys were so pissed that they cornered me and beat the shit out of me right in the gym with kicks and body blows while the gym teacher ignored it, because you know...jock pride or something.

I can't imagine any of this shit being tolerated these days. There would be lawsuits flying left and right. To this day, I still cringe when seeing one of those "bully movies" where some kid is getting beat up.

Fucking school, man.

[msongs]

1. one suspects this sort of thing still happens on a regular basis nt

[smirkymonkey]

2. How awful!

I'm so sorry that happened to you. And I can't believe the gym teacher ignored it. What the hell is wrong with people?

I hope the people who did this are looking back on this with regret and remorse. Bullies are the worst. I think that is why Trump triggers so many people.

[The Figment]

3. I hear ya

When I was in high school I was the skinny kid that always was the target for dodgeball, lacrosse, anything that was a contact sport, you know it sucked big time.
My high school didn't have enough gym space to accommodate all the kids each semester so for one semester each year they took some of us to the bowling alley across from the school to free up enough space but what they didn't know (classmates or gym staff) is that I come from a family of big time old school bowlers, my Dad and uncles competed in the Long Island Newsday Tournament every year and all worked in bowling alleys as teenagers.
They competed in the Semi-Pros and were really good so needless to say I got lots of bowling in from the time I could pick up a ball...it was expected of us kids.
When I walked into the alley wearing a Newsday shirt with a Pro ball (Brunswick Black Diamond) my own shoes and bag I had a big shit eating grin on my face,and they never knew what hit them, big football types barely rolling low 100's while the class geek was killing them with 190's to low 200's.

Most fun I had with those jocks!

[Kali]

4. PE sucked

I hated it.

[Harker]

5. You seem haunted lately. n/t

[LuckyCharms]

6. Yes. n/t

[Harker]

10. Please remember

when reminiscing about past abuses how much you're appreciated here and now.

[LuckyCharms]

11. Aw, thanks a lot, Harker.

I appreciate you saying that.

I had some experiences being abused by bullies, but I also have some great memories from my childhood. The level of my abuse was virtually nothing when compared to the experiences of some other people. I remember at some point, I learned how to deal with them. I know that a lot of people will disagree with this, but I found that fighting back made the the problem go away. I almost always still got beat up when I fought back, but when bullies see that you won't put up with their crap, they don't mess with you anymore.

[Harker]

17. The first time I belted my old man

was the last time laid a hand on me.

I was 10... and fed up.

[Generic Brad]

7. I'm so sorry that happened to you

I’ve been bullied in different periods of my life in a variety of settings - school, family, work. When the group culture condones it and when those in a position to act abdicate their responsibility or actively participate it can be overwhelming.

You are not alone. Many of us have been through similar hells. I know that however old I get there will be stories or things that will bring it all back with immediacy for me. I understand why you’re feeling that way.

[True Dough]

8. It's too bad you didn't

bump into Mr. Miyagi on the way home from school that day. Could have changed your life forever.

[DFW]

9. Remember the film "Revenge of the Nerds?"

It was funny and over the top and dated, but I'm betting the guys who wrote the screen play experienced exactly what you did when they were in high school or college. I sensed an undercurrent of anger in some guys who longed for some real revenge in the script of that movie.

[LuckyCharms]

12. I loved that movie!

I think I went twice to the theater to see it. That's the one "Booger" was in I think. hahaha

[DFW]

16. That's the one

I saw it as a recommended rental-- and then several times. I was one of the "Nerds" at Andover--a first year senior who didn't fit in from day one (Bush Sr. and Junior went there, so no wonder!). Then there was the fraternity scene in college, never even tried to join--not my kind of people (nothing against those who did, just not my style--to each his own).

[ProudLib72]

13. I did in the upper 70s per minute

Yes, I remember that particular exercise. I had to count for myself because I was going too fast for the person holding my ankles to count. Didn't get a certificate for it, though, so nobody tried to beat me up.

[hunter]

14. I was regularly beaten bloody in middle and high school.

Quitting high school for college was one of the better decisions I've ever made even though I got a lot of heat for it, mostly I guess from people who thought high school was one of the best times of their lives.

I later returned to teach, imagining it would be a Welcome Back Kotter kind of experience, instead it was the most difficult job I've ever had, and I could change nothing. The school simply didn't have the resources to deal with the social problems of the community. I was ready to leave when my wife, a fellow teacher, was accepted to graduate school in another state.

Teachers who survive are 1) highly energetic saints, 2) the best "moms" and "dads" some children will ever know, 3) the total burnouts who control their classrooms by boring their students into a total stupor, and 4) the control freak creeps.

The control freak creeps should be fired but they usually have some sort of carefully cultivated political connections by being the coaches of winning football teams, spouses of school board members, or holy rollers of the community's dominant religion.

I remember supposedly responsible adults telling me I wouldn't be bullied if I would "be a man." As a skinny, squeaky, highly reactive autistic spectrum kid that wasn't going to happen.

I grew nearly a foot taller after high school. A couple of years ago I returned to my home town to attend funeral of a classmate. A couple of guys who had bullied me in middle and high school were there as his coworkers. None of them recognized me, and I made no effort to introduce myself. I'd long escaped that hell.

I feel sort of sad for people who never leave home to find their place in the world. My parents did, my siblings did, my grandparents did, my own kids did... And it's the same in my wife's family.

I understand going home again, but I don't understand never leaving.

[Coventina]

15. PE is state sponsored terrorism. I mean it.