This is the no bully zone. Post your non bullying stuff here.

[LaurenG]

(ripped from Tav in GD). I think bullies are just powerless people looking for a way to feel powerful by being mean. So post your most supportive messages here!

[dawg]

1. I still hold grudges against people who were bullies in elementary school.

I know that is wrong of me, but I can't help it. And maybe those guys are now great guys who could be really good friends with me. But I still have hurt feelings.

[LaurenG]

2. I know the feeling. My ex was a bully in a cops uniform

but I know that he was just a powerless kid inside. He's a crazy rightwinger now, and he can't imagine how much he's missing out on due to his fear and closed mind.

I'm sorry you were bullied. You know that if your life as a child had been a movie we would have all been on your side rooting for you! :hug:

[dawg]

5. Thanks, but I really wasn't bullied all that much.

Mostly, I fought back, took my beating, but they never bothered me again. This one guy really go under my skin though. He was a year older, bigger, stronger, etc. By high school, he was still taller than me but I easily outweighed him. We had not interacted in years, and he kind of pushed me out of the way getting in line to board a bus. Probably meant nothing by it, but I shoved the hell out of him and pushed ahead. Did it without thinking. Just a visceral reaction. He probably thought "wtf?" Probably had no idea i still had resentment.

Flash forward and we are in our early 40's. Do I still have resentment? I don't know. I would be suspicious that, deep down, they guy is still an ass, even though, by all accounts he seems to be a nice guy.

Go figure.

No, if they were to make a movie about my life, these are the years they would focus on. How dawg got his groove back. ;) Either that or, dawgs relentless slide into monastic hermithood.

[revolution breeze]

3. One bully from high school really got to me.

Then at our 10 year class reunion, he was balding, single and working as a mechanics assistant (he had "wandered" after not being picked up by the NUL or the local college or even the local community college and washing out of boot camp). Twenty five year reunion, completely bald, 50+ pounds overweight, still single and moved back in with mom. I was afraid to ask him if he still had the Pinto he drove in high school (afraid he would say yes).

[LaurenG]

4. lol! I think this is who they all are! nt

[dawg]

6. I think ...

when we are able to pity them, we truly have our revenge. :evilgrin:

[RKP5637]

12. LOL And sounds typical... bullies are generally people lacking in many aspects of

life...

[struggle4progress]

7. Sadly, many of the folk who bullied me when we were kids are dead now

I suppose a long yarn about a rash of unsolved murders would be exciting Lounge material, but the reality is much more mundane: several died of alcoholism-related problems, like severe cirrhosis of the liver

Their lives were unhappy from early on. I wish I myself had been a more insightful kid ...

[Deep13]

8. Well, they're not powerless to everyone...

...otherwise they would not be bullies.

[LaurenG]

9. I guess I mean not self empowered.

they try to gain power by bullying others.

[femmocrat]

10. It is encouraging how much schools are doing today to prevent bullying, and

to deal with those who bully. I know it's not enough, because bullies operate in the hidden corners, but we have come a long way from when I first started teaching.

On edit: I don't think I was ever really bullied except for those catty girls who were "just jealous". At least that is what my mother told me!

[AsahinaKimi]

11. I used to

Get bullied a lot on IMVU. Its a 3 dimensional chat, where your avatars interact with other avatars. In the early days, there were no public chat rooms, so you would invite or be invited by random people to a chat room.



Often times you would find you invited a very violent person who would proceed to kick, punch, slap or even body slam and stomp you to the chat room floor. One quickly learned to leave the room, with the hopes of finding someone new. Hopefully it would be someone who would be nice, and would genuinely try and make friends with you. If not, they would leave, and you would bring in new random visitors.



Later when Public chat rooms were allowed, people still were harassed in public places by people who thought it was "fun" to go and bully someone. I eventually created my own public chat room and
made it clear that anyone who touched someone without permission or who bullied someone, would be booted from the room, and in extreme cases were banned.

I never understood why IMVU.com would allow Avatars the chance to use violence against other avatars. I could see it, had it been a game of combat, but this was simple chat. Plus the violence against female members was on the rise. IMVU came up with its own protection for people, but you had to be a VIP member to get it. People have complained to management that this was not fair however, IMVU saw this as a opportunity to bulk up on new VIP members and ignored the requests to make "protection" a option for everyone.

[tigereye]

15. that's fascinating- people trying to act out those impulses that would be

pretty much unacceptable elsewhere. (well, unless it's a Fight Club- type virtual chatroom, I guess.)

[cherokeeprogressive]

13. I ran into my elementary/jr. high school bully not too long ago...

We recognized each other immediately. He was more than nice, even offered me his spot in the checkout line at the Costco we were in. I declined.

Back in the day he towered over me, outweighed me, and just pretty much intimidated me into doing whatever he wanted... He pretty much terrorized me as a kid, and was even a neighbor of mine.

Today, I'm 6'0", 230 lbs, and have some seriously broad shoulders. Him? He must have stopped growing at an early age because he's about 5'6", skinny, and just generally mousy.

Karma didn't just bite him, it fucked him.

I did the right thing though. I walked with him out to the parking lot, and when he started to struggle with the TV he just bought, I said "here, let me get that for you". I wanted to wink at his wife, but decided against it.

I would have given anything in the world to hear what he told his wife about me when they were alone in their car.

[Generic Brad]

14. We're good enough.

We're smart enough. And, doggone it, people like us.

[gvstn]

16. I say keep your head up and don't let them change you.