collect the whole set! (of vertebrae, that is – a throwback)

Author: sean M Published: January 10, 2013 0 comments edit

it will come as a surprise to few that i wasn’t very popular in high school…

…for the bulk of my readers, who went to larger schools, let me give a bit of an illustration:

you know that group of kids that just didn’t fit in? listened to “weird” music? had “odd” hair? dressed a bit (note: a LOT) different than everybody else? well, when you get into smaller schools that group shrinks proportionately. and in my high school? that group was just me.

so, needless to say, i got picked on a bit. towards the end there by my own peer group as the closest i had to like-minded folk decided to assimilate into the masses for the sake of fitting in, although i didn’t. these things happen.

it’s part of the reason i have “friends” from high school, but outside of JAB you don’t hear them mentioned too often. again, these things happen.

was i “bullied” in high school? or junior high? i don’t know about all that – i was picked on for sure, but due to the fact i’ve never been “petite” i don’t think i was ever bullied proper. at least not in the “beaten up” sense of the word. but otherwise? most definitely.

which is why i don’t get this latest anti-bullying bullshit. not that i support the bullies, i’m just sayin’; do we really need ad campaigns? government task forces? fuckin’ seriously?

tell your kid not to be a pussy.

i was picked on and turned out fine. i even run into the people that used to fuck with me now and all is cool – not ’cause i suck up to them, or vice versa, but because we’re all fuckin’ ADULTS now and realize we were stupid kids then. we didn’t need a PSA to tell us – just time.

and at the time? it’s just kids being kids.

kids are mean, and harsh, and shitty – don’t suppress it in them or it’ll just come out later in even worse ways, i assure you. not that i’m FOR bullying per say, but it does stand to reason that a little hazing ain’t a bad thing. builds character, my mom used to say. from where i’m standing it builds backbone. it drives you. so when their little parents will jump out and defend them – but what happens when the kids, as a result, never learn to stick up for themselves? where are you gonna be when a boss is shitty to them out of college? or a guy in a bar when they’re in their early thirties and still single ’cause nobody wants the spineless little bastard? i’m not saying “let’s raise up a generation of assholes”, but let’s raise up a generation that can, at the very least, fend for themselves…

…and start keeping score at their games again. if your kids a fucking loser, no need to sugar-coat it…the world will tell him as an adult, and it’s gonna shock the fuck out of him. next thing you know he’s got a gun and lots of ammo and…