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Topic: Bullies (08/09/04)
TITLE: Bully for Better and for Worse By Beatrice Ang 08/10/04 |
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The first time I met Dar, I didn't exactly pay him much attention. He was, in my puny mind, just another person in this large and miserable world. I had this thing against big people, though, since I was absurdly small for my age. I walked with my hair covering my face all the time, with my feet dragging soundlessly on the cold hard cement. I was afraid of this world, so I did my best to hide by becoming a---there's no other word for it---nerd.
Unfortunately, little did I know that the abominable monsters I feared so much were less than friendly to 'weird' people who lived in their own little worlds.
Dar, apparently, was one of those bullies...and it was in my fourth grade that I experienced the worst torture in my entire life. I was literally moved to tears as I wallowed in loneliness and pathetic self pity.
It wasn't the beatings I feared---even though Dar once or twice nearly broke my fingers...it was the verbal torture that hurt me the most. I had always been sensitive to what other people said about me, and though I tried hard not to care, I still cried myself to sleep at night.
Because of one bully, my view on people was distorted. I began to hate human beings and I began to regard them as the source of pain and destruction.
That was many years ago. Now, as I look back to those days, I begin to ponder exactly why there are people who delight in making others cry. In simpler words, why do bullies even exist?
I had the chance of meeting Dar again just a few days ago. Obviously, we've both grown up a lot...both physically and spiritually. I asked him why he used to torture me back then and needless to say, I was quite delighted to see him so abashed and guilty.
He scratched at the back of his head, and with an apologetic grin replied: "It's quite juvenile, yes, but picking on losers is fun when you're the king of the playground."
I was glad my sister was there to hold me back...