Recently, the do-gooders have decided to turn their sights on “bullying” in their unending quest to make the world a safer place.
These are tough times for bullies. It used to be that the bully served an important purpose in life. If there hadn’t been any bullies, my dad would have never taught me how to box, and how to use the old one-two.
I remember those nine pound gloves making my hands droop, while my dad landed hooks and jabs and yelled “keep those hands up!”
I did get pretty good with the gloves, but whenever I got into a fight, I could never get the other kid to wear them.
But now, the bullies are the victims. They are under intense pressure from all sides to cease and desist from their natural behavior. They are in fact being bullied themselves.
When another kid beats up a bully, he is an instant hero. But is he just another bully?
Did you ever stop to think that most bullies have learned from how they themselves have been mistreated? Kids who are bullies have often been beaten down at home.
A bully is just trying to even things up. In math class, the nerd gets straight As, while the bully sits at the back of the room with a C minus. Every time that nerd gets another 100, the bully feels it as plainly as a hard kick to the groin. So when class is out, who can blame him for smacking that nerd around a little bit? Hell, it’s the American way.
(Incidentally, I was once a bully, but I used to get straight As and kick their ass on the playground. That’s still how I roll.)
There used to be at least one bully in every neighborhood. The best fights I ever saw were when two of them met up after school for a knockdown dragout.
The best thing about having bullies was that they prepared young folks for what life was going to be like when they got older.
Even if they manage to put every bully on some kind of pill to keep him down, there are still going to be plenty of bullies in the adult world. We’ve all worked for the bully boss, who treats his best employees like dirt, takes advantage in every way, and never has a kind word. Many of us have encountered rogue police officers who treat every civilian like a felon or behave unprofessionally in the line of duty. There are idiots driving big trucks who will run you off the road to save five seconds.
We’ve all encountered sales persons who try to bully you into buying their product. The credit bureaus bully you into paying each bill on time. The alarm clock bullies you out of bed in the morning. The traffic cop bullies you into driving slower than you’d like to. The government bullies you into paying taxes. The culture of bullying runs very deep, and permeates every aspect of our lives.
We are all bullies who live in a nation that was founded by bullies. Indians were bullied out of their land from day one, and nothing has changed since then.
I believe zero-tolerance for bullying is going too far. Bullies should at least have the right to occasionally blow off steam, especially when the situation calls for it.
Crybabies, pansies, and mamas boys can often benefit from a good stomping. It makes them stronger and more pragmatic. They don’t feel so entitled afterwards, and perhaps it makes them less likely to grow up and become a whiny little sissy boy.
There used to be some degree of prestige in being the bully of a certain street, school, or neighborhood. The bully received a level of respect from everyone, including the adults.
If you had trouble with a bully, you would learn to defend yourself, or get an older brother or cousin to step in and teach the bully a lesson. That’s how things were handled.
But these days the cops are called, an arrest is made, and it goes in front of a judge.
Once that happens, there is a police record, and some “counseling” may be ordered by the court. Counseling is the worst thing that can happen to a kid. Have you noticed that all of the young people who have ever done really horrible things had received counseling? There is something about counseling that turns a kid into a monster, and any form of counseling should be avoided at all costs.
If for no other reasons than that of diversity and tolerance, we should leave bullies alone.
Don’t join in the crowd of anti-bully bullies. Picking on bullies is just wrong. GATOR
