I always want to and, sometimes do, write you comments that i dont send because though I like how your pieces make me think, im also pretty insecure! I'm also religious and though I agree mostly with your points, when i disagree on 1 or 2, I pause on posting, maybe because I'm over-sensitive or think i wont phrase myself as well as you, or maybe im tired like in writing this at 5am. Not sure why exactly,..
But anyway, just wanted to drop you a line to say that this story was so enjoyable and suspenseful, it helped me stop being afraid, not of you really, but I mean, of the bullies of the world like tRump. I liked this Ben Franklin quote,
"Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you."
I've known some Justins, but in my case they were Justines: The mean girls, the ones who did everything they could to diminish and destroy anyone they perceived as any kind of competition, whether physical or academic. Sadly, most of them never grew out of that ugly, adolescent stage and now they hang with the bullies but wear designer gowns, borrowed jewelry and attend state dinners.
Been there. Finally stood up in 8th grade and was a target. But my show of defiance was enough for me to gain the courage to continue to speak up. Did it stop the bullies, no. Did it make me popular or a hero, no. Could I like myself a little more because I did this, YES! And that is enough. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope more will stand up.
A riveting account. Great writing. Bullies are always acting out of weakness rather than strength. I wish I’d had your courage when dealing with bullies in middle school. I just cried like a girl lol.
A great novel that deals with bullying and its effects on a person as well as on society is Margaret Atwood’s “Cat’s Eye.” The protagonist stands up to her girl bullies and realizes how weak they are. When I taught this novel in high school English, it had a powerful effect: the girls had numerous stories about how they had been bullied in younger grades by mean girls.
Bullying is a horrible tendency in human nature that goes from the lowest to the highest levels of society.
I was really rooting for you and your lunchbox there, Walter. What courage and what a terrible shame that bullies are tolerated in so many places. If one small boy can stand up to them, why can't we all?
Another fantastic piece Walter. I am curious though those terrible bullies didn't get you, did they? I know that pain man I was bullied through high school. Sadly I never fought back but I admire how you stuck up for yourself and called them out on how they were behaving. When I worked in the Schools one thing I would also keep an extra eye out for are any signs of bullying as that is something that I have zero tolerance for knowing what I went through it as a kid and sadly sometimes even as an adult, there are people in our lives that take your weaknesses and use it as an advantage to bully you. Sadly also this is a behavior that is so rampant due to our current times I believe. Great piece. I enjoyed reading it, friend. Blessings. :)
The weird thing was that you could defy them in the moment and they wouldn't necessarily remember after a long weekend. I eventually started kicking them in the groin when they came after me. That put them right down. I never had to endure too many actually beatings, but there were a few.
Walter, your stories read like movies- I can see everything you describe. Is there a nonfiction book about your childhood in the future? Melba Beale’s Warriors don’t Cry comes to mind. Thank you for writing about micro events that reflect macro events.
Thank you Janet. I do have a manuscript that I read to my kids, but it needs some work. I'll probably just publish all those stories here on Substack. Big publishing doesn't have a place for me, but I'm doing well here. Thanks for the book suggestion, I'll put it on my list!
"He looked very much like the men we elect to political office."
Rather, he must have looked like whom most GOP voters elect into office, i.e.,for the most part, white male politicians.
It is important to make that distinction, and not normalize America's voters. Certainly, we have many right wingers, but Democratic voters (and there are many of us) are apt to vote for women and non-white politicians as well.
This is all of our problems now. This nonsense about “I didn’t vote for that guy” doesn’t achieve anything. When the histories are written, you’re not going to get an asterisk.
I compltely agree with you that it’s our problem now.
I would only suggest making right-wing voters more accoutable by calling them out for what their howling racism has done to degrate our country. (And I might further suggest acknowledging what America’s most progressive and sophisticated voters—the Black electorate, which has been the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades—have done to uplift our country.
Even “white billionaires” come in different packages. Democratic billionaires like Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Abigail Disney and others (e.g., “Patriotic Millionaires”) have been pleading to have their taxes raised.
We should consider that our bigger objective is to band together. It doesn't matter who made the mess. We've got to come together in a common goal and fix our country.
It DOES matter who made the mess. We need to be aware of the right-wing voting pattern since Civil Rights (e.g., the last time white voters gave ANY Democratic president their majority vote was in 1964, the year Trump graduated from high school). We need to understand what the white backlash against Civil Rights has been about.
Of course “our bigger objective is to band together,” as long as that objective isn’t to make the U.S. even more segregated than it is today. Because that’s the goal of most white American voters, and a significant percentage (although not a majority) of conservative lighter-skinned anti-Black racist POC voters.
Our common goal needs to be one of becoming more socially and culturaly evolved. To reach that goal would be easy if Democratic voters didn’t sit out elections as they tend to do (compared to Republican voters, who tend to stomp the polls). There are more of us Democrats out there, than Republicans.
We Democrats must band together by getting out the vote, or we’re apt to lose this privilege altogether. Because that, too, seems to be another one of the GOP’s “common goals.”
In order to find solutions to our common problem we would do well to be more specific about what to do.
Among other things, voting is right up there in importance. And not just voting, but voting for Democrats, the more progressive the better (but not voting third-party in presidential elections, as that ends up helping Republicans win).
I always want to and, sometimes do, write you comments that i dont send because though I like how your pieces make me think, im also pretty insecure! I'm also religious and though I agree mostly with your points, when i disagree on 1 or 2, I pause on posting, maybe because I'm over-sensitive or think i wont phrase myself as well as you, or maybe im tired like in writing this at 5am. Not sure why exactly,..
But anyway, just wanted to drop you a line to say that this story was so enjoyable and suspenseful, it helped me stop being afraid, not of you really, but I mean, of the bullies of the world like tRump. I liked this Ben Franklin quote,
"Make yourself sheep and the wolves will eat you."
Thank you Raney! Just keep posting and speaking. Everybody’s viewpoint needs to be heard.
Thank you, Walter! Will do!
I've known some Justins, but in my case they were Justines: The mean girls, the ones who did everything they could to diminish and destroy anyone they perceived as any kind of competition, whether physical or academic. Sadly, most of them never grew out of that ugly, adolescent stage and now they hang with the bullies but wear designer gowns, borrowed jewelry and attend state dinners.
It is an affliction that our society seems to fail to address. It's unfortunate.
Been there. Finally stood up in 8th grade and was a target. But my show of defiance was enough for me to gain the courage to continue to speak up. Did it stop the bullies, no. Did it make me popular or a hero, no. Could I like myself a little more because I did this, YES! And that is enough. Thank you for sharing your experience. I hope more will stand up.
Yup, that's the right way to look at it. You get to a point where you're willing to embrace any other life but the misery you have to endure.
A riveting account. Great writing. Bullies are always acting out of weakness rather than strength. I wish I’d had your courage when dealing with bullies in middle school. I just cried like a girl lol.
A great novel that deals with bullying and its effects on a person as well as on society is Margaret Atwood’s “Cat’s Eye.” The protagonist stands up to her girl bullies and realizes how weak they are. When I taught this novel in high school English, it had a powerful effect: the girls had numerous stories about how they had been bullied in younger grades by mean girls.
Bullying is a horrible tendency in human nature that goes from the lowest to the highest levels of society.
Kudos on vanquishing your bully.
I think it's become part of the American cultural identity. I know Atwood, but I haven't read that one. I'll have to look into it. Thank you!
Thanks for suggesting Cat’s Eye.
I was really rooting for you and your lunchbox there, Walter. What courage and what a terrible shame that bullies are tolerated in so many places. If one small boy can stand up to them, why can't we all?
We have to, even if it's just defiance. Thank you!
Another fantastic piece Walter. I am curious though those terrible bullies didn't get you, did they? I know that pain man I was bullied through high school. Sadly I never fought back but I admire how you stuck up for yourself and called them out on how they were behaving. When I worked in the Schools one thing I would also keep an extra eye out for are any signs of bullying as that is something that I have zero tolerance for knowing what I went through it as a kid and sadly sometimes even as an adult, there are people in our lives that take your weaknesses and use it as an advantage to bully you. Sadly also this is a behavior that is so rampant due to our current times I believe. Great piece. I enjoyed reading it, friend. Blessings. :)
The weird thing was that you could defy them in the moment and they wouldn't necessarily remember after a long weekend. I eventually started kicking them in the groin when they came after me. That put them right down. I never had to endure too many actually beatings, but there were a few.
Wow yeah me too sadly. I admire how you stood up to them though. You rock Walter. :)
Walter, your stories read like movies- I can see everything you describe. Is there a nonfiction book about your childhood in the future? Melba Beale’s Warriors don’t Cry comes to mind. Thank you for writing about micro events that reflect macro events.
Thank you Janet. I do have a manuscript that I read to my kids, but it needs some work. I'll probably just publish all those stories here on Substack. Big publishing doesn't have a place for me, but I'm doing well here. Thanks for the book suggestion, I'll put it on my list!
Wow! What a story! i wonder how Justin ended up as an adult.
Most of the people I graduated with are still in my home town. They didn't live happy lives.
"He looked very much like the men we elect to political office."
Rather, he must have looked like whom most GOP voters elect into office, i.e.,for the most part, white male politicians.
It is important to make that distinction, and not normalize America's voters. Certainly, we have many right wingers, but Democratic voters (and there are many of us) are apt to vote for women and non-white politicians as well.
I disagree.
This is all of our problems now. This nonsense about “I didn’t vote for that guy” doesn’t achieve anything. When the histories are written, you’re not going to get an asterisk.
We all have to solve the problem.
I compltely agree with you that it’s our problem now.
I would only suggest making right-wing voters more accoutable by calling them out for what their howling racism has done to degrate our country. (And I might further suggest acknowledging what America’s most progressive and sophisticated voters—the Black electorate, which has been the backbone of the Democratic Party for decades—have done to uplift our country.
Even “white billionaires” come in different packages. Democratic billionaires like Bill Gates, George Soros, Warren Buffett, Abigail Disney and others (e.g., “Patriotic Millionaires”) have been pleading to have their taxes raised.
We should consider that our bigger objective is to band together. It doesn't matter who made the mess. We've got to come together in a common goal and fix our country.
It DOES matter who made the mess. We need to be aware of the right-wing voting pattern since Civil Rights (e.g., the last time white voters gave ANY Democratic president their majority vote was in 1964, the year Trump graduated from high school). We need to understand what the white backlash against Civil Rights has been about.
Of course “our bigger objective is to band together,” as long as that objective isn’t to make the U.S. even more segregated than it is today. Because that’s the goal of most white American voters, and a significant percentage (although not a majority) of conservative lighter-skinned anti-Black racist POC voters.
Our common goal needs to be one of becoming more socially and culturaly evolved. To reach that goal would be easy if Democratic voters didn’t sit out elections as they tend to do (compared to Republican voters, who tend to stomp the polls). There are more of us Democrats out there, than Republicans.
We Democrats must band together by getting out the vote, or we’re apt to lose this privilege altogether. Because that, too, seems to be another one of the GOP’s “common goals.”
Our common goal is all our problem.
That's what I've been saying.
Yes, thank you. You’ve defined the problem.
In order to find solutions to our common problem we would do well to be more specific about what to do.
Among other things, voting is right up there in importance. And not just voting, but voting for Democrats, the more progressive the better (but not voting third-party in presidential elections, as that ends up helping Republicans win).