What you're about to read is NOT a sob story by any means. Just throwing that out there...
Oh, where to start, y'all, where to start? Lemme lead off by discussing the story I heard about a few days ago. An ex-Mairine, I forget his name, was going along just doing his own thing when he saw a group of three young guys bullying a fourteen year old boy in broad daylight. Being the Good Samaritan that he was, he rushed over to the commotion to break it up and save the kid any more grief that was already caused him. But that wasn't enough for these pricks, as they then turn their aggression on the Marine, to the point of driving him unconscious, breaking a bone in his face near his eye, in the process. The Marine had to have stitches put in his head and his face was severely swollen as a result. Thankfully, the Marine came away from the whole ordeal with no further injuries, and is expected to make a full recovery. Even better, his attempts at saving the boy were not in vain, as he was spared as well. This Marine has been deemed a hero in his town, and well-deserved, if you asked me. And if you're wondering, the three young men responsible for this attack were arrested and they now face charges of aggravated assault, normally a misdemeanor. Those charges were bumped up to felonies due to the severity of the Marine's injuries. Now, you ask, where does this all lead? Well lemme continue before I go into this tirade of mine...
For the past year, maybe more, the WWE has been on something called the "B.A. Star Campaign," to raise awareness of bullying in schools across the nation. On paper, it's an excellent idea, and I wish something like this was being done while I was in school, or even members of my family as they went to school as well. It's an anti-bullying movement, encouraging tolerance and respect among all students, and forgiveness and understanding of bullies as they change their ways. I'm sorry, but that last part, to me, is a complete and total load of SHIT. As some of my friends and most all of my family may know, I was bullied pretty much from Kindergarten all the way up to my High School graduation, to some degree, in some shape or form. Here's just a few examples of the things I've had to deal with throughout those years...
- Age 9, my left hip joint became horribly inflamed to the point where I could barely walk. I refused to miss school that day, and as a result, my biggest bully in my Third Grade class noticed I was limping throughout the day, tripped me, and as I was down kicked me straight in the thigh. As a result, I spent four days in the hospital.
- Age 14, as I was walking to the bus to head home, someone poured barbecue sauce down the back of a leather jacket I was wearing. A jacket that was given to me by my (now dead) grandfather. I could have kept that jacket for years, and even now to this day, but because of that, I had to toss it.
- Age 16, I came back from a class to my locker, only to find that the lock was cut, my locker broken into, all of my stuff strewn throughout the hallway, and my school books stolen. I went to the principal at the school, but nothing was done about it.
- Age 17, an old bully that I had when I was still in 8th grade came back to terrorize me some more, as he was still pissed off at me after three years for kicking his ass when he tried to bully me the first time. It got to the point to where he threatened me by saying that he was going to get his friends together to beat me to the point of being put on life support, and then break into my hospital room to pull the plug. This was the ONE time that something was actually done, as my principal and grandparents put their heads together and put a restraining order on the son of a bitch.
- Here's my personal favorite..."You should kill yourself so everyone else can have better lives." I heard that last one ALL THE TIME.
I was bullied for many things in my life. For being scrawny. For being a nice guy. Because I didn't like sports. Because I'm a wrestling fan. Because I'm WHITE. Because I wasn't country enough. Because I never took drugs. Because I read comic books. Most people don't realize how debilitating bullying really is, not just in the past, but now as well. I never felt safe going to school, and it really wasn't til my Senior year that it all pretty much just faded away. As a result of all these incidents and more, my confidence level suffered, and it still does to this day. Bullying crippled my self esteem, and I've only just recently started getting it back at the age of 33. I've suffered years of depression as a result, and I'm happy to say I've beaten that too. There wasn't a single day that I actually looked forward to going to school, and graduating in 1998, to that point, was the best day of my life. I left my very own hometown of Caldwell, Ohio, when my heart KNEW that I should stay, just because I was afraid, sometimes, literally, for my life. Now I know, that people change since years of going to school, and I understand that, but there are some that don't change no matter what. And that would be every single person out there who has ever been a bully in their lives.
There are three types of people that I have absolutely no respect or tolerance for, and that's murderers, rapists, and bullies. And what I'm about to say right now may be unpopular, may even be wrong in some cases, but I really don't care at this point. If you are, or ever were a bully in your life, at any time, for any reason, you're a piece of shit. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. The things you do to others can drive people to some serious depths. These things force others to live in fear, and there is no person that should ever live in fear for ANY reason, for ANY given amount of time. Children, past, present, and future, deserve to be carefree, to actually BE kids, and not EVER have to ask themselves, "How many times am I going to get my ass kicked today?" or "How is my life going to be a living hell today?" No reason, no one, EVER. I didn't have that luxury. My family growing up, they always did their best to protect me, but when school was in session, forget it. There was nothing they could do Monday through Friday, for 6 to 7 hours a day. Bullies, past and present, I have absolutely no respect for whatsoever, and nothing anyone in this world can convince me any different. I know that some past bullies would confront their victims years later begging for their forgiveness, but if that ever happened to me, I would tell them, "You want forgiveness? Pray to God, 'cuz you're not gonna get it with me." And if something like that ever were to happen, I would more than likely give them the worst beating of their lives like I should have in the past. The things I've endured in the past I have never been able to forgive, and I never will. I'm not even going to try. For the last thing those bullies, or any bully in the world deserves, is forgiveness.
- Miller
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