The blind eye to a bully

Physically, I'm not all that big or intimidating. I don't bully people that way. However, that does not translate to mean I am totally incapable of mistreating other humans. Quite the contrary. In other writings, I have previously recounted bits and pieces of one personal situation where I irritated, manipulated and cajoled one particular "adversary" to the point where he threatened to commit suicide on my front doorstep. The point of mentioning this is not to brag. I'm not proud of that moment in time, a personal nadir. Rather ashamed of myself, in fact. My only point in mentioning the story was to acknowledge the fact that I am perfectly capable of being a bully. And I know it. The question is, what should I do with that information? Now, in my defense, many would argue the person who threatened to kill himself because of my evil scheming was himself a thug and a supreme jerk, and "got what he deserved." Truthfully, it's not like I was picking a fight with Mother Teresa. However, that's no excuse. To make another human being feel so bad about himself that he claimed he wanted to die at my feet, because of my words, was not a good feeling. I had to ask myself, is the only way to deal with a bully to become a worse one? I think not. The incident in question was not a proud moment to remember from my personal history, precisely because in order to defeat what I hate most, I became what I abhor. A bully. Of someone several inches taller, and about fifty pounds heavier than me -- but as we all know, size has nothing to do with it. Speed … [Read more...]