Bullies = Poop

--Robert Langellier

Anyone who went to the same high school as me is going to associate with this a lot more than the rest of you.

It really sucks spending 4 years growing up with bunch of weird, funny, (pretty) nice kids and having your final impression of them being one of total disgust. But that’s how it is with a lot of my friends who I have little desire to see again before college. A large circle of friends (as well as kids who want to be friends with them) have taken up a mass crusade of ridicule against some kid that none of them know on any level other than as a joke, mostly because he was pretty rude to Nick Lanzotti in science class.

To them he’s an easy target; he doesn’t know any of them on a personal level, he’s somewhat awkward upon first appearance, he’s studious and has a technology hobby, and (as pathetic as it is that this makes him targetable) he has a physical disability.

It’s one thing to make a joke of someone amongst yourselves when you consciously know you’re kidding. Conor, Nick, Eliot and I have done it at least 4 times, right guys? Aw yeah we have. But it’s another thing to do it directly to that person on such a large, unceasing scale that it not only affects that guy’s life, but it actually develops unconsciously from a joke to an honest hatred. Or more likely, saying “I hate that douche” is just an easy way for a stupid kid to get agreement from a really popular mob.

I’m not saying this guy’s perfect (I barely know him). And I’m not saying it isn’t entertaining (it’s pretty entertaining). But the reality is sickening that every time he stands up for himself (which thankfully he’s smart enough to do) he gets shot down by 3 or 4 people and called a bully in the grandest act of irony I can imagine. Anyone who thought his recent reaction (his rap) was uncalled for is honestly dumb enough to the point where I don’t care whether or not they understand that it was made up of grandiosity and exaggeration, because that’s what songs and poems and raps are: exaggerated emotions. If anything, it’s just a simple reflection of what dicks some of my friends are, but they’re too smug and safe behind each other to see it.

The point is, a few of these are kids are people who I’ve known for a long time, and seeing them systematically trying to rip this person’s facebook apart because it’s fun is super depressing. They’re kids who I saw at their very best on my old school’s Kairos retreats, and I guarantee their Kairos selves would kick themselves in the nutsacks if they saw what they were doing. The depressing part isn’t the fact that I've had long friendships with these people. The depressing part is that, from a much wider perspective, it really makes me second guess which part of a person is more honest: the deeper, virtuous core, or the asshole on top. I don’t think the answer’s as obvious as it used to be for me.