Everyone's Problem

The man who shot his television, in a fit of pique over Bristol Palin, is an old friend married to an old friend.
I suppose every time something like that happens, people know that person. Tonight, it is us and it is not funny.

I had to google the news Stoney, wow....it takes all sorts! Better his TV than a real person though.....hopefully, there will not be another instance.
I have a funny story to tell about this topic. When we first came to Australia, my youngest son was only 7. Asian kids are not as physical as western kids; there is a fair amount of bonding that takes place in a western school playground, especially for boys, that involves wrestling and rough horsing. My boy, always being told not to engage in fights, would run away, and of course that made him even more of a target. Grandma in Singapore, always the fiesty one, was already jumping up and down and encouraging him to sock it to 'em. To be honest, I hadnt thought it was that bad so grandson must have been speaking more to grandma. Anyway, one day, my boy decided to take them on, and roundly trounced them all....I think he pretended some kung fu moves too .....and suddenly he became the new cool kid... I googled seached the profile of a bully,....I swear i know someone like that
 http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/serial.htm  ;

Separately, on a holiday travel TV program here, I have been watching the journey of 4 young Australians travelling in an Apollo Motorhome (hey RY! I can see why you love it so much, it sure looks like alot of fun). They started in Chicago and will end in New Orleans. It is interesting to think that the route covers homeground for some of you! 
Today's programme was in Neshoba, Mississippi where they were told about the 1964 lynching of James Chaney, Michael Schwerner and Andrew Goodman. That, with other stories made a large impact on the young Australians. For me, it seemed more personal as i know it is the backyard of so many of you and Bert has talked about it often too. In many ways, what happened then was also a form of bullying. It was deplorable but its not specific to that time and place.  

~ I found one day in school a boy of medium size ill-treating a smaller boy. I expostulated, but he replied: ‘The bigs hit me, so I hit the babies; that's fair.' In these words he epitomized the history of the human race. ~  Bertrand Russell

Ooops...sorry...the Getaway program covers many weeks....

Bullying can take many forms and manifests itself in many ways.  Certainly, even here dear cyber-friends, in the form of "constructive" criticism:  grammar, punctuation, spelling, until there are those that are not heard from again.  Those who have some valuable words to say and have been badgered into leaving.
 
Sara Palin is expert at keeping her name in the public awareness.  This man, though acting on what many of us felt, helped to do that.  Even negative publicity is good.   Perhaps her publicity people are at work spreading the word on that as well.
 
 

Well, Spring Fragrance~ that link was a bit of a marathon read ... couln't stop reading once I'd started. Ticked every box, the "someone like that" who I know.
 

Andy~ Well said.

Spring  Fragrance,  my  ears  were  burning,  I  sensed  that  someone  was  talking  about  me!   This  subject  is  dear  to  my  heart,  SF  is  correct,  I  remember  Mississippi  in  1964.      What  we  have  as  today's  topic  is   sometimes  more  subtle,  but  cumulatively  it  causes  withdrawal,  depression,  even  suicides.    In  Ohio,  every  school  now  has  to  have  a  "zero  tolerance"  public  anti-bullying  policy.  It  must  be mailed  to  every  new  student's  family, along  with  routine  registration  materials.  Students  are  told  that  things  that  they  may  have  thought  were  harmless  are  now  illegal.  Kids  can  be  cruel,  the  student  who  is  obese,  who  practices  unfamiliar  religion,  or  who  is  merely  shy  or  not  social  can  be  targeted.   My  kid  has  her  share  of  problems,  but  thankfully  she's  learned  that  good  friends  come  in  all  shapes,  colors,  sizes,  and  sexual  orientations.   Thanksgiving  means  an  open  invitation  to  those  who  otherwise  would  be  strangers  in  a  strange  land. 

Greetings also to Stoney, Hazel, Andy...I didn't mean to excuse anybody.....

Greetings also to Stoney, Hazel, Andy...I didn't mean to excuse anybody.....

Hazel....  :)  Ditto! Images were playing out in my mind as I recalled instances
 
Andy...promise me if I am ever guilty of anything remotely like that, you just send me a little love note!

Good morning all............STONEY..........that is very bizarre & you are correct; we forget that when someone does something like this that person has friends & family..................................hope all goes well for your friend.
 
SPRING F.................We live in Mississippi and I would say that those 3 men who were murdered in Neshoba county were killed very much BECAUSE of the time and place............in fact those very ideas are still alive and well. This past summer I went to a store in town and noticed that a political radio show was broadcasting live............I am a pretty big fan of the guy who does the show.............anyway, while I was waiting to talk to him when he went to commercial someone from the station was talking to me..........and let's just say that I was rather shocked that this guy who did not know me was very free w/ his talk...................there seems to be anger on both sides of the aisle down south.....amidst the good, let me be clear. Anyway, I applaud how interested you are in what is going on in the world & I enjoy reading your take! I hope you are snuggled up in bed...................
 
ANDY..............you bring up some good points & I do think it is what you say that means more than how you say it..................unless you are writing for an academic journal; in which case both had better be strong.
 
HAZEL.............stop snoring.........................

Not snoring - coffee & croissants on my kitchen table. All welcome.

haha Bert! That must have gotten you out of bed early!
 
Bebe...I hadnt realised that so little has changed. In the Travel program, it was mentioned that the family of the KKK head honcho who had initiated the murders was still living in the village (?) and apparently can't see any wrong doings on the part of their grandfather but I thought it was just because it's family.
 
Out of curiousity, where such feelings are rife, how would someone like me, a Chinese, be treated?

Could really use them this morning Hazel -- I fell off the curb (not drinking, just clumsy, probably would have been a more relaxed fall if I were...drinking that is) yesterday and had these two old men, who, I know, were thanking God they didn't have to carry me, help me up.  Aside from some embarrassment, I'm sore today -- coffee and croissants are it.

Everybody~ Since Andy raised this issue: Remember the schoolyard where there were cliques of kids having a great time & one hovering on the outside trying to pluck up the courage to ask "Can I play, too?"  How can we be more welcoming to new voices on this forum? I hate it when somebody dips a toe in the water & we never hear from them again. Are we that scary? I just jumped in at the deep end & cheerfully admit to being useless at computer stuff & spelling & grandma & I really don't mind if people have a little joke at my expense. Maybe it's cos I came from a large family where arguing & teasing were allowed, but bullying in any form was not tolerated.

I admit when I first came on, I didnt quite feel welcomed. But thats partly because there was alot of neighbourly chatter that I couldnt relate to. I had also seen some of the scary exchange that was flying around; it can be intimidating. After a couple of attempts I told Bert I was quitting. After about 3 weeks, one of you sent me a note, just to say he really enjoyed reading what I had to say as I come from such a different background and he hoped to see me again. It was lovely and so encouraging to receive the note, I decided to try again. Now, when I see a new name, I always make it a point to say hello because I know how it had felt. (Hazel, you are extremely good at this, I've noticed it). When I can, I will also send a private message, just to say hello.  It is also nice to have your posts referred to and in the initial stage, it goes along way to making that person feel welcomed.
 
If you have not seen this glurge before, it is a nice read....its the story of how a kind gesture stopped the suicide of a young man
 
 http://www.davidpbrown.co.uk/nota-bene/power-of-a-gesture.html

SPRING F.......one sec before I'm out the door..........much, much has changed for the better, but race is still polarizing............will write later............

Assholes are an unfortunate by product in this corner of the universe. I defer to episodes of The Little Rascals where overcoming bullies was a rite of passage. I am opposed to violence and excess ridicule but often wonder if we eliminated every challenging thing in life, how do you teach coping skills and confidence gained by dealing with difficulties. Bogart said he liked a reasonable amount of trouble. Again bullying can be bad but the cure could be counterproductive if an overreaction.

Cyber bullying? It's a lot easier to be an  a**hole when your victim can't reach out and knock the crap out of you.

T.T.

I must agree.

FLAME FISTS OF FURY   isn't that what the cap lock key is for?

Spring, I too found that the intellectual quality of the contributors to this site was rather intimidating.  Still do.  But aside from a few, who don't appear to be with us any more, it is the best social networking site I've encountered. 
 
You, Spring, have been such a welcome breath of good, fresh air, that there would be a great chasm if you hadn't returned.  Thank you to whoever it was that changed your mind.
 
 

I do believe the human animal, like most of the animals that preceeded him on these grounds we happily call home,is subject to clanish behavior...and that leads to the Hatfields and McCoy skirmish - which,in a micro is the school yard.   I watched the penned birds at the game farm, and they exhibit the exact same treatments of each other-I could give them names of people I have known, in bars/healthclubs/work situations, and see the exact same behaviors play out.   Yes, it was very amusing,along with some Irish Coffee on a morning chilled like this one, but the lesson was so very real, it changed my way of taking sides.  Jump right in and break it up. No recriminations.No blame (who really knows how/why it started)but redirect. Pick andirection and chase.Those that a second ago were drawing lines in the sand will now be running in the same direction, and bonding.....

Miss Blue- yes indeed. Weasels are to be scorned. Be one of the good guys with a good jab but always be ready to counter with a left cross real or metaphorical. I apologize but this terrorist trial thing has me fuming. Is there no common sense about such matters? The cost to get a one count conviction when hundreds were brutally murdered.

TT -- as always, so true.

I'm just so grateful that there was no Facebook when I was in school... I was a social outcast for a few years. The reason was never clear, it often isn't. I was quiet and academically successful. No physical abuse, just constant put downs and exclusion. There was one girl who planned a huge lavish FICTITIOUS birthday party just so she could rub it in that I wasn't invited. Sheesh. And this girl shared my bus stop; walked through my yard to get there. I finally pushed HER physically and told her to find another place to catch the bus.

But the problem was solved only when my family moved. At the new school no one was aware that I was leperous and ugly... I am so grateful for that move.

Now, with all the social networking options, it would have been possible for my tormentors to follow me anyplace, and inform new friends of my deficiencies.

And I think that's the real issue here. Cliques, social groups, heck bunches of friends, whatever you choose to call them, will always form up. We want and need community. And when conflict is dealt with in person, it can be ugly, but there are social limitations that can help. Not always, but in general...

When they are typing, without the constraint of looking their victim in the eye, bullies become bolder, meaner, quicker to tear their victims to emotional shreds.

Which leads to the whole homosexuality issue. Kids are more willing to be honest about themselves at an earlier age. This is a two-edged sword. They are no longer hiding or pretending, but instead are dealing with the consequences of bigotry and misunderstanding while they are still very tender and ill-equipped to deal with it.

The problems are easy to expound upon. Are there any solutions?

how many life sentences should we have purchased? And at what price do we sell our justice system? Are we still chaseing the white van (I don't know if you remember, but a while back, there were two psycho snipers, and though they were really shooting through the hole in the back of a sedan,our country was hauling people out of white vans-especially people with swarthy appearance, though it was a couple of good 'ol boys that were targeting random people-true terrorists)

In our grade school a pitiful example of a boy not content with squealing about things that had actually taken place, began to contrive situations and entrap kids into them the more to "endear" himself with the authorities.
When he got the nice little brother of a friend in Dutch with one of his bogus schemes, I told him: "I'll give you something to go to the office about," and took off after him with an eye to producing a fat lip, shiner or bloody nose.
He scaled the twelve-foot fence and clung there like grim death and not wanting actually fling him to the ground, I settled for de-pantsing him.
I later told the principal that had the deplorable state of his yellowed underpants been known, I wouldn't have done it.
The principal asked if I thought he had learned a lesson?
"I don't care, but I did," I answered and that was good enough for him.
It's funny now that I think about it but I was a friend of every principal I ever had and even more weirdly, the president of the university was in the habit of veering my way for a handshake and a pleasant word or two on a regular basis... impossible to say why.

I will make my comment short. Go to author Andrew Vachss' website. Read about his work and about his most recent efforts to bring an end to the bullying that plagues our schools and playgrounds. Then support his work. Buy his book. Demand that your local library do the same. This is too important to ignore. http://vachss.com/av_novels/heart.html

If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of Spring.
 

Joseph Lowery, civil rights hero, was on my town this past week, talking about human rights. Some of you may have heard on the national news about the four thugs that kicked and stomped the young man to death, and how the local police took everyone at the gathering, loaded them all on two busses, and interrogated them until the four punks that committed the murderous acts were found. Of, course, the parents (unfortunately single black mothers all) complained about how the sheriffs department handled the situation asked Dr. Lowery to come in their defense.

Guess what he said. "You people are raising criminals, how do you expect the law to treat them? You complain about the police, but you want the school system to teach them a moral code which is not their job. Their is, in 98% of your homes, no father, and you're not teaching them that a father is important by standing up to your sons and daughters and telling them the responsibility of parenting. Tell your sons that the consequence of sex is the possibility of children. You don't like the police system? Keep your kids out of it. Discipline them,don't fear them, raise them properly and stop blaming everyone else when they kill someone, when the blame lies with you!"

He went on to further rip the entire crowd a new one. His last words to them were, "I'm here to tell you the truth, and I am. Most of you are upset with me, but I bring the truth and the truth shall make you free"

Dr. LOWERY is a true hero to me.

tropilot ~
Welcome to the village; nice comment, nice photo.

Ummgawa~~~the truth is not free    and that is why the sales of the coin operated mirror have doubled, since its debut here on the village's central soap box square,with smaller versions mounted in thesepia train lounges....

I did my fair share of beating the s***t out of kids who were bullying my little brother at school. Little brother 2 never had a problem 'cos by then, I'd got a reputation, all I had to do was stroll round & check that nobody was bothering him.
Kristina~ Thank goodness you escaped that situation. Unless you want 1,000 words - would a hug do?  I'd beat up people in the schoolyard for you!
Gays~ several of my friends are. So what?
 
 

Bullying, viz. emotional bullying, should be a non-issue with the State, as there is no clear line between bullying and non-bullying, especially with the so-called "cyber-bullying." Anyone can take anything the wrong way and feel bullied. Legislation is the last thing in the world needed to "fight" bullying. There are already too many frivolous wars in which the State is involved (e.g., the wars on terror, drugs, poverty). Unless a person's property rights are involved; that is, unless a person is physically, not emotionally, harmed, or his property is physically violated, then any sort of involvement with the State needs to be foregone.

Spoken like a true Knight of the Realm. Untill it happens to your kid

Hazel - you crack me up!  You sound just like my older sister, who used to do the same thing for one of my brothers.  When mom was preggers with me, she prayed for a sister so we could team up against the two boys but, alas, she said I turned out to be a wimp. 
 
 

The bullying thing is very difficult to figure out.  On the one hand, I want to kick the snot out of anyone bothering my child, on the other, she wants to have some autonomy in handling her own life and problems. 
 
And then, there's the issue of what do you do when the events occur off school grounds?  Is the school somehow responsible?  I would have to say no but then who is?  You can't exactly report obnoxious teenage behavior to the police, if they haven't actually touched or threatened your kid.  Bullying is difficult to define.  Like pornography, we all know it when we see it, but will 'authorities' get involved?  We ought to be able to handle this like adults, parent to parent, but these days, other parents can act worse than children themselves and their precious darlings could never do wrong.......
 
I vent all these feelings and my kid, at least to my knowledge, isn't even being harassed.  I can't imagine how angry, confused, and crazy I'll be when/if she is.

And finally this:  I read an article about the unhappy fellow in WI whom Stoney knows.  His wife is quoted as saying that "he scared the bejeebers out of me."  I cannot possibly imagine a more polite and kindhearted person than one who responds that way in such an unfortunate situation.
 
Stoney once commented that in WI, people practically knock each other over to be helpful.  Based on his observation, this lady's comment, and my one brief visit to Madison (and of course Stoney and Park's presence), I think that Wisconsin would be a wonderful place to live. 
 

Le Master ~ Good day and good comment.

Yep RY, with the truth comes a cost.

My Dad taught my brother, sister and myself to never, ever, bully or poke fun, harass or otherwise condemn someone because of their situation, and to rise up against those that would do such. It was the finest part of my "raisins". The consequences of doing such actions would be unpleasant. I taught mine to do the same. It has been nice to go to reunions of my high school class and look guilt free into the eyes of the same people so many years later.

It's funny and tragic, when asked by the jocks why I hung out with the older former (and maybe current) geeks, (just a way of identifying a group-nobody have a finger pointing hissy fit), I always tell them "WE are a considerably more interesting and well read bunch".

Football, scmootball, I played in college, and graduated, so I don't care to sit around every five years and talk about it. At almost 6'5" and 350 lbs, most folk automatically think I have plenty of storage space between my ears. Thank the Lord I had great parents that encouraged fairness and creativity, reading and self respect. Both super intelligent, almost brilliant. Dad's an MIT graduate, Mom is the most creative person I know, incredible painter and artist, bible scholar, teacher and organizer.

I didn't agree with everything they did, but I am blessed to have them both. I might sound like I'm bragging, but looking in the rear view mirror, everything is 20/20.

Thanks Dad and Mom. For truly giving a hoot about the adults we would be someday.

I had a very similar situation to Kristina.  I went to a very small school.  There were 9 girls anf 18 boys in my class.  In 6th grade the school doubled the class size. I had known  some of my classmates  since nursery school.  I was the youngest and smallest.  For some reason I was completely ostracized.  BUT, my two "best" friends remained my firends out of school.  I would be the only one not invited to a sleepover.  If I was invited to a dance...it was miserable.  7th and 8th grade weren't quite as bad but, I was never the same.
 
In addition to that I have a very abusive father who told me I was stupid etc all the time.
 
My mother and I have talked about that time.  She asked what she should have done and I told her I wish she had taken me out of school.
 
Many years later I applied to send my son to the same school.  I was torn between the superior accademics , art and music and fear that he would experience the same thing.  I had  a hard talk with the headmaster as to how they handled bullying.  My son also had a late fall birthday and many parents were holding their children back a year before entering kindergarten so there was a 24 month spread of ages.  I held him back also...so that he would be in the middle of the pack.

had an

Kristina, Kim~ anybody else who's been on the shitty end of the stick..... bullies become addicted to bullying. They get so wrapped up in it that they kinda forget that their victim is a human being.
 

This is a bit off the subject, but when I arrived home today, I was met with a sweet note from my 16 year old daughter (who we home school by the way) that she "had something for me".
 
I was working on the computer when she presented me with a gift. It was wrapped in Comic strip paper, the real McCoy, tied with a white ribbon. She told me, I heard you could use some nice in your world. I opened it and guess what...she managed to get me a copy of "The Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volumn 1"! She works retail part time, and puts up with a lot of grown up bullies, to buy me this book.
 
I have tried to pre-order it with no success, and my little trooper managed to make it happen. She's a great, well mannered, intelligent young lady, I wish you all could meet her.

T.T

Those bullies (it's not P.C. to say Muslim Fundamentalist Extremist Terrorists any more is it?   ......can we just shorten that to M.F.'s?) are pushing us around.

 We can profile on the school yard and in cyberspace but not at the airport.

Pappadeaux's oysters on the half shell half price $6.99 a dozen. You Atlanta dudes/dudesses are Lucky ducky. Great service and the gumbo groovo and the market is way up. Hazel, you are correct. In this village Aretha should always be singing R-e-s-p-e-c-t. Bullies s-u-c-k.

I suppose every time something like that happens, people know that
person. 
                                                                                                 
--Stoney
 
It must be true.  As a youngster I gave a ride home
to a friend of my sister's boyfriend.  Someone had brought him to the party, but
no one wanted to give him a ride home. It was late and he lived a good distance
away.  He was the group foil.  Everything funny happened at his expense.  I know
that isn't a completely accurate statement, but it is mostly true and I know there were plenty of times that he
felt it to be so. He was too big to be physically bullied, but he was an easy
target for pranks, practical jokes and verbal bullying. After he went through
the exercise of asking his friends for a ride home I told him I'd give him a
lift.  It was an hour out and an hour back in the wee hours of the
morning.
 
Later that day he shot and killed several of his family
members.  We read about it in the paper the following day.  I know that the act
can't be blamed entirely on how his friends treated him and I have no idea how his family treated him, but I'd be willing to
bet both were contributing factors.  If you push a man into a corner, he has only one way out
and if he wants out badly enough, you don't want to be standing in the
way.

paolos- that is some heavy weight to carry around. It's a shame that one act of kindness, like yours, couldn't outweigh so much bad.

Tommy:  I too agree with your 8:00 comment.  A challenge isn't the worst thing someone has to face in this life.  Challenges serve many useful purposes.  High standards are worth keeping in mind.  Aspirations and achievments follow.  A sense of self worth, as well.  "A reasonable amount of trouble..." :  I like that. Bogie was one smart guy.

Le Master:  I agree about the State not interfering with bullying.  Of course I'm against the State getting involved in most anything, so this isn't surprising.  We just don't need more government interference in our private lives.  RoadYacht:  when it happens to your kid, you get involved.  The parent gets involved.  The parents go to school and make it happen, make it right.  Not the state.  Again, I will always be the one to keep the State at bay.  But when my daughter was being "picked on" by a bunch of girls who didn't like her good looks, good grades, nice house and so forth,  we didn't wait to call the State Department of Bullying.  We went to the school and dealt with it ourselves.  We were successful.  The Bad Girls Club left my daughter alone from that day forward.  

P4- I think the key is parenting, like you, I stand up for my kids but they know to never be the bully, ever. So many parents will not take responsibility for the actions of their kids. They invite chid molesters, murderers, rapists, and every form of evil into their home via TV, Video games, internet and God awful rap music, then wonder "Where did I go wrong?"
 
Good for you for standing up to the jerk offs that would seek to tear your daughter down. I can handle the majority of the issues that face my family. I, like you, do not need the state or feds stepping in every time someone farts and wants to blame it on someone else. Bobble head or not, I agree with your approach.

Andy thank you for your kind comments   <3
 
Kim...something you said prompted a reminder of what my son said I had told him some time back....I had told him if he goes to a dance and he sees a girl who has been wallflowered for some time he is to go up and ask her for a dance. That way, when she goes home, she has a nice feeling that she has had at least one dance for the night.  He said he has never forgotten that and he practises it. :)

Miss Blue, I love the way you 'shorten' words.

UMMGAWA, I'm betting your parents are proud right-back of you and your brother and sister.

All seriousness aside. let's talk about the heavy duty, take-no-prisoners
bully.  I know a two year old with blond hair and big blue eyes, that can bully
her older sisters and mother into submission, doing anything that she determines must be
done at any given moment.   But not me, no, no, no, no, no I don't fall for that
trick, her cute little...please, daddy, please....and that pouty little
face that goes from pouty to grin in as fast as she can wear you down.  Nope,
not this guy.

Speaking of daughters, UMMGAWA, what a gift!  I didn't realize such a thing was in print.

Methinks we sink to our lowest when we bully and make anyone feel like the child of a lesser God. I wish I had something more profound to say on the subject.
 
 I,as I suspect most of you here have, experienced it but I can also say, from firsthand knowledge, one kind word or act outweighs a hundred of the other. I remember kind words from many decades ago as if they were yesterday and all the other fades into insignificane by comparison. So be generous with your words and deeds..you never know who's watching and listening and remembering and are affected all their lives by them. It costs little..even a "well, you know sometimes he doesn't screw up half as bad as he does most of the time" might be the best they've heard all day.

As an old buddy of mine, Bill Shakespeare, once said (in The Merchant of Venice) "If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches and poor men's cottages Prince's palaces"

paolos~ You big softie! It's true, cute little kids can be absolute tyrants & that self-satisfied smirk on their sweet little faces when they get their own way can be infuriating!
 

Hazel ~ infuriating?  To me, an indulgent smirk from her is like a kiss
from an angel.

paolos~ you ARE a big softie! Enjoy the innocent years.

Miss Blue -- your abbreviations are right on the mark....love it.

Exceptionally excellent comments by all...................KRISTINA........your story about the girl who staged a fake b'day party is truly unbelievable.................girls can be especially cruel & use social situations to terrorize...........it's awful when it happens........
 
PARK..........you are most correct......parents who take it in hand are the most effective.........school boards & the Central office do not want a lawsuit on their hands.............
 
UMMGAWA..........that was a very sweet story about your daughter.........it reminded me of how wonderful I felt whenever I got something for my father or baked for him.........those are priceless moments...............
 
SPRING F.........I think that's lovely that your son knows to be kind to the unattended girl...........kindness can change someone's life..............
 
TT & PL....... both of you had different, but great takes on bullying............
 
I have to say that as a teacher I have a fear of the government being involved..............it just sets up people to be sued, targeted, and adds even more to a plate that is overflowing  w/ everything, BUT teaching...........NOW WAIT..................that being said......I am a hammer on bullies.............I make their lives miserable............& I have 7 year olds! Many bullies do their dirty work away from adult eyes. We have some boys that we have to send to the bathroom alone because they will do something horrible to someone...............The best thing an adult can do is let a child know they are their ally and someone they can come to when they are being bullied..............
 
Sorry, I'm rambling.................I have to say those ads that end w/ Pass It On.............from The Foundation For A Better Life are so unbelievably excellent............I don't know anything about this organization, but the ads are excellent.........

MISS BLUE..............home run.............the crowds are cheering!
 
KIM.........I somehow missed yours.............I really feel lucky after reading about your & KRISTINA's posts..............words rather fail on such a horrible experience.................

Bebe- Foundation for a Better Life was started by a Rich dude, Christian but wanted to simply promote a religon neutral message of hope and positive qualities all humans should strive for. I was wondering earlier in the week after I saw a spot by FFABL and checked them out.

Concerning my sweet daughter, she is like medicine to my soul, so thoughtful, kind, considerate. I feel like all my wrong is righted by her. Realistically I know better, but I can dream.

There's an exceptionally brave man out there that will be her husband some day.

He hasn't hit the wall yet.

Young man, I should say.

bebe...... you never just ramble...... you always lead us to good thoughts, ideas, and good perspectives.....

good perspectives because they are valid......

Shandonista ~
Thank you for your kind words about our state... rings90 a Badger born and bred, is some of our best work as well.

Bullied kids in our neighborhood, without big brothers of their own, were free to borrow mine one of whom chased a big oaf who had knocked a friend off his bike into his own home where his two older brothers waited in a kind of set-up.
One of them was either hurled or dived out an open window taking the screen with him. The other barreled out a side door and locked himself in the garage.
My brother explained that if he had to come back, he'd catch one of those chicken- shit tough guys and use him as a club...

Sorry I'm at the party so late...didja ever notice that bully kids were often the ones that thought their name was "shut up", or "not now,cant you see I'm on the phone?"or "whadjew do?" or "I thought I told you to behave".....I think you see where I'm going with this...