Oh dear lord…

[erastes]

*giggling madly*

THIS made me literally lose my tea. (you’d have to have played it to understand.)

On the subject of bullying—I’d like to share my experience, as others are doing. I didn’t really realise I was omni/pan/queer/up for it whatever when I was at school, although I probably should have done, seeing how I’d had a snogging relationship with at least two girls by the time I was 11. There were some girls who were teased about being lesbians, I remember—and it turned out that some of them were.

I was bullied by a girl in my form, a skinny but rather abrasive girl who set against me from day one. I made a stupid mistake in the first register taking, by telling the teacher she’d pronounced my name wrong – what a mistaka to maka, but I didn’t know – all my life I’d had it pronounced correctly and I thought I was helping. So it made me an easy target. This girl had two HUGE cronies, who hulked like Cryoprase’s henchmen on either side of her. One day, after what seemed like weeks of name calling etc I was sitting in the locker room where it was crowded, and i was sitting in front of someone’s bag (there not being room to put it on the floor) – it turned out it was one of the crony’s bags, and she accused me of having broken a valuable pen by pressing against the bag. She said that if I didn’t buy her a new one, she would report me to the Head teacher for writing on the desks. (Which I had done.)

This seemed to me like the end of the world, seriously. I remember going into a real tail spin. I had no money of my own, the 50pence pocket money I had was no way going to cover a pen like that, and I couldn’t ask my mother for money. I tried being sick and staying off school, but my mother (a head teacher herself) soon realised that something was wrong and knew that I was avoiding something.  I broke down under questioning—and my mother did what I considered to be the worst thing she could possibly have done—she went to the school and put a complaint against the girls.  All three were dragged in and we were all questioned, it was the most shameful experience I’d ever had.

HOWEVER. It could have all gone a lot more wrong—perhaps in another school, or with different participants it might have done—but it didn’t. The main bully protagonist for some bizarre reason suddenly dropped her cronies like a dose of salts and became my best friend. She was my best friend for the next 40 years. I can’t explain it—and i know she never did, but it can work out well, and you should always stand up to the bullies. Or have a sensible mother. Bullying is wrong, no matter what it's about--even 40 years later it has the ability to make me feel quite sick.

As if I don't get enough stick for writing men, now I'm introducing a son of a maharaah into "I Knew Him." At present my characters are watching polo - here's a WONDERFUL clip which is a couple of years out, but gives a real feel of what my characters are watching. #

http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=21757

THEIR FIRST TRY OUT (TINTED)

Comments

[anderyn.livejournal.com]

Why was it a problem to correct the teacher's pronunciation of your name? I mean, I have always had to correct folks' pronunciation of Twila, and don't get me started on the Oxley part. So, you know, I'm not sure I get the reason for it being a mistake....

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Because kids will pick on anything, I suppose. They called me "Oh, ACTUALLY, it's XXXXX" for months.

[lareinenoire.livejournal.com]

I got teased so much for my name well into high school, even though it's spelled exactly the way it's pronounced. To this day, I'm still reluctant to correct people about it, even though it's a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

[gehayi.livejournal.com]

You have a pretty name! What was the matter with them?

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

I have NEVER understood the rationale about not 'telling' on bullies. If some of the crap those brats pull were done by adults to other adults, it would be assault and battery. Okay, kids aren't adults, they don't have good judgment... but you don't house-train a puppy by ignoring it when he chases the cat. You have to stop it, or the little beast thinks it's great fun. Same thing with bullying. Your mom was great--she did the BEST thing she could have done, embarass the little bastards.

[essayel.livejournal.com]

Bullying is just - I have no words - I just want to reach for my hatchet.

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Yes.

"YOU -- Outta the gene pool."

The pity is, they learned it from their parents, by example. And the parents don't see anything wrong with it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Well, not in this case - the girl's parents were polite and kind and couldn't be nicer.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

definitely!

[lee-rowan.livejournal.com]

Hm. Well, that makes sense with her subsequent behavior--maybe the parents started monitoring her. I wonder if she pushed them around before your mom blew the whistle.

[angelabenedetti.livejournal.com]

[nod/laugh] at the Penny Arcade comic. :) I suck at adventure games, seriously, and when someone gave me Myst I gave up after just two or three locations, but seriously that is what a movie that was really about adventure games would be like. [snicker]

That polo vid was very cool. Watching the horses zipping past each other like they're turbo charged -- do they have a lot of crashes? I mean, if one slowed or swerved suddenly, it'd be easy for one coming up behind or trying to pass to ram right into it. O_O And the bit at the end with the goal tender guy practicing -- yeah, I'll bet a lot of it's like that. Not glamourous, not exciting, just lots and lots of practice, and hopefully you have minions to toss balls at you. :) Of course, anyone who can afford to play polo does have minions.

Angie