05-11-2012, 02:25 PM
Yeah, I'm of similar mind as you Pix.
I must have grown up in a different kind of neighborhood than most of you. If a guy came into our (suburban) neighborhood dressed like that we probably would have banded together and beat the daylights out of him. If he came on me alone I'm sure I would've been more likely to give the guy a swift kick in the twigs and berries than to turn tail and run.
I had two older brothers and was definitely a "sensitive" kid. And they hazed the crap out of me, until at about 11-12 I was big enough to defend myself and launched my older brother out of my bedroom door and through the plaster in the hallway. We have been good friends ever since. The long and short of it is that I have my brothers to thank for toughening me up, and they have the older neighborhood kids to thank for toughening them up.
Lest anyone get the wrong idea I'm not endorsing bullying and hazing, but pointing out that there are multiple possible reactions to these situations. Some people have a nervous breakdown at one end of the spectrum, and some people just get stronger for it.
And then I'll give a nod to the only bully cure I've ever known to be effective. Pound the stuffing out of a bully when he doesn't expect it, and if possible do it in front of others, and he'll probably come away with a different point of view.
All that said, and I know it was a mouthful, my grandma Bernice was a clown, Auntie Boom Boom, for years upon years, and did it to entertain and make kids smile. This "scary" clown kind of offends me, so if I were to see him now he better watch his twigs and berries :biggrin:
I must have grown up in a different kind of neighborhood than most of you. If a guy came into our (suburban) neighborhood dressed like that we probably would have banded together and beat the daylights out of him. If he came on me alone I'm sure I would've been more likely to give the guy a swift kick in the twigs and berries than to turn tail and run.
I had two older brothers and was definitely a "sensitive" kid. And they hazed the crap out of me, until at about 11-12 I was big enough to defend myself and launched my older brother out of my bedroom door and through the plaster in the hallway. We have been good friends ever since. The long and short of it is that I have my brothers to thank for toughening me up, and they have the older neighborhood kids to thank for toughening them up.
Lest anyone get the wrong idea I'm not endorsing bullying and hazing, but pointing out that there are multiple possible reactions to these situations. Some people have a nervous breakdown at one end of the spectrum, and some people just get stronger for it.
And then I'll give a nod to the only bully cure I've ever known to be effective. Pound the stuffing out of a bully when he doesn't expect it, and if possible do it in front of others, and he'll probably come away with a different point of view.
All that said, and I know it was a mouthful, my grandma Bernice was a clown, Auntie Boom Boom, for years upon years, and did it to entertain and make kids smile. This "scary" clown kind of offends me, so if I were to see him now he better watch his twigs and berries :biggrin: