I’m glad to see that there are several major initiatives to end bullying. I believe in some years it may be responsible for more deaths than war.
I was bullied as a kid. I think most kids were. I was a short, scrawny loner, who lacked confidence in myself–in other words the PERFECT target for bullies.
Strangely, I often stood up for other kids who were being bullied, but I often didn’t stand up for myself when I was the target. Guess who then became the target when I stood up for those other kids?
One such incident took place in high school. It was when the Vietnam War was winding down and the military and everyone associated with it was the butt of much anger and scorn. A buddy and I were in our Jr. ROTC U.S. Marine Corps cadet uniforms, and a bully decided it would be great fun to rip the hat (we called them “covers”) off my buddy’s head and taunt him with it.
Without thinking (which tended to be my normal mode when someone else was being bullied) I rushed to my buddy’s aid and stood between the bully and him. I looked up at the bully who not only was taller but bigger and stronger than me.
By now a crowd had gathered to watch the show.
Me: “Please give his cover back to him.
Bully: “Who’s going to make me?”
It was about then, that I realized I was once again in deep doo-doo. (I am a very slow learner and have to receive some lessons over and over again.)
Fortunately, at that moment I noticed something that changed everything.
Sergeant Major Steele, a tall, square-jawed, muscular Jr. ROTC teacher saw what was happening and began walking toward us. As luck would have it, the bully was facing away from him.
I seized the moment. You’ve heard of liquid courage? I know something even better: Marine Corps courage.
I knew help was on the way, so I said to the bully, “You wouldn’t talk that way to our Sergeant Major Steele!” I said it loudly enough that the Marine would hear it.
The bully took the bait. “Oh yes I would, I’d…”
That’s as far as he got. A huge hand tapped him on the shoulder. The bully turned around to look into the eyes of a most unhappy and very large Marine glaring down at him.
“You would what, son?”
The bully melted like a candle in a raging furnace. “I, huh, I…” he stammered. “I’m sorry sir. Then he gave my buddy’s cover to me.
And that was the last time my buddy and I—-or any other cadet in the whole school was ever bullied by that kid or his pals again.
Russ Towne's A Grateful Man 
Great story, Russ. How on earth do you find the time to write so much?
Thank you, Elyse! To answer your question, I work form home (hence saving commute time in both directions), our kids are all grown and out of the house, I’m an investment manager with a long-lerm investment horizon that employs compounding as a critical feature (which involves far less trading than most investors and investing professionals tend to do), the markets close at 1pm my time, the market has been trading in a BORING range lately so it is rare to have my target buy or sell prices trigger activity, and I need something (preferrably creative to balance out the logical part of my brain that I use professionally) to keep my brain occupied so I don’t begin trading just to have something to do.
That is probably far more of an answer than you wanted or needed but is why I have more time to write than many people. I’m blessed to have a profession I love, no boss, great Clients, and great flexibility in how I invest my afternoons and evenings.
Discovering blogging has greatly enhanced my life as it has helped me to meet great people (such as yourself!) and encourages me to write (which is something for which I was surprised to discover that I have a great passion.)
Russ
I guess in this case, timing was everything! Loved the story. Cathy
Yes, indeed. It could have had much different ending–for me and for the bully if the timing had been off by even 5 or 10 minutes in either direction.
Thank you for your comment, Cathy. As always, it is good to hear from you!
Russ
Russ, what a wonderful story – and I enjoyed your response about finding time to write as I am curious about finding balance with it all. I like the answer of needing a creative outlet after all that analytical thinking you do in the mornings with your career. Anyways, thanks for a great example of unseen support that can arise to help from unexpected sources, if we just ‘step up’. Gina
Thank you, Gina. Yes, I was a very lucky and grateful young man that day.”…unseen support that can arise to help from unexpected sources” indeed!
Russ