I'm writing this because of a thread I read a minute ago about a guy getting food thrown on his car by some bullies. He let it go not because is was scared but because he was being the better man. I respect him for that but I couldn't have let it slide. When I was little I was short and fat. I got picked on alot and I always let it slide. I was always taught that "sticks and stones can break your bones but words can never hurt you". Well when I got older I started playing sports, baseball and football. I got into shape and now only have 4% body fat on me. I work construction now and I look like the stereotyipical construction worker, tall, broad, and muscled. Also I don't take crap from anyone either. I don't go around starting fights but I'll be damned if I'll back down from one either. I'm 26 now and I haven't been in a fight since I was 17. Some people are intimidated by my looks so maybe thats why I don't have any trouble from anyone. Or maybe it's because of my goatee like styrgirl mentioned in a thread before..LOL But what I'm saying is, I learned the hard way about bullies, if you let them get away with it they will never stop. I still believe in the ol' saying "sticks and stones can break your bones" but thats as far as it goes. Cross me and I'll have no trouble breaking your bones. Don't think I have a bad attitude, actually I'm a friendly guy and most people tell me I'm funny as hell but that doesn't mean I'll let anyone walk all over me. All I'm saying is, take care of your own backyard. Don't go looking for trouble but if trouble finds you, break its bones.

No. Had the same problem as a kid, except I was  little runt.  To this day, if someone attempts to intimdate me or mine, LOOK OUT!  I'm not a big guy, either.  Bullies look for the weak=willed as much as anything else.  "It's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog."

I used to get in a lot of fights and almost all of them were in defense of friends.  I don't like to see people or animals getting picked on and I'm pretty vocal about my feelings when I see it happen.  

Haven't been in a fight in over 3 years but I still follow the adage, "Don't start no shit and don't take no shit." [}:D]

Get 'em back the roundabout way. Pepper spray under the door handles, 100 magazine subscription cards filled out to their address, etc.

radioman

Amen miss magnum. Been that way all my life, and I still dispise bullies. I personally grieve for the young ones who have no defense, and no matter how much they are picked on, their gutless parents say "you have to learn how to live with it" bull shit, they should teach them how to use whatever is at hand as a weapon and the next time they encounter the bully, put him down.

I seen this post and knew it was about mine. LOL
I agree with you on most terms but when I had many weapons(1 being a NFA)in my trunk and my 45 under my leg it would have been too easy for it to turn real bad in a hurry.
Now if I was back in my hometown from many moons ago I might have jumped out and said or did something to pi$$ them off. But that was then and times have changed and more people have more rights than others(no need to explain that one) and I would have been a cooked goose last night.
I not shooting flames your way, I wish I had the backing you had and I was about 100 pounds heaver.[:)]

Personally, I despise bullies and as an adult would say or do something to alleviate any evidence of tension in a hostile situation between two parties.  I'm not Bruce Lee or Chuck Norris, so I would try to use my head to figure out a solution first before getting into a physical confrontation.  Even if it means paying a person's tab to leave or back off the other party.  If needed, my fist and feet to put an end to the situation if it turns ugly.  

I do have an ulterior motive in my actions and most of the time I just don't want anybody to ruin my day or night.  That is plain and simple!  I pay for a nice meal or something else and expect the night to go right for myself and other patron.  

Also, I should mention I have a soft heart for the handicapped and the elderly and would not hesitate to jump in if they are treated wrong.

Growing up as a kid, my experience was unusual because myself and the whole school were very fortunate to have two particular kids to make school a good experience.  I'll call them D.M. and J.S. for short and to protect their privacy.  These rather large kids were the fastest and the strongest in the elementary school I attended. They could of easily been the bullies themselves, but instead they were the "bullie-busters".  Any boy or girl that was picked on had these two "bullie-busters" to face and explain their actions.  The few bullies in the school had changed their ways really fast in a fight with these two heroic kids.  

Was this good to have somebody face your battles for you?  Heck, better than be afraid of school and hate life every single day like I've read in many newspaper articles.

I only could imagine these two "bullie-busters" are now cops or firemen and I would love to get a chance to salute and thank them for being there for others!  Maybe in a way I'm paying back their friendship by being a "bullie-buster" as an adult. Thank you both, D.M. and J.S. for being our friends!    [:)]

(edited because I'm becoming brain-dead from too much studying!)

[b]-RoadDog[/b]
 [img]http://www.stopstart.fsnet.co.uk/Gif/scooby1.gif[/img]

I have always been bullied when I was in kindergarten by the bigger kids not because I won't stand up to them but because my mom would skin me alive if I get in a fight whether I am the one who started it or not. To her, it is necessary that I will practice restrain rather than just fight.

When I got into grade 1, there was this bully that always picked on me. So one day I told my dad about this and I asked him if he would backed me up with mom should I get into a fight with this bully. He told me he will and to watch my back should it happen.

A week after, this bully came up to me and started giving me a hard time. Initially, I walked away but when I sensed that he won't let up, I turned around and without any hesitation threw my all in a punch that unfortunately landed on his throat instead of his face (I am shorter than him). For a moment there, he was choking and could not speak. The bully had to be taken to the hospital because he turned blue in the face.

Did not get into trouble either at school nor with my parents but I did learn a very important lesson that day, I could have killed this kid and since then, I would do my damnest to avoid a fight but if I can't, I fight unfairly!

No, I can't stand bullies either.  In shcool, I always stood up to them, I won't back down. There was time I was beaten black and blue, and a bloody mess,  by a couple of bullies, I always came back the next day and the next and the next to wacked them with something while they were not looking. Yes, each time was a bloody mess too, until one day, both have to come to make peace with me.  Miss Magnum is also correct, one have to stood up for friends. Many time when I came to stood by my friends, they usually back down and walk away.  They always picked on the weak and isolated ones.  Friends are important.

Little story for ya-my little sister is hearing impaired.  When we were younger, one of her friends, a young hearing impaired boy, and I never got along.  We werre always getting into disagreements.  I never bullied him, I didn't try to start anything, he was just pissed because he lost his hearing when he was 2 or 3 because of a disease.  One night when I was in high school, I was at the carnival in town, and I saw this boy being picked on by a couple of guys.  Thes two guys were brothers, and were known for being bullies.  I walked up, told the two they better leave the kid alone.  They said they were gonna whip my ass.  Then their cousins walked up.  The two cousins that walked up hated the other two because they got the same reputation because of the same name.  They changed it that night-they backed me up.  I absolutely hate bullies, especially when they pick on handicapped. They can try to do what they want to me, I dont really give a shit.  They mess with one of my friends or a handicapped person and I will start to get really pissed, and if necessary, will start to whip ass.  Just my thoughts.

ML

Having grown up as a army brat and moving to a new land/school every 2 or 3 years I have been picked on many times as being the new kid on the block. This generally only happened once or twice per school as the other kids soon found out that I was not one to take shit from anybody. I earned a black belt in Hapkido at the age of 14 and was also one of the stronger kids in high school and became one of the anti-bullies and went out of my way to pick on bullies. I'm still that way today (36 years old). I must admit that I still get into the occasional fight but that is usually because I'm always coimg to someone's rescue, whether they need it or not. I don't enjoy hurting people but I do enjoy fighting, to me it's like a chess game with good exercise as well. I just got into a fight a couple weeks back with a couple of skin-heads. I caved in the cheekbone of one guy and other puke gave me a nice cut in my back while I was doing so. I turn to attack the knife wielder and the coward runs away. All this over a racial slur (I'm half Korean - half Irish). This was on a business trip to Ohio. I'm walking from the hotel to a quick-mart type store. One guy asks for a cig, I tell him I don't smoke. The guy asks me if I'm a f*cking chink, I say "No, are you a f*cking pollock?", then they attack me. Maybe next time they will think twice before attacking a middle aged asian looking average size guy. Maybe I could have just kept my mouth shut and walked by but that's not my style. I live by the creedo that "A coward dies a thousand deaths and a Hero dies only once". These punks are just lucky this did not happen back home in Texas where I have a CCW and pack heat always, I would have shot their ass.

Just curious, how many of those fights did you lose?

Hunter out...

People don't mess with me in fear of contracting some disease that made me so fugly.

Are there any bullies here who want to add their perspective on the issue?