Karen Marya

Bullies don’t always grow up. And sometimes It Doesn’t Get Better. Bullies grow older and get jobs and continue to be dominated by their need to overpower those they think they can. It doesn’t get better. But we get better at dealing with it. That’s the goal.

I feel bad for them– the ones who mock and probe and deceive you into thinking they’re a friend, then throw a verbal machete at your head. Always in public. Bullies need an audience. Take away their admirers and they are, well…just sad people. Desperate for a laugh. How often is the excuse,  when a bully is caught, “I was just joking. Geez he’s so sensitive.” Yep, people are. With our mushy emotions encased in soft pink flesh.

You, bully, wouldn’t know an appropriate amount of sensitive because you don’t have it. Some people say bullies are bullied first and sometimes, sometimes that is true. Often the bully is just the clown, the character actor desperate for an audience but unskilled in attracting one on their own merit. So they single out a prey to bat between their paws, waiting for the laughter that serves as a scratch behind their ears. Good kitty. But stop hurting the cricket. Let it go.

Then the bully will flop on their back and soak in the sun of admiration. Aren’t they cute? Look how sweet. If they’re lucky they’ll get a belly scratch of praise then trundle off for a nap. Until another cricket happens by.

They don’t grow up, their claws continue to scratch. But you will grow up and their scratches will be less traumatic. A small inch on hard skin, leathered by life, instead of a long raw streak from knee to ankle.

You will grow and the bully will not. When he visits your life again shut the door, leave him outside, mewing to come in.