Adolescence

"Jayball, I found out a friend of mine and her husband are going through a rough patch with their child right now. It appears as if bullying is at the root of the problem. Did you ever get bullied when you were a kid?" Jayball is an alpha male. So his answer to my question was surprising - "Back when I was a kid there were a couple of older kids who would always tease me about the size of my feet. I had really big feet when I was young. They use to call me clown shoes and big foot. It really bothered me."

In my forty plus years on this planet I had never heard of anyone being teased about the size of their feet, maybe the shoes they were wearing. But not the size of their feet - "How long did it go on for?" I ask why I glance at his feet - "The teasing started when I was in fourth grade and lasted until the summer before my sixth grade year. I will tell you how I got it to stop. One day I was walking home from school and a group of kids started yelling, 'Look it's clown feet. Where did you get your shoes at? A clown store." Like I said earlier - Jayball is an alpha male, "Well, I finally had enough so I walked up to the biggest guy in the group and punched him in the nose. I never heard a peep about the size of my feet again. What about you Jethro? Were you ever bullied when you were young?"

I thought deeply about his question for a moment and said, "I grew up in small town Kansas and to be honest with you I can't remember one time where I was bullied or felt to be less superior. Now there was plenty of what I would consider horse play nowadays. Things like knocking the books out of your buddies hands, or pulling the chair out from underneath him when he was getting ready to set down, but nothing vicious. Nothing like my friend is going through with her child."

I sit here putting the finishing touches on my post with a singular thought in mind, "I know she and her husband will do whatever it takes to change their child's course in life."