Do you ever wonder what happened to that person who tormented you in high school?
The one you avoided running into in the hallway or after school on your way home?
Most of us at one time or another were mocked or worse – beaten to a pulp and spat on.
High school was already hard enough where everything – socially and academically – was high stakes for a teenager.
We dealt with pressures of who to ask out on a date, making a sports team, or have sacrificed our social lives to academic pressure in order to maintain an acceptable GPA.
But the anxiety and depression experienced by victims of bullying pales in comparison to everything else.
Curious about what became of the ruffians who have scarred us for life, Redditor -froggystyle asked:
"people that were bullied in high school, where are your bullies at now?"
Pregnant at 19
"One girl that bullied me in middle school and high school ended up getting knocked up at 19. One time I creeped on her Facebook and found her having an argument with the baby daddy's mom on her page. I read all 200 posts of the drama of them going back and forth. That was how i got over it."
Walking Drunk
"I wasn't bullied, but my brother had to deal with a particularly bad one in high school. It ended after summer, grade 10, when the guy was drunk and walking next to the highway."
The Brother's Reaction to His Bully's Death
"The worst of their encounters resulted in this guy punching my brother around and then throwing him off the train platform and onto the tracks (the train wasn't coming at the time). My parents called the police and the guy was charged with assault, but my brother's friend lied on the stand about what happened, because the guy was his cousin."
"At that point, bully mostly left my brother alone. Even if he got away with it, I don't think he really wanted to be charged again and go through all of that, and it wouldn't have mattered much anyway. It was just months later that he died."
"The school? These things happened away from school grounds, so they had a very official "this has nothing to do with us" stance on the matter."
"My brother didn't hope the guy would die, but he was definitely relieved that he wouldn't have more trouble with him."
The One Who OD'd
"Recently died of a drug overdose and as everyone was writing things on Facebook like 'your were an amazing person' all I could think was 'f'k this guy' I know that's f'ked up to say but damn, Peace out, dude."
"Update: The General consensus seems to be F'K THAT GUY."
"Thanks everyone for all your amazing words :) life is much better now! I have gotten over it, life goes on and gets better! At that moment I wasn't happy I survived my attempt, today I am VERY happy I survived. It always gets better! Stay strong everyone."
The One Who Finally Came Around
"I ran into him a few years ago. He didn't come from a very good family and would get angry and violent at school. He'd always take it out on the quiet kids like me and just inflict all sorts of emotional abuse. It really f'ked me up, to be honest."
"He cleaned up his act in high school/college. Found the family he never had in his college mates. He was a lot friendlier when I met him and was clearly trying to make an effort. In truth I'm just glad that he's happy. It was evident that he was messed up as a kid so it's nice to see him find his way."
"My childhood best friend, on the other hand, went the polar opposite... perfectly good kid who just went off the deep end and became CRAZY as an adult lol."
The One Who Scored
"Ugh... I got past the BS, then I noticed, watching baseball one day. One of my HS bullies went on to play pro ball. He jumped around from the rangers, astros, reds and orioles. F'kin guy signed a 3 year 30mil contract a few years ago. A relief pitcher, not that good. But damn."
Spoiler Alert: No Longer Arm Wrestles
"He lost his arm. F'king idiot. There is a picture of him in the year book flexing his bicep that no longer exists. He punched so many of my friends with that arm. I didn't believe it when I heard he lost it because the story goes he picked a fight with the wrong dudes at a bar and they stomped him out and dragged him to the railroad tracks behind the bar. It seems unbelievable, but I looked him up on facebook and there he is...unable to clap."
"Side note: it was a pretty common thing in my town in Oklahoma to beat someone down and break their arm on the curb."
A Very Valuable Lesson
"Recently got out of Prison. He was driving drunk and killed my cousin. She didn't even live nearby, Her Mom and her were on a road trip to some family land 3+ hours from where they lived and he happened to be on the way."
"I wish I could say I was angry at him, but mostly it just makes me sad. My family mostly hates the guy, partially on my behalf. One of my formative memories is my Dad saying Hi to the kid while we were on a walk and when I asked why when the kid was mean to me he said that most mean kids are hurting. I wish I'd taken that chance to be nicer to the kid in return, as he'd largely stopped bullying me by High School. Not that I was mean, but I could have been something."
"I took that advice(and a lot of other things) and turned it into a career working with at risk teens, trying to help them break the various familial cycles that cause them problems."
– Aminar14
Fat-Shaming Ricochet
"She used to make fun of me for my weight. She is now a dollar general budget 'Instagram model' promoting body positivity because she's the weight that she used to make fun of me for."
"The guy who used to bully me for my weight and my friend for being gay is now overweight, balding, and looks like a lawn gnome."
Last Seen At KFC
"One of my bullies is currently addicted to multiple different kinds of drugs and the last time I saw her she was being walked out of a KFC by the police, half naked and with only one flip flop."
Apology And Forgiveness
"I saw my high school bully about 10 years later at a bar, strangely enough he came and apologised to me for his wrong doings. I forgave him instantly!"
"So HEY! yeah YOU! If you see someone you've tormented, maybe apologise! Certainly helped me and I'm guessing him also."
– Didge29
People who've had bad encounters with someone they've never met shared their experiences when Redditor Jemuzu8304 asked:
"Whats the most f'ked up thing a complete stranger has done to you?"
Drivers and passengers recall their rude interactions.
The Prank
"One time I was in south Philly and a car pulled up with two guys in it. They called out to me asking for directions so I walked over. As I was explaining where to go the dude in the passenger seat spit in my face and they sped off."
– the_humbL_lion
Willing Victim
"You just reminded me of a similarly gross interaction:"
"Years ago after a doctor's appointment, I got into my car and turned it on, at which point a small child started leaning/sitting on the hood. His heavily pregnant mother stood by doing nothing, apparently distracted by her phone. I rolled down my window, and asked if she would mind getting her child off of my car, as I needed to leave, and was concerned he could get hurt."
"She asked if I had insurance. Confused, I answered '...yes?', to which she said 'Well I hope you DO hit him so I can get some MONEY!' She proceeded to lean in through my passenger window, and started spitting on me. The kid was no longer on my car, and I desperately wanted to get away from her, so I put my car in reverse. She then hurled her pregnant belly into my sideview mirror, and shrieked in such an exaggerated way, as if I had hit her."
"I eventually found a new doctor."
– TheHaydnPorter
Unwanted Car Wash
"Stopped at a red light one time. Someone from a building adjacent to the light threw a bag of ice and water on my car, from a few stories up. Dented the roof and shattered the windshield."
"Wasn't even a nice car, I was driving a Dodge neon sh*tbox."
– IAmPandaKerman
You never know the capabilities of strangers you encounter.
The Violent Thief
"I got held up at gun point 2 weeks ago in philly 10 feet from the door to my friends apartment. They stole both our watches. My watch was given to me by my dead uncle. https://imgur.com/a/V59aebW"
– xcpain93
Hit By A Hard Object
"Reminds me of something. Some a**hole tossed a lock, like the combination type out of a car at me and hit me in the knee. I had trouble walking correctly for damn near a month."
"I always thought if they'd have stopped at a light I'd have hurled that b*tch right back."
"Good thing they didn't. I wasn't in any condition for a fight."
– Ok_Relationship_705
Moving Targets
"I also have a drive-by experience but it was with a f'king paintball gun. My friend and I were in freshmen year, just walking to the park to play some ball and with no warning he suddenly recoils and shouts in pain. I had no clue what happened. He reaches at his back and when he turns around I see a bright red paint splat on his white shirt. I look up and see the car that just passed us turns around, pulls up next to us with the kid in the passenger seat hanging the gun out window saying 'Sorry bro, I’m just so surgical with this thing,' and speeds off. Pretty hilarious story in hindsight within our friend group now, but at the time we were pissed. Luckily we got their plates and the cops showed up at their house and they got in trouble. F'kers."
– zakxk
Wrong Target
"I was about 11 and me and some friends were standing on a small bridge over a lake. All of a sudden I was picked up and thrown over the railing into the lake below. I tried to grab onto anything I could as I fell and scrapped my arms up pretty good. I still have scars 30 years later. So I swim to the side and some older kid comes up to me and just say - sorry, I thought you were someone else."
– discostud1515
Attacks happen when you least expect it.
Random Attack
"Punched me, for no reason. I was standing. Waiting for the community bus. A stranger got out of the car and punched me. I filed the Police report but nothing happen."
– Hallo-Mapskollegen
Hitting The Elderly
"My grandmother was at the movies and a guy walking up the aisle punched her in the side of the head. He told the cops he was mad because he was on a bad blind date."
"Like...great excuse to wallop a 75-year-old woman minding her own business."
– BarracudaImpossible4
The Ferrari Guys
"Had a similar thing happen when I was in Downtown Los Angeles. I was crossing the street and just came up onto the sidewalk. Some dude in a Ferrari steps out of the car, walks up to me and tries to swing on me in broad daylight. I sidestepped this dude, and he then spun to try to hit me again, calling me a motherf**ker and not to dodge. I caught him with a nut shot with my foot and doubled him over."
"His buddy hops out of the car, and another of his buddies (I assume) gets up from the side of the sidewalk and both are yelling at me, and I'm like, 'ah, f'k, I'm not ready for this.'"
"These absolute legends who had been watching all this sh*t go down just appear out of nowhere and jump these guys for me. Like, six different people from out of the woodwork. Nutshot and Scrub (Ferrari guys) hop in the car and just take off, scraping the car and taking the right side view mirror off. Their (assumedly) other homeboy gets left behind, but he tries to stumblef'k his a** away after having taken a couple of hits to the head. One of the guys who helped me jogs up and punts this dude in the side right after he falls over, doubling him up. Meanwhile, everybody else is checking on me and making sure I'm good."
"Cops show up, detain us, figure out what's going on, let us go, and arrest homie that couldn't get away. Come to find out, these guys have been doing this for weeks, and the people who helped me were local residents who had been on the lookout for Nutshot. Arrested homie later squealed, and all the guys involved got a couple of years for aggravated assault."
– feronen
My bad interactions with strangers were all random but definitely premeditated assaults.
I was mugged twice in New York City while I was typically minding my own business.
Also, while I was in Barcelona, I had a team of youths pick-pocket me and run off with my wallet containing my passport and credit cards. Fortunately, the friend I was with saw what happened and ran off after them. She sucker-punched the young lady who had my wallet, causing her to drop it.
Be careful out there, folks!
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