Even if society as a whole seems to become more tolerant with each passing year, bullying still remains an ever-growing problem.
Particularly at schools.
Some might say bullying has only gotten worse, as social media often means children are no longer safe when they're out of school hallways and in the comfort of their own homes.
What is perhaps most disturbing and perplexing about bullying is there is never a justifiable reason for people to behave so appallingly.
Often, children bully other children to make them seem cool or powerful in the eyes of others.
Most of the time, they will also pinpoint a certain thing about their helpless victims as a feeble excuse to justify their bullying.
"What were you bullied for?"
Trying Too Hard
"I was socially awkward."
"I also was greatly motivated to be liked."
"I did a lot of sh*t trying to be liked that in hindsight, made me unliked."- EVEseven
Health Conditions Beyond Their Control
"Eczema which often affected my face."- Puffs01
Name Calling? Seriously?
"I was called a biscuit head, because my head was shaped like a biscuit."- cerakaz
It's Not Like They Chose It.
"My name."- maximus12121
Only Cowards Don't Pick On People Their Own Size
"Being the small kid."- occamhanlon
Picking On People For Keeping To Themselves? Just Cruel.
"For being the quiet kid."- actuallyjohnqmind
No Reason Whatsoever
"To this day, I really don't know."
"Something happened in the summer between 2nd and 3rd grade that made a bunch of people decide that they didn't like me anymore, including my best friend.'
"I only had two friends left until my family moved away in the middle of 7th grade."
"Bullies would follow me home most days and my mom finally had to verbally super-saiyan a few parents down the street to get them to take it down a notch."
"I finally asked one of them what I ever did to them, and they said 'you were born'."
"How do you even respond to that statement."
"I just got a sharp pang after seeing that phrase again."- msprang
Ignoring It Is Enabling It
"I was bullied from age 6 to age 13 every day for my surname (a word for a hunchback in my language) , my looks, my nature, me knowing English, reading, drawing and just existing overall."
"I f*cking hated middle school."
"My mom tried standing up for me, but no one cares in Slavic countries and the teachers didn't give a sh*t even though they saw everything, it's all part of growing up."
"My father ignored my constant tears and the terror I experienced in those years."
"I was attacked, beaten, and targeted whenever i would leave my flat."
"I was stabbed with screwdrivers and dull knives, chased around the neighborhood by kids on bikes while they threw rocks at me."
"I was only invited to birthday parties so that the kids would have someone to terrorize and gang up on."
"I always hated birthdays, but my mom though maybe the children would be kinder to me out of school."
"But that's that."
"Once I began high school I was around all new people, and I decided to play as a tough girl and stood up for myself on the get-go."
"But it turns out art school mostly brought other bullied kids together and I had the 4 best years of my life there with other kind and loving people who just wanted to make friends and have fun."- Cropalitet
Knowing They Wouldn't Fight Back
"Being easy to walk over."
"I had a really hard time asserting myself."
"So being 'too nice'."
"But really, just very insecure."- idolovehummus
Classism
"Being poor."
"And my mom smoked continuously so being poor and smelly."
"Kids are brutal."
"For those that can relate I'm wishing you all the best for where you are now."
"We are a product of where we came from but that doesn't define who we are today."
"For those that can't relate, I'm so glad you had a different childhood and also hope you are doing well."
"And for those that find this is their moment to continue to bully, I hope kindness finds you and helps you with whatever you need to have a brighter day."- Evil-ish
Red Hair Is Beautiful, And Don't Ever Forget It
"Glasses, red hair, and freckles."
"Opie, Howdy Doody, and red-headed step child jokes all the way through school."- espifer
"Having red hair."- DeplorableKurt
In Other Words, Just For Being Yourself
"As a black kid, in a predominantly black area:
"Wearing glasses and having braces."
"Being fat."
"Being nice."
"Being smart."
"Liking Anime."
"Wanting to be a Pilot (influenced by the Anime I liked the most)."
"But guess what?"
"I'm a f*cking Pilot now."- ApacheOc3lot
Perhaps the saddest, or most infuriating, cases of bullying are when people bully others for sharing likes or interests they have themselves.
Case in point, and true story: being bullied constantly through 2nd and 3rd grade for liking Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
Only to see several of the people who bullied you express their excitement at the release of the 2017 film version of Power Rangers on Facebook.
Some children are just, plain cruel...
There was a time when cyberbullying wasn't taken seriously, believe it or not. Times have certainly changed, haven't they?
Now that smartphones are so ubiquitous, people take cyberbullying more seriously than they ever did, not that there weren't cases of cyberbullying that made the news before.
There was a time when people were just instructed to not take cyberbullying so seriously, to the detriment of everyone.
It's a kind of bullying that is now treated with the attention and seriousness it deserves.
People shared their thoughts after Redditor moth-flame asked the online community:
"What do people not recognise as bullying, but actually is?"
"Belitting people..."
"Belittling people for asking genuine questions, or shaming them for not knowing what is polite based on your specific culture and lifestyle."
koolaidgirl40
This is true. And it's very common online because people assume others aren't acting in good faith.
"Dating someone..."
"Dating someone through a dare."
AussieTeenager
This sounds awful for someone's psyche. Even worse – there are teen comedies with this concept.
"My teachers..."
"My teachers sure didn’t recognize things like kicking the back of my chair over and over again and laughing as bullying, but it was to me."
obsertories
Some teachers are guilty of really just ignoring bad behavior, aren't they?
"Provoking someone's anger..."
"Provoking someone’s anger so much that almost anyone on earth would eventually retaliate physically, thus leading to the bullying victim getting into trouble."
whitehack
An excellent observation. If you push someone enough, they will snap – and there's no reason to push anyone that much.
"Exclusion..."
"Exclusion is pretty bad."
"It's not "bullying" because they're not hurting or otherwise harassing the person but it fucking hurts badly. This includes everything from your friend group being upset with you and excluding you when you're 8 and when you're in college and all your "friends" are ghosting you."
"It's so psychologically damaging. It hurts your confidence, self-image, and much more."
Snapple207
When your so-called "friends" exclude you, it can hurt immensely. That's not what actual friendships are made of.
"People insulting..."
"People insulting your interests. Music taste especially. Please just let listen to my rock/techno/pop in peace."
BeansReallyAreGood
Just let people enjoy things! It's really that simple. Why bully someone over what they like?
"Whenever I invited..."
"Whenever I invited my "friends" somewhere they'd always come. But they never invited me. They'd talk about how much fun they all had over the weekend right in front of me."
Spencer2091
Now's a good time to remind people of something very important: Friendship is a two-way street.
"When people..."
"When people get called on their terrible behaviour and try to pretend they’re the victim instead of actually taking accountability for their actions."
awkwardlyherdingcats
Taking responsibility is a real sign of maturity. Sadly, many people don't ever seem to reach that point.
"People in relationships..."
"People in relationships who manipulate the other if they're growing as a person out of fear of them changing too much or losing them."
KitchenPackage9605
People who do this are incredibly insecure and it's in your best interest to stay as far away from them as possible.
"It's more subtle..."
"It's more subtle, but I think toxic positivity is just bullying someone into shutting up about their unpleasant feelings."
Both-Glove
People's emotions are valid. It's a good idea to not make them feel like they can't speak about their feelings candidly or honestly.
Now that you've been informed about behaviors that also count as bullying, you'll be able to stand up for yourself more effectively. Even better: you'll be able to defend others in similar positions.
Have observations not included here? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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The cliques and labels that come with middle and high school can be socially rewarding or make your time in school feel unbearable. School in the early 2000s could be brutal. At least for the brainy kid who didn't fit all the norms. I was famous mostly for being the weird chubby kid.
I remember having conversations and pretending to not be as smart as I was because I didn't want to stand out anymore than I already did. Transferred schools once in middle school because bullies got so bad. Fast forward though and I love my curves, my mind, and now it's mainstream and “cool" to be nerdy. I love my life.
So anyone going through anything like that remember to value yourself because a day will come when you're older that you are the cool one and your life will turn out pretty darn sweet.
Redditor El-Sordo420 wanted to hear what others were labeled as and asked:
"In school, what were you famous for?"
The responses were hilarious and sometimes sad much like our real school years.
“my teacher fell out if his chair laughing…”
“Let me premise this with no one was hurt, and my teacher fell out if his chair laughing. I was a Techie in high school. During a specifically awful rehearsal of a show the school was putting on, I was working lights up in the balcony as our Tech teacher (who couldn't take the musical disaster anymore) sat below at the director's booth. At some point he sarcastically said into our headphones, ‘Someone please just throw a wrench at me.’ So, I did.” GinaTRex
“Farting. Alot. It got so bad that my nickname became 'The Bean Machine', and the slightly less popular 'Super Pooper Trooper'. Got so bad that when the teacher sat the whole class down to speak about name calling because of my nickname, I farted and the teacher has to tell me to go outside because of the stench.”
“My most vivid memory was when one of the ringleaders called me it during a lunchtime and I just broke down. My twin sister found me crying behind the school dumpsters. ):” GoryBark
“That was when she started to learn about her dad's past."
“Being the school hackerdude. My daughter found out twenty years later when a retired teacher turned substitute took attendance in her class. Got to her name, said ‘I remember that last name, he took over all the computers in the school!’ The rest of the class turned to look at her wide eyed. That was when she started to learn about her dad's past.” Sabz5150
The school “Coke” dealer…
“My school removed soda machines, so I became known for selling coca cola relatively quickly. Made decent money too! Some teachers were in on it and supported me because all vending machines had coke products removed, not just student machines.” BackgroundDrider
A young time traveler…
back to the future great scott GIFGiphy“In grade school one day I pretended I was from the future. For sh*ts and giggles. But then over time it kinda turned into a thing. Eventually it got to the point where it would do more harm than good to admit I was not from the future. I don't recall how it happened, I just remember wishing people would stop asking me if I was from the future because I didn't want to talk about that anymore. Not much different from potato guy in retrospect.” orderfour
Sounds like a romantic comedy plot…
“In high school I was called 'The city girl' cause I was in a small town & grew up in the city.” Peanut2ur_Tostito
“…I was the seizure kid."
“Getting knocked on my head before school one day and having a seizure. It was before they opened the doors so everyone outside saw what happened and then the ambulance came and I was awake but I was blacked out and my friends told me I tried to fight the paramedics off."
“I don't remember anything from hitting my head to coming to in the ambulance with some type of amnesia, I didn't know who I was or where I was and I was strapped down so this made me panic even more and I think I tried to spit on the paramedics so they covered my face with the oxygen mask and I'm pretty sure it wasn't turned on. I couldn't breathe."
“It was one of the scariest moments of my life and it still kind of haunts me to this day.
People Share Their Unexpected Happiest Moments | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
While many of life's big events like weddings and births bring us joy, even the smallest of gestures or gifts can leave a lasting impression. Especially if y...Their parents must have been unimpressed…
“My nickname. My name is 'Adam'. My parents were happy because they named my brothers and I with impossible names to shorten (into nicknames) but in my case they were wrong. I grew up in the 1980's and you will no doubt understand why that's relevant when you hear what the other kids decided to call me. They shortened my name 'Adam' into 'AID's.' My nickname for 40 years has been Aids." Found_the
One of these things doesn’t add up…
canadian what GIF by CBCGiphy“Quiet, religious, but suspended for an alleged bomb plot…I'm a girl; I was a sophomore; I printed the directions for what amounted to a firework off the Anarchist's Cookbook. School admin went relatively bananas." nursebeast
“I was known for being the most bullied person in our year group! I found out about this when I left and somehow matched with a guy from school on tinder a few years later. It went around a few year groups, so even people I'd never met recognised me. Very odd!” BloodlustPrincess
For good or bad nearly everyone in school was labeled and known for something, even if it was just fading into the background. We’d love to hear what you were school-famous for in the comments.
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Image by mohamed Hassan from Pixabay |
People change. People learn and grow. That is the hope, that we will evolve into better humans.
Now I do give some people leeway as age and experience fashions them into better forms of themselves, especially for people who spend many formative years as "bullies."
One of the most bullied groups is the LGBTQIA community. Sadly many inflict inhumane cruelty on them.
And because too many others are just confused about themselves. Hurt people, hurt people. That is a very accurate saying. And often the people lashing out at the LGBTQIA community are just too afraid to admit, they want a ticket to the party.
Redditor u/straight-up-bs wanted to hear some hard but fantastic truths from people who found their truth by asking: Previous homophobes who turned out to be gay, what's your story?I've lost count of the number of people I personally know, who were just plain malicious to gay people. They would fling slurs and do bodily harm. They couldn't handle being around people "like that" they'd say. Then cut to a decade later, and there I see them shaking it on a speaker to Whitney. Mhmmm...
1-
Sorry Dog GIF by swerkGiphy"I wasn't a homophobe I think, but more... I guess a little judgy about it. I lived in the middle of nowhere and was homeschooled with extremely limited access to the internet, so really only had my father and stepmother as sources."
"My father's opinion was that all gays are really only doing it for attention, and my stepmother would tell us stories about how her family members would get disowned and written out of the will (a cousin of her's) when they came out of the closet."
"They also made it a stipulation that in order to be in their will we had to have four kids, and we could not adopt until we exhausted all other methods of natural conception. When I was about 14, I had started reading fanfiction. I was into Sonic at the time (cringy, I know) and stumbled upon the ships. It slowly turned to me reading more and more gay fanfics, as I started to read from other fandoms I was into."
"Once I got into the Harry Potter fandom properly, I realized that damn, I was ticking a lot of these boxes... Oh crap, I might be bi! Still haven't had a chance to properly explore me sexuality yet, and it's not really a concern of mine at the moment. I live with my bio mother now, and she's totally cool with me being bi curious. She's bi herself, apparently!"
2-
"Well, I grew up in such a hetero world that I genuinely didn't know what gay people were until I was 14 or 15. I just thought everyone was straight; which is why when I started crushing on girls when I was 13, I thought I was a perverted psychopath who needed locking up. I used to fake sick so I wouldn't have to go into school, so that girls wouldn't have to be anywhere near me. Eventually they started bullying me for being such a loner anyway."
"When I was 14, 2 senior year girls were expelled for being seen outside of school grounds, in their school uniforms, making out. That was what confirmed being gay was bad for me. We even had an entire religion module on why gay marriage shouldn't be legalised, and you had to back up your answers with bible quotes. A rumour went around about one girl being a lesbian, and I went along with the bullies, called her a freak behind her back."
"Well 3 years after that, I wrote a letter to my parents explaining how I just couldn't get myself to like boys, even after dating them. My mum picked it up mid way through writing it, read it aloud, and just started laughing. I said it'd be ok if she wanted to kick me out of the house. She said she couldn't give a crap and that I shouldn't either. Still got bullied for a while but eventually I found friends that accepted me."
Best Excuses For Late Assignments That Were Actually True | George Takei’s Oh Myyy
3-
"Gonna be similar to a lot of people here. Grew up in a super conservative religious family where gay people were regularly mocked and called immoral. My cousin is gay and came out when I was in middle school. The family refused to talk to him for about 10 years after that and that scared me so much as a kid I just suppressed any gay thoughts I might have. I ended up parroting the hate I heard from parents and continued to do so until I went to college."
"In college I was finally far enough away from them that I wasn't scared of hiding anymore and kind of figured out who I was (I didn't know I was gay until probably junior year. I had just pushed the possibility out of my head.) Since then I've told my mom who is a bit more chill (though she doesn't believe me. She thinks it's just God testing me) but no one else in the family. Kids mimic what they see, but in more accepting environments people have a better chance of realizing who they are (in my experience)."
4-
"I wasn't a serious homophobe. I didn't go out of my way to diss people for being part of the LGBT community but I didn't support them and kinda thought they were making a mistake. There were a lot of people who used being gay to get attention and I really didn't like it and since I didn't notice that they weren't actually gay, I thought that was natural."
"Secondly, I was using excuses of 'Aren't you too young to figure that out?' when talking to my friends. Around the quarantine, I started talking to this person who was explaining to me the LGBT community. I still wasn't very convinced but I tried to keep an open mind at least. After a while, we kinda went our separate ways."
"My friend started coming over more, and we started texting a lot more as well and I found myself staring at my friend in awe, hugging her and never wanting to let go, feeling sadder and disappointed when she would bail on me rather when my other friends did it and thinking about her a lot more. I haven't told her about my feelings yet but I'm planning to."
5-
romantic lady and the tramp GIFGiphy"I thought everyone wanted to make out with members of all sexes, and that they could choose to not make out with members of the same sex if they wanted to. Turns out, I'm just bisexual (not pan because I'm more into women than I am men)."
See how much happier and freeing it can be once we embrace our true selves? All of these people finally just gave up fighting, from within. And it's smoother when you take sometime to learn about the things you don't understand. Continue...
6-
jesus deal with it GIFGiphy"Was raised Christian and grew up being told that being lgbt was A) A straight ticket to hell B) On the same level as Beastiality or incest C) A choice, and D) The worst thing you can do to your family.
After thinking a long time about how much of christianity made zero sense and noticing that God literally never contacted me, I also questioned how good a God can be if he'd make someone a certain way then eternally torture them for not living their entire life rejecting such a huge part of themselves."
"Not to mention how they'd have to either live their entire life alone because of something they can't control, or force themselves to be with someone they did not feel attraction for. I rejected the religion on this basis. Then over time realized that it's not straight to daydream about marrying your best female friend. Then even later on I realized it's not cis that in a bunch of those daydreams, I was a guy."
- Rook_45
7-
"Grew up in a christian conservative family. Became a homophobe because that's what Jesus wanted, apparently. That's what my family taught me. 2016 rolls around and suddenly my christian family stops caring about any of their morals."
"I realized they didn't believe a thing they taught me, and I didn't have any reason to believe it either. So I kept the good stuff (love others) and dropped the hateful junk. I don't really consider myself gay, but I am a guy and I'm dating a guy, because they're a good person and that's the only thing worth considering."
- Indigoh
8-
"I grew up Baptist with a very LGBT+ phobic step-father. I was very (cringily) into Sonic and around middle school found out what shipping was. I was mortified that two guys would be shipped together, "They're both boys, the bible says that's bad!" However, I was repressing my interest in it. I would often look up gay ships with Shadow or Sonic, just to look at them angrily, like any repressed 12 year old would do."
"Eventually, I admitted my interest in it to myself, but also said I'd never support it in real life. Fast forward a few years and I end up having a MAJOR crush on a girl. My first real love was a girl, and at that time, I thought I was a girl too. That ended in heartbreak, but that's another story. Soon I start to question my gender because another classmate of mine who I was friends with came out as a trans guy. At first, I didn't realize the teacher was calling on him and was confused as to where [his deadname] was."
Eventually I figured it out and my own gender was up for question. I started making more male main OC's and realized I had a much better time relating to them than I ever did my female ones. I quickly realized I was a trans guy as well. Since then I've been questioning my sexuality and trying out different labels for it; but I'm pretty sure Pansexual covers it."
9-
"Trans "girl" here. I got sucked into the alt-right pipeline in 2015 before i knew what being trans was but boy did I get introduced to it. I was told by Ben Shapiro and all the other morons like him that being trans and nonbinary (my current and more accurate identity) is a mental illness and that people who are those things are delusional and easily "triggered snowflakes."
"It took a serious come to Jesus moment to get out of my bad ways of thinking but i still had sort of a mental fog for reasons unknown. that sort of all fell apart the moment quarantine hit. now i'm a lot happier but I still feel horrible for all the crap I spread on the internet a while ago."
10-
I Love You Kiss GIF by GAYCATION with Ellen Page and Ian DanielGiphy"I was like, one of those "I'm not homophobic but..." people until I was about 15, turns out the "but..." was "but I am a massive lesbian."
- BoomToll
11-
"I wouldn't say homophobe, I grew up with a pretty accepting father, my mom also accepted me when I came out as bi (I'm a girl) but really had a homophobic reaction towards my brother when he also came out as bi. I repeatedly got bullied growing up because I was a tomboy/large and got labeled as "butch", etc. I still have trouble accepting myself as I am because of it."
12-
"It's pretty simple. Being raised in a conservative state and christian family 🙂 you're taught to hate anyone who doesn't fit their mold, and subconsciously you know you're one of those "others", but you deny it and project that hate onto anyone else. I'll never understand how people can claim to worship a god who is loving, forgiving, sees humans as no better or worse than each other, yet they reject and exclude people from the "kingdom" or even target them as an outlet for their rage. So glad I escaped that barbaric way of life and thought."
13-
"Basically my mom was kind of my only friend growing up because I'm on the autism spectrum and didn't develop "proper" social skills until I was like 10. I would believe everything she told me without questioning it. She also happens to be part of some pretty cult-like conservative groups so yeah I unfortunately had some pretty twisted views on stuff for awhile. When I was 14 I developed feelings for some girl I knew at school."
"Don't really wanna get into all of the details but I tried my hardest to convince myself that I only liked her as a friend and had feelings for one of my guy friends instead, which failed miserably. After speaking to a therapist and crap I finally started to accept myself as bi and realize how much of a terrible person my mom is. Im 17 now and looking forward to moving out soon."
14-
"In high school, I had 2 best friends and we were part of a larger group of about two dozen friends. One guy in the larger group was outright hostile to anything gay. He hated any musical group with at least one known member who was gay, he hated guys wearing pink, and there were times he got so angry it would take a few of us to hold him back and keep him from attacking anyone (male or female) he perceived as gay. Found out at our ten-year reunion that all of it was due to his ultra-religious father who had disowned his own brother when he came out as gay."
"The uncle had been disowned by the entire family, called everything from evil to "possessed by Satan himself" to mentally deranged, etc. The last thing this guy wanted was to be treated the same way because, you guessed it, he was gay. His a-hole family disowned him, pretends he never even existed. I never saw him after high school, but others who have said he's a changed person, truly remorseful about the way he acted."
15-
Cartoon Yes GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy"Wasn't really that homophobic but I thought it was weird but in middle school my friend came out as bi and basically all those thoughts went away and I turned out to be bi."
16-
"I was raised in a religious cult and genuinely believed if you were gay, you were going to Hell. I was never violent and I genuinely tried not to be what I thought was hateful, but I know for sure I unfortunately still hurt a lot of people with my judgements."
"What was worse was that I was so hypocritical and so turned around, I was sexting with other guys and struggled to stop, thinking of my want to be active with other guys as an addiction sent by the Devil. I was tearing myself apart, telling myself I would just pray enough and get right, and I had to be the hope for others."
"I still have a ton of religious trauma from what happened to me, and even after I initially left the church, I didn't seek help and hurt people I romantically got in touch with. I have a long ways to go, but I'm worlds away from where I used to be. I need to be the best I can be because I never want my future kids to grow up the same way I did."
17-
"I was actually spoken to by a policeman 3 years ago for shoving a gay man after we had a disagreement in a pub. I was very homophobic in every sense. I wouldn't eat the food if the server was gay (couldn't bring myself to eat it), I left my friend group in university after a gay man was joining us. Couldn't see them on tv or listen to gay songs. Things like that."
"It's probably very complex why I hated them so much. A mixture of how they ruined my life and how I didn't want them to contaminate or hurt me. I was married for a few years and eventually I just felt really sick of it. I watched Hannibal the TV show and it was the beginning of coming to terms with it. I have a boyfriend now. He's really nice."
18-
"I grew up in your typical Christian bs, American dysfunctional household, knew really early on in life I wasn't normal so through school I was pretty hateful of gay and especially trans people and wouldn't associate with anyone that was. We had one trans girl in high school that I wouldn't associate with in any way, I didn't make fun of her or say anything awful but I deliberately stayed away from her. In secret I wished I could do the same and not let all the crap people said bother me but I didn't come out until I was 26. I really hate who I used to be and I wish I could do everything over."
19-
Golden State Warriors No GIF by NBAGiphy"I wasn't really a homophobe, but I was a self-homophobe. I respected effeminate and queer guys but any time I had a gay or effeminate thought I'd think "stop being a freaking f*ggot." Even after I figured out I was bi I still struggled with my masculinity for years."
20-
"I'm bi but I started to learn to be more comfortable with myself, as I am sure a lot of us did. We're taught that to be ourselves is a bad thing when it's not. For parents of any kind, let your kid be.
"Just because you're a lesbian, it doesn't make you less of a bein'."- Marge Simpson."
The truth is simple. Don't use that negativity for bad. Release it. Love is love is love. Let's just be people. Rant over.
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Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay |
We all have one. That one person we wish we could all erase, not just from our lives but from the Earth.
Even the best and kindest of us has harbor ill feelings towards one individual who made life, difficult, at times.
The truth, is that there are some truly malicious, nasty, vindictive, awful people running around this planet, and they take pleasure in the plight of other's.
And it's best to know where they are, even when they are finally gone from our lives.
Redditor u/cocobotisbest was wondering who wanted to discuss the people we'd rather forget by asking:
What happened to the "a**hole" person in your life?
My ex-stepfather is a demon from hell. I'm sure of it. He was an abusive drunk. And he luxuriated in causing havoc and emotional destruction. He's dead. I'll just leave that there. Who else feels like rejoicing/I mean sharing?
Evil Bosses
The Office Monday GIF by 20th Century Fox Home EntertainmentGiphy"He got to keep his job while many people he terrorized were laid off. (Not counting the ones who quit because of him.) He lives in a lovely house, his wife is a VP who just had a baby. He's oblivious."
- DenL4242
Who cares?
"I have no idea, and I hope it stays that way."
- Ggeng
"There was one kid in school who was an a**hole from a very early age. I was in the same class in primary school for 1 year in grade 4. I have no idea what he is up to and honest to God I hope I never discover what he is now."
The Ex
"Lots of absolute jerks often ride off into the sunset and never get their comeuppance. I had an ex-wife who left me for a rich executive guy at her job. They live in a huge house, he keeps getting promoted and everything worked out for her and she even has two kids with him (we had no kids). She is living the dream!"
"It's a lot of work to forget those who wronged you. I try to work on it, but it's tough to live without wanting revenge."
Snagged
"Ohh, this is one of my favorite stories. My wife had jacked teeth in middle school, before her mom could get her braces. The a**hole that teased her mercilessly and dubbed her "snaggle tooth". He died in jail of a tooth infection from smoking meth. He was an a**hole in a lot of other ways, hence the being in jail. This is just the best way to tell it."
- jvhero
Pop
darth vader father GIF by Star WarsGiphy"Completely removed from my life, blocked on every single mode of communications. Thanks for a crappy childhood, dad."
- hoodyk
Family is so complicated. And it's the one relationship we're told should be the easiest. Oh well. And God do I love seeing bullies pay. Let's hear some more good news.
Unfair...
Complaining John Oliver GIFGiphy"He is still thriving in life. With a good job and family. Not everything is a fairy tale where karma hits them hard."
Slow Down
"Died. He was seriously drunk and decided to go driving 90 miles an hour in a 30 zone and he didn't swerve in time and died fairly quickly." No one else died or was injured. It was at 1am in the morning. He was pronounced dead as soon the ambulance came. So he died within minutes. Kinda sad that a 21 year old would just die like that.
Teacher's Pet
"It was a girl in elementary, who made up stories of how I did something bad, like throwing snails into river or trashing teacher's pencil case etc. The teacher always believed it, because unlike me, the girl was able to look into people's eyes while talking to them. And I was considered to be a freakin' liar. I did not even know it was her for a long time, cos she pretended to be my friend."
"Years later, a tenement house nearby exploded, it completely destroyed the flat she was living in, and her father (plumber who went to check the pipelines in the cellar) died there. I quite liked the man. I do not believe in karma and if so, this would be an enormous overkill."
- Ziriath
I Hate Him
"Moved away, divorced his wife and got a girlfriend with the same name. He was an a**hole, he was my babysitter as a kid and abused me for some reason, he burned me really bad once and my parents got to see that I didn't lie about him, don't always regard your child's story as fake, sit down and talk to them."
A Better Person
Mr Bean Thumbs Up GIFGiphy"He got an aggressive brain tumor, making him rethink his entire view on life and start being a decent human being. Also might have affected his personality in some way, all around a better person."
- TheWikid
Not to wish anyone ill, because that is toxic, but it is nice to see that karma and the Universe often does have a plan. What I know is life does go on and we're all the stronger for moving forward. Also, keeping tabs isn't always a bad idea.
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