I hate bullies !!

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: Greathouse

I can't stand them either. I've had to deal with them more times than I can count.

I call them the 15'ers and i blame ATS for all the social network advertising. And now ATS has lowered the post goal to 5?
Seriously I hate to be a snarky poster, but there is nothing much left to do on this forum? ATS does not allow thread duplicates? I know 3-4 threads the same day on one subject, I understand this. But topics that are as old as this site only looking for new discussions are almost certainly reported and closed by what I call over zealous mods. That right there the issue and the fall of ATS!

a reply to: Greathouse

Is yep a real word . Wait i am Australian , why the hell would i care . We are the masters of butchering English .

a reply to: hutch622

Yep, it is.
So, how badly do you butcher English? Do you make it scream or does it whimper?

originally posted by: intrptr
Bullies pick on people they get a rise out of. They target victims.

Don't be a victim.

My Mother, God bless her departed spirit, taught me this in sixth grade.
In the summer between fifth and sixth grade I grew nearly 4 inches. I was 5' 7" and weighed less than 100 pounds. I looked like a beanpole.
None of my classmates had experienced any similar growth spurts so not only was I the tallest girl in the class, I was the tallest member of the class. In fact I was taller than my 5' 5" teacher.
The boy who had formerly been the tallest of the class resented the fact that he no longer held that distinction. For some reason (in his head I suppose) he didn't understand that I hadn't grown taller than him on purpose. He began to call me names on the first day of school.
"Hey, Beanpole, do you stand under the clothes line when it rains?" became his favorite taunt.

Mama explained to me that he just wanted attention, specifically my attention. She showed me how to turn his taunts around. To his taunt I would respond with good humor, "Nah, I just sprint between the raindrops."
He never had a snappy comeback and after he realized I wasn't letting him bother me, he simply gave up.

Mama said that if they could make you mad they held power over you. Don't give them that kind of power.

At the time I thought that growth spurt was the worst possible thing in the world. A few years later being tall and skinny paid good money in the model market!

a reply to: diggindirt

Thanks for that perspective. Such a lovely spirit, too.

originally posted by: hutch622
a reply to: Greathouse

Is yep a real word . Wait i am Australian , why the hell would i care . We are the masters of butchering English .

Yup...., yep is in fact a real word leastwise in Kentucky it is .

I'll admit to being short lately. This national madness we seem to be in the grip of has brought the "I'm right because I'm right and if you aren't on my side you suck" people out of the woodwork everywhere.

But if people are honest, I think are darn few of us who haven't been on both the giving and the receiving end of bullying.

The thing that really gets me is how, in the name of not bullying, people are being bullied into compliance with the popular opinion.



If you dissent, the rest of the world comes after you and your life really can be seriously adversely impacted. It's not like it was when we were all on the playground and all the bullies could do was make you feel bad.

I'm beginning to wonder if this is how the average German felt when all of a sudden they looked around a realized their country was descending into madness all around them and they dared not dissent too much or they faced very real and very damaging censure.

originally posted by: intrptr
Bullies pick on people they get a rise out of. They target victims.

Don't be a victim.

That's part of my problem. I despise bullies so much it infuriates me when I see them use the tactics you speak of on others .

That's why my entire life when I see a bully bullying someone else I step up .

originally posted by: Greathouse

originally posted by: intrptr
Bullies pick on people they get a rise out of. They target victims.

Don't be a victim.

That's part of my problem. I despise bullies so much it infuriates me when I see them use the tactics you speak of on others .

That's why my entire life when I see a bully bullying someone else I step up .

I'm sorry, I wanted to start a conversation with you about this, but I'm not in the best form this morning and don't want to offend anyone. I have this problem ,bully like, of not letting go of a stand I take on issues. Sometimes I am the lone perspective on a thread and its hard to just walk away.

But I get the real world of running to the rescue, depending on the number of bullies. I'm not Bruce Lee.

a reply to: intrptr

I have seen you in that position in a debate. I don't believe you are a bully, you I would describe as "stubborn as a mule". ( I count that as a endearing quality )

a reply to: intrptr

Bullying is when you seek to belittle. You generally don't do that from my memory which is admittedly addled by a lack of caffeine (something I won't get until we hit the grocery store here in about an hour or so). I would say I get closer because my tendency to want to inject what would in conversation be a light sarcasm said with a gentle smile (ie playful in spirit in conversation) winds up translating as snark on the Internet. It's a consequence of becoming overfamiliar with my territory and not maintaining my formal tone because I let my guard down.

You must admit, some people are just easily offended when it comes to some things online and off. I've been called a bully here on ATS before, mainly because I take an iconoclastic approach, and I like to point out stupidity. But the idea that two strangers on the Internet can bully one another sounds insane, and I will point out that this idea is stupid as well.

In most cases the person is alone, in a safe spot like a bedroom or office with no one around him, and one can simply walk away from the screen, negating any physical harm. Also, reading negative comments from strangers on the Internet is no different than reading negative graffiti in a bathroom stall. We might call the offender an idiot, but never a bully, because we simply do not have enough evidence to make that claim. Any damage is self-caused. Furthermore, such wild claims risk lessinging the plight of real victims of real bullying.

the idea that one can be aggressive on the Internet is hilarious, since the so-called aggressive person is literally in one of the least aggressive positions someone can be in—sitting down. It's like saying Voltaire is aggressive in how he mocks others. The man is dead.

The irony is you're calling people names. That makes your statements suspect.

As soon as you learn no one is going to cater to your feelings, the faster you can learn to make your feelings stronger.

"Their" not "there."

a reply to: Greathouse

Thank you, I think.

a reply to: Greathouse

I will refrain from formulating a well thought out reply for fear of being accused of "bullying" tactics!

a reply to: ketsuko

…I would say I get closer because my tendency to want to inject what would in conversation be a light sarcasm said with a gentle smile (i.e. playful in spirit in conversation) winds up translating as snark on the Internet.

The internet to our detriment doesn't allow for face to face smiles to soften the tone.

A good set of emoticons helps…

I liked your comment here and the one above.

Thanks too for the critique, I'm way too critical of myself.

originally posted by: soulpowertothendegree
a reply to: Greathouse

I will refrain from formulating a well thought out reply for fear of being accused of "bullying" tactics!

Fear not !!!!


This is officially a ............

a reply to: Greathouse

Is someone a bully if they disagree with you? Or only if they disagree with you passionately?

:-)

Seems to me it's all a matter of perspective

a reply to: Greathouse

Make something idiot proof and someone will make a better idiot

You were saying?


Couldn't resist!

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

Honestly you cannot pick a bully out from a single instance. Usually it follows a pattern but one thing I found with bullies is they never apologize when they are wrong .

a reply to: Greathouse

Maybe they're not wrong

:-)

It's funny - strong opinions...not the same thing as bullying

Some people are never going to see things our way. As it should be

The only thing we can do (at the very least) is argue with integrity

We are definitely here to argue - at least some of the time