The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #136964 Message #3132438
Posted By: GUEST,Shimrod
10-Apr-11 - 11:35 AM
Thread Name: BS: Bullying
Subject: RE: BS: Bullying
I was a timid kid at school and was mildly bullied a few times. On a couple of occasions I hit the bully and the bullying stopped. I learned that violence can occasionally solve problems but, mercifully, that lesson didn't turn me into a violent person.
Early in my career I worked in a department which was full of some of the most likeable people that you could hope to meet. There was a fair amount fo silliness and even horseplay and a bit of mild teasing. I noticed, though, that some people couldn't seem to cope with even the mildest teasing and some of them even claimed that they were being bullied. One lad had a voice which sounded like a well known TV personality and someone once remarked on this. Instead of laughing it off he 'went ballistic'. This over-reaction seemed to trigger a counter-reaction in some people and, in consequence, he suffered more teasing than he would have done if he had laughed off the intial remark (which sounded quite innocuous to me and, in that department, 'par for the course').
In my next job I encountered some 'real' bullies - and because they were in senior management they caused me some problems - but that's another story.
It all goes to show that one man's bullying may be another man's silly teasing.