Were you ever bullied in school?
Oh sure, plenty of times. I was still in the closet then, very much in denial with myself. I was shoved into lockers, pushed up staris, spit at, punched, slapped, and one time, molested in the school auditorium. Of course, all the name calling went along with it. "faggot, fairy, homo..."
How did you deal with it?
I internalized it all, ran from it, tried my best to become "invisible" at school. I talked to almost no one. I learned to recognize far off voices and smells. If I heard the voice of one of the bullies who would regularly target me in the distance, I would immedietely turn and run in the other direction. There was one kid who used to wear the nastiest cologne. I learned to smell it quickly (and hate it), and get away as fast as I could. It was almost like a strange "documentary" on nature. "The smaller, meeker Chuck, has picked up the scent of prey, and retreats."
Not long ago, I was in a store shopping, and someone passed me, wearing that same cologne. My knees locked, and the first thought was "where is he?"
I never told my parents about it, I didn't want them to know, and to be disappointed with me.
Have you ever or are you now being bullied at work?
When I graduated high school, I was happy, thinking "I'm finally away from
them!" and got a job at the local supermarket. Three of the kids who gave me hell ended up getting hired there as well. And of course, they told everyone there about the abuse that took place in school, and it followed me to my job. Physical abuse had stopped, but was replaced with grafitti about me in the men's room, and all over the walls in the basement, out in the open for everyone to see/read. Rude, lewd post about me, the size of my dick, how I sucked dicks, and all other kinds of nasty stuff. When I approached the manager of the store, I was told "It's too expensive to repaint the walls, and they'll only do it again anyway."
How do you deal with it?[/i]
I refused to quit my job, so like Ennis said, "you can't fix it, you gotta stand it.". I was only 18, no way to afford a lawyer to sue my employer. Besides, if I had done that, I'd be admiting what they were saying was true, and I was still in denial to myself.