Kids will get bullied for ANYTHING. You stand out in any possible way (too fat, too skinny, another color, nerdy, poor, etc), it's almost inevitable that you'll be bullied at some point or other. But we expect this type of behavior from kids, not full grown adults, right? Wrong. Something happened this week that simply blew me away... and brought the bar way down on my hopes for humanity.
My mother recently purchased a small house in a gated "retirement" community, far away from winter and the effects it has on her every year. My mom's special: a tad eccentric, a little wild, a bit over-the-top at times, but mostly she's young at heart. She's 63, barely looks/acts like 50-something. She works hard, eats right and exercises regularly in order to stay that way. She has ups and downs but hers are a little more intense than yours or mine, kinda comes with being bipolar. Anyway, escaping winter has become a necessary thing and she finally found a quaint little nest to call home when the thermometer drops.
The community she migrates to houses several friends from the past, fun like-minded people to enjoy life with. It also houses a bunch of other people, who seemed fun at first glance but maybe they were just being polite. Turns out, as a slim single independent woman in such a community, she was instantly labeled "Barbie" and shun/ostracized for being healthy (ie not fat) and having fun/being happy/enjoying life to the fullest. WTF?!?! These same people/hypocrites "like" and share those "Stop Bullying!" images on social media. Really?... REALLY!?!?
"Stop Bullying" you say? Pfff. To the people living in that warm gated community, and to all the others just like them out there (I sincerely hope you'll recognize yourselves): grow-up or grow a brain but for fuckssake, WAKE-UP.
Bullying will stop when everyone recognizes that we are all potential bullies.
Stop the cycle.
Think before you act.
Breathe before you react.
//end of rant.
