Bullying has always been a disease in the bloodstream of childhood. It's as old as the schoolyard, older than the chalkboard, predating even caveman grunts over territory. But this isn’t just a problem for kids anymore. This is grown-up, suit-and-tie, water-cooler, boardroom warfare where the stakes are your dignity and the weapons are gossip, exclusion, passive-aggressive threats, and gaslighting so thick you can't breathe.

I was bullied. Not just in passing, not just once. I was targeted from Grade 6 through 12 by a guy I’ll just call "SHAWN." He was the poster boy of cruelty with backup singers in the form of his goon squad. One moment that still lives rent-free in my mind: Shawn threatening to kill me if I dared show my face at prom. So I didn't go. That rite of passage? That memory everyone clings to? Gone. Stolen. By a threat that lived in the pit of my stomach for years.

I don’t buy into the soft slogans. I don’t wear pink shirts and chant, "Kindness is cool." That’s not where I come from. My advice? Take your bully down. Not metaphorically. I'm talking about Plan B. Isolate the bastard. Wait until he’s alone, then unleash everything.

But before that, you try Plan A: words. Confrontation. Call them out. You look your bully in the eye and tell them it's over. Sometimes they'll backpedal, laugh it off, say you're too sensitive. Sometimes they’ll shove you again. When they do, that's when you make the shift. You don’t wait for consensus. You declare war. You fight.

Bullies in school and in life operate on cowardice. They run in packs. They operate under the safety of a crowd. Remove that cover, and they shrink. I bounced Shawn off a locker once. He looked surprised. I had never reacted before. I never landed a punch, but I landed a truth: I wasn’t going to run forever.

Here’s a quote that nails it:

"If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." — Desmond Tutu

That’s the problem with most adult responses to bullying. Neutrality. Mediation. "Just ignore them." You know what you get for ignoring bullies? More bullying. You have to make them remember you. The black eye, the busted lip—those aren't trophies for you. They’re a reminder to him.

And if fists aren't your way? Fine. Make it psychological. Flip the script. Turn the tables. Hire a hacker. Build your success so bright that it burns their eyes. Do something. Because silence is acceptance.

We romanticize the bullies later in life. "They had a rough home life," or "They were insecure." Great. But at the moment they were stuffing your face in a toilet or mocking your voice or threatening your safety, you weren’t thinking about their backstory. You were thinking about surviving.

"No, you don't know what it's like To be hurt To feel lost To be left out in the dark... Welcome to my life" — Simple Plan

Online bullies are even worse. Anonymity plus cruelty equals carnage. These keyboard cowards don’t just mock you. They ruin lives. They lead to suicides. And they sleep well at night. Block them? Sure. But what if they dox you? What if they find your family, your job, your secrets?

In today's world, justice isn't about standing tall—it's about hitting first and hitting smart. Revenge? Maybe. Retribution? Definitely. Whatever keeps you sane and safe.

Eventually, time does its job. I heard Shawn turned into everything he feared being: middle-aged, balding, divorced, barstool-bound, ignored by his kids. Karma? Maybe. Satisfaction? A bit. But forgiveness? Yeah... that's Plan C. And I'm still not sure I'm ready for that.

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