...in the 6th grade with a boy. I was just thinking about that today.
It was lunch time recess in the Winter and a friend and I were sitting on the grass (it's California). This boy came up to us and then started making fun of me. I remember I tried to get up to leave and he kept pushing me back on to the grass multiple times. He wouldn't let me stand up. It was kind of a game to him. I was pint sized even back then - shortest in my class. I kicked him, granted not hard, in the shin and was able to stand up. He shoved me hard with a mad look on his face, and then I remembered what my Grandmother said. "If a boy is being mean to you, kick him in the balls". That's exactly what she said. So I did. And he swung at me and hit me in the jaw. By then, the kids in my class were circled around. I kicked him again. He swung again. Ouch. It repeated again. I remember thinking that I thought this kicking strategy was supposed to stun boys or something, but it wasn't having any affect. I also remember thinking, how come no one is stepping in here? Just then, a janitor took us both down to the office. I was sure I'd be grounded for life.
Do you know, they never even called my parents. The Principal took one look at me and said, "You can go back to class now." I didn't really tell my parents. (Surprise, Mom)
His best friend told me that it wasn't cool what his friend did. I thought that was nice. I'd never really talked to his friend before. This kid was often teased because his Dad was a garbage-collector, and he didn't exactly make it easier with his once-white-shirts always stained brown. Sometimes I still think about what he said.
I held a grudge for going on 2 months after that. I couldn't believe the boy got off so easy just spending the afternoon in the office. Even then, I knew he didn't have a great childhood and somehow I knew that his attitude had something to do with that. I wasn't exactly innocent in the whole deal. Defending yourself is one thing, but kicking a person in such a sensitive place is less than fair.
Not long after, my best friend started dating him. What a stab in the back that was.
I was over my grudge by the end of the year. He was sort of nice in passing. I could tolerate his presence.
The last day of the school year we had a 6th grade dance. I really wanted to dance and no one asked me. The really cute boys were wallflowers. At the very end of the dance, the boy who I fought with came up and asked me to dance. (This is the kind of slow dance where your arms could not be more extended - because cooties still kind of exist.) I was so relieved to have been asked... until his best friend slapped a dollar bill on his hand. My first slow dance was a bet.
10 years ago
3 comments:
Wow, Jen...that makes me sad. Can you just imagine how God feels when he sees the mean spirited things people do, considering how much He loves us....and then He loves them, too? Mind boggling.
-Wendy
Yes, but keep in mind that he was just a kid. And I was, too. And people can't be accountable for all the stupid things they've done, especially when perhaps they've spent some time trying hard to control things about themselves. We can't know. A boy and a man are two very different things, and we can only hope that God grew this boy into a man who now knows the difference. I can tell you I wasn't scarred by the incident. Didn't make me more scared of people... I was over it pretty quickly. Sometimes, not all the time, you need to separate the person from the incident and well, God loves him.
What a stinky story. I had a boy in 6th grade try to do the same thing to me. It got pretty ugly and the best he could muster after I slugged him was throw tanbark at my head. I had to spend an hour at the doctors office getting redwood splinters taken out of my forehead. I don't know if there was a lesson learned there, short of if someone throws something at your head...duck.
Katie
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