I am none of the people in the story in the previous post. But I can identify with the boy wearing the glasses.
As a kid, I was extremely shy and quiet. I was the girl in the corner hiding behind her book or her hair (I had long hair that I used to cover half of my face). The girl who rarely made eye contact with anyone. The girl you had to strain to hear.
To most people, I wasn't even there. Not a blimp on the radar. To some, I was the quiet kid that you'd be nice to because she posed no threat to you or maybe just because YOU are a nice person. But I got made fun of quite a bit to.
Up until high school, I wasn't exactly a stunner by any stretch of the imagination. I was missing my two front teeth for ages (they got knocked out in an accident), then when they grew in, it seemed like my teeth were too big for my face. I had (and still have) a high forehead that I got made fun of for. I was stick thin and all scabbed up knees and elbows. My mom gave me horrid haircuts, some that were so bad I would get mistaken for a boy. I was also 'pigeoned toed', that thing were your feet turn in. I think I got made fun of more for that than for anything. Oddly enough, Eternity is also pigeoned toed, but no one makes fun of her for it, thank goddess.
My parents weren't rich by any stretch of the imagination. I never wore clothes or shoes that were 'in style' and it didn't really bother me that I couldn't.
It never made any sense to me why people made fun of me for things that I couldn't help. The girls were the worst, as I think girls often are. Boys teased me too, but usually as soon as they got me to blush they left me alone. It's usually the girls who are vicious, especially to other girls. And a lot of times it was the girls who were pretty, popular, who seemed to have everything. I couldn't understand what threat I could possible be to these girls. I still don't get it. Why so often it's the pretty popular kids who are cruel to others.
Eventually I hit high school and grew into my teeth and feet and facial features. I was still quiet, still somewhat shy, and by no means popular or what was considered beautiful. I still got teased on occasion, but not as much. I rarely stood up for myself, but I can at least say that I was never the kid that made fun of others.
The boy in the story, not the boy with the glasses, but the one who befriended him, could have ended up never having known what his random act of kindness did. And when you stop to be nice to someone you never know, you could be saving someone elses life.
bullies
