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Lauxa · 10-20-2010, 12:56 AM

I recently witnessed a bullying-type episode at my club. I'd like to recount it and get comments/opinions. The actors:

wimp: skinny 18-year-old redheaded male being bullied
alpha male: mid-30's guy
wife: married to alpa male
girlfriend: young 18-20 year old girl
pixie: tiny but very athletic 15-year-old girl
giant: hulking early 40's male with martial arts training

So I was at my club and I saw wimp sitting with a group of people. He had recently posted on FB about trying a vegan diet and I love to talk about food so I went over to talk to him about it. As he tried to talk with me, alpha male kept smacking him upside the head with an empty soda bottle. Wimp protested that he was non-violent and wasn't going to retaliate. The other people around were generally laughing at his expense. Girlfriend occasionally threw another soda bottle at wimp and then it would be a game for the crowd to retrieve the bottle and get it back to girlfriend so she could throw it at him again. Wife made some comment about how if he was really bothered by the behavior he would just go away, and how pathetic he was for sticking around to take the abuse. Pixie got in on the action by beaning wimp with a soda bottle, which bounced impressively off his forehead and landed back in her hand. She got massive kudos from the group for this feat, including from wimp, who was trying to be good-natured about the whole thing.

This whole scene upset me a fair degree, not just the violence but the malicious undertone to the events. The message being sent was "we don't like you and we wish you'd go away." I made some comment like "you guys are mean" which did not deter them one bit of course. Later I asked the club organizer if there were any rules against bullying. His response was "no, but we have karma." Okay then.

So what do you think wimp should have done in this situation? What would you have done as a bystander to this event?

10-20-2010, 12:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
Lauxa Family Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 2,545	Bullying I recently witnessed a bullying-type episode at my club. I'd like to recount it and get comments/opinions. The actors: wimp: skinny 18-year-old redheaded male being bullied alpha male: mid-30's guy wife: married to alpa male girlfriend: young 18-20 year old girl pixie: tiny but very athletic 15-year-old girl giant: hulking early 40's male with martial arts training So I was at my club and I saw wimp sitting with a group of people. He had recently posted on FB about trying a vegan diet and I love to talk about food so I went over to talk to him about it. As he tried to talk with me, alpha male kept smacking him upside the head with an empty soda bottle. Wimp protested that he was non-violent and wasn't going to retaliate. The other people around were generally laughing at his expense. Girlfriend occasionally threw another soda bottle at wimp and then it would be a game for the crowd to retrieve the bottle and get it back to girlfriend so she could throw it at him again. Wife made some comment about how if he was really bothered by the behavior he would just go away, and how pathetic he was for sticking around to take the abuse. Pixie got in on the action by beaning wimp with a soda bottle, which bounced impressively off his forehead and landed back in her hand. She got massive kudos from the group for this feat, including from wimp, who was trying to be good-natured about the whole thing. This whole scene upset me a fair degree, not just the violence but the malicious undertone to the events. The message being sent was "we don't like you and we wish you'd go away." I made some comment like "you guys are mean" which did not deter them one bit of course. Later I asked the club organizer if there were any rules against bullying. His response was "no, but we have karma." Okay then. So what do you think wimp should have done in this situation? What would you have done as a bystander to this event?