Verbal Combat, Mutated Bullying
by Moonlight Bomber

Throwing fits. Name-calling. Accusations.

The stuff of politically-related news in all forms of local mass media. I just sighed in disdain as I, being a middleclassman and all, don't want to get caught in a power struggle wherein the elites are combatants and the masses are pawns.

That reminded me of one thing.

My current laissez-faire attitude when it comes to political struggles is a product of me growing up from being a victim of bullying in my elementary school days.

The main form of bullying, from my personal experience, was slander.

"Ha ha ha! Weaklings like you don't deserve real beauties like this girl here, whom you call your 'crush'! Your real crush should be her!" one bully said, pointing to a girl with dark complexion whom I personally don't like.

"Mayonnaise! Mayonnaise! MAYONNAISE!" another bully made fun of the bulge that grew in my ears that was a breeding ground for pus.  

Whether about this or about that; the words that were hurled by my bullies were as painful as a boxer's punch and as sharp as a razor. And I believed that those insults were an assault on my overall being.

Of course, my instinct at that time was to fight back at my verbal assailants. This attitude of revenge was made even worse by me inheriting my father's hot-bloodedness, since he's a soldier, after all.

And the inevitable brawls between me and them were an easy ticket to the guidance counsellor's office, or even worse, the principal's.

Even with the elders' stern lectures, the amount of rage between me and my bullies hadn't dwindled. Until the time of my graduation.

Fortunately, those little tussles didn't put a blot onto my character, because six years later, I was awarded a salutatorian for my excellent performance in academics.

When I finally received my diploma, I prepared a farewell speech for the bullies I've encountered over those years, broadcast to all who had gathered in the graduation ceremony, not just them.

"You may call me names today, but someday there will be monuments that will be built in honor of me! Just you wait and see, punks!"

I felt relief. I not only graduated from the elementary level, but from the hell the bullies had inflicted on me. Via the eye-for-an-eye-tooth-for-a-tooth technique.

Fast forward to today. Now what if I met those same bullies at an unexpected place and at an unexpected time? Shrug those old rivalries off, or start another feud that exists beyond mere name-calling?

For a wisened-up man like me, I would pick the first option 101%. Because most likely, they have forgotten their old insults. And they're certainly moving on with their lives just like what I'm doing. I would just wish them luck in their own individual lives.

I then recalled what I've read on an Internet chat room regarding bullying. Bullies, according to most experts, are just brutal outside while acting like cowards inside. Because they have insecurities, problems, negative emotions -- that they don't want to express. And so they have to resort using other people, mostly innocent ones, as punching bags for their miseries.

"Exclusive! Mass rallies are being planned in response to the junking of the impeachment complaint against the president."

I shut off the TV just after the headline was spoken by the news anchor. Why can't those in power, as well as their die-hard supporters, get over this advanced -- or should I say, mutated -- form of bullying?

Heh. For a college graduate like me, finding the job that I fancy, as well as chancing upon the eventual girl of my dreams -- is top priority for me.

Being bored of my own house in general, I went out for a walk. At the nearby park, I encountered two semi-familiar faces.

"What's up, weakling boy who deserves to be laid by an ugly woman?"

"Nice to meet you, mayonnaise."

Those two old bullies? In my own backyard? It was... less likely that what I thought.

"Forget those old, skipping-record insults you hurled at me in grade school. They don't scratch me now, do they?"

Ex-Bully A responded, "Well, we intended it as a greeting. We came here for a more important purpose."

"What?"

"Actually, we're hiring someone to join our massive, nationwide protest," Ex-Bully B answered.

"Nationwide protest? Ah, I know! You actually want to bully our fair president into resigning from her position just because the impeachment complaint against her was consigned to the trash can, right? Well... I don't, and never will, participate in such wastages of time, energy, and money!"

"What'd you say?" Ex-Bully B reacted furiously.

"Ah! So you refuse to join us, eh?! That means you're a blind supporter of that bastard slash dictator slash ruler-in-name-only! And such supporters deserve nothing but neverending torture!" Ex-Bully A seconded the motion.

They started provoking me with their menacing, ready-to-fight-to-the-death poses. It was deja vu all over again... except this time, there is a greater probability and severity of pain that will be inflicted.

And so, I ran. Ran so fast, as if my desire to get away from all this political BS fueled my adrenaline rush. I really want to be isolated -- alienated -- from the trash, the mutated bullying, that is dragging my country down. #