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rg456
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07 May 2012, 2:55 pm

This boy in my school always calls me ret*d. He has been told numerous times not to do it and he still does it. We don't get along either. For example, I once ended up giving him the middle finger. It really upsets me and I don't like it. What do you guys suggest I do?


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Delphiki
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07 May 2012, 2:58 pm

Is he getting a reaction from you? That is what he is going for.

My brother was called a name repeatedly and punched the guy twice. The principal agreed with what he did but he still got 2 days out of school suspension, since then the rules have gotten a LOT stricter so I don't think violence would be a good idea.


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edgewaters
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07 May 2012, 4:05 pm

The usual advice I got was to go with canned phrases like, "Takes one to know one" but in practice, these were so well-known that people had developed workarounds.

So what I did was to create my own series of canned phrases that operated on the same underlying principles. Since I'd made them up myself, they couldn't be prepared for them. It didn't always work - some people think fast - but in general it worked pretty good.

I might say something like, "Sure, whatever, Dr. _____" (actual example ... I followed up with "I think I've got hemmorhoids too, wanna have a look?" and made like I was going to moon him, putting my hands on my pants and turning slightly, not bending over but stick my butt out a little and look at it, but I really don't recommend that one for a female)

I also came up with traps, usually a question that no matter how you respond, you dig yourself in deeper. Like for "ret*d" I might go with something like, "Maybe you're just really smart. Are you really smart?" Then you've got to anticipate all the possible responses and come up with canned responses for those, sort of playing a few moves ahead in chess, so I might go with the following:

"Yeah, I am, ret*d!" -> "I thought you said I was the ret*d?"
"No, I'm just average, but you're an idiot!" -> "Oh you're just 'average'. It's ok, I'm sure you're still special."

etc etc

The important thing was good planning, and being able to anticipate based on the kind of person and how they talk. If I got an unexpected response that I hadn't planned for, I had fallbacks (usually some variation on "who cares?")

Some of the stuff was actually based on verbal attacks bullies use, but adapted for a defensive response. Eg "who the hell asked you, 'Robert'?" (emphasis on Robert or whatever the person's name is)

A few times I was physically attacked because I embarrassed them so badly; on some occasions literally everyone within earshot was laughing at them, like with the hemmorhoid example (I didn't get attacked that time, but there were similar occasions). So word of caution there, sometimes you can't win, because even if you do they'll just resort to physical violence. I don't know if this is as true for girls though. A boy couldn't just hit a girl in my time. Also violence in schools is taken much more seriously these days, so I'm not sure what that's really like.

The good news to that was that even though they attacked me, they never bothered me again after that. It happened, I think, three times altogether (four if you count the fight I won). Frankly, it was worth it even so. That was four people who never bothered me again.

I'm not sure how well any of this might work for you. I'm just throwing it out there. You know yourself and your own capabilities and limitations better than I do. The important thing is to come up with strategies that suit you and your situation, but it can help to get ideas off other people.

Good luck. Don't let this baboon get you down.

EDIT: I've heard sometimes boys make fun of girls that they like.