Friends of Quinn

Bullies Suck!! Doesn’t matter who you are or if you have a learning difference or not. Meaness to others can never be undone. Its like crumpling up a piece of paper and then trying to smooth it out. You can smooth it over as much as you can, but the crinkles will still be there. The “crinkles” on people’s hearts or egos just don’t show.

I am extremely fortunate that I was never the object of someone’s bullying spree. My group of friends knew who I was and that my dyslexia didn’t make me weird to them. I can remember worrying when I started Junior High, and was now with a much larger group of students, that it might happen. Junior High is tough for everybody and you sure don’t want to be different or stand out in any way. Going to the learning support room for tests or help was a very cloak and dagger event for me at the beginning. Sneaking in at the last minute or not going at all and then totally screwing up on the test. I got over it and when new people asked why I always left for tests, I just told them I needed a quiet place.

Bullying is something I just don’t get. First, my mom would absolutely kill me. She has a total, no tolerance policy. She’s been teaching for 32 years and has seen it all and nothing upsets her more than someone mistreating someone else. Second, I realize how sad bullies really are. They have to make fun of others just to feel good about themselves. I feel sorry for anyone who has to live their life that way. Their lives must be really crappy because anyone raised with family and love, just wouldn’t chose being a bully. Something has to be missing, so that is really a sad thing.

One of the only things that I have a hard time with is people who wear t-shirts with “humorous” statements about dyslexia. Shirts with ‘Dyslexics or the World Untie’ or ‘A Dyslexic Walks Into a Bra’. OK, so maybe the person is dyslexic, but chances are they aren’t, why is it ok to have that on a shirt? “Oh its just a joke, lighten up!” people say, but  to me it isn’t any different then a crude comment about race or sexuality. Also, when people misspell something and say, ”oops, I must be dyslexic” I think they are making light of a disability. People just don’t get it sometimes, let’s just be understanding of each other. I’ll take my dyslexia over their ignorance any day.