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I'll monitor our helpdesk ticket system from time-to-time and HR will send their employee termination request so the accounts are deactivated. I notice an odd name I hadn't seen in a long while (names have been changed)

<thought bubble> "Ketsup? Hmmm...wonder if they're related to ol' Brad Ketsup?"

Brad was a bully who would shove me in the bathroom when I would pee so I would tip over and hit the urinal. He was part of pack of older bullies who enjoyed torturing people in the stalls by throwing wet paper towels over the wall or one time in my case, busted the door open (Brad: "Look everybody! PaperTrail is pooping! Look at his little pee-pee...ha ha ha..") Incidentally, the school didn't fix the door, they removed all the doors so the problem wouldn't happen again, but I digress.

I look at the individual's pic, and it was like going back in time. There he was, the near perfect round face, pinned back ears...not Brad, but I'd bet my paycheck at Vegas it was his son. All the vent up frustrations started to bubble up...then...sadness.

Brad moved away in high school and unless the good Lord moved mountains in Brad's life, this poor kid likely lived the same abusive life as Brad. Brad's dad was a drunk and known to be abusive. Statistically speaking, no reason to believe the the apple wouldn't fall far from the tree.

Makes me wonder what happened to all those guys from back then. I know two of em' ended up in prison, but I wonder what I would say if I came across any of them in the wild?

I'm sure most of you had perfect lives growing up and no feelings of mass carnage when you think of the bullies in your early life.

Comments
  • 0
    The last thing couldn't be further from the truth, but hey i digress.
  • 0
    Knowing that I would have served my sentence by now there are a few people I would have considered running over in my youth.
  • 1
    @thebiochemic > "The last thing couldn't be further from the truth"

    Ran into one ~15 years ago at a hospital where he was working as a janitor. Looked exactly like I'd expect. < 100lbs, obvious signs of drug abuse (missing teeth, he was in his 30's and looked like he was in his late 50's), and we talked like we were best friends for life.

    All I was thinking "Dude, you threw dirt in my face in little league and once threw my glove over the fence at the start of an inning, the coach laughed it off because you were the 'star' pitcher, I couldn't take the field immediately so the coach put in your best friend. I should drop kick your sorry ass over the balcony pretending we were friends.". But it was obvious he had a bad, very bad life and all I could do was play along.
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    @PaperTrail

    I went to high school with a kid that was overweight and treated everyone like shit. When we were juniors the senior class put signs around the school that said: vote <this dude> school SOB. He dropped out of that school. Years later I met him at a store. I didn't recognize him. He had lost weight, been in the military, and was a delightful person. He mentioned how was in high school. He said he forced himself to change. I am truly impressed by this and his will to be a better version of himself.
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    @Demolishun > "I went to high school with a kid that was overweight"

    'Steven' was a year a head of me in high school and was overweight, picked on, etc. and joined the Marines right after graduation. A year later, he came back (his mom worked in the school and he stopped by to have lunch with her) and they made him lean and mean.

    'Tate' (part of the pack of bullies I talked about earlier) thought he could still pick on him, so he walked up, punched him as hard as he could in the arm saying "How'd that feel jarhead!? Miss me, mother ef-er?!" and kept hitting him. Tate was punching solid muscle and Steven didn't flinch. He stood there saying "Knock it off, Tate, I'm not going to prison for you, you got no idea...knock it off, I'm not f-cking kidding" Tate's brother pulled him off saying "come on...you're gonna break your hand! Steven is cool now. We're cool...we're cool". He and the rest of us saw the look in Steven's eyes, it was like that '1,000 yard stare' scene from Rambo
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