May 14

May 14 Bully Wars Episode 1: The 3rd Grade Menace

Written By: Gen Nguyen | Read full profile

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Social life is tough, especially for an 8 year old. As a child, we don't think before we speak, or we just don't think our words hurt. But they actually do. And children are very emotional and impressionable at this age.

I told you my secret right? How I was bullied throughout my life? If you don’t know what I’m talking about then you’ve skipped too far. Read my first blog: I am Gen to understand what I mean.

Joke of the blog:

Why did Mickey Mouse become an astronaut?

Over the span of 22 years, I was bullied, became the bully, and then coming full circle, was bullied once more. You’d think that at the prime age of 22, the bullying would stop right? Sadly, that’s not my case especially if you’re my family. Pig and duck aren’t the only things roasted at the dinner table.

But in all seriousness, the bullying started in 3rd grade - the impressionable years for growth. It wasn’t the physical kind of bullying like you see in movies and TV where people get pushed around or punched in the face. Nope. It was actually the opposite. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will DEFINITELY leave a scar.

Let’s jump back to my 8 year old self. I was shy, considerate, and poor.

I still am all these things but that’s beyond the point.

Whenever my grandparents from Vietnam visited, they brought over cheap clothes. You know, the knock off Gucci and Louis Vuitton shirts. In my case, I had the knock off Disney shirts with Mickey Mouse printed on the front.

I love Disney, okay? Disney has my go to movies when I don’t know what to watch or when I’m lonely. Mulan? My idol. Beauty and the Beast? My favorite. So what, I owned a couple Disney, Mickey/Minnie Mouse t-shirts.

Every time I wore one of my Mickey Mouse shirts to school, this one girl would make fun of me and tell me I was in love with him. Bro. I’m 8. I don’t even know what I like to eat. How do you expect me to grasp the concept of love? I’m 22 and I still don’t even know what that is. But of course I’m gonna get offended by this.

And from that point on, that was the start of me wearing jackets throughout my childhood, up until high school. I wore a jacket anytime I left the house and in Texas, where it’s a humid 100 degrees weather ALL YEAR LONG. This also probably attributed to my self-consciousness in junior high and why it was hard for me to make friends. Or maybe that was just me.

Looking back, it was probably dumb for me to be offended by her words. But at the time, it actually hurt. You may not realize this but what could seem harmless to you could be deadly to someone else. Don’t bully. In fact, don’t be a d*ck. Think before you act.

I, however, didn’t learn this lesson and ended up bullying people myself. I’m not proud of it, but I admit that I was.

Throughout middle (and probably high) school, I wasn’t the nicest person. But that’s a more serious topic for later.

If you’ve read this far, I wanna thank you. Please stick around for more posts about my life, puns and jokes! Here’s the answer to today’s joke: So he could visit Pluto!

Bully Wars Episode 2: Attack of Gen (Coming Soon)

Check out my Study abroad to South Korea here!

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