Respect
Scott Mclean
Here is my latest in a series of random brain farts.
I was talking to two of my classmates in the therapy pool at the Y. For those of you that don’t know, the Y on 40th is a general HHS reunion where we can catch up on the latest gab and gossip.
Also, sadly, news of who is no longer around. The subject went to people who were made fun of or bullied and how nice some of them were, definitely undeserving of the rough treatment. The things that made them targets could be physical differences, awkwardness, or just being very intelligent.
Guess what bullies, some of these people have far surpassed you. I was somewhat of a target in younger years.
Between my senior year and the year after, I grew almost 4 inches in height and a whole lot in the don’t mess with me attitude. I have grown a bit more tolerant but still have a fair amount of what my preacher, Great Uncle called an “Old Testament.” attitude.
A good friend in school and some time after was getting beaten by his dad and ended up running off. When I heard, I went over and thumped his dad. That friend left us quite a while ago and even though I all too often followed him into trouble, I miss him. This is the long way around to respect. I had no respect for his dad.
Oddly enough, quite often the teachers you recall most fondly had the toughest classes. They had your respect.
My brother and I were both quite a bit bigger than our Dad but he had our respect. We were about to get into a scrap when Dad stepped between us and said that the first one to throw a punch would be swinging at him. We backed off. Not as much from fear because he never had struck us, but respect.
Well, maybe a little fear. He had the McLean glare!
We dropped by one of his company mechanics houses one day and Dad’s employee looked at Steve and I and asked “Jerry, what the hell happened to you?” I guess what I’m trying to say is to show people kindness and respect. If they don’t return it, they’re probably not folks you want to socialize with anyway. Offer encouragement and help to those that need it. You’ll probably need help yourself one day. Always look for the silver lining. No matter how bad things seem, someone always has it worse.
I know, two touchy feely posts in a row!
Bye.