I remember in middle school, I was bullied by this kid named Mike. Now here's the thing about bullying, it's a hierarchical system. Seems like we forget that and retroactively reimagine ourselves at the bottom of the totem—the ultimate victim. But how can every kid be at the very bottom? That would make the bottom the new middle. But nonetheless, that's how bullying makes you feel.

However, just as I was bullied, I probably picked on kids below me as well, especially underclassmen. That's why we all have stories about being bullied, but we never share stories about when we bullied others. It's part of our egocentric worldview, that we are the hero/ victim of our own mental movie and never its villain.

It really is like a food chain. And you never have just one bully. For me, Mike was one of many bullies, and he was far from the worst. The reason I mention Mike is, he was the first bully I learned to befriend. Well, "friend" is a strong word, let's say be friendly with.

One day he was picking on me, and I just didn't get it. You know the story, you didn't do anything to this guy. And being a critical thinker even at a young age, it occurred to me that it had nothing to do with me...

Music

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