When I was growing up, I encountered my fair share of bullies. I was a math and English nerd. I had no athletic talents and was literally the proverbial 98 lb. weakling. In other words, I was a bully magnet.

My oldest brother was bullied as well. When he was in the third grade another boy picked on him. One day he came into the house from school with his shirt torn and his nose bloodied, Mom turned him around and told him not to come back home until the other kid looked worse than he did.

He came back about ten minutes later and told Mom she needed to go down the street to our grandparents’ house. When she arrived there, Aunt Mildred told her Kenny had the other boy down banging his head against the sidewalk. If she hadn’t stopped it, he might have killed the other kid.

Mom made a prediction that day that turned out to be true. She said, “That kid will never pick on him again.” It did not just work for him but for my other brother and me as well. I did not have to worry about bullies until I was in seventh grade.

I was in my first fight that year. My friend Vern and I and another kid were in the auditorium waiting until we were allowed into the rest of the building. The other boy walked up to me and hit me in the chest. I hit him once in the face. You should not mess with a kid with two older brothers. He was still unconscious when the bell rang, and we went to class. He never bothered me again.

He wasn’t the only aggressor I encountered in Junior High and both Central and Hillcrest had their share. Not all the people in my life who wanted to push me around have done it physically. I’ve had demanding bosses and business associates who thought I should roll over and let them lie, cheat, or violate laws.

I let them know that I would not be a part of this type of behavior. I’ve quit jobs, in some cases simply tolerated unacceptable behavior in hopes the offenders would learn from the way I treated them, and terminated employees when I had the authority to do so.

This is the best way to put a domineering person in their place. Terminate the relationship. Quit the job. Dump the person who only wants to criticize you. The controllers also need to be shown the door. Be sure to do this before you marry them.

People are all different. Some of us don’t get along. Others need to work on it hard. Then some are never happy unless they get their own way. If they can’t compromise and you don’t want to, think about who the bully might be.

God has shown me some bullies can be tamed by treating them with kindness and patience. You may have to hope that others can be corrected by someone else. Some will never be reached by anyone. Don’t become discouraged. Keep trying.

It is frustrating that our country has decided to reward a bully by making him our chief executive. He is not the first leader who thought he could force his way on everyone else. Adolf Hitler tried it. Germany allowed him to demolish their government and become a dictator. It took the U.S. and most of the world to defeat him. We must remember not to roll over and play dead like some of them did.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger