Every man, woman, and child, has a certain amount of annoyance that they can deal with for a given amount of time. Once that levels is reached and surpassed, one of a few outcomes will result. Some people cry while others throw fits of anger. However some children don’t let their emotions get to them, or ask the adults to help. Sometimes they’ll find another way to resolve the conflict, as was the case for me in elementary school.

            During my first few years in elementary I had been one of the quieter kids who kept to myself and just watched the others and stayed out of trouble. As the years moved on I became a little more open and talkative but still avoided any form of trouble as much as possible. There were those in the upper grades that didn’t quite agree with that kind of reasoning. Around my third-grade year there was a fellow third-grader on the bus whom we will call Travis. He was the type that could always get away with everything because he could act the innocent act, and had a fifth-grade brother whom we will call Matt. Both he and his brother would always make it their business to seek out and annoy the quiet and small kids to the boiling point. Travis had tried this with me a few times to, little effect, and decided to try a new tactic.

            One spring day during recess Travis told his older brother Matt that I was the prey-of-the-day. So it seemed to be a fine day to me until Matt walked up behind me and took my hat. I turned around and saw him and three other fifth-graders standing around. I realized then that this wasn’t an ideal place to be because we were on the far edge of the playground where no teachers could see us. I also realized that if I ever wanted to get out from under this bully I’d have to stand up, and protect myself. So they proceeded to the usual bullying, “You want this blah blah blah, you’re going to have to, blah blah blah.” Well I wasn’t biting and just said, “With that hair, I’d want a hat too.” Needless to say he was fuming and just jumped forward to try to grab me. I stepped to the side and tripped him. He fell forward and ran face-first into the slide with a resounding thunk! Before he got up I grabbed his hair and pressed his face into the slide saying, “Don’t ever take my hat again or you’ll hit more than a slide!” I then took my hat and walked off to some friends on the other side of the playground. As I looked back the other fifth-graders wore looks of disbelief while Matt sported a bloody nose.

            Since that day there were other disputes in which Matt tried to jive my friends and me, but he never reverted to anything physical again. Anytime I stood up for someone else he would just revert to words and curses but that still would be enough of a liberation to help my friends get through it. Matt and I had our run-in’s in which I talked to teachers, councilors, and the like but none of them had done anything to resolve these problems. There are other routes I could’ve taken to resolve the disputes, but nothing had worked as quickly or efficiently as what I did on the playground. I don’t believe violence is the answer to all forms of disputes or whatnot, but it did provide a significant emotional event powerful enough to makes the bullies think twice.