Something embarrassing that happened at school.
It was the beginning of The Age of Awkward for me. Eighth grade. I had no friends. I had happily transferred from a private school, but felt a little overwhelmed by the sheer volume of students at this public one. I wasn’t a huge fan of the pecking order that had been established…more importantly I didn’t care to be at the bottom of it.
You had the popular girls, the nerds, the alternative kids, the preppy boys, the band members, etc. etc.
Jerry was a bad bad boy. Jerry was actually a repeat eighth grader. He didn’t pass the first time around and therefore…you just didn’t mess with this guy. The words “loose canon” come to mind. He was like an old man in the eighth grade. He had muscles, he pushed his weight around, and he was ready to kick anyone’s ass.
Jerry rode my bus and his “seat” was the very middle position on the long row at the very back of the bus. He would stretch his legs out and just pretty much owned that back spot.
One day I beat Jerry to that back spot. I mean why not right? He didn’t own it. Totally makes sense that someone like me, who really had no friends to speak of for back up, might choose to challenge someone like Jerry for a seat on the school bus.
Big bad mean Jerry walked straight to the back of the bus with his eyes on me, snapped his fingers, and directed me out of his seat with a head nod.
I didn’t budge.
He cussed me out with more then a few choice words.
So I stood up and slapped him.
Hard.
The fury I saw sweep over that old man’s face was frightening indeed. I could see him fighting the urge to punch me in the face with every bit of restraint he had in his body. The bus driver ended the standoff. She ordered me to move to the front of the bus and I must say I was a bit relieved to get away from Jerry.
My face was all kinds of red. I don’t think even *I* knew why I did that. I still don’t know why I did that. I suppose that inner fighter in me had had just about enough of Jerry and his Big Man On Campus attitude.
Don’t mess with me.
***
Now it’s your turn!
Choose a prompt, post it on your blog, and come back to add your name to the link list below. Be sure to sign up with the actual post URL and not just your basic blog URL (click on the title of your post for that URL). For good comment karma try to comment on the three blogs above your name!!
The Prompts:
1.) Describe a time you spoke up for someone who couldn’t speak up for themselves.
2.) The Royal Wedding…ten gift ideas.
3.) What is going on in the bedroom? Describe a memorable sleeper.
4.) Photo Story: Take a walk through your neighborhood this week and share some pictures of what Spring looks like where you live.
5.) Something embarrassing that happened at school.
Bonus Vlog Option!
6.) Tell us the story behind the title of your blog. What is it? What inspired it? What other options did you consider? Are you happy with it?
{ 84 comments… read them below or add one }
Hahaha – Mine is about grade 8 as well – that’s such a horrid year.
I didn’t slap anyone – but I kicked a guy so hard in the ass, I swear I felt his intestines.
Good for you! I would have kicked his ass too!
You mean after all that, you didn’t get to sit in the seat?
I know right!?! I mean I won it fair and square!
I loathe the big man on campus attitude and I probably would have done the same thing! You go, girl!
So do I! I think that’s why I’ve always been attracted to the nerdier guys. Those big guys with their muscles and their bad attitudes are such a waste of space.
You were one brave, brave girl.
I didn’t link up this week as I had no inspiration. Bah! But I’m going to check everyone else out as always!
If I ever get to meet you in real life, I promise you can have which ever seat you want. :) I definitely don’t want to mess with you.
Eight grade was my very worst grade of all 13 years in public school. HATED it and it hated me.
Me too! Eighth grade was awful. And I would never slap you for a seat…I’d just sit on your lap. ;) Are you going to any blog conferences this year?
I am. I’m going to BlogHer and EVO. Are you going to either one of them?
Big Bad Mama Kat! You go Girl!
Oh shoot. No you di’int. Girrrrrl. You scare me. Hold me. =)
You’re some kind of tough! Love that you slapped him! I never had to do 8th grade. My whole crazy school skipped it – went right from 7th to high school. Guess I was lucky!
Either lucky or uber smart! Either way, you win!
I can’t believe you slapped him. You were a brave kid.
Or stupid. I think I thought I was bigger than I was…I was constantly picking fights with my older brother growing up as well. ( I never won.)
Well, good for you! Everything is embarrassing in 8th grade.
I know right!?! That should have been my blog post right there!
Man, I am not messing with you, girlfriend! I bet every kid on that bus was secretly cheering for you in that moment!
What a great story!!
What a funny story, you are one tough kid! I am sure glad I didn’t ride your bus!!
Whao..u were a really brave girl.. I don’t think I would dare slap a bully.
That is the best story. All the better because there is no way in a million years I would have been able to do that at that age! :)
ha ha now i know why you write like you do! i mean the girl that hit jerry that says it all! love it! xxxx
Yes. :) That girl definitely had some fearlessness in her…probably could have used a dose of “just shhhh”.
You are amazing! I never would have been able to do that in the 8th grade. Now? Sure no problem. A few decades will do that for ya. ;)
Wow…my post seems pretty benign next to this tough stuff. :) Yay for you!!
I agree with the comments of Marythe Kay and Utah hostage!!
School bus rides were torture for me. For the idiots I rode the bus with, a slap in the face would have just fueled the fire. Too bad I didn’t have the……”gumption” that I do now.
Oh my word – you were brave. Good for you! LOL
You’ve gotta do a post about Jerry post slap! Good for you standing up for yourself!
I have no idea what happened to that guy! Wish I remember his last name…I’m pretty sure he dropped out of school.
You are tough! Great story!
woohoo! you go little Kat! I’m impressed. :-)
I was happy when I read that instead of backing down, you slapped him! You sure showed him! You go, girl! :D
Btw, can you delete entry #57, please? I linked up twice (#s 57 & 59), with the same post. Thanks!
Seriously? You slapped him??!! That is all kinds of awesome!!! My kid (6th grade) actually asked if he could walk over to the elementary school (across the street) and stay at their after school program (which he used to hate) in order to avoid the bus ride home. I guess bus riding is an important part of growing up for many kids but it never seems to be a pleasant one, at least not in our house!
What a bold move! I would have been in my assigned seat!
Ha ha ha!! Love it. I bet you almost made that big boy cry! He must have been so embarrassed that a girl put him in his place! Girl power! You go girl, go!!
Thank God for Bus Drivers! You were (and I’m sure still are…)quite the spitfire! I chose the same prompt although mine was many many years before yours…
Thank God for the bus drivers INDEED! When I saw how mad I made him I couldn’t have gotten out of there fast enough!
Gah! I can just imagine how you must have felt walking the whole length of the bus back to the front seat! Who doesn’t have an embarrassing story from 8th grade- awkward! You could never have been at the bottom of any pecking order- who are you kidding? ;)
Oh how I love you Mama Kat!
I’m a fighter too! In fact my post today is going to cause a fight between me and my hubby because I told an embarrassing story about him.
Bring it on!
Oh boy, I definitely could have written a post about my man last night too! Only mine would have been focused on what an ass he was being and well…that just wouldn’t have been nice. Tell your husband to focus on the positive. ;)
bwhahaha!! You’re so lucky you didn’t get butt kicked by that “old man”! That’s quite brave for the new kid. I’m impressed!!! Still….You’re lucky to be alive!
So you were a feisty thing even back then? I love it!
:)
No way, MK. I cannot believe you stood up to that old man and slapped him. I’m glad he didn’t rearrange your nose, or hassle you afterwards. :)
We had a Jerry. His name was Jimmy. He used to cop a feel when ever a girl walked by. He was like 6 foor 4 in the sixth grade so slapping him wasn’t gonna happen. A knee to the nuts worked though. It worked well.
Yes!! Perfect description! Why were those guys so big at such a young age? Creepy.
6 FOOT four… need to proofread comments… or not drink before noon… yeah, one of those…
Yikes! That’s all I have to say!
So Brave, glad nothing else happened to you after slapping him.
Hahahaha!!!!!!! That totally cracks me up! You’ve got guts!
Ugh middle school was dreadful for me too.
I hated eight grade. Nothing ever fit my body right and I got my very first period.
Oh eighth grade… how I don’t miss you.
I also got into a fight with a boy in the eighth grade, but he was not the big man on campus. He was very low on the totem pole. I was a little closer to the top. I have no idea why he didn’t like me, but I think he chose me because I was the easiest target in the “popular” crowd. Whatever that meant. One day in class I had all I could take and I went after his throat with my fingernails bared. And he slapped me. And boy was that a mistake. I just got madder. The biggest guy in our class had to pull me off of him. About that time the teacher, who was also a coach, walked back in and realized something had happened. The big guy yelled out, “Randall hit Jennifer.” He tried to cover for himself, but it didn’t matter. He had hit a girl. He was forever after considered pond scum. And he got paddled by the coach.
That’s a great story! I can’t believe he actually hit you…or that you went after him with your claws! Haha…oh to be young again.
Or not.
I’m also disappointed you didn’t get to keep the seat! LOL! I can’t believe you slapped him….sassy!!
good for you. did you immediately transfer schools or did you and Jerry become best friends after you helped him get through 8th grade? i guess that ending would have been too “after school special”, huh?
No way…Jerry dropped out. I don’t even remember him going to our high school after that year!
Why were you embarrassed? I would think that every kid wished they had your guts after that incident! Did that slap not help your standings in school?
And I can’t believe the bus driver made *you* move!
I was embarrassed that I had caused all that commotion…everyone was staring at me, that big guy wanted to kill me, and the bus driver had to intervene and pull me away. GAH! What a nightmare!
I’ll admit a piece of me did feel good to give him what he had coming.
You were a brave, brave girl!
WTG YOU! I totally wouldn’t have done that, I don’t think. Kinda bummer you didn’t get to keep your seat after all that trouble, though.
Oh No, you didn’t… LOL! What a hoot… You must have become the heroine/superkid at your new school for weeks/years to come. I can’t believe the bus monitor didn’t tell him to go sit elsewhere…
Making you move to the front was the wrong decision. Bully boy learned not to mess with you from the slap but learned nothing about laying claim to public space. Wonder where he is now? :-)
Eliz
ugh…8th grade.
You sound so much like Little Suz that we have to be blood-kin somehow. I also switched from private to public school in 8th grade. I wish that they’d been able to keep me at the private school. 8th grade was total torment and one embarassment after another.
I always had to be pushing things, couldn’t leave well enough alone because, in my opinion, it *wasn’t* well enough. I was tired of people running over me. I would have wanted to do just as you did regarding that bully.
I also went up against someone bigger than me, only in my “fond childhood memory” it was a 6 year old Suz up against a first grade teacher. She won. I didn’t hit her, of course. I will share the rest of the story as my blog post for “something embarassing that happened at school.”
Haha! Oh my gosh that is too funny…just thinking about a 1st grader challenging a teacher like that. Awesome!
(but my kid better not think of doing something like that!)
Maybe awkward but definitely brave! If you don’t mind, I’d like to borrow your inner fighter once a while!
I wish you would have been there when the kids used to beat me up!! I actually might have stood a chance! Good for you to stand your ground like that!!!
Awww, that’s sad! Kids are such little jerks sometimes!
What a brave person!! Kudos :)
What a brave person – kudos :)
Good for you!
We had a 6 foot ape too… Read the entry – you learn about him…
I think the Jerries of this world need someone to stand up to them from time to time. Good for you for having the chutzpah to do it!
Thanks for stopping by my blog – so honored that you enjoyed my wedding gift list. I’d totally put together an equally (or even more) fabulous list for you any time!
If you could actually just SEND me the gifts, that would be great. ;)
ugh. I can’t get mine to linky. :P
Nice! Would’ve been better if you had kept the seat.
I actually linked up! Hurray for me. Now come visit and find out my embarrasing 9th grade moment. It’s hard to top.
Good for you! Jerry deserved to be slapped!
hell yeah, girl!!!
first time caller here. ((HOLLA!))
i just tweeted you after you cleaned the bathroom floor. i thought it only polite to come over and see how you cleaned/decorated virtually. i’m holistic like that. minus the granola or veggie burgers.
and your site? effin beautiful.
smooches – kirsten
((cuss words and crumpets over in the hood; stop by if you feel like slumming it later))
Hey ladies,
OMG, Happy Friday, thank frickin god. Worst. Week. Ever.
Happy to have an outlet for some creative blogging. In case I haven’t told you lately Mama Kat, I <3 u!!
I gave some boy a slap in 6th grade social studies…he totally deserved it, but he wasn’t as scary as your guy…
HI-YA, Jerry should have known better!!!!
what a great story!
You. Rock.
So brave, maybe a little crazy, but mostly brave.
If he left you alone after that too and didn’t bother you – that’s a “win”. ;)
Though I wrote this post a couple of months ago, the story has lived within me for decades. It’s also a story of bullying. The reason that I want to share it here, is not so that you will read my story, but the stories of those who were inspired to comment. It’s one of the most rewarding blogging experiences I’ve had.
Thank-you so much,
JC