"Hey lady, you suck!"

The following topic is one I have been super fired up about. I actually started this blog so that I could blog about this. It’s that insane. File this one under “ranty”….

Story time!

So, recently a good friend of mine ran into a crappy old acquaintance of ours from high school. We’ll call her Kate. Turns out, Kate is this awe inspiring speaker and advocate for kids who were/are being bullied. GO KATE! Also turns out, Kate is a bullying victim. (Oh no, Kate!) Kate holds little kids hands and cries with them and lets them know it’s all going to be okay. She even has business cards! And a book! She’s the best.

(turn the page, kids)

BUT THEN! Scooby Doo and the rest of the gang pull Kate’s mask off and guess who’s under there (you’ll never guess)?! KATE?! What the…?

(turn the page!)

That’s right! (And here’s where I blow your mind…) Kate was actually the bully! (WHATTTT?!) Yup. She speaks from an honest victim’s point of view, wrote a touching (poorly edited, self published) novel, and advocates for fellow victims, AS A BULLY.

(story time is over. let’s reflect)

In all seriousness, this girl is really something else. I feel like in a time when there is so much focus on bullying, she probably shouldn’t be running around telling kids she “gets it”, when in reality, she has no idea. Now, this is not some wompwompwomp “I was bullied” post. This is more of a “hey lady, you suck!” post.

In her “book” (and I use the term loosely) she talks about how she was bullied in high school (who wasn’t?) and how terribly it affected it. Now, to be fair, I did NOT shell out the 40 bucks to buy the book, so I can’t offer anything actually constructive or informative. I did read the preview, which talked about how rich she was growing up and how she thought she was ugly. Apparently, she just couldn’t help it, she even bullied herself.

I almost felt badly for her when I was reading the comments on her book. They included interesting and helpful critiques like “It’s easily because of you that I lost faith in relationships and commitments at such a young and impressionable age.” and “I am reporting this book to Amazon because I went to MS and HS with this author and upon further investigation, it will be proven that this book is not accurate or honest.” To be fair, it also includes “ This fraudulent account should not be allowed to be published.” (Credit: AMAZON.COM.) So yeah… that.

I remember this girl from school. I remember her trying to make herself look good. I remember her being fairly smart. I remember her talking about people behind their backs. I DO remember rumors going on around her, but I also remember that it was high school, rumors are a necessary evil. (how else are you going to have your self esteem chipped away?!)

To close this up, I want to just say a few things:

1. It’s pretty messed up to lie to kids who are reaching out for your support.
2. It’s pretty not okay to publish a poorly written book based on false anecdotes.
3. High school is a war-zone. I understand not everyone has the um… cannonballs for it, but let’s quit whining.
4. I just finished a bag of peppered beef jerky and my mouth is on fire.
5. Not all of my blog posts are going to be mean, don’t worry. (I have a few recipes I’m lining up for tomorrow.)