So, I'm going to rant about something that happened in English Honors Friday.
There's a kid in my class who has always been unique. He's absolutely brilliant, especially at math and science, but he struggles to be social and flies off the handle if another person manipulates or even so much as puts a hand on his belongings, which he treasures. He's always been this way, and everybody in my class knows exactly what will happen if you touch his stuff. He often, yelling or hissing, picks up a nearby chair and threatens to hit you with it, although he never actually would. (While he's trying his best to look intimidating, he's usually not, and many people find this behavior comical.) He does this not to get a reaction but because this is usually the only way people will listen to him. (While he is at least tall, the boy is a stick and has been a target for bullies his entire school career.)
So, now that you have the backround information, I'll move on to what irritated me so much. We were split up into teams to tackle a book discussion, and each group found a spot somewhere in the room. One group, made up of four boys, three of whom I knew would do this and one whom I consider a friend and think better of, ended up in the corner where this boy sits. As soon as they sat down, they began loudly rearranging his papers, taking out the pens and pencils he organizes in a specific system that is greek to the rest of us and scattering them accross the desk. Of course, this boy, whom we'll call Nick, eventually noticed them destroying his precious system of order. Much to these boys' delight, he did what he always does, picking up the nearest chair and threatening to nail them with it if they didn't put his stuff back.
My entire English class (except for me) laughed at this comic image.
Nick, for his part, was close to tears.
My teacher has never seen Nick do this before, and she talked him down quickly while the rest of the class continued to laugh uproarisly. I was appalled. Those boys knew that they were going to make Nick miserable, and they did it anyway to get a reaction, further humiliating the poor kid.
My question for you guys, after having made you read that atrociously long story, is this: I am alone over here? Except for one other student in my class of nearly thirty, every other kid was laughing their butt off as Nick stood there holding back tears. Even one of my best friends was giggling. My male friend, whom I've always thought as a stand-up guy (sorry for the 1930's word choice, it's the best phrase I've got), was one of the ones who set Nick off in the first place. It seems that everyone else thought it was perfectly fine.
So why don't I? Am I overreacting? And if I'm not, what am I supossed to do about it?
Thanks for reading/responding!
Maria Rose