Have you ever spent an all nighter with friend? Have you ever stood up to a person that was bullying your friend? I have and learned that you have to stand up to those who harass others even if they don’t stand up for themselves.
It was the summer of 2009 and I was a camp counselor at a summer camp. One day I saw this six-foot tall seventeen year old with wavy brown hair and emerald green eyes throw a girls purse into the garbage can. Her name was Samantha and she was this tall skinny girl with chocolate brown eyes and hair as black as ebony. I was so incredibly infuriated that I marched right up to the bully, but before I spoke Samantha grabbed my arm and told me that she was fine. She had told me not to make a scene and that she didn’t care. Angry as I was, I decided to walk away and do what she told me.
Samantha was my roommate and I asked her why she didn’t do anything to him. She said that things like that happen all the time and that he was one less person to worry about. We ended up spending the whole night talking about our lives, our relationships, and the places we’ve been to. Before I knew it two days had passed by and it was lunchtime. I found out that the bully’s name was Eric and I saw him messing with the ketchup and mustard bottles. As soon as I dump my lunch into the trash I see Eric and his buddies squirting bottles of ketchup into Samantha’s purse and all over her papers. As soon as Samantha stepped out of the restroom I could almost feel her heart drop and I saw all of the blood flush out from under her face. She ran back into the restroom and into one of the stalls.
This time I wouldn’t let this one just slide, we were at a leadership camp and this was just unacceptable. I ran up to Eric, slapped his face and said, “Are you insane! Who are you to mess with another person’s belongings? What did this girl ever do to you to make you such a jerk? You’re at a leadership camp for Christ sake! If you can’t even respect another person’s stuff then you might as well leave!” Eric then apologized to Samantha and packed up his belongings and left. To this day Samantha and I remain very good friends and Eric never bullied another person ever again.
Have you ever felt like you wanted to do something so badly, but just couldn’t? I have and I learned that it takes a lot of courage to walk away from a situation, but it takes a leader to solve the situation.