Bullies

It seems that some people have a need to bully others for no reason other than it probably makes the bully feel like a big shot.

When my granddaughter was in junior high some girl started bullying her. She would tell my granddaughter that , " One of these days I'm going to work you over". The bully had a gang of friends that were always with her. It got so bad that my granddaughter dreaded passing her and her followers. My granddaughters mother told her that she would have to stand up to the bully or forevermore be afraid of her. So, next time the bully girl and her gang saw my granddaughter she gave the same threat that ' one of these days....my granddaughter stood face to face with her and said " What's wrong with right now ?". Wow! The bully girl didn't expect that. She and her gang turned away and never bothered my granddaughter again. Sometimes you just have to stand up and face the bully.

Back when we were kids my brother and I walked home from school. There were two brothers about our age who walked part way home the same direction that we did then at the junction they would go off in another direction to their home. Those two boys made every day miserable for my brother and me . They would bully us both, jab our arms, trip us, etc. The older brother was bigger than either my brother or me.

The harassing went on every single day and Billy and I dreaded the walk home from school. One day Billy had enough. I don't know how he did it but he got the boy who was about his size down and was keeping him down. Billy somehow managed to grab a small limb and he held it across the other kids neck. Big brother went to help his brother and while he was distracted I pushed him down.

Every time the bigger kid would try to get to his feet I would push him down again. I kept him off balance while Billy gave the other boy a good lesson. When finally the other boy gave up completely Billy let him get up off the ground. That was the last time those two ever bullied my brother and me . We had finally stood up to our tormentors.

Years later I had a student in the gyro. It was early morning and we were the only aircraft flying until finally a Piper Cub from out of the area landed and the pilot taxied into the median area between the runway and the taxiway. He got out and started working on his airplane engine. After awhile a beautiful red Pitts Special, also from out of the area landed . The pilot shut the engine down and left his Pitts parked squarely in the middle of the taxi way blocking it completely then he went out and started visiting with the Cub pilot.

My student and I flew the pattern, landed , and taxied back to do another pattern flight. The Pitts was blocking our way on the taxi way so I went off the pavement and out into the rough and then back onto the pavement to get around it. Naive me, I told my student that the Pitts owner probably would have moved his aricraft by the time we came back. Boy was I wrong ! His aircraft was still blocking our path so I went off the pavement and out in the rough again.

By now I realized that the aircraft owner was telling me what he thought of gyroplanes. So, when we came around the third time and the Pitts was still in the middle of the taxi way I knew I had to take action or forevermore get off the sidewalk so to speak , whenever the Pitts owner thought I should. So, I went off the pavement , passed the Pitts then came back onto the taxi way as close as I could to the Pitts. I lined up squarely in front of the airplane. I stopped and held the brakes of the gyro and although I hated to do it, I opened the throttle wide open and I sand blasted that beautiful red Pitts. But, it got the owners attention and the next time we came around the Pitts was in the median section where it properly should have been.

I don't usually mistreat aircraft . And sand blasting the Pitts was a mean thing to do but as I saw it , it was my only option for I was not going to beg the owner to move his aircraft and have him laugh at me. He knew it wasn't supposed to be parked on the taxi way . The Pitts owner never bullied me again. As I said , sometimes you just have to stand up and be counted.

Till next time.
Marion Springer