April 26, 2002
Okay, and now there's this. Some kid in Germany goes to school and mows down 14 teachers, 3 students and then himself. I have no sociopolitical observation on this. I'm far too myopic for that. Just an old fart observation.
When I was in school, I think it was junior high (7th & 8th grades) that I had my most social troubles. I got bullied like all the other quiet squirts. I was on the welfare lunch program, so I never had any money for them to steal: Ha! take that suckas! My coping strategy was to hang out with the goofballs and cut up all the time. I found that bullies have a hard time figuring out what to do when you poke fun at yourself and fart in class.
But I still had my fantasies of revenge. Which usually involved imagining that I got hold of some electronics and hardware and built a shock-stick so I could drop Neal Pearson on his huge pasty butt like a sack of potatoes the next time he started giving me grief. But I never imagined getting hold of a gun and committing a massacre. Nope. I'd imagine doing a Jedi sommersault over Neal's pockmarked blonde head whilst unholstering my shock stick and watch the confusion in his eyes as he heard the flash capacitors charge up and then his eyes scrinch shut as I did a nunchuck twirl and zotted him in the ribs and love handles. And then calmly holster my weapon and walk away while he cowered in a fetal position and everybody looked on in silent amazement.
It was a total Anime fantasy, before I even knew what Anime was. I think that's why watching Anime makes me feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. I've come to the conclusion that the Japanese psyche must be rife with underempowered, adolescent, persecution complexes. [This cultural stereotype brought to you by stream-of-consciousness rant mode.]
By high school, I was thoroughly schooled in the art of self-depracation and was lucky enough to find a niche with other intelligent self-depracists that helped keep us all out of the lame high-school social ladder of grief.
On a roll today.
Jeremy
Posted by Jeremy at April 26, 2002 4:01 PM