When I was in 3rd and 4th grade, I lived in Berlin Twp, NJ. There was a kid who lived on our street who also wasn't "all there" much like Doodle. We picked on him constantly because he was "different" from us. We called him names, made him eat dirt, and whenever we would go through the woods, we would ditch him on purpose and make find his on way out.
Of course we were too young to fully understand what we were doing, but looking back on it now, I do feel really bad about it. We never understood what "mental illness" meant. To us 9-year-olds it just meant "stupid". All we could understand was that he wasn't like us, so that made him the outcast. If I saw him today, I would absolutely apologize, even if we were "kids being kids".
Doodle's brother picks on him for the same reasons we picked on the kid on our street. Today, we still act mean towards people, but for completely different reasons. Of course we understand, or should understand, what we're doing. Some people do it for the sake of feeling superior, or they just haven't grown up or matured yet. People like me just do it for laughs. We "bust chops", tell jokes and stories, and make fun of each other all the time, but it's all in good fun.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
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