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Message: [QUOTE="ctchamps, post: 3267407, member: 37"] I can relate to "A Christmas Story" because my personal experience was eerily similar to the bullying in that movie. School was fine. Walking home was another matter. Instead of two bullies I had to deal with three. I dreaded walking home or going outside between the ages of ten and twelve. To say the least I was miserable. I believed confrontation was wrong. There was no discussion in the late fifties or sixties pertaining to this issue. Even if there was I felt it was cowardly to complain about my circumstances. So I suffered silently. Everyone has a limit and I finally reached mine. I went all "Ralphie on Scut Farkus" only the kid I did this to was the toady and his name was Wesley. This kid had it in for me but it wasn't until I became older that I understood several of the factors. One was his younger brother was dying from kidney failure which none of us were made aware until he became critically ill. The father treated the two sons differently, disciplining the older boy and allowing the younger one to get away with more egregious behaviors. Additionally we played street football and this father periodically played with the kids. I was a fast kid, had great hands and was often picked to play for teams before kids who were several years older. This kids father always picked me when he participated. He was the quarterback. I was his star receiver. I initially thought it was my faith but I realized it was petty jealousy that created the animosity. The irony was a great deal of my quickness resulted from running away from the bullies. [/QUOTE]

Verification: First name of men's bb coach