Rules to Live By

I got all of this from a little piece of paper on my grandma's refrigerator:

In the book "Dumbing Down Our Kids", author Charles Sykes talks about how our liberal, feel good, politically correct society has created a generation of kids with no concept of reality and set them up for failure in the real world. Here are a few examples (on the slip of paper it says example's) from his list of rules that you may want to share with your kids, or even apply to your everyday life:

• Rule 1: Life is not fair, get used to it.
• Rule 2: Life is not divided in semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.
• Rule 3: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. They don't have tenure.
• Rule 4: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
• Rule 5: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your Mistakes. Learn from them.
• Rule 6: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself. 
• Rule 7: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

(I love these rules, every time I look at them I smile. Hope you smiled too.)

~BrandyBug Nikkie Kinsman

My Bullying Story; 1st Period

The classroom for art was spacious yet crowded with paint-covered desks that were pushed together in clusters. I, The Spirited Oddball, was busy with a paintbrush in my hand, a colorful piece of paper, splattered with water, and only 3 colors to create with when two familiar voices rose to a yell and laughter from the audience bounced off the walls.

 I unfortunately knew what was going on. The Class Dominator and The Strange One were screeching at each other like deranged Magpies. The Class Dominator’s words were like trained boxing punches and The Strange One’s voice crumbled and failed to defend her. The Class Dominator wouldn’t back down and everything she said weakened The Strange One even further.

Eventually The Class Dominator’s words tore through the shield of The Strange One’s pride. I was happy it was over, happier then I was proud to concede, but my heart struck against my ribs with a rhythmic force because I sat down, did nothing, while The Strange One called me “friend”.

Sometimes she was annoying and bewildering but she was tormented almost every day and she depended on me right now.

I stood up and glared at The Class Dominator, this would end today.

“Shut up.” I said to her in a stern, terrorizing voice, even though my blood was melting like pancake batter.

Everyone quickly focused their surprised, beady eyes on me and then looked at The Class Dominator. Blood rushed through my quivering veins and my head hammered and like a bolt of lightning charged my optimism, I felt like I was ready to face anything. I felt pleased with myself, but I was also terrified, no one messed with The Class Dominator.

She immediately barked at me and I growled back. I expected her to strike me and fear was building so the yelling grew stronger.

Panicked, yelling out of distress, and tired of all the harassment I glared at her with furious eyes and said, “I won’t let you stand there and mistreat her, she deserves so much more respect than you give her and if you want to pick on her again, you’re going to have to break through me first.”

That silenced her, knowing I wouldn’t back down finally drilled a hole through her brain and deposited an air of defeat.

I suppose one has to stand up to a bully to gain one’s respect. In my case, this was the conclusion.

(A few notes, to really conclude this, I intended to do my best on the paragraphs, I don't exactly understand when to separate them but I think I did a good job, thanks for reading!)

~BrandyBug Nikkie Kinsman