G’day Jason,Dry, Barb, Joe, Lonewolf, Bjorn and all Meggsie’s pals
Today’s story brings back memories of early school years. We had our share of Jugears who would give us hell on the way home. No mums picking us up in those days, petrol was rationed. Our first attempt to outwit them was to tell them which way we were going home - and go that way. Didn’t take them to tumble to that so then we went home another way - same eventual result. This seesawing went on for as long as I can remember until one bright spark put our own gang together. Wow, did we get our own back.
That gang also built billycarts as a direct inspiration from Meggsie. The War had just ended and we hauled them all over the district collecting Food For Britain.
Now, no names, no pack drill on this - the school had a reunion a short time ago and many of our peers were there, bullies included. All of us spent hours laughing about what we could only remember as the good old days.
usfellers, I went to a reunion where everybody who used to bully me as kids were attending. When we compared notes on what we were doing, I mentioned that I was a grad student concentrating on writing. The dialog went something like this:
Former Bully: Oh, writing the Great American Novel?
Me: No, a thriller. They pay better.
FB: What’s it about?
Me: It’s about a man who was bullied as a child. When his own child is bullied at school, his old anger comes back on him and he starts tracking down the people who beat him up when he was a kid.
FB: He kills them?
Me: No. He kills their families. How many kids did you say you had?
Joe Maybe bullying happens in this strip because it is a fact of life. Maybe the deeper humour resides in the fact that Ginger always rebounds, whereas the bully has gained nothing. “He who laughs last …”, and all that sort of thing.
Ginger is not emotionally unstable because he has the wisdom of the years behind his youth. He knows, as I do now following my school reunion, that bullying is a symptom of jealousy. It took me 60+ years to find out the truth. The ultimate sharing of the early true feelings of the bullies and the bullied was a most enlightening experience.
I agree, Ginger usually “wins out” in the end. The other two that Joe is talking about very seldom win. Bullying is a fact of life. And bullying can come in various forms from one person to another. Many people bully others with out even realizing it. You even see it in the Gocomics comments.
Lonewolf Yes, Ginger always wins out because he rebounds. The ultimate end is that nobody wins out, we all just want to get on with our lives as it suits us.
Perhaps we could extend that by questioning just where some world leaders expect us to go to live in peace while they try to bully each other with the knowledge behind them that they can render uninhabitable the place where we, and they, live. All simply because they haven’t Ginger’s wisdom of years to see there is no alternative but to accept that people have the right to different views on life.
Joe–Bullying is done to more than just gay people or those that are siblings of gay students. Gay (or not) is not the issue here, but the bullying is and unfortunately, right or wrong, it is a fact of life. A big problem is that the parents do not do enough to help the school faculty to control the problem. It has to be reported and those parents should be going to parent/teacher meetings and it is not done by all involved. Without that it will not be toned down.
Joe, I feel for you on how you have been treated and for being attacked by you BIL, but reality is what it is. Talking does not fix it. I tried to fix a similar problem of a kid being bullied here in our school district and there were only one or two at the meeting to fix the problem. And the parents of the victim were not even there! Nothing will happen that way.
The Duke 1 over 14 years ago
Morning, All!
COWBOY7 over 14 years ago
Not exactly the way you had things figured, eh Ginge?!
G’Day Joe, Jason, Usfellers and ALL Meggsie fans!
Dry and Dusty Premium Member over 14 years ago
G’day Jason, Joe, usfellers and JFri!
Jugears is a pretty big dude!
kjaneh over 14 years ago
As I’ve said before, Ginger is very clever, but this time too clever for his own good!
G’day all Ginger Meggs fans.
lewisbower over 14 years ago
I was never too clever for my own good but I was too honest.
usfellers over 14 years ago
G’day Jason,Dry, Barb, Joe, Lonewolf, Bjorn and all Meggsie’s pals
Today’s story brings back memories of early school years. We had our share of Jugears who would give us hell on the way home. No mums picking us up in those days, petrol was rationed. Our first attempt to outwit them was to tell them which way we were going home - and go that way. Didn’t take them to tumble to that so then we went home another way - same eventual result. This seesawing went on for as long as I can remember until one bright spark put our own gang together. Wow, did we get our own back.
That gang also built billycarts as a direct inspiration from Meggsie. The War had just ended and we hauled them all over the district collecting Food For Britain.
Now, no names, no pack drill on this - the school had a reunion a short time ago and many of our peers were there, bullies included. All of us spent hours laughing about what we could only remember as the good old days.
You figure!
Mutts demanding to be fed. See ya a bit later on.
runar over 14 years ago
usfellers, I went to a reunion where everybody who used to bully me as kids were attending. When we compared notes on what we were doing, I mentioned that I was a grad student concentrating on writing. The dialog went something like this:
Former Bully: Oh, writing the Great American Novel?
Me: No, a thriller. They pay better.
FB: What’s it about?
Me: It’s about a man who was bullied as a child. When his own child is bullied at school, his old anger comes back on him and he starts tracking down the people who beat him up when he was a kid.
FB: He kills them?
Me: No. He kills their families. How many kids did you say you had?
He stayed away from me the rest of the day.
usfellers over 14 years ago
Joe Maybe bullying happens in this strip because it is a fact of life. Maybe the deeper humour resides in the fact that Ginger always rebounds, whereas the bully has gained nothing. “He who laughs last …”, and all that sort of thing.
Ginger is not emotionally unstable because he has the wisdom of the years behind his youth. He knows, as I do now following my school reunion, that bullying is a symptom of jealousy. It took me 60+ years to find out the truth. The ultimate sharing of the early true feelings of the bullies and the bullied was a most enlightening experience.
COWBOY7 over 14 years ago
I agree, Ginger usually “wins out” in the end. The other two that Joe is talking about very seldom win. Bullying is a fact of life. And bullying can come in various forms from one person to another. Many people bully others with out even realizing it. You even see it in the Gocomics comments.
usfellers over 14 years ago
Lonewolf Yes, Ginger always wins out because he rebounds. The ultimate end is that nobody wins out, we all just want to get on with our lives as it suits us.
Perhaps we could extend that by questioning just where some world leaders expect us to go to live in peace while they try to bully each other with the knowledge behind them that they can render uninhabitable the place where we, and they, live. All simply because they haven’t Ginger’s wisdom of years to see there is no alternative but to accept that people have the right to different views on life.
COWBOY7 over 14 years ago
Very well put, Mr Usfellers! I like your choice of words there.
COWBOY7 over 14 years ago
Joe–Bullying is done to more than just gay people or those that are siblings of gay students. Gay (or not) is not the issue here, but the bullying is and unfortunately, right or wrong, it is a fact of life. A big problem is that the parents do not do enough to help the school faculty to control the problem. It has to be reported and those parents should be going to parent/teacher meetings and it is not done by all involved. Without that it will not be toned down.
Joe, I feel for you on how you have been treated and for being attacked by you BIL, but reality is what it is. Talking does not fix it. I tried to fix a similar problem of a kid being bullied here in our school district and there were only one or two at the meeting to fix the problem. And the parents of the victim were not even there! Nothing will happen that way.