Raging against the Playground Bully

So there was this guy at work, who got through his day by intimidating others. He was the bully of the playground.

One day when I was in his office, he said something about “revealing personal secrets.” It was the way bullies start their game.

I quickly confronted him: “Where you going to tell somebody I'm a faggot?”

It was a move he didn't expect, and he didn't know how to deal with it. I paused for a few seconds to observe my work. It was good.

Then I said, “Let's both get on the same page,” adding a bit of Corporate Jargon to seem like I fit in there.

“The manager who hired me knew I was gay before she hired me. You did know that, didn't you? In fact, most of my department knows I'm gay. The president of the corporation knows I'm gay, for Pete's Sake. My father knows I'm gay. My mother knows I'm gay.”

I added, quickly, “My boyfriend is beginning to suspect that I'm gay.”

This is conversation karate. The bully had nothing to say.

“Just so I know what's going on, who were you going to tell?”

The important thing is that he and I worked at the same place for another 15 years. Not once in that time did he ever treat me with anything but respect. If it wasn't respect, then it was fear that I was unbalanced and likely to go off on him again with the slightest provocation or excuse.

Confronting problems straight-on has always been the easier way, the softer way. (And the way that offers the most entertainment.)