Bullies

There was a college on the route to my work, which for some unknown reason was always chaotically busy. In the morning, when I cycled to work, but also in the afternoon, when I drove home again. What a racket those students made. They stood in large groups on the schoolyard, smoking cigarettes, acting cool and screaming loudly at each other. Even more annoying were that students did not go to school by bus, but by bicycle. Clustered together, they took up the entire width of the cycle path, so I couldn't pass them. Couldn't students take into account the world around them, instead of thinking they were the only ones? And these are the doctors and managers of the future. Where is the world going to go? I'm glad we already had COVID and that it didn't come in 10 years or so. Then there would probably be no scientist left who could discover a vaccine against the virus. That requires brains which those students didn't seem to have. For me, it had been a while since I had been to school and I couldn't remember that the schoolyard was such a mess back then. Times were different. At that time, young people were not yet environmental activists, they were not nong-binary and they did not experience burnouts. At least it never happened to me. I did a lot of studies, but most of them were home studies, next to work. I've been working since I was 16. First simple side jobs such as stocking shelves in supermarkets. When I was 18, I dropped out of college where I studied retail. I always wanted my own CD store. Yes, I was already that old, I had witnessed the rise and fall of the CD. Fortunately, I never continued with that study, because CD stores had become obsolete. I actually never regretted not completing my studies. An acquaintance recently said that this means I know a little bit about everything. I think that I have an above-average knowledge of many subjects, partly thanks to those studies. From the age of 18, I started working full-time and embarked on a career full of home studies. You would think that among those studies there would be something in which I wanted to continue, but unfortunately I never found anything in which I wanted to specialize. That's why I ended up in a boring office of a large logistics company, half an hour's bike ride from my home. Once you had a full-time job it was difficult to go back to school. There were often monthly costs that still had to be paid. A telephone subscription, insurance, rent or mortgage and unfortunately I didn't have those parents who were willing to pay them for me.

Oh look, there he was again. I didn't know his name...I never spoke to those students, but he was different. He was not too tall, had short, blond hair, a round head and even his baggy clothes could not hide his heavy, blubbery body. I thought he looked like a little pig, with his red cheeks and small nose. He always carried the same moss green backpack and always walked alone. I didn't see him every day, but he was quite a striking presence, standing out from the crowd of students. I also couldn't remember ever seeing him standing or sitting with others. I don't think he was looking forward to it today. He looked quite grumpy the few times he looked up from the ground. I always had friends when I was still studying at school. I was never one of the popular guys, in other words; the bullies, but I always found a decent group of average students to spend my time at school with. I was regularly bullied in the lower grades. I was really such a student. I got exaggeratedly good grades, was always modest towards the teachers and never went out, because well... I wasn't attracted to women so there was little point in going to straight discos. My life mainly consisted of going to school, eating, learning and sleeping. In retrospect, very boring, but at the time I didn't know any better. The friends I met later weren't really into big parties either. But at least they had hobbies. One of them was a drummer in a band, I remember. After two years of school, the bullying stopped. I still don't know why, because I hadn't changed that much. I still got good grades and still didn't go out. Of course I didn't have a girlfriend yet. I was more interested in that handsome boy who didn't go to my school, but who was always waiting for some of my popular classmates to ride their bike home. Yes, through him I discovered that I was a bit different than normal, so to speak. I had never approached him, I wasn't popular enough for that. And I was too busy trying to figure out why I liked him more than pretty girls. They were also walking around at school. Sometimes I took friends to my house, sometimes I went to theirs. Their parents always thought I was quiet and decent. My parents were still proud of me then. As if it were a competition to see who had the most well-behaved child. Again, times were different then. What I want to say is that I didn't have to be alone if I didn't want to be. This is something I could still say. My group of friends was not nearly as extensive as it was back then, but if I wanted to do something fun or talk, I could often find someone who was willing to make time. And if I wanted to be alone after a busy day, that option was there too. I had a nice bedroom in my home, which unfortunately I had to share for some time. But my roommate and I had built a relationship in which we left each other alone a lot. I was very fond of my privacy. Finally I was doing the things I wanted to do without everyone interfering.