Encounters with a bully

Prior to the sixth grade, I had experienced numerous incidents with bullies. None of them were a really big deal. However, this one got pretty rough.

It was during after school football practice. It was the first time I had been put in a group with this guy. I'll call him Jod. He was a lot larger than the other sixth graders, and not in a muscular way.

I'll admit upfront: I was causing the problem. I kept smarting off during the huddles that he was leading. I wasn't saying anything bad about him personally. I was just making a lot of general clown-like comments. He got irritated because every time we got into a huddle, I interrupted him. He yelled at me a couple of times to be quiet, but I wouldn't do it.

After practice, when we were going home. Jod came up behind me and pushed me on the ground. I dropped my books and a lot of paper fell out.

The next morning, during first period Athletics, the coach told me I was being called to the principal's office. This came at an inconvenient time, as I had just put on my football uniform. I had no idea what was going on. I had to walk through the school wearing my uniform. I also had not been able to put on my shoes, so I was walking to the principal's office in sock feet. Inside the principal's office were Jod, Wild, a boy I knew from Hermosa and another boy I had just met at Zia that year.

Apparently, the three of them ganged up on him because of what he did to me the day before. I don't remember everything the principal said. He just gave us a stern talking to and let us go. I felt really bad because I knew that it was my fault, but I didn't admit it.

Normally, I wouldn't bring up my bully encounters. I probably won't again. However, some weird stuff happened about a quarter-century later. I happened to be home in Artesia, visiting my father. I picked up the paper and saw this big article about how Jod had been arrested. This actually had an impact on me, as I am about to explain.

After graduating from high school, Jod went to New Mexico State University, graduated in 1991 and became a teacher. He came back to Artesia to teach Special Education. starting with fourth and fifth grades at Roselawn Elementary and working his way up to sixth grade. Honestly, it was one of the last things I ever expected him to do. I just thought he would go to work at the refinery.

According to the paper, he got caught up in an FBI sting trying to meet up with a 13-year-old girl on the Internet. He wound up getting sentenced to five years in prison and lost his teaching job.

The funny thing is that I got this feeling I would run into him again some day. I didn't know when, but I knew it would likely be years after he got released from prison.

That day came about a year and a half ago. I was with Mom, Loyd and Mom's husband Dend on Mother's Day. We went to a buffet at an Indian casino in Ruidoso, NM. The line to the buffet snaked back and forth. At one point, Mom and Dend saw some people they knew. With them was Jod. They were his parents. I tried not to make eye contact, but I know he saw me.

At the buffet, Jod and his parents were sitting a couple of tables away from us. I knew that I wasn't going to say anything about what happened to him. I didn't need to air his dirty laundry in public. Unfortunately, Dend didn't share those same sentiments. He said to us, "That guy over there? He got in trouble for messing around with one of his students!"

AARRGH! This meant I was going to have to break my promise to myself. I felt like to had to kind of come to his defense even though he was a jerk who deserved it. I explained that it wasn't one of his students, it was an FBI sting. And then I said I didn't think it was a good idea to talk about that when he was just 15 feet away. I had this image in my mind of him getting up, walking over and pushing me out of my chair. Fortunately, that didn't happen.

I have not seen Jod since. I don't want to.