The Best Response to Bullying
We were driving on the highway, and this woman in the white Volvo Cross Country station wagon (most definitely the worst (if not rudest) drivers around) beside us just starting giving us the finger. She then tried to push into us, finger wagging, and so I started honking back at her. It appears that she expected us to get out of her way so she could cut us off. Why that required the finger is a question for anyone.
And so I—appropriately gave her the finger back—and prevented her cutting us off in our lane.
But really the best response to bullying would be to laugh in her face. Bullies want you to get angry—that’s why they act angrily towards you. They want you to get angry in return—to feel some of their anger—and be hurt because of your actions. But if you respond in mockery of their simpleness and stupidity, it blows up in their faces. You’ve robbed them of that tinge of fear that they prey on.
So this time the bully won. She got me angry and provoked my fear-tinged reflex. Next time, though, I’ll laugh in her petty face.