Steinhauer
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A few days ago, I remembered something that happened to me when I was 6 years old. My parents sent me and my older brother to what was called, Vacation Bible School (VBS). It was sort of like a summer camp at a church, but we were dropped off each morning and picked up in the afternoons. Sort of like "daycare" I guess.
Anyways, I was ganged up on by a group of older boys who were bullying me because I could not speak very well, or hear very well (I wore 2 hearing aids back then). I guess a lot of people can relate to this? Anyways, the bullying got pretty bad, shoving, hitting, name calling etc. etc. I remember there being about 3 or 4 older boys constantly harassing me. I do not know why I did not go and get an adult, and I think it was because my older brother was so willing to lay into them every time he caught them doing that to me. But, one day, one of the camp counselors saw what was happening and intervened. She put a permanent end to it.
That day, she took me inside the chapel and we had a private chat. She knew I felt absolutely crushed. She knew I was made to feel "different" and "inferior" by the bullying. Looking back on this experience, I think she was even a little shocked by how vicious the bullying had gotten. She then explained to me that she wore hearing aids too. She moved her hair back and showed me and said "Shh, don't tell anybody!" and then smiled. That perked me right up, because at the time, I did not know of anyone else, other than my father, who was hearing impaired like me.
Later that summer, she introduced me to her father and mother. I remember her father in vivid detail, because he was blind and was missing one arm. She apparently had told her dad about the bullying because he was very kind to me and would talk to me every afternoon. I later learned that he had lost his sight and his arm in Korea when a grenade went off near his head. He was a Korean War Veteran, either US Army or Marines (I think it was the Marines).
These two people, who I cannot even remember their names, were the two people responsible for instilling a confidence in me that "I was ok". That I was not "inferior" in any way.
I wish I could say thanks after all these years. Anyone have a similar story?
Anyways, I was ganged up on by a group of older boys who were bullying me because I could not speak very well, or hear very well (I wore 2 hearing aids back then). I guess a lot of people can relate to this? Anyways, the bullying got pretty bad, shoving, hitting, name calling etc. etc. I remember there being about 3 or 4 older boys constantly harassing me. I do not know why I did not go and get an adult, and I think it was because my older brother was so willing to lay into them every time he caught them doing that to me. But, one day, one of the camp counselors saw what was happening and intervened. She put a permanent end to it.
That day, she took me inside the chapel and we had a private chat. She knew I felt absolutely crushed. She knew I was made to feel "different" and "inferior" by the bullying. Looking back on this experience, I think she was even a little shocked by how vicious the bullying had gotten. She then explained to me that she wore hearing aids too. She moved her hair back and showed me and said "Shh, don't tell anybody!" and then smiled. That perked me right up, because at the time, I did not know of anyone else, other than my father, who was hearing impaired like me.
Later that summer, she introduced me to her father and mother. I remember her father in vivid detail, because he was blind and was missing one arm. She apparently had told her dad about the bullying because he was very kind to me and would talk to me every afternoon. I later learned that he had lost his sight and his arm in Korea when a grenade went off near his head. He was a Korean War Veteran, either US Army or Marines (I think it was the Marines).
These two people, who I cannot even remember their names, were the two people responsible for instilling a confidence in me that "I was ok". That I was not "inferior" in any way.
I wish I could say thanks after all these years. Anyone have a similar story?
...She was a big girl for her age. This was in elementary and part of middle school...we lived in the same projects...when she moved away, it was sad...but in some other ways, it was for the best, because it taught me that I could stand up for myself and I did....
