Get A Backbone!! Aren't We Vertebrates?!!

I just had the unfortunate luck to accidentally watch a few minutes of local drama on the tv this evening. There was this scene when a freshman was viciously bullied by a couple of senior students. No body contact, just a lot of abusive and degrading word exchange. The bullied boy just cringed and made pitiful faces at his tormentors.

I just had to shout this aloud (in front of my mom, who loves that muck of a programme) "SPINELESS FOOL!!!"

I remembered my first year in the university. We also had a tough orientation, but as a surprisingly 'different-minded' individual, those senior buffoons just gave me a wide berth. Nope, I wasn't so highly brilliant they were afraid to mock, I was just, oh you can say, very hard to intimidate.

Once in a late evening, the seniors called all freshmen to attend a meeting in the common room. It ended up being a waste of sleeping time, the bloody fools just wanted an audience for them to talk and ramble about non-specific things. And I had my fill, stood up and just left the place, returned back to my room and sleep. My idiot peers stayed and endured the torture until 4.00 in the morning.

The next day, a few seniors confronted me in the cafeteria, asking why I left so early. I just look at their faces and then made sweeping glances to their feet and back to the faces. Thrice. I said I was not that stupid to receive advice from average students. I am my own man. I do not need your help.

One of them tried to lunge at me. I just smiled and told him that I am aware that the campus had no fighting cases reported for a very very long time. He would do well to remember that, and I added a proverb in Malay (translated); "Before kicking a dog, look out for its master". (Meaning, before harming someone, you must be aware of his parents / guardians).  

I was left well alone after that. Infamous. Some of my friends said I was a fool to shun help from the seniors as they can provide notes of coming lectures and exams. I had help from the seniors all right, without them knowing. I befriended the Chinese students instead (they never bully each other) and got tonnes of notes from my new best friends. Que sera sera.

My university years were indeed colourful. Next time I might tell you people how I got kicked out of campus and almost made national news! :)