Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee

Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee

There comes a time in every person’s life when they are put in a situation in which someone or something pushes them to their limits. In many ways, it can be the defining moment in one’s life. The way they react, how they control themselves, the actions that they perform as a result of this problem, and how they can persevere through the hardship are all characteristics of a person’s individuality. Everyone has someone that has brushed them the wrong way or went against the grain of their personal lifestyle. The way a person reacts to these kinds of people determines how they are perceived by the rest of society. This was never more apparent to me then after a physical altercation with a school bully in my senior year of high school.

Brian Geising: this name still makes my skin tingle and my hair stand up on the back of my neck. When the thought of him crosses my mind I feel my blood start to boil and I feel the veins in my arms begin to rise from my skin like mole tracks in a yard. This kind of hatred is a flaw that I am not proud of, but in many ways it would be almost not enough for the things he has done to the people I care deeply about. I was never a very violent person throughout my entire life. I always had that peaceful easy feeling that many people like to say they have. This all changed in a quick five minute class change in a crowded high school hallway.

With an early morning groggy feeling that one has after staying up all night, followed by a breakfast of a pop tart and a High C, I arrived at my locker. I felt like this morning was no different than any other; I was tired, hungry, homework was not done, the usual. I was half asleep with my head on the shelf of my locker when my girlfriend Jill came up to me with news that sent a shot of adrenaline through my body that 50 Red bulls couldn’t replicate. Like a punch to my face, what she said shocked me: “This kid has been following me around the hallways calling me a stupid Jew.” My body felt weightless for a few seconds as I let what she said sink in. At his point I was ready to find this kid and hit him so hard that when he woke back up I would have already graduated high school. My girlfriend, sensing that I was minutes away from a nice three days out of school due to suspension, persuaded me to keep my cool. She reassured me that the guidance office would take care of it and I wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. With this, I decided she was right, so I let it go and just tried to forget about it. I assumed that guidance would take care of the situation, but I assumed wrong.

A week or so went by before the next incident. Another long night, another half-asleep encounter with my girlfriend at my locker, and another report of some kid following her around and whispering “Jew, Jew, Jew” behind her back. There was nothing she could do to calm me down this time. I was on a warpath and looking for some kid who better be able to run his legs faster than his mouth if he wanted to smile normally again. The hallways were crowded so I bobbed and weaved through the students looking for my target. When I finally saw him I locked on like a missile. Every step I took closer to him my adrenaline increased. The final step allowed full eye contact; we were face to face. The look of arrogance on his face infuriated me more than ever and the only thought crossing my mind was to rock this kid’s world with a flurry of punches to his cranium. I could feel my body begin to tense as if I had been electrocuted. He mumbled “What do you want?” There were a million answers I could have replied with… “To stomp your face into the tile floor” or “I am here to make sure the EMT’s have business today” but all that came out of my mouth was “Please stop harassing my girlfriend”. He looked directly into my face and laughed. The whole time he was laughing all I could do was think of how badly I could hurt him. “I asked you once nicely, next time I have to ask it won’t be so generous” came out of my mouth like a scene from a mobster movie. I turned around without saying another word and walked away.

A few days passed and I figured that Brian learned his lesson and stopped making comments about my girlfriend. I felt triumphant knowing that the warning I gave him worked. In a small way, I felt like I had protected my girlfriend from something that she was too afraid to stop herself. This feeling had never fully hit me until this moment; the feeling of being able to protect someone else besides yourself is a rush of power. However, this amazing feeling of superiority was cut drastically short.

I was in the middle of an intense dodge ball game in which a lucky boy named Mike Chamberline was the primary target. The harder you could throw the ball at him the more “chamber points” you received. I was leading this challenge against the rest of the “gym class heroes” when a good friend of mine entered the gym. I knew something was wrong as soon as I saw him. My stomach sunk and I felt sick. I knew what he was here for and I did not want this to be the way it had to happen. “Brian just walked by me and said “Tell your Jew loving friend I am going to kick his ass.” I felt my anger snap like a board under way too much pressure. Two very important things crossed my mind at this moment. The first was “I hope my girlfriend doesn’t get mad I am about break my promise about hitting this kid.” The second was “Should I break his nose, or knock out his front teeth, or both?”

Before I realized what was going on I was already in one of the long hallway corridors moving at almost a run looking for Brian Geising, the soon to be vegetable who had his brain knocked loose from his spine. The rage was building now, with the added frustration of not being able to find him. I was popping my head in an out of rooms like a whack-a-mole game. I turned the corner of the last hallway and my eyes found the target I had been so desperately searching for. My emotions were mixed now. I had a strong feeling of rage, and an almost equal feeling of joy. Brian was picking on a kid and pushing him against a locker, so when I collapsed his nasal cavity this bullied kid would look at me like a hero. I began to pick up my pace and I started to get much closer. I began to realize that every step I took towards him was one less he had to get away. All of a sudden I felt like I got hit with a cheap shot. The kid that was being bullied was my younger brother. I went into a sprint that was so fast that I would have taken home a Gold at the Olympics. When I got to my brother I peeled Brian off him and tossed him across the hallway headfirst into a locker. Time felt as if it stopped and my body felt completely weightless.

The moment he stood up my nose was already in his face. “Now’s the time to do something you waste of life” slid off my tongue like the perfect climatic line of an action movie. He looked me dead in the eyes and I could feel the anger rising. I began to feel my skin stretch tight over my fists as they clenched up. He turned around and pretended as if he was going to walk away so I grabbed his shoulder to spin him back around to face me. When he spun around he tilted his head back and spit all over my face. I felt the warm wet spit splatter onto my face. In most cases, water will put out a fire, but instead, when this spit hit my face it started one in my body. Before he had enough time to do anything else my arm pulled back behind my body and propelled towards his face like a cannonball. My fist connected right above his right eye, on his forehead. I felt the knuckles crunch in my hand, knowing instantly that I had just broken my hand. Although I felt my knuckles break, I heard his skull crack. The shot heard ‘round the school is what it was called from the moment on. The hit put Brian into the air and across the hallway. He hit the floor like a ragdoll and was completely unconscious. Students and teachers came running out of their classes to see what had just happened. I could have kept hitting him but I just walked away casually towards the office knowing that a 3 day vacation was about to be rewarded to me for this act of great valor and bravery, though it was often not viewed that way.

I explained to the principal what had happened and he understood why I hit Brian. He was very understanding and told me he wished he didn’t have to suspend me but it was school policy. I told him I understood and accepted the penalty. Over the next few days I did a lot of thinking. I came to realize that what I did was not right, but it was not wrong either. I realized that when someone is pushed to their limits, they can only keep calm for so long. I don’t believe violence is ever the right thing to use to solve a problem, but in this case it was the only thing that would work. Many people commended me for hitting him, including teachers and parents of students. They told me that he has been bullying their kids and now that someone bullied him that maybe he will stop. The moral of my story is that when you are pushed to your limits, how you handle yourself is the most defining characteristic of your personality. I believe that sticking up for all the people that were to afraid to themselves, including my brother and girlfriend, was the right thing to do. When the time comes in your life that you are forced into a decision that affects more people than just yourself, sometimes the choice you make can influence how you are remembered.