I Sometimes Wonder If The People From Kokomo

I don't know if they do or not, but sometimes I wonder the same thing about people who were formerly shallow or nasty for whatever reason, and who I haven't seen in years.

I went to 9 schools cause my family moved around a lot, and the last school I went to was horrible. Some of the nice people there are on my Facebook, but there sure were a lot of mean bullies there. It was very closed and parochial, and a lot (not all) people there had the attitude that if you weren't like them or from that area, you weren't worth knowing. As my brother put it, a lot of people there either picked on someone, or were picked on themselves.

I went back to that area on my uni holidays once, and heard someone say my name and say hi. Not wanting to be rude, I said Hi back, and turned round to see a guy I recognised sitting in his car sniggering to himself. A totally unprovoked and immature action.

I think some of the nasties have matured, but safe to say, from what I have heard since leaving school, quite a few of them have not...but I remember a lady from my mum's generation who went to that school, saying that she and her friends gave a particular girl a really hard time when they were all kids, but that she now hoped that this girl was doing well for herself. I also heard of people who were at that school after I left who were bullied, or who went to another school because they were unhappy there.

Now that I live in a different part of the country, and having met many people from many places, and having worked in a few schools, it is true to say that most schools have an element of bullying, but it's also true that some schools are definitely a lot better than others.

After leaving Kokomo, Ryan went to Hamilton Heights school, where he was treated a lot better and that school was much more welcoming to him. I think from what I read in his autobiography (well worth a read), there were a few jerks there, but you get jerks everywhere. But a lot of people were kinder to him there.

Some places are definitely more small-minded, rougher or inward-looking than others. Having said that, I don't like to tar everyone with the same brush. I'm sure (by the law of averages) there are a handful of nice people from Kokomo in Ryan's time, just as I have met several nice people from the area where I was bullied, and as I said, some of them are on my Facebook. And the older generation (my mum's friends) from that area are nice.

Sorry if I'm digressing, but your post about Ryan and Kokomo reminded me of my own past experience. I've never had AIDS, but the gist of what I am trying to say is that some people are just horrible/bigoted, and stay in that circle for all or most of their lives. Ryan and his family didn't deserve to be treated as they were. It's very sad.

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