» Thu Dec 06, 2012 4:24 pm (If you're not interested in the lead up to the story, please skip to the third paragraph.)
I've been in Washington D.C this week to attend NIH (National Institute of Health) where I'm currently participating in a study for research of a new drug that I hope will one day cure a disease I suffer from. My girlfriend and I have been traveling down here a few times this year for all the testing and everything that comes with something such as this. This is a massive hospital with several buildings, some of which are in and near the Bethesda area including the Inn we stay at for the duration of these appointments. For those interested, I don't think I can give the name out but the drug is for Graft v Host disease which can occur from a Bone Marrow Transplant. If you have any questions about it feel free to ask.
Today I was on the subway riding from around the downtown D.C area and headed to one of the NIH campuses where I was going to my final appointment of the day before heading back to the Inn. I was by myself because I sent my girlfriend back to the Inn in a taxi after she wasn't feeling good earlier in the day. It was between 3-4pm and the train I was in was pretty packed. I'm guessing the school day had just finished because there were what looked like alot high school students everywhere.
---I was listening to my Ipod, sort of zoning out, kind of preparing myself for the next tests which would include a decent amount of agony when I noticed alot of movement near the front of the subway car. I couldn't initially see what was going on due to students being in the way. A couple minutes went by when I saw one boy throw a fist across the isle to the next seat, followed by noise, followed by another fist. Then one of the boys standing in front of the seat in question was using his arms to do something which looked to take strength but I still couldnt tell. I turned my music off and could hear "stop"...."stop" in between all of the other noise. There were no empty seats so I couldn't move up to see what was going on, so I stood up.
I could see that someone was sitting beside the person who was in the seat that all the boys were crowded around. That particular boy lifted his fist and brought it down quickly on what I later found out to be somone's knee. Mere seconds after that there was alot of quick movement by the group and I tried making out what sounded like "why...just please....stop.... please stop stabbing me". I grabbed my bag and ran across the train as quick and careful as I could making sure to not trip over anyone I shoved one boy out of the way and pushed another to their seat as I saw someone leaning on top of a noticably smaller boy in a red shirt. I pulled him off and looked around asking them what the hell they were doing. No one said anything. I let go of the boy I lifted off the other and kneeled down to ask if the boy in the red shirt was ok. He didn't say anything either. He just looked at me then at the boys as they were seperating themselves from each other and taking seats. The look on this boy's face explained more within a second than anyone could ever tell me in a day.
It didn't take long for the group of high schoolers to remove themselves from the area and find other places on the subway to sit and stand. A group that did infact include both males and females. I told the kid sitting with the boy to go take my previous seat. After learning this boy's name was David I asked him if he'd mind if I sat next to him. He openly welcomed it and I asked him to scoot over since I'd prefer him on the inside seat and me on the outer one after witnessing what had just happened to him. David is a sophmore in high school and the ones who surrounded him were all juniors and seniors. They were stabbing this poor kid with pencils and open paper clips. They were also punching him in his arms, thighs and legs even leaving bruises in some areas. David has a very minor mental condition and apparently that makes him a target. It didn't take long to learn that David gets picked on and bullied damn near everyday. Unfortunately we only talked for about 10 minutes since my stop was nearing, but I gave David my cell number and my Xbox gamertag. It literally made my day when he actually called me after getting home.
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I'm 22, 5-11, about 145-150lbs and am by no means an intimidating figure, but it certainly wasn't difficult to scare those little bastards off. I don't think there was one kid against what they were doing, besides David of course. The subway train we were in was loaded with people, mostly students, but these kids had formed a circle so that no one beyond it was aware what was taking place within it. I don't know if that was intentional or not. All so they could inflict physical pain on someone whom they look at as insuperior. Even having had cancer twice and undergoing everything I've previously went through I've been very fortunate enough to not have had much real first hand experience in regards to getting bullied. My girlfriend was crying after I told her what had happened and she started crying again when David called me.
David and I talked on the phone for maybe 15-20 minutes. He is an amazing person and I wish I could be on that subway everyday with him. I'm not sure if I have ever experienced bullying like this, but it was more than I'd care to see again. I just wanted to take the time and open a thread where anyone can discuss bullying as they see fit. Whether they're bullied, know someone whom is, or is even the one bullying, I think a thread could be of use. My apologies for the long read and I appreciate those of you who read through this thread. Thank you.
