Are people who look down on geeks "jealous?"

@Bobby: Sometimes that works, but not always.

@Silent: Hard to ignore a beer bottle or a car bumper, served at high velocity without warning. Thus, switchblades and brass knucks.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

@ Silent: On that note, the typical "ignore them and they'll leave you alone" advice is such bullshit.

@ DS: It's possible I'm talking about kids of a slightly younger age than you are. Also, I only have experience of small, country schools. Bullying was common, but probably nowhere near as severe as it would be in a snobby boarding school or a violent inner-city comprehensive, so maybe that makes a difference.

edited 12th Jul '11 7:57:18 PM by BobbyG

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@Bobby: yeah, this stuff happened in high school (the 15-18 range). Certainly bullying could be ignored in the lower grades when all they could do was beat you up (they had to find you first, I hid in the library), but when assholes acquire transportation all bets are off.

Of course, taking the "threats of violence" route has its own pitfalls; I pulled the switchblade on a guy who was making noises like he wanted to kick my ass, and then got hauled in front of the principal for "gang behavior".

To be fair...talking to a nice guy in a suit vs. getting my face pounded in by an ape in a tank top and saggy pants? I'll take option A, thank you very much.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

@ DS: I've never experienced physically violent bullying, so there is definitely a difference between how to handle it.

@ Bobby: It's because they know they're getting a reaction out of them. And if it doesn't work against name calling, it's definitely not going to work against getting attacked.

edited 12th Jul '11 8:06:19 PM by SilentColossus

@Silent: Verbal stuff? Oh yeah, ducking your head and ignoring it is the better course. But when someone wants a piece of you, best be prepared to give him one he doesn't want.

That said, I'm glad I got through my teenage years without having to beat or cut anyone.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

Hey, not all of us jock types are big apes!

And in my experience, the trash can dunk similarly went out of style a LONG time ago.

All I have to say is that people look down on pretty much anyone different than them, its sad, but its nature. If you see someone so radically different than you, you are conditioned to be conscious of that guy. But really, this is NOT the 80's.

You cannot tell a nerd or geek by what they wear anymore, so the predefined social mores no longer quite exist in the same form.

So if someone is looking down on you, they just don't like you. Some people just do not click.

They might use you being a "geek" or "nerd" as an excuse so as to look more cool, when in reality, they sound like an except from a really bad 80's teensploitation comedy. The bullies are not from one social microcosm or another dominantly, but are mostly in my experience just kids who come from violent households or who just have decided to be cruel.

I experienced some bullying from people who might be called nerds, the rumor mill is vicious no matter who operates it.

edited 12th Jul '11 8:13:08 PM by NickTheSwing

Sign on for this After The End Fantasy RP.

@Nick: I was a teenager a long time ago. It hadn't gone out of fashion quite yet then.

Also...before anyone takes issue with my approach, consider; it was a different time. The Columbine shootings had just happened and there was a good deal of hate and fear flying around; my friends and I were trench-coat wearers *

and while we ditched the garments after the shootings we were still worried about people "getting those trenchie fags before they get us". 1998 was a bad year to be a Goth.

I certainly wouldn't recommend that any of you who are still in high school start packing a blade; you'd end up in prison if I'm reading the signs right. But learning to stand up to those who would physically assault you isn't something that's not gone out of fashion just yet.

EDIT:

very true, and a good point for everyone to remember.

edited 12th Jul '11 8:46:12 PM by drunkscriblerian

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

It's true, being a geek and/or nerd doesn't necessarily make you a smarter, nicer, or more accepting human being.

Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.

I got picked on a lot up until junior high, then I learned this lesson and never really got screwed with. It's also where I developed my defiant attitude towards adversity.

"Are people who look down on geeks "jealous?"

No, they are just the Last Man (men?) in the face of the geek master race!

edited 13th Jul '11 1:53:11 AM by deuxhero

I was picked on, but generally in a really crap way. Looking back on it the guys were just taunting me 'cause I reacted. Well that and the time I hit someone in the throat for punching me. That was an interesting walk home.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. I have not really encountered anyone who is as "geeky" as the stereotypes that I have seen in movies and I think that the guys in the movies typically aren't that nice people. Look at "revenge of the nerds" where (to the best of my knowledge) Nerds proceed to use women as the only codifier of success.

Surely its more important to aim for a goal that is not primarily based on the affection of another?

edited 12th Oct '11 7:42:23 AM by JosefBugman

Has the thread moved on to bullytalk? Where I went to school, a lot of my bullies were tall, physically threatening guys whereas I was a short waifish girl. Most of them would actually be considered 'geeks' (hence my earlier dismissal of the 'geek' persecution complex) and a geek would never bully another geek right? Wrong.

The captain of our hockey team on the other hand, while similarily tall and physically threatening, abhorred bullying. Like, to the point where if he found out someone on his team was messing with someone, they'd be booted out. The rest of the team quickly became a sort of anti-bully force. (Apparently his older brother had attempted suicide as a result of bullying, hence his hatred.)

So one day, the guy who bullies me the most has me cornered in a hallway during lunch break and tries to molest me. There's a loud cough. The guy turns around and the entire hockey team is staring at him. Guy tries to flee, gets tackled and dragged to the principal while a few other guys make sure I'm okay, offer to call the police, give me a ride home, etc. It was awesome and they were awesome.

(creepy geeky guy got expelled)

MAXIMUM THE ALLCAPS

EDIT: Here at TV Tropes on a nostalgia trip, and looking at the JROTC thread made me think of other threads where athleticism was being discussed. One particular post in the other one was somewhat reasonable but inarticulate... but my posts in this thread had projection at their core. Nerds are not just nerds, and though I've had moments of being a bit jealous of those who were nerdy in more practical ways than I was, that had no bearing on what jealousy has to do with anything on the part of others. Not sure whether I may have realized that more than I let on or not.

edited 11th Apr '15 10:30:11 AM by neoYTPism

I'll agree with that, but part of standing up for yourself is learning how to do it intelligently.

If I were to write some of the strange things that come under my eyes they would not be believed. ~Cora M. Strayer~

EDIT: Here at TV Tropes on a nostalgia trip, and looking at the JROTC thread made me think of other threads where athleticism was being discussed. One particular post in the other one was somewhat reasonable but inarticulate... but my posts in this thread had projection at their core. Nerds are not just nerds, and though I've had moments of being a bit jealous of those who were nerdy in more practical ways than I was, that had no bearing on what jealousy has to do with anything on the part of others. Not sure whether I may have realized that more than I let on or not.

edited 11th Apr '15 10:30:47 AM by neoYTPism

Well i'm not going to hold my breath on that. The closest schools have come to that are zero-tolerance policies, because we all know that expelling a kid for shoving somebody is great logic.

EDIT: Here at TV Tropes on a nostalgia trip, and looking at the JROTC thread made me think of other threads where athleticism was being discussed. One particular post in the other one was somewhat reasonable but inarticulate... but my posts in this thread had projection at their core. Nerds are not just nerds, and though I've had moments of being a bit jealous of those who were nerdy in more practical ways than I was, that had no bearing on what jealousy has to do with anything on the part of others. Not sure whether I may have realized that more than I let on or not.

edited 11th Apr '15 10:31:09 AM by neoYTPism