It was P. E. class in the sixth grade, about 1957, at Highland Park Elementary School in Austin, Texas. The teacher always had us girls line up in four lines as we came into the gym.
There was one girl who was always late but she didn’t want to be last in line and appear late.
So, she would always bully her way up the line and cut in front of someone near the front.
She wasn’t nice about it, either. She was rude and rough, even to shoving other girls out of her way.
No one challenged her or said a word to her. In fact, they let her get away with it every day although they talked about her behind her back and hated what she did and how she did it.
Talking about her, and doing nothing, didn’t solve the problem.
One day I was fifth in line and the bully came trotting in after everyone else, as usual. She then tried to shove me out of the way so she could cut in front of me.
I had had enough of her and her bullying. So, I hauled off and punched her in the side of her face with my right fist.
It knocked her to the ground and the look of shock on her face as she sat there was amazing.
All the girls just stared at her, waiting to see what she would do. She got up and went to the end of the line without a single word. She never cut in front of anyone after that.
I have never struck anyone before or since. Violence is never the answer.
Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Speak softly and carry a big stick.” Yep, sometimes ya’ just gotta stand your ground
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