My Dad taught me to never let anyone push me around.
As long as I can remember I have always confronted bullies and stood up for myself. My Dad — I sure miss him— taught me to never let anyone, or anything push me around. He told me that our problems become much worse when you let someone run over you unchecked. I’ve since learned that this applies both to our personal and business lives.
Dealing with a bully in Marine Corps’ boot camp.
Back in 1968 during Marine Corps boot camp at Paris Island, I learned a lesson about dealing with bullies. One of the members of our platoon was a classic bully. He was mean, huge, muscular and a bit on the dumb side. Anyone he was around he purposely terrorized. Most of the recruits that he bullied simply took it and shrunk away from him. Then he would continue to bully and pick on them without mercy.
The day the bully decided to pick on me.
One day, this monster (whose name I cannot remember) wound up being sent back to the barracks with me and several others for clean-up duty. Once back at the barracks he started pushing me and even slapped me in the back of the head. I knew that if I didn’t stand up to him, I would become his new whipping boy – so I turned around and with all my might, made a fist and hit him square in the jaw. I expected him to go down but instead he just stood there somewhat stunned that someone like me would attack him. To my disbelief and horror, he simply shook off the punch, gave me a look of sudden anger, clenched his fists and roared that he was going to kill me.
