James Giago Davies. Photo from Native Sun News
Bullies abound in Lakota Country
They thrive where kindness is seen as weakness
By James Giago Davies
www.nsweekly.com Back in the day I had to sit behind a desk, punch a time clock, and deal with office politics. Now most of my work is done at the kitchen table, my dogs sleeping at my feet. It would be nice if everyone could work from home. But most of us have to go out and rub elbows with the warts-and-all world, and I remember that world, remember the pressures, the stress, the conflict, the nitpicking and back stabbing office politics. At every job, there was always at least one bully, instinctively creating a protective niche for themselves, from which they could abuse others and get away with it. Bullies have a talent for not being called out and set straight by propriety, and somehow they know when and where to strike to give themselves the cover, the plausible deniability necessary to keep doing what they love best, bullying vulnerable people. They say bullies are really cowards, but I think that is debatable, something people heard once and keep repeating because they think it must be true. What bullies are before they are anything else, is unkind, they lack empathy, and they derive pleasure from the pain they can inflict upon the vulnerable.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Bullies abound in Lakota Country (James Giago Davies can be reached at skindiesel@msn.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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