Here's a story I've been avoiding telling for years
The year was probably 1976 or so, I must have been in the third or fourth year of secondary school. It was a 'nice' school - mixed Grammar in leafy suburban north London only three classes per year. No real trouble except for the odd last-day-of-term rumble with the kids from the Secondary Modern down the road.

At 13 or 14 I was a skinny little under-sized jewish kid and a wimp. I didn't like football, being more into music. One rainy lunchtime, when we were confined to class as it was too wet to go out, some of the rowdy boys in the class decided to assert their obvious superiority over us lesser mortals. They were Arsenal fans and every other Saturday they'd take part in the minor football hooliganism that became famous the world over in those days. There were three of them, Paul, John and Carl - Carl Bauer (big-bollocked Bauer as he was known). Carl's parents were German.

Enough back story, this trio decided to 'take the North Bank' or some such and they rushed down the aisles between the desks, pushing all before them. I was unlucky enough to be standing in the way of BB Bauer who raised his knee and caught me right in the knackers before stepping over my prone body and 'taking' the back of the classroom.

Was this bullying? Not really, just high spirits. The fact that their war-chant was 'Yiddo! Yiddo!' didn't endear them to me, but I knew that it was a blanket term of abuse used by Arsenal fans to taunt Tottenham Hotspur fans - with their large jewish following.

It was the combination of the war-cry, the fact that he was German and the additional fact that he'd kneed me in the balls that really got me mad. Mad enough to do a spot of bullying myself.

It took a while, my hatred festered, but then, one day, I dawdled at the end of the day and waited until the room was empty, then I took a thick, black, indelible marker and wrote all over the inside of his desk lid: 'Bauer is a Nazi' 'Big Bollocked Bauer is a cunt' 'Nazi Bauer' and swastikas a-plenty. Feeling nervous, but totally self-justified, I sneaked out and went home.

The next day, I watched from my desk as he lifted his desk and hid a smile as I saw his face freeze. What I wasn't prepared for was the tears. He didn't know who had done it, or why. He went straight to the teacher who was rightly shocked. I stayed quiet when she asked if anyone knew who had done this despicable thing. I never owned up...until now.

I always felt a bit bad about that, justified, but bad. Maybe I was over-the-top with my revenge, maybe I was a coward. Who knows? I suspect he's forgotten all about the incident, whereas I've never forgotten.
(Che Grimsdale Best before:, Fri 15 May 2009, 15:13, 4 replies)

Cool Story

( WormuIus, Fri 15 May 2009, 15:16, closed)

If this were /talk
I would now be typing YIDDO YIDDO! at you.
( WormuIus, Fri 15 May 2009, 15:16, closed)

It's got all the essential elements of a great story
*clicks*
(Bicycle Repairman "you're also a bit of a wanker", Fri 15 May 2009, 17:21, closed)

I could tell you were Jewish from our last meeting ; )
.
( girlinthehole, Fri 15 May 2009, 19:31, closed)