Destroying others
When I was about 10, I belonged to some wanky club called EcoKids. We went to parks and cleaned up trash, etc. We had a member called Anthony, and his parents were going through a very messy divorce and his father's business was going down the toilet. He was a spoilt little bastard (his dad owned a construction company and they lived in a $2 million house, drove fancy cars, etc), but I still don't think it excuses my behaviour.

One Saturday, we were having one of our self-important, self-righteous meetings. Anthony got upset about something, and walked out. On the way to the door, he passed me, and I said "That's okay, we don't want you here anyway." I have no idea why I said this: it just popped out. He ran out crying.

And now for the worst bit: no one knew it was me. They all thought it was this girl beside me called Michi. She got in all kinds of trouble over it, Anthony's parents called her mother, etc. She was a virtual leper for months afterwards. So not only did I kick someone when they were down, I let someone else take the heat for it.

This is like therapy! I actually feel a tiny bit better about it after getting it out in the open. I still feel like a tosser about it though. Michi or Anthony, if you are reading this, I'm really, really sorry: it was a horrible thing to do.
(BlackArmadillo Avoided writing that article on, Fri 25 Nov 2005, 7:24, Reply)