You know the news. 34-year-old Jdimytai Damour trampled to death by Wal Mart Shoppers.
What is familiar about this is that this young man was BIG. 270 pounds plus plus. Tall. Strong.
Many described him as a gentle giant.
So when he went down people thought it OK to step on him and abuse him. After all he's a big guy and can take care of himself. No underdog this guy in the eyes of the onrushing crowd.
I said this was familiar. I'm pretty big. Actually about his size. Tall, sizable, perceived strong. Sometimes that has caused others to treat me more brutally than they might have treated someone half my size.
Put another way, big guys are easy to beat up on because they can take it. Right?
Well, this young man didn't survive and neither do many others. I have learned to be strong and sometimes even aggressive in the face of aggression. It has become survival for me. I have overcome my gentle giant problem. Many big men never do. They were raised to be careful because they were big and therefore they were too careful. Meanwhile the little guys acted like bullies.
If that young man had a mean gene in his heart he would have pushed back, dealt with them like the oncoming line of a foot ball team. Pushed back and pushed down. He might have survived.
He also might have been fired or sued.
But he would be alive.
Sometimes you have to stand your ground and push back even if you were raised to be a gentle giant.
Confessions of a not too gentle "anymore" giant.
No comments:
Post a Comment