(I'm sure someone will be offended by this post and send me hate mail. So if you're easily offended, or have your head up your butt about how doctors are supposed to be perfect, just click out now).
Four years of undergrad at State University: $20,000
Four years of medical school: $60,000
Getting to pronounce brain dead from a heroin overdose the bully who beat you up and humiliated you almost every day throughout 8 years of grade school: Priceless.
My father had a saying, "It all comes out in the wash." He said, you may not ever know about it or see it, but sometimes you do get to learn of it or see it for yourself. Meaning, things are taken care of, whether you believe in karma or some higher intervention.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your feelings.
Not offended in the least. Just jealous the med school near us is $34,0000 per year.......
ReplyDeleteMomNurseWife- That price was in the early 90's. I'm sure my school charges a lot more now.
ReplyDeleteHa! Totally understandable....I couldn't stop laughing the day the kid that bullied me all through school came in to get his Valtrex refilled...
ReplyDeleteI have a client who's a child neurologist and she said she only gets $35 paid from medicaid (or whatever the welfare insurance is called) for regular visits. I'd be grumpy too!
ReplyDeleteI wasn't offended either by this post.
Wow...yeah, I know I'd probably feel the same way you do about my childhood bully!
ReplyDeletenot offended. actually sort of jealous. as an architect, i never get to pronounce any of my bete noir dead. And i WOULD if i could.
ReplyDeleteDang...that's some cheap schooling! Where did you go?
ReplyDeleteGood for you, good for the entire world, one less asshole.
ReplyDeleteMy grandfather's favorite saying:
ReplyDeleteThe wheels of justice grind slowly but very, very fine.
Some of us don't live that close to our childhood homes to have that closure.......but, the dream lives on!
ReplyDeleteKarma will indeed bite you when you least expect it.
Did I hear something about a golden rule???? That kid/adult was absent that day I think.
My mother had the same saying, 'it all'l come out in the wash', but she was also quick to add for my benefit of course in case there was any misunderstanding of my part of it, 'pride comes before a fall'. 'Harsh' might be the word for it, in some respect for those that 'haven't been there', as a judgmental word. It's all part of life as 'they' say, inhaling the same oxygen atoms Albert Einstein breathed, and all that.
ReplyDeleteOne of the ward secretaries in ICU was a recovering alcoholic I found out several years after she started work there. She used to say something like, 'a person is continually presented with situations in different forms until they figure it all out, and go on to lead a better life'. Apparently this fellow ran out of life before he figured it out to rectify matters or made a choice in how he was going to make amends with the kid he used to pick on.
Y'know, Dr. G. with all these somewhat ordinary experiences that is they really happen every day and your telling reflect basic truths about human nature; not 'extraordinarily', just totally unexpected and retold in an absolutely hilarious tone, like that pharmacy tech at the turn of the century that wrote something about a guy selling something to give his girl at Christmas for her hair while she sold her hair to get him something (can't remember his name).
Level of 'normalcy' is set a little higher at your life experiences than others, perhaps? Hope you've thought about writing that book in retirement!
I read somewhere that the national average from start to finish for getting a MD was $200,000. You came out ahead.
ReplyDeleteKudos's on the bully redemption. Karma's a bitch.
It's sad to know that he started down such a wrong path at such a young age though.
It's just validating, that's all. Nice guys don't finish last!
ReplyDeleteEd, remember, I've been out of med school for over 15 years, so prices were lower then.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm just including tuition. Not cost of books, rent, food for 4 years, etc.
My priceless moment: running into the girl that made grade school a living hell (usually insulting that my socioeconomic status was significantly lower than her's) a week after finding out I got a full ride, room/board and admittance to the honors program for undergrad. I ran into her at Wendy's where she was working on a Saturday,and probably 7 months pregnant.
ReplyDeleteDamn. Thats cold. And awesome, but also cold, but still fucking awesome.
ReplyDeleteK
At the very least, the nerds oftentimes win in the long-run with the good jobs, the $, the nice houses...
ReplyDeleteI see a bully of mine working at the gas station frequently in my hometown. Gee, not finishing high school and being too cool to study didn't work out so well for ya then? Oh, and you're fat now too? Tragique.
How much will it cost for you to pronounce my grade school bully brain dead?
ReplyDeleteI'd be happy to contribute to your med school debt, if you'll do that for me.
My grade school bully committed suicide a quite a few years ago. I felt for his family because they were really nice even though he wasn't. Just made me realize that his problems were bigger than me.
ReplyDelete"The Gift of the Maji," a short story by O. Henry. The husband sold his watch.
ReplyDeleteHA!!! Moments like that you can say, AIN'T LIFE GRAND! hehehehe...
ReplyDeleteWow. When the doc called you in where you like "Holy crap! I wish I could have predicted this in grade school and had a snappy comeback to when he dumped my books!"
ReplyDeleteAh, the dude made his own bed, you just happened to be the one presiding over the ceremonies.
ReplyDeleteKarmic justice is served.
You're human. I admit to having felt a wave of elation when I saw the former high school cheerleader/major bully at the grocery store fat, wearing filthy sweats, and carting around four dirty kids.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought would have been, sucks to be you dumb ass.
ReplyDeleteWhy should you feel bad at all?
My area local bully decided to take his head off with a deer rifle 3 years ago. He tormented everyone until he dropped out of school.
The news article mentioned "his troubled life". That guy took the luge sled straight to oblivion from age 7, and wasted more people's time, money and tears trying to turn his self destructive life around.
Somehow I didn't feel a need to attented the memorial service.
Also a big high 5 to Uncle Darwin for culling the herd again.
LD50 Rat
Well isn't that special...
ReplyDeleteWow. You know, I have to agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI also can't help but remark on how cheap school was for you. I understand the 15+ year difference (from graduation)...
ReplyDeleteYet, I sit near $60k for an undergrad, I didn't quite finish, and very little job prospects -even if I shell out the $6k to finish.
The current price of school takes any bite out of the bully for me.
The film star Kate Winslet was bullied as a teen at drama school quite badly. One day she went into a shop, not long after "Titanic" came out and at the beauty products counter, who should be there but one of the worst bullies. She tried to greet Kate like they were really old friends but she wasn't having it and said she was surprised the girl was working there and not acting. The Chinese say "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold". I think that's what you are tasting Dr Grumpy, and I do understand. I was bullied at school by God knows how many kids on the council estate (Projects?)I lived on because I didn't speak slang, swear or talk ungrammatically. One apologised to me on Facebook as few years back, but if only she knew, I don't even remember her and that there were many who were far worse!
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing how times heals some things isn't it? I don't feel anything for the bullies that tormented me in school, wouldn't spit on them if they were on fire, wouldn't mind pronouncing them brain dead either. Truth be told, they've been brain dead for a LONG time!
ReplyDeleteLOL - I dont know what is making me laugh harder - your 'commercial' or all the comments that are fixated on the amt of $$$ you paid for school!
ReplyDeletekarma at its finest!
ReplyDeleteDoc G, This is one post i disagree would have to disagree with you. He won in the end, he's dead.
ReplyDeleteAlthough it tragically hilarious if you were called because he had a stroke and you had to give him the news that he wouldn't be able to lift his own fork anymore and that burning sensation while he urinates is actually a gonorrhea not from the catheter. Now that is priceless.
Bullying is a part life.
As Always
I came from the poorer side of the tracks. Living comfortable now. It's been a really long time, but, When I was in CATHOLIC grammar school, there were twin girls Jane & Mary. Never friendly, always downing where I lived. Always thought they were better than everybody else. Found out some years later, they were both in prison for attempted murder of Janes' husband, and Mary was having an affair, with Janes' husband.
ReplyDeleteWho's living a better life now.
Yep, me.
signed mm
Nurse K called you a nerd! I'm sure you never were!
ReplyDelete:D
This hits a very strange nerve for me. My father was a rather abusive parent and husband. With the perspective of about 45 years, I look at this experience with not much emotion any more and realize he was the victim of a dreadful mother and a very unhealthful situation as a child.
ReplyDeleteI was about twenty when I really stood up to him for the first time. Two days later he was dead from a (his second) heart attack.
At various times during my life, various mental health professionals (after hearing about this experience) have said to me, "You need to realize you are not responsible for your father's death and you should should not consume yourself with guilt."
I just say, "I don't." I think but do not say, I don't feel real great about the whole experience, either.
My greatest satisfaction in my life is that my daughter (now 43 years old) calls and visits of her own accord without whining and guilt trips by me. My granddaughter is doing well, also.
Being a good parent is the best revenge if you had awful parents.
Makes one wonder, what happens to these people to make them so mean or to be the bully in the first place??
ReplyDeleteThen you have to wonder about Karma.. .
I've never had to deal with bullies when i was in school. now that i have school aged children, i'm very concerned about them either being the bully or being bullied. i told them never to push people around and make sure to let me know if they are being bullied.
ReplyDeletekarma's a bitch and it always comes around.
definitely priceless !
ReplyDeletev.w. "ramrodi" ... i think i'll leave that one alone
Grew up across the street from a girl who had everything I didn't: parents with extra money, blond hair, single-child status, pool -- and she was a bitch. Of course, her birthday party was two days before mine every year, complete with rented carousels (in the 50's!), clowns, gifts that filled the living room and the requisite tiara. I got a homemade cake, a Barbie dress and quickly stopped having my pitiful parties because really, who would come?
ReplyDeleteFast forward 20 years, the fat, frumpy, fried-hair, acne-ridden single woman living with her parents going to community college in front of me is writing a check and I recognize the name. I (with great career, married, in a fabulous outfit and living as a stunning brunette) shriek how GLAD I am to see her after all these years. And I meant it.
Reading these responses makes me try to remember the individuals, there are always some, who bullied me years ago. It's difficult.
ReplyDeleteI realize now, however, that probably without these individual's negative input I wouldn't have become who I am today. Your trip down life's pathway isn't just steered by the good things or the nice people...
tanisol, the log in, sounds like something for an overabundance of SPF.
I was never bullied by the REAL bullies way back when, only by one wanna-be, whom I was more than confident enough to take care of myself. Walking home from Jr. High one day, I feel this stinging sensation on my calf. I turn around and there's Larry on a bicycle headed towards me, shooting me with a bb gun made to resemble a Colt .45 ACP. As Larry attempts to pass by, I step into his path and give him a forearm shiver right to the throat, knocking him ass over tea-kettle off his bike. Turns out he broke his leg in the dismount. I let him keep the gun.
ReplyDeleteLarry wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so a couple of weeks later, he tries to poke me with one of his two crutches (see broken leg above). So I grab the offending crutch, give it a good yank, Larry doesn't have sense to let go, so I give him a nice spin 'round and 'round - I can still visualize him trying to keep up with his one good leg and one crutch. I tire of the game and let go - Larry falls in a heap. Don't know what happened to him and don't care. I haven't even thought of him 'til reading your post.
Oh, and they should make a Mastercard "priceless" commercial based on your experience.
What's up's story reminded me of a friend, teenager at the time and due to spinal bifida in a wheelchair all his life. Seems he was goofing around, wheelies and such, and got dumped. The chair rolled away.
ReplyDeleteOne of the jocks thought it would be cute to play "keep away" with the chair.
When my friend finally got ahold of this smart-ass he learned why you shouldn't mess with somebody who has been pushing a wheelchair his whole life.
Think getting grabbed by the Hulk, lol!
Just thought I would add to the med school cost....
ReplyDeleteMy darling DIL is a 4th year and tuition and fees alone have totaled up to $120K. That doesn't count the $35K to go to a state school for undergrad.
I was the child of divorced parents, I got free lunches and wore hand-me-downs and homemade clothing. Now I see the class Barbie dolls fat, alone and working minimum wage jobs and think, "It came around, didn't it?" Enjoy your moment.
Wonder how many other lives he manage to "touch".
ReplyDeleteThere's one girl from my grade school that I would love to find out what's going on with her. She was a bitch and I was her #1 source of entertainment. Being an accountant, I would never have reason to get my own kind of karmic justice with her. I'm kind of jealous of you.
ReplyDeleteThere have always been people who tried to make me miserable. I grew up the middle of 3 children with hand-me-down clothing and more "hangers-on" who wanted to cheat off my test papers than real friends. A lot of people reminded me every day that I was not one of "them." That also included the self important ass hats that I went to pharmacy school with. You know who you are...
ReplyDeleteI am so much happier not being one of them! I have and always will be able to provide for myself and have a great network of friends to visit in cities all over the place and have more fun than them without having to study every day to pass a class cuz I have a mind like a steel trap (once it gets caught I never forget). Life is not about what you own but the journeys you take.
For those who always tried to make me miserable I would not pull you out of a burning building or pull you out of a car that crashed into a canal or snowbank and I would not save your offspring from a wild animal but rather relish the anguish and pain that you so justly deserve.
Cheers!
Not offended at all. Now, if you said you had actually killed him-- well then...
ReplyDeleteAlthough I was rarely bullied, I do understand a little. I did rejoice a little at my class reunion since I am now a successful veterinarian and all the "popular" people were fat, divorced, unhappy, drug addicts, or had dead end jobs. They weren't actually, clinically, brain dead-- just as good as. One guy, actually asked me why all the smart chicks ended up being doctors or lawyers (I'm a vet). I told him it's because we were the smart chicks.
One of my readers sent me here---I posted recently about my son getting picked on in elementary school. This is good to read.
ReplyDelete