I stood up to three bullies last week, two women and one man. I am a 47 year old man, and I will not be bullied anymore like I have been since childhood. Bullies think they can attack me and get away with it because, at 5 feet 5 inches tall, I am shorter in height than average. I also have reddish-blonde hair, and more than once in my life I have heard bullies say to me, "I'm going to beat you like a red-headed step-child," one of the stock of abusive sayings that bullies keep in their supply of verbal abusive.

Two of the bullies just screamed at me for about ten minutes, unleashing every verbally abusive saying in their arsenals. I was standing in a line at a supermarket, and I did not budge. I did not leave. The third bully was a psychotic woman who punched me in the face and upper chest, but did no physical damage to me. Bullies rely for the most part on verbal intimidation, and at my age, I've heard it all, so it doesn't effect me like it did when I was a child or younger adult.

I am at the point in life where I will not allow the psychopaths and sociopaths to dominate me any longer. I don't care if they punch me or kick me or otherwise physically attack me. I don't care if they kill me. I just don't care anymore. I refuse to live in misery.

I encourage others to stand up to bullies. If they are going to hit you, so be it. If they are going to kill you, so be it. I served for a few years in the U.S. Army, where death is always a possibility, so I don't cling closely to life as some people do. But I am not a tough guy. I'm a short little wimp. Take a stand against bullies. Refuse to live in misery.