Karen Klein

I tried to watch the entire video of this woman being harassed on the bus by junior-high kids, but I couldn't do it. I could not get through all ten-ish minutes of the ordeal. Not being able to do so made me feel even worse, because here this woman had to endure such cruelty and know that she could not react, and I'm too big of a wuss to watch it from afar.

Some brave chick I am.

I am so very glad that the Reddits and the indegogos are helping this woman, and I hope she can enjoy a healthy retirement and vacation and maybe, I don't know, one of the punching bags that looks like a real guy? 'Cos I think I'd be into hitting one of those for an hour or year.

The whole episode reminded me of a class period I "taught" when I was a substitute teacher. Here, let me set it up for you:

I was in my late twenties and I was a substitute for a semester, mostly because my mother both threatened to kick me out of the house if I didn't start doing something useful and she was a teacher at the school, so I had a cozy quasi-permanent sub position. I worked with all four years of high school kids and for the most part, particularly over time, I really did enjoy it. I enjoyed it so much I considered staying in the school system, but that didn't pan out, and it's a story for another day.

I was engaged at the time, and the kids (they were freshmen, I believe) were really interested in my life. Anything to avoid working, and who doesn't like thinking that kids find an adult's story fascinating? So the kids asked me about my fiance, and how we met, and how long we had been together, and did I have a picture of him? Yes, I did, and I showed them, which caused one boy to grab the picture and throw it in the trashcan. This almost brought me to tears, and I didn't know how to respond, but the girls in the class did.

Thank goodness for girls who are young and true believers in true love! This boy got an earful about respect and kindness and , "GET HER PICTURE OUT OF THAT TRASH RIGHT NOW!" So he did, and we all moved on, and the class ended, and honestly, although I didn't hold his actions against that kid, I never showed another picture to a class again.

So I'm thinking that the greater tragedy for Ms. Klein is that the other kids on the bus weren't strong enough to shut down the cruelty of a few. I don't think anyone else could have really quieted the noise other than someone in their peer group.