[Shawnee123]

I don't think lj, classic, or myself are heartless because of our comments. It's a different perspective, to be sure.

My answer was not thought out, and no I don't understand being bullied. Why was I never bullied? I suppose there are a lot of reasons: lack of qualified bulliers perhaps, but I also feel that I never put myself out there for that. I've said before I'm scarily fearless ('cept for spiders) and perhaps I've always carried myself in a way that precluded me seeming victimizable. It's also not that there weren't people in my childhood, or young adulthood, who didn't try to go there. They quickly gave up that effort when they saw I wasn't playing that game.

I do feel compassion for people, more deeply than it must seem. It is only the people I care about I seem to let treat me badly: strangers can take a flying leap because I won't be backed into a corner without a really big fight. I'm not playing toughwoman: this is just the way I am, the way I've always been.

I am sorry if I seemed to make light of your individual situations. My response was to the article, which elicited from me my first thought: stand up for yourself because no one else is going to do that for you.