PlayGround Bullying

I was pretty lucky as a child.  I didn't get bullied frequently like I hear other kids are bullied nowadays, or even in the past.

However, what I have realized is, there is bullying going on in the pool room.

I know you can all relate.

Some players just, well, bully us.

They are verbal, rude, harass, intimidate, etc.

What's weird is, I didn't really have a description/word for the players who made my friends and I feel uncomfortable.  It was just something we talked about; something we dealt with; something we felt.

Then one day at work I came across an article about bullying and I realized, "Hey!  That describes those players exactly - they are bullies!"

They are the adult version of bullies in the playground.  But our playground is the pool room where we compete and try to earn titles and maybe even some cash.

And, it's not fun to play against bullies in tournaments.

We try to avoid them at all costs if we can.  Barely even saying hi.  We may say hi as we pass by them, but in reality we are just glad we aren't in a match with them because it's too unnerving and stressful.

When we look at the tournament charts, we hope and pray they are in a different bracket so we don't have to run into them.

I am copying this from the article:

More people than ever are aware that bullying exists. Bullying can be defined as a series of aggressive, inappropriate, or unreasonable activities directed at an individual or group of people. Some typical bullying behaviors include:

• Threats
• Intimidation
• Humiliation
• Exclusion from a peer group
• Harassment

Personally, I think it's pretty sad we have to deal with bullies while trying to compete, but unfortunately, that's how things are sometimes. 

And, we all know who they are.  It's no secret which players my friends and I would rather never play in a match.  While pool is competitive, it's also a tad fun, right?  But it's miserable when you play a bully.  And how can we focus on playing our best when we are dealing with sharking and verbal rude comments and tension from our opponents?

All part of the game, I know.  But, I wanted to at least address it.  It's something definitely out there we have to deal with at times.