‘Just kidding’ and ‘Ganging Up’ from Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simons

Rachel Simons writes about how building alliances not only bring you up, but also tear you down. To her, this method of supporting oneself, or “ganging up”, remains effective only when conflict is outside the group. But when it hits the internal atmosphere of the alliance, people will separate from one another, and the relationship will be lost. Ganging up is only temporary and when problem strikes within it, the alliance is gone.
    During my earlier years as an obnoxious elementary student, I strived to make an appeal to as many people as possible, whether they are different in terms of age, thought, or sex. This was partly due to my personality, but mostly from my father’s horror stories where if you didn’t fit in, you would be left behind.
    But as I strived to make so many friends, I lost a chance to allow the relationships to grow between me and my peers. And by the time I learned that a friendship is more than just fitting in but growing together as well. As a result, when Junior High hit my generation, I was tossed aside for better and more interesting friends. I felt the very pain I strived so hard to run away from. A newly realized outcast, I became the target of insults and bullying alike.
    Feeling rejected, I looked for friendship among the mentally ill, the obese, and the weak; people just like me, except with a legitimate reason for being an outcast. Yet surprisingly, these are some of the most interesting people you will find. Their lifestyles gave them a reason to be generous and caring to others. They were zealous in every shape and form. And though at first I tried to convince myself I wasn’t one of them, when I looked into myself, I discovered no reason why not. And at that, I wondered, why is it that the loners, the outcast, and the ‘picked on’ were the nicest?
    In our society, the arrogant and ignorant have become the desired – the goal. Those who are genuinely nice and interesting have become the weak. They have become the target of insults and bullying because they are too genuine and too nice to fight back in any way. And when it comes time to pick a side, most people choose the confident, funny, bully, instead of the student who is too nice to even say anything back. This is our society; where only the liars, cheaters, and bullies survive.
    This pattern continues to this very day. But no one stops it, and no one ever tries. Who would? So why would anyone sacrifice their status to protect the outcast? Since anyone who even thinks of doing so, is already one of them.