Norpig wrote:i lost an eye at 18 so i have many years of being stared at and judged on my appearance, so much so that i've developed a very thick skin about it but it has affected me over the years as i lost all confidence in the way i looked. it took around 2 years to get a false eye which did help slightly but it is still obvious and even now at 51 i do still get asked about it.
I kind of gave up on finding a girlfriend at the time it happened and ended up going out a lot, boozing, eating takeaways and gained a lot of weight which just made me even more self conscious and retreating into my shell even further.
I am a lot happier now as i'm married and have kids but i am still quite shy when it comes to meeting any new people and i also wonder if they notice my scars and eye, not sure that will ever change.
It can be very debilitating. At school I had a very bad stammer, and making friends could be difficult, but I was fortunate in that the few friends I did have were the best of the best.
The simplest things were a nightmare. I tried to walk everywhere, because getting on a bus would mean speaking to the conductor. Going into a shop I'd write what I wanted on a piece of paper, and hand the list over the counter.
Taking my turn to read out loud in front of the class was a nightmare. I could hear the sniggers starting the moment I left my seat.
I'm fine now, but it left a mark. It wasn't only kids who laughed, I can understand that. It's in their nature to pick out a victim for ridicule. Hell, even I piled in on 'buck teeth boy' because it took the attention away from me. But adults also had their fun.
It's the worst kind of bullying. It's insidious and vindictive, and damaging, and even at 70 I sometimes look back and wince.
Ribbing is fine, we all do it. I laugh at my brother's big hooter, and he chides me for forgetting to put my trousers on again. That's life.
How rum that I spend most of my time on here hurling insults at Nat.