WHAT I HATE ABOUT SOCIETY.

I was outraged to read over the weekend that a dear friend of mine, whose son went to the park to enjoy himself was assaulted by a group of kids. The same thing happened to me in a place where I should have been safe, the schoolyard. I used to dread it if the teacher had to leave the classroom as I wasn't safe and I remember one day, a complete idiot thought it would be a laugh to throw coins into a rotating ceiling fan to try to hit me in the head.

I have long said that there is no such thing as "normal people" a notion my "mother" rejects as "garbage" but which I cling to as my understanding of things is more profound than hers. So why do I reject this belief in normality?

What is bullying about? A power imbalance. And what is the aim behind bullying? Well, it is to cause fear and intimidation and to force people to do your bidding. Enforcing rules, laws and regulations is not bullying, unless of course they are non-existent, other than in the minds of some.

Let's take an example, in many shopping malls there are signs up telling people not to ride bicycles or skateboards. Why? Well, suppose an elderly person, or even a young person, who is not stable on their feet is there, someone on a bicycle or skateboard could knock them over. So, if a security guard asks them to desist or leave the mall, they cannot allege they were bullied.

But what is the aim of bullying, in the case of my friend's son? It was a case of kids rejecting him for who he is, and trying to force him to conform to their standards.

You have to ask the question, if someone is doing something that's not considered in accordance with social norms, is it illegal? Is it hurting you? If the answer is no to both of these questions, then the correct response is to leave them alone. If they are wearing a different colour or style of shirt to what you like, you leave them alone.

One reason why I fume, especially with my "mother" and her insensitive and illogical statement that it would be wonderful if there was a cure for autism is this, many of us have been abused and bullied by others simply for being different. If there was a cure for autism, what we feel is that the bullies (remember the little shit who said to me, "Imagine if you had a bump on the head and you changed.") would have won as we would have been pushed into being something we weren't and didn't want to be and there was nothing wrong with who we were. It also sends the message that we are not accepted.

An autistic person may be different (we may have played with our toys differently as children, we may even, as adults, view things differently), but we're different not wrong. To take an example, if you put petrol in a diesel engine, it won't go, and that's wrong, but if you choose to buy a car that reflects your interest, it may be different, but it's not wrong. To take a different example, if you lived in Australia, and you restricted yourself to a Holden car because you wanted to buy Australian, that's okay, even if you have a narrow view. If you had a Holden because you wanted a powerful car, that's okay, too. If you bought a Peugeot, Renault or Citroen because you have an interest in France, that's okay. If you have a BMW or Mercedes, or an Audi or Volkswagen because you have in interest in Germany, that's fine. If you have a Toyota, Nissan, Mazda or Honda because you have a special interest in Japan, that's okay, too. And you are not being patriotic by buying a Holden if you live in Australia, you may be exercising patriotic consumerism, but that's different, and you're NOT being unpatriotic by buying a car that's made in a foreign country that you're interested in. To attack somebody for doing that is unacceptable.

You're not going to like everyone that you meet, that's just life, but you don't have the right to bully or intimidate someone whose style of dress you dislike or whose way of being you dislike and force them to comply with what you deem acceptable. After all, extremism should have no place in any society.