Relentless Bootcamp Bully Finally Learns His Lesson in the Most Icy Way Possible
Bootcamp is hard but one recruit decided to make it even harder on everyone around him with his antics and jokes. Though initially a harmless and even humorous prankster, soon his antics turned to an endless siege against one of the recruits in the section. The bully had mocked another recruit’s walk, speech and mannerisms on a daily basis for more than a week.
On Day 4: After days of harassment of his section mate (funny prankster/asshole), storyteller said enough is enough, and prankster will regret his antics, but no real plans yet. It came to him on a cold winter night in Great Lakes. It was poetic justice of the most basic and clever sort — looked-over boots filled with water and left out in the cold to freeze — that banished words.
Bullying is never acceptable, especially not in the workplace
So when this man noticed that someone in his boot camp was being targeted, he found a way to get revenge on his tormentor
Standing Up to Bullies in a Memorable Way
1. Harmless Fun vs. Harassment
Humor can really help in close quarters like bootcamp, but also very easily go the other way, and become bullying (over time). It was a long series of jokes that had shifted into open harassment of the recruit, creating hell for his section of the company. Psychologists say that bullying can spiral out of control in high-pressure environments, when things are intense and tension is high — a situation that degrades both morale and cohesion.
2. Creative Consequences: An Icy Wake-Up Call
The way that the storyteller had not been violent nor savage, however the message was loud and clear. The short punishment of filling the bully boots up with water that had frozen over night became symbolic: it was cold and inconvenient, for as children say, just like the behavior he had earned a chilly reception for.
Naturally, the company commander backed up the action, indicating it was a deserved punishment for a bully. The storyteller made a point to set the tone for accountability without escalating and standing up to in for incorrect behavior.
3. The Power of Non-Confrontational Solutions
This is a subtle act of revenge that sheds light on how non-violent mean can deal with bullying. This is a weak answer, where the storyteller avoids direct confrontation — the conversation could easily escalate the conflict — but instead goes all in with an action that won’t be confrontational, but is still impactful. In military or other all-scroll environments, retaliation can be more difficult, and such elaborate rejoinders can disincentivize bad behavior while keeping the chain of command intact.
Amused readers applauded the author for his clever revenge, and some shared similar stories of their own
The way the storyteller got back at their bullies ended the non-stop bullying they received in bootcamp, and let this be a lesson to you all — some lessons are better learned losing your boots to find ice in them in the morning freezing in the winter. As long as the joker stayed out of trouble, the company commander let well enough alone, and the end result is a humorous gem of how actions often bite you in the ass, and seemingly every damn body gets to see it, especially in an environment as close-knit as bootcamp.
