Nail Meets Hammer

Bigger and stronger usually does make for bullies in either gender.

But fear of mother may affect only a few males, hate perhaps, but boys at all ages are coddled and special in most societies - given dominion over all including ma ma'.

Fear does not cause a 200# man from beating the shineola out of a 98# woman - that's ego building.  The bully may not have the best job or the special perks or the sports connections that he thinks he deserves - and would surely have if it wasn't for his wife. 

Time and politics change things so much but back in the late '50', Vermont had a famous murder of Orville Gibson in Chelsea.  I followed the news of it and the subsequent trial and wrote this - to me, at least, it still has relevence.

A LAMENT FOR O. G.*

A Man works hard and keeps to himself,
A Man pays his debts and acquires some wealth,
A Man takes pride in his own right hand
A Man doesn't need a brass band.
But being a Man is a dirty foul trick
On the loafers, the braggarts, the boys.
Just by existing, he shatters excuses,
Just by example, exposes, reduces,
All those whose crutch for failure in life
Is taxes or weather or wife.

O. G. was a man who broke all the laws...of common decency.
He never raved on about conditions...he overcame them.
He worked hard without complaint,
Didn't ask for subsidies or go on relief,
Was self-sufficient beyond belief--
A nut who thinks he's a saint.
And that presented a problem for us
Who keep the community clean.
The man is a menace that must be exposed!
If he'd only do something obscene
Then we could act, we could have him committed
All of his crimes would then be admitted!
A boon to the town--a boon to the nation--
Mediocrity and guilt are acquitted.

Well, we fumed and we cursed a lot...in the interest of the community.
We forgot taxes, weather and also the wife...we had a bigger bitch.
This man made us feel small
This lunatic who hadn't the sense to make excuses
Got every form of our abuses.
We thought as one in the interest of all.
And for quite a while, that was our hang up.
We needed a reason to act!
To rid the world of this threat to regular people
Who just can't get ahead
Because of the taxes, the weather, our wives...
We don't mean no harm, we just have to atone
To keep us from shame 'cause we haven't a job,
'Cause we haven't the guts or a will of our own.

A Man works hard and keeps to himself,
A Man pays his debts and acquires some wealth,
A Man takes pride in his own right hand
A Man doesn't need a brass band.
But being a Man is a dirty foul trick
On the loafers, the braggarts, the boys.
Just by existing, he shatters excuses,
Just by example, exposes, reduces,
All those whose crutch for failure in life
Is taxes or weather or wife.

Then finally, opportunity came...we had to seize it.
So we had a few beers to discuss things...we were just being rational.
He kicked his hired man (who was drunk and spilled some milk).
Kicking is obscene--he's just not human!
Now let's have more beer and start in to plan.
This isn't so hard, we all hate his guts,
We're men of integrity, bold.
We'll not trouble the law when
We have the courage, a reason to act--
It's past time this guy was squeezed in a crack!
For the good of the town--the good of the nation
We'll tie him up good and put him in a sack.

We caught him when he came out of the barn...well, there were nine of us.
We knocked Hell out of him, he needed that...look how we've suffered.
We bound arms to his legs--
We had to treat this thing for what it was
A demon with teeth and with claws.
We drank our revenge to the sweetest dregs
Now that we had the problem all tied up...
But what do we do from here on?
Have we taught him a lesson and cleaned up the town?
Is he anything more than a pawn?
Could he revert to his old ways of thinking?
We'll have to get down to serious drinking...

HE'S DEAD? Are you sure?  The miserable cuss!
Weigh him down, throw him in, he'll not pin this on us!

 ...and he didnt.

A Man works hard and keeps to himself,
A Man pays his debts and acquires some wealth,
A Man takes pride in his own right hand
A Man doesn't need a brass band.
But being a Man is a dirty foul trick
On the loafers, the braggarts, the boys.
Just by existing, he shatters excuses,
Just by example, exposes, reduces,
All those whose crutch for failure in life
Is taxes or weather or wife.

[Both men tried for this crime were acquitted]