Friday, December 5th
Late Bloomer Finally Gets Chance To Smack Down Bully From Middle School, And Does It Brilliantly
Author:
Elisabeth Parker
December 5, 2014 2:46 pm
We all dream of avenging ourselves against the bullies who cruelly teased and humiliated us in middle school, but Louisa Manning got the chance to actually do it. The 22-year-old college student and late-blooming beauty not only gained satisfaction and closure for herself, she raised awareness about bullying with her viral Facebook post, and even scored an apology from her former tormentor.
BuzzFeed
reports it all started when Manning got asked out on a date. Little did the guy realize that this was the same girl he and his friends used to tease back when she was an awkward-looking 12 year old.
When Louisa Manning was 12 years old, she was bullied about her weight and for being “hairy”, and was called a “manbeast” by other students. As a result, she spent several years eating very little, skipping dinner and suffering from a lack of confidence.
Fast-forward eight years later, now that this so-called “hairy manbeast” has grown up into a lovely young woman (whom this writer and mother of a 12- year- old hopes is now healthy, confident, and eating properly).
Louisa Manning, then and now. Photos: Louisa Manning’s
Facebook page.
Manning came across one of her former bullies at a school dance, and he asked her out on a date.
“I was pretty pissed off he asked me out, to be honest. It really made me angry that now I’m attractive, he instantly wants to jump into bed with me.”
Manning almost said “no,” but then she and a friend mulled things over and came up with a better plan.
“My gut instinct was to say no, but then I realised what a brilliant opportunity it was, and after bouncing ideas off a friend for a few hours, we came up with an idea.”
Manning told the man she would meet him at a restaurant. But when he got there, she had already left and arranged for a waitress to leave him a note with a photo of her 12-year-old self. Manning then posted the images of the photo and the note to her Facebook page, with the following status update: “A guy who bullied me at school then asked me out this week just got this from a waiter.”
Photo: Louisa Manning’s
Facebook page.
The text of Louisa Manning’s letter to her former bully reads as follows:
Hey [name obscured],
So sorry I can’t join you tonight.
Remember year 8, when I was fat and you made fun of my weight? No? I do – I spent the following three years eating less than an apple a day. So I’ve decided to skip dinner.
Remember the monobrow you mocked? The hairy legs you were disgusted by? Remember how every day for three years, you and your friends called me Manbeast? No perhaps you don’t – or you wouldn’t have seen how I look eight years later and deemed me fuckable enough to treat me like a human being.
I thought I’d send you this as a reminder. Next time you think of me, picture that girl in this photo, because she’s the one who just stood you up.
Louisa.
The post went viral and has hopefully given heart to awkward 12-year-old girls around the world that they, too, will grow into the beautiful, confident women they’re meant to be. And, surprisingly, the would-be date Manning stood up actually manned up and sent her an apology, which she also posted.
Hey… For what it’s worth, I was actually here to meet up looking for a chance to meet up looking to make friends, not because you are very good looking. I guess I had it coming though, and certainly don’t blame you for standing me up.I can’t change who I was 8 years ago, and I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that it didn’t happen, but I hope you believe me when I say I’m a completely different person now. I can only apologise and wish you the very best. I guess I won’t hear from you again but I mean it when I say that I hope you have every success you deserve.”
Manning wrote that she was pleased, but surprised.
“I’m so shocked, I actually got an apology. It’s 10 years too late and really if he’d intended to apologise he should have done so when I bumped into him last weekend rather than asking me out for dinner first, but it’s still an apology and it’s still amazing I got one.”
Featured photo: Louisa Manning’s Facebook page.
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- .Clement Mckenzie · Top Commenter · Renaissant Catering at COO - Chief Operations OfficerI was the only black kid in my school and neighborhood. To put it mildly I was treated badly, daily. I bumped into what had to be one of my worst tormentors years later, I was interviewing him for a position (for which he was highly qualified) He took one look at me and just started crying, he apologized to me on the spot, and said he now has a black grandson who he is raising and every day when his grandson comes home sad, angry, beat up because he is going through the same circumstances I was his hart breaks and he thinks of me. He then just got up and left. Didn't even start the interview.
- .Tesa Hayashi · Top Commenter · Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of TechnologyI asked you out because I wanted to be friends, not because you are very good looking" - talk about a backhanded compliment
- .Michelle Salvatore Lorenz · Top Commenter · Greeneville, TennesseeIf she could grow up and change why is it so hard to think her "tormentor" might have as well. I'm disgusted by how she was treated in school but to assume that he only asked her out because he deemed her "fuckable" and to carry that hate around for 8 years and then jeer at his apology for the dumbass kid he was as a 14 year old, and then post it all over the internet....
that's just strange. JMO, as a kid who was always the youngest and smallest and withstood more than her fair share of being picked on back in the day.- .Michele Marie · Top Commenter · Delaware County Community CollegeThis is precisely why there should be ZERO tolerance for bullying of any sort. It effects people forever, ruins their self confidence and really ruins their whole social scene. It effects the victim as well as the perpetrator, so how about we stop this in our schools NOW?
- .Donald Steiny · Top Commenter · Palo Alto, CaliforniaI was incredibly tormented in junior high because I was the youngest kid in the school and an easy mark. About 35 years later out-of-the blue one of the people who had hassled me called me up to apologize! People do grow up and change and I can really relate to her story. I have made peace with that whole part of my life. It sounds like Lousia is on the way to that too. It sounds like a healing experience and I wish her the best.
- .Kurtwell A. Felix · Top Commenter · Works at Inland Revenue Department, Government of Saint LuciaRaymond Winters If you're implying that I am a recovering alcoholic, I'm neither of the two... I remembered reading up on a similar topic on a website forum where someone from the individual's past suddenly called him up to apologize about some wrong which he had done to him years before. One of the replies stated it could be one of the steps in AA to recovery. Out of curiosity I did a search on it and found it as step 8 of the AA substance abuse recovery proram:
"Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all."
Sometimes, people come to AA thinking there is no way back from their current situations. But, that isn't always the case. By making a list of all the people harmed by the alcoholism and being willing to try to make amends, a participant is accepting responsibility and understanding what has been wrong in his life. This step is more about the planning and acceptance of making amends rather than completing the task.
- .Tracy Young · Top Commenter · Scottsdale, Arizonashe had every right to treat the tool the way she did.
- .Lili Lottie TuttleThe only thing I'd add to all those awkward 12 year olds is that if you don't 'bloom' into beautiful women it doesn't matter. You'll have other wonderful assets: intelligence, compassion, talent, generosity, wisdom, humour, ambition, creativity... Beauty isn't everything, but happiness is and accepting yourself for how you are is the start x
- .Judith Iscariot · Top Commenter · Sales Associate/Cashier at Michael's Arts & CraftsSomething similar happened to my brother. I don't think kids are very aware of the harm they are causing others with bullying. My brother was my tormentor - and, little did I know, the tormentor of a pretty large number of other kids in my school.
A year or so after he graduated, I happened to run into an old friend of mine (who was in the same year as my brother [a couple ahead of me
] and had two moms, was openly bisexual, "goth", etc.) )in the grocery store. She told me that my brother had approached her in the same grocery store a while back - and had come out of nowhere to apologise to her for how he had treated her in school.
He had also apologised to me for his treatment. I was very surprised - and proud - to hear that my brother had grown into a genuinely good person. I'm still surprised that he calls me a few times a week to see how I'm doing. - .Carol Houseman · Director at Oklahoma SBSI too was bullied. I was "chubby" and not only teased at school but in my own home. God always sent an adult that would try and look after me which I've always been thankful for. My bullies would call me carol the barrel and it got worse when they found out my birthday was on ground"hog" day. I do remember having thoughts and daydream about how Iight could hurt them. I understand the kids who take their life or before they do they hurt so many before they take their life. I know there is so much we can do in our schools with anti bullying programs. We have to dand, at what ever cost, to do this in every school. Please ask your schools to do this. We also have to teach our children about respect, honor, helping others. You know. The COMMON SENSE things. Thank you for your time. A healed former bullied kid. ❤️❤️