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30 Times People Actually Got Revenge On Their Childhood Bullies And It Was Sweet Like Honey
Not all of us enjoy the satisfaction of getting back at those who called us names, laughed at our clothes, and just made our lives miserable when we were kids. But some of us do. And Redditor Marble_Trap wanted to hear from these lucky folks.
So they posted a question on the platform, asking: "How was your adult revenge on your childhood bully?" and it has received 1,340 replies, many of which detailed these exact experiences. From marrying their crush to simply forgetting all about them, here are some of the most upvoted answers.
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#1
A few of my childhood bullies have passed away to reckless driving or drugs. So revenge not needed.
After going to a different High School then my middle school bully, I was a year out of HS and going for a bike ride. Saw the middle school bully on his bike, going the opposite way. He yelled something to be a prick to me, so I ignored and kept on my merry way for about a mile. Until I noticed he was following me, fast.
I wasn't the same pushover I was in middle school, so I pulled over and waited, as he hopped off his bike and violently thrust his hand out-to shake my hand and apologize for ever being a d**k.
Basically said he used to hang with a bad crowd through middle school until senior year and he regretted a lot of stuff he did as a kid growing up. Asked me how my high school years were, what my after HS plans were and explained after his father passed away he had an epiphany-he was going to the national guard to get a way to help fund college, and wanted to become a psychologist to help kids throughout high school deal with harassment.
I talked with him for a good half hour and we parted on friendly terms. Ran into him a few times over the years and about 4 years later he seems to be on his way to achieving what he said and is very active in my hometown community.
Didn't need to get revenge, glad to see someone grow up and make something great of themselves.
Shelli PL 2 years ago (edited)
I love this. I had a similar happened when a female coworker bullied me for yrs for having a chronically Ill child and missing lots of work. My son stabalized over time. She married and had twins. Came to me bawling her apology bcuz now she gets it. I was glad to see it. We’re still FB friends…she had 3 more kids too! Women should support women dang it.
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#2
A kid that bullied me in high school ended up addicted to crack or meth, not sure which. I saw him 10 years later as I was leaving a drive through and yelled his last name. He turned and I saw the scratch marks on his face and a big burn type gash in the middle of his lip. I asked him what had happened and he told me he got kicked out of his home. Instead of laughing at him or belittling him, I handed him the bag of food I just bought for myself as well as my cigarettes. He almost cried because according to him "never in a million years would I have thought that after all the s**t I put you through, that you'd help". I told him we were stupid kids and s**t happens. I visited him once a week and just talked with him and kept telling him to get off the drugs. I moved away a short time after that so I didn't know what had happened to him.
One day, I got a friend request from him on facebook, he kicked the drug habit and was working as a barista for one of those corner coffee shops. He is now married and living a life worth living.
At the end of the day, no matter how much grief he put me through, he was his own worst enemy and anything I could've done to him or said to him was nothing compared to what he did to himself. I'm glad he's better and living a better life.
#3
I graduated from high school in the '80's. I had grown up poor but when my mom remarried, she married a guy who did well for himself so when we moved into his house, I was a poor kid suddenly going to a school full of rich kids. One of them in particular was a girl who was really stuck up and such a b**ch. She had a very imperious attitude and generous parents while my mom, there was no way she was going to allow us to behave that way.
About 6 years after high school graduation I'd dropped out of college, was living on my own in a tiny apartment and working as a waitress. Of all people to show up at the restaurant and be seated in my section. I asked a couple of waitresses to take the table but they were busy. Finally I realized what I would do. I would take on the role of my life. Win an Academy Award. I went to the table and pretended I'd never met her before in my life.
She kept insisting I must remember her, right? She kept saying her name and I nailed the performance. "I'm so sorry, I just don't...no...I, uh...I'm trying. I believe you, yes, I went to that school but I am SO sorry, I don't remember you" and so on.
She was flabbergasted. I kept overhearing her say to the people she was with "I can't believe she doesn't remember me."
That day I learned that to be forgotten is, for some, the ultimate slap in the face.
#4
A kid that bullied me in high school(he actually gave me a black eye once and got suspended for it) messaged me on Facebook apologizing for everything he did to me back then. I told him it's ok you were just young and didn't know better.
I eventually got a drink with him one day to see what he was up to and he broke down on me. Started talking to me about his alcohol problems and how he was self destructive. He was getting kicked out of his moms place and had no job. Me being the sap I am offered him a job at the restaurant I was managing at the time. This was about 2 years ago
Fast forward to 3 months ago he is now a kitchen manager at the same restaurant and he asks me if I'd like to get a drink with him.
Dude bought me and my girlfriend a ticket to Colorado and told me he will never be able to pay me back for how much I helped him but he is at least in the position where he can try.
Colorado was fun. Got really really high
#5
I married my bullies high school crush
#6
Not me, but my 9 year old daughter has to deal with this girl in her class that is a bully to everyone, though she is especially mean to my daughter. Luckily most of the time, the kids all have her back (and she theirs). The teachers are aware of her issues and try their best, but she's sneaky.
My daughter is Type 1 diabetic, and this girl likes to tease her. She does lots of things, but is really mean about it. She told her that her feet will get chopped off (due to beetus) and other horrible things. One day, she was waving a big chocolate chip cookie in her face, telling her how she can't eat stuff like that because she's a freak.
My daughter had enough. She got up and slapped the girl across the face, and the cookie went flying too. She yelled "Leave me alone!" The whole lunch room went silent, the girl ran to tell the teacher, and the kids cheered.
She came home and told us because she felt badly about it. The girl told the teacher, crying of course, but several students also told the whole story. The teacher told my kid matter-of-factly, "don't do that anymore", and yelled at the girl and made her stay in from recess.
Since then, this girl gives my daughter a wide berth.
I do not condone this behavior, but damn it was hard to keep a straight face when we were telling her that it was the wrong way to resolve things.
#7
After I finished high school a girl who bullied me relentlessly for years messaged me on Facebook saying a bunch of awful things (Facebook was new at the time -we all added anyone we knew).
I just screenshotted the messages and posted them to her wall.
Then a bunch of her friends messaged me asking if I was ok.
I got my revenge and didn't have to stoop to her level.
Josy Bannon 2 years ago
Taking away their power, which often is to keep their ugly side a secret.
#8
Work place bullies count?
Worked at a place for 4 years with a backstabbing c**t viper of a bully. Would throw people under the bus, take credit for others' work etc...
Anyway, left the company for bigger better things and I'm now a lab supervisor at my new place. Guess whose resume gets plopped on my pile and went straight to the trash?
#9
When I was a child, my parents weren't rich. Not impoverished, but definitely not people who could afford to throw money around. As a result, we spent probably 10 years worth of my childhood living in a mobile home park on the "rough" side of town. I remember one year we lived there, there were exactly 4 murders in the entire state. Two of them were in my neighborhood.
So in a neighborhood like this, of course, there are neighborhood bullies. One of them was named "Isiah", let's say. Over the course of a couple years, probably when I was around 13-14, he made my life hell. I couldn't go to the park playground for fear of Isiah being around, so I spent a lot of time lonely, bored, and scared in my own house. If I'd known about Reddit at the time, I probably would have spent a ton of time on it.
Fast forward damn near a decade. I've been a correctional officer at the state prison for a few years. Doing very well for myself, own a couple cars, bought my first house, and life is good. Isiah hasn't even crossed my mind since I was a kid. However, one particular day at work, they were short staffed, so they threw me into Segregation (aka "the hole", where bad inmates go to be punished) where I don't normally work. I go do a walkaround to check all the cells, and lo and behold, I see a familiar face in one of the cells. I check his inmate ID and sure enough, it's this piece of s**t from my neighborhood when I was a kid. I smiled and kept walking.
#10
Only three of them that I really know of. My elementary school bully and I eventually became close friends, and we're still close, gaming together online despite the distance, and our significant others are close friends now as well.
Another, a girl in high school who always treated me like s**t, I ran into years afterward at a coffee shop/night club/weird combo thingy. I hear my name called out, turn to find this living nightmare of my past, and was surprised when she threw her arms around me and gave me a huge hug. We caught up for a while, and I asked her why she seemed so excited despite all we went through. She apologized and said that she was a bad person for never giving people a chance, and was glad that we seemed to get along now.
The third... was a jock that had been pretty cruel through most of the middle/high school. One day, out of nowhere, he sits beside me in class during a project and starts asking me how I've been. He asks me if it hurt me when he'd call me names or push me around, and I was honest. Told him that of course, it did. He was quiet for a while and then apologized for how he'd treated me. Said that it was wrong for him to bully others.
A week later he shot himself in the head on the front lawn of his parents' house.
Of all the things I've done or not done in my life, I will always regret not going to his funeral. At the time I was confused and scared and didn't know what to think, but it still doesn't sit right with me.
So... really, no revenge here. We grew up and realized that life was way f**king scarier than anything we'd been through as kids. Not really on topic, I suppose, but something that I wanted to share.
#11
Well does revenge as a child count? When I was 11 there were two bullies who would mess with me all the time. They were a couple years older. This heavyset kid named Frank and his taller and meaner friend...I forget his name.
One day I was out riding my bike at a park. They had stopped me--one was holding up the front of my bike, while Frank was hitting me, trying to knock me off the bike.
At that exact instant my brother (6'4" 220lbs) was driving by. He quickly stopped the car and ran over.
He picked both of them up by their shirt collars, one in each hand, holding them each about a foot off the ground.
He said something like "You mess with my brother again and I'll bash both your $%$@% heads together, got it?"
He dropped them both. They fell, then quickly got up and ran away.
They never bothered me again.
At that moment I felt that, yes, there is justice in the world.
#12
I worked as a newscast director for my local TV station a few years back. Part of the job was making show graphics (maps, full screens, OTS [over the shoulders], etc.) for each newscast, including for the local Crimestoppers segment. I prepped the mugshots of no less than three people who gave me s**t in school for air during my tenure there. That always managed to put a smile on my face.
#13
I arrested him in a stolen car. There's a video of it with me smiling the whole time.
#14
There was a popular boy in middle school who was a total douche to awkward, nerdy me. He'd call me names, talk to people within earshot of me about how ugly I was, and would try to physically hurt me during our P.E. class all the time. We went to the same high school, but I had no classes with him, so I pretty much forgot about him.
Well, a couple years after high school I ran into him at a bar. I'm a lot prettier and less awkward than I once was. He hadn't grown more than a couple inches since middle school, and the face that was cute when he was 12 did not handle the testosterone surge of puberty well. He was acting like a nervous teenager and kept saying "Wow, you really look different," while we chatted a little. He would also not shut up about how he was in the Navy and how awesome he was because he was "serving our country" and "protecting [me] from terrorists". He finally asked me for my number and I gave it to him. He texted me the next day asking me on a date and I replied "Lol, nah."
It wasn't my most shining moment of maturity, but it felt good to look down on that little bastard both literally and figuratively.
#16
I refused him a job at the company I worked at. Arrogant in middle school, arrogant at the interview, arrogant at leaving said interview without the job.
WilvanderHeijden 2 years ago
He'll apply for social benefits with that same arrogance and without a dime to spend he'll continue being arrogant.
#17
I was heavily bullied in Middle School, and one time I actually ended up getting my knee cap, and surrounding muscles semi-permanently damaged from a piss-poor game of kickball. He couldn't hit me in the head with the ball like he wanted to, so he tripped me by a base instead. The following year, he tried to sexually attack me - IN SCHOOL - and got suspended for the rest of the year.
Now, he's only 20, In prison for probably 20-30+ years for r*pe, arson, and theft - and has had I believe two children. His now ex, made a post on facebook that members from the prison manage to tattoo r*pist across his face.
My revenge was done for me. Bittersweet.
#18
There was a guy who was popular but also a bully at my high school. I ran into him at a bar about 15 years after. He was super cool and the nicest guy ever.
I was talking with his wife and I mentioned the "bully" thing and she said EVERYONE she meets from his High school tells her that story. He even acknowledged it and apologized. Apparently he was going through a very rough time in high school and he had since learned a lot and life had calmed way down. It made me feel really good about not holding on to things like that.
Spittnimage 2 years ago
They always have an excuse for why they bullied people, but the real reason is just because they're mean.
#19
I was pretty fat as youngster but people still found me attractive, this bothered my bully SO much that any time she could she would bully me about my weight ex. "Oh I love those jeans! How do you find them in your size?", taking sneak pictures of me in class and putting them online, or forcing me to kiss another girl at her sleepover then telling everyone I was a lesbian, It was great. Fast forward ten years, I'm starting a career I love, lost a substantial amount of weight and am living far away from my small town upbringing. I go home to visit my mother and who do I see walking around the grocery store, hair thrown up in a ratty headband, extra ~30 pounds on her hips and looking like a complete mess? I knew I could ruin her right there but I didn't, I simply put a big smile on my face and said "wow, motherhood looks great on you!!!". The fact that she had to trick someone into getting her pregnant after a drunken night at the local watering hole and now has four step kids before 25 makes me realize that her bitterness and hateful attitude has served her more revenge than I ever could.
Jacob Nunez 2 years ago
“HEY! DONT YOU GO BITCHING ABOUT LESBIANS THERE F*****G COOL” -me to the bully-
#20
I bullied a kid in grade school because the cool kids in the grade above did it. Every day they'd do it. One day I decided to. On the way home from school, I knocked him down, threw his books, etc. I did this a couple of times. Then one day, I saw his mom waiting at the top of the hill for him. I felt so ashamed that I never did it to anyone ever again, and made a point to prevent it when I could.
I apologized to him years later. He was very well off and had a hot wife, which made me feel slightly better. He was cool with it but I would have been ok if he told me to f**k off.
Pamela Blue 2 years ago
You were trying to be cool, and having done the deeds, you regretted it. You tried bullying behavior, but failed. You weren't a true bully in the literal sense.
#21
My bully hit on me at some bar years after he bullied me
I knew who he was immediately. But he had no idea who I was so he kept going.
Finally, I asked "do you know who I am?" And he said no. I said "I'm (so and so) and you made my life a living hell in elementary school and I want an apology"
His face dropped and he apologized profusely. Said that he was a huge a**hole in elementary school etc etc.
Not gonna lie, it felt goooood.
#22
Turns out I was the bully. I felt terrible when I found out, everyone I picked on I had considered a friend. I thought of it as good natured ribbing and making fun of each other. One guy finally got his revenge when he told me I was the bully in high school and saw the realization come over my face. He forgave me, I still apologize to people as I run into them.
#23
Being a confident, successful adult.
Just kidding, I'm faking it like the rest of you.
#24
My best revenge was to just keep on being myself. This girl in high school would criticize me on everything, call me names and pick up fights with me for no reason. She eventually got kicked out of school.
We met when we were in our early 20's. She started off nicely with the usual "how are you? What's been happening?" Turns out she hadn't even changed a little bit "oh yeah? Want to be a teacher? You'll probably make a miserable one! I wouldn't send me kids to your school! Ever!" That's when I realized that I was just so over her and her bullying and that there was just no hope for her to realize what she did was wrong. It gave me some sort of satisfaction....
#25
I was bullied in my mid school with the cafeteria chefs son he would bother me for being muslim and sometimes throw pork on my face . I've gon to my homecountry and returned after 15 years turns out his parents died in an accident and he is now helping kids in a syrian camp I helped him in financial situations we're friends now
#26
Not my bully, but my best friend's. Kinda kept in touch with the entire high school class through Facebook once it came out. This a**hat asks if he can use me as a reference because we got similar degrees and ended up in the second field.
Adult him seems like a sham. It's all fake. My high school best friend moved to Europe because of this guy. He can't change that much. So I agree to meet him for drinks and see if he changed. 10 minutes into the meetup and he's telling me about cheating on his wife with girls right out of high school.
So, of course, I said yes. Only had 3 calls I guess before he caught on, but I made sure I told the truth. :)
#27
I never really got revenge but worked my arse off at uni and ended up working on movies, got married, had a kid and have my own house so that was revenge enough. That he didn't dictate my life.
I then found out that he was a school counsellor for unruly children and thought to myself, "he's turned his life around... Good for him"
#28
I forgave him.
He tormented me throughout elementary school. He ended up sending me a message on Facebook about 2 years ago (we graduated high school in 2010), he apologized profusely and I genuinely believed him.
He's actually quite successful now and I'm really happy for him.
#30
We became best friends.. Now we bully each other on a routinely basis
What do you think ?
Kaspar Kristiansen 2 years ago
Even though bullying is never okay, it's easier to forgive when it's children. They can still grow and learn, as evidenced by several examples above. Adults should know better, and bullying as an adult shows the real personality of the bully.
Carol Emory 2 years ago
Didn't get revenge but made peace with one of my bullies. I worked as an insurance rep for a company that provides insurance to banks to cover uninsured motorists for loans. I had one client whose name I recognized as a bully from elementary school. I called her about her insurance and then asked if she was the same person. When she said yes and I told her who I was, she apologized for treating me so badly and then commented how her jaw hurt for 2 days after she tried to fight me and I clocked her in the jaw when we were 10 years old. We had a good conversation and we parted ways. It felt so good to get that closure. I wish more bullies would do that. Most just shrug off and say "We were kids, no biggie." Not to you maybe, but it was to me. Apologies go a long way in mending old scars. I have a new respect for her now.
Kaspar Kristiansen 2 years ago
Even though bullying is never okay, it's easier to forgive when it's children. They can still grow and learn, as evidenced by several examples above. Adults should know better, and bullying as an adult shows the real personality of the bully.
Carol Emory 2 years ago
Didn't get revenge but made peace with one of my bullies. I worked as an insurance rep for a company that provides insurance to banks to cover uninsured motorists for loans. I had one client whose name I recognized as a bully from elementary school. I called her about her insurance and then asked if she was the same person. When she said yes and I told her who I was, she apologized for treating me so badly and then commented how her jaw hurt for 2 days after she tried to fight me and I clocked her in the jaw when we were 10 years old. We had a good conversation and we parted ways. It felt so good to get that closure. I wish more bullies would do that. Most just shrug off and say "We were kids, no biggie." Not to you maybe, but it was to me. Apologies go a long way in mending old scars. I have a new respect for her now.
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