[Rick Lee]

There was a kid on my bus in junior high who was considered special ed., but didn't ride the short bus. His name was Mike and he was just kind of weird, but pretty harmless, a bit of a spaz and goofball. I think his spec. ed. status was for hyperactivity, but that was never clear. He was a little too normal for spec. ed. and a little too weird to not be spec. ed. Anyway, he often acted out on the bus and sort of talked to everyone like he was making a speech to the whole bus. We never had more than 10-15 kids on that bus route, so we all knew each other. Mike got teased a little, but he usually started it by saying something obnoxious to others and none of us really considered him to be violent or aggressive. But Mike was a big dude. One day one of the loudmouths who usually pestered Mike pushed the wrong button. Travis was pretty short and loud, but also harmless. When he said the wrong thing to Mike, Mike grabbed his jacket and pimp slapped him, shook him like a rag doll. It was pretty cool to see. Travis was never the same. He didn't cry, but his face was purple from shame and he kept quiet from then on. And Mike kind of quieted down after that too. That'd probably get a SWAT response these days, but it took care of itself back in the early 80's.