Woman Gets 'Amazing' Revenge on School Bully

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Photo: Facebook/Louisa Manning

Ever wish you could go back in time and stand up to a school bully? One woman got the rare opportunity — and received an apology from her tormenter.

When 22-year-old Oxford University student Louisa Manning was 12 years old, a male classmate (along with others) routinely harassed her for being overweight and called her “ugly” and “man beast.” As a result, Manning’s self-esteem took a nosedive and for several years, she struggled with eating issues.

While recently at a party, Manning met a guy who asked her out, not recognizing her as the girl he had once teased. Yahoo Parenting could not reach Manning for comment, however, she told Buzzfeed, “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.”

But instead of turning the man down, Manning did something surprising: She accepted his offer. “My gut instinct was to say no,” she said. “But then I realized what a brilliant opportunity it was, and after bouncing ideas off a friend for a few hours, we came up with an idea.”

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Photo: Facebook/Louisa Manning

On the evening of her date, Manning arrived at the restaurant early and handed a note to the waiter to pass along to the man, then left. The note read:

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 f—able 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 note also included a photo of Manning when she was in school. When she uploaded the photo and note to Facebook, she was shocked to receive a message from her date, apologizing for his past behavior. He wrote:

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 apologize 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 told Buzzfeed that while the apology came a decade too late, it was still “amazing.”

In a world where 3.2 million kids get bullied each year, according to the nonprofit youth organization Do Something, it’s pretty heartwarming to see victims respond in such admirable ways. In 2013, an Oregon teen stood up to his bully with the help of 100 strangers on Facebook. After Halsey Parkerson told his aunt that he was being harassed by a peer, she invited random people on Facebook to come to her nephew’s school to help him confront his attacker. 100 people in 50 cars pulled up to Salem High School (one traveled 350 miles from Canada for the event) and demanded an apology from Parkerson’s bully.  “I apologize,” the bully said. “I apologize and I take it back.” He then offered Parkerson a high-five.

And in October, after a classmate at George McDougall High School stole 11th grader Caitlin Prater-Haacke’s iPad and updated her Facebook page with a status that told her to die, Prater-Haacke turned the incident into a teachable moment. She wrote messages such as “You’re awesome” and “You’re beautiful” on Post-Its and stuck them on all 850 of the school lockers. Although the school reprimanded Prater-Haacke for the act (the charge was littering), her community launched an anti-bullying campaign called Positive Post-It Day on October 9, to encourage people to leave anonymous, kind notes for others. A local Staples even donated Post-Its for the event.

Take note, future bullies!