The apple don't fall far...

You may have noticed that I don't often (ever) talk about my children online. But I'm breaking that long standing practice in honor of one of my sons, who went through an important rite of passage today. This very day, a young ILLER took up the challenge of manhood and bloodied his first enemy!

The stage for his ordeal was the school lunchroom, in full view of his peers. The scene was a heated argument, about who-knows-what, between him and another boy. The turning point was when the other boy took it to the next level by striking my son in the face. That's right; my boy got punched in his mug. And how did he respond to this test of mettle? I can tell you this; he DID NOT turn the other cheek! Hell to the no! My normally mild mannered, good humored offspring reacted in accordance with his heritage and struck the fuck back, bloodying his adversary's nose and making him cry. "Don't ever touch me again!" was his victory song! The ILLER blood boiled in his veins, demanding retribution and he answered the call, showing the rest of the lunchroom that he is not to be slept on or fucked with.

Understand; I DO NOT condone unnecessary violence. I try to teach the li'l ILLERs to resolve disputes with diplomacy. I cannot abide a bully and it would not be good day for young asses in the ILLER house if I were to find out that one of mine had been involved in bullying anyone. That said, I firmly believe that there is a time and place for physical violence. The middle school lunchroom, after getting punched in the face is such a time and place. As a father, I'd done all I could to prepare him for this. I made sure he knew how to throw a proper 1-2 and told him to go for the gold if anyone ever put their hands on him aggressively. The rest was up to him...
He believes he did the right thing. I know he did.

Yeah, he got suspended for fighting. Sometimes there's just a price to pay for the respect of your fellows and, more importantly, the confidence that comes from knowing you have the fortitude to stick up for yourself and the ability to do it effectively. He will get no punishment at home. Hell, he'll probably get a milkshake and a pat on the back.

Face it, world; ILLERs just don't make good targets.

Good work boy-oh.

-Da ILLER