So, this is a bit weird. I honestly didn’t expect something like this happening from something I wrote, but I figured this situation could use a little damage control.

For those out of the know, in this past issue of The Rider, a personal column I wrote entitled ‘I, Geek” appeared, and in it I wrote a story about how several kids picked on me and called me names during the taking of the senior panoramic picture. At the end of the article, I left a note telling readers that if they wanted to know who the guys were, they could simply get a hold of a panoramic picture, seek me out, and look at the row behind, you could see them.

I did this for several reasons. One, because I didn’t know who was doing it. I didn’t look back at the people making fun of me (Geek reflex: never look at your tormentors.) Second, because the point of the article wasn’t to call out a couple of people for calling me fat. It was to reflect on how much I’ve grown (no pun intended) since starting high school.

This final sentence of my column has inspired controversy. One of the guys photographed above me, Joe Musselman, has publicly expressed offense to being accused by me of bullying me. Let me just say something upfront; I never accused Joe of anything. I didn’t even know he was sitting on the row above me until I looked at a panoramic photo myself even after the story. If Joe was one of the guys giving me a hard time, then I didn’t know it at the time. I don’t know if Joe was one of the guys I expressed frustration toward in my column.  I express regret that he was seated next to a bunch of jerks. But again, the story really wasn’t about them.