In high school, the kids who picked on me and bullied me were what we called "dirtballs." When I first went to public school, some of the smart, popular kids picked on me, but they learned I was smart and funny, so they soon liked me. Eventually they started calling me "Tommy John" (after the baseball player, as my middle name is John) instead of "Slim Goodbody."

As someone who struggles to remember or coordinate time off in the first place, it does give you an incentive to actively make sure you do take the time.

Yeah, I have a coworker who keeps claiming she's going to take a day off...and then having a meeting scheduled for that day, so she cancels. She was just joking that she'll have to take October off. But it would be good for her!

My boss is like that - she's been with the company over 20 years so she has a riDONKulous amount of vacation, and keeps saying things like "I should work 4 days a week for a while to use some vacation days up" but never does.

My father took almost a year off when he retired. I mean, got paid for almost a year of vacation. And then went back to work on contract. Freaking crazy person, especially considering that he was funded to fly his family back to Jamaica once a year. And he didn't.

There was a series of weird coincidences when we were moving around for awhile. Everywhere we went there seemed to be a family of all boys next door or behind us that took it upon themselves to pick on the family of (nearly) all girls.

Most of the bullying came from older sisters.

I'm sure I've told this story before, but I'm pretty certain the reason I wasn't bullied in school (and I was a weird kid, no surprise there) was my Dad. I don't think his technique would work AT ALL in this day and age, however.

We had moved, and I was in a new school for 4th grade. Some boy decided that recess was the time to kick and punch me a lot. I told my parents when I got home, and what do you know? The next week there was a parent/teacher night! Dad went to school with me, looked around, and asked me who was the bully. I pointed him out, and Dad went over to have a word.

I found out later that "a word" was "If you touch my daughter again, no one will find your body." Word went out that hey, Jilli's dad was CRAZY, do not mess with her. I was never bullied again.

Like I said, this would NOT WORK in this day and age. But it made my school life easier, I know that.

All the kids who met my parents were terrified of them. I never paused to think if that might have made a difference in how I was treated. Then again, I was crazy, so I probably did okay for myself. Once it became clear that my diminutive size wasn't anything I was actually consciously aware of, and that I liked to hit people for fun (I'd arrange boxing matches with any guy that would stand still long enough), physical intimidation was just never going to be much of a factor.

This is an interesting confluence of influences.

My boss is like that - she's been with the company over 20 years so she has a riDONKulous amount of vacation, and keeps saying things like "I should work 4 days a week for a while to use some vacation days up" but never does.

My friend C is off the last week of every month until the end of the year (started in August) because she's coming has so much and is coming up on use or lose. But she's a great example - last year she took a week off to go on a cruise and got so much shit for it (both open, from coworkers, and more subtle from higher ups) she was worried about taking time off ever since.

Then again, I was crazy, so I probably did okay for myself.

I'm sure that helped me, too. When your classmates are worried that you're researching how to turn them into frogs and that you just might succeed, they treat you surprisingly well.

The schools here take bullying pretty seriously. I wasn't bullied very much despite being quite nerdy and non-popular. I can only think of a couple of instances, but they were walking home from school by older kids, not by peers. Honestly, I don't know how holding down a elementary school kid in a snowbank when you're in high school makes you cool. Look at me, I can take on a 5th grader. But that was just a couple of isolated incidents.

I suspect playing some backyard football with the kids who later became jocks, breaking a jock's thumb in PE wrestling, and being able to jack the ball in PE softball helped (let me tell you, for a nerdy kid having the outfield move back when you come to the plate is a very good feeling).