Revenge

I think that the act of getting revenge on someone for wronging you is a more common thing than people think. It doesn't necessarily have to be something extreme like in a Shakespeare play. Getting revenge on someone can be doing something simple to him or her as payback. I don’t think that many people really realize that they’re getting revenge whenever they decide to take defensive actions against someone. We just see it as “getting even”.

A lot of crimes that people commit are fueled by the desire to get revenge. If someone has a loved one who is murdered, they may feel like killing the person who did it will make them feel better. Still, something as serious as death doesn’t need to be involved. People who are stolen from may take something back from the thief, or might try to give a disrespectful person a little grief in their life.

An example that I can think of is something that I witnessed a long time ago. I won’t mention any names, but an individual that was my friend during middle school did not get along with another student. It was pretty much a hate/hate relationship. They were always fighting and making life tough for one another. One day the other kid took this person’s books from their bag and hid them around the classroom before class could begin. When my friend discovered what had happened, and who was behind the disappearance of their reading materials, they told me that they were going to get them back.

This final act of revenge didn’t occur until about a week later. The middle school served breakfast every morning. On this particular morning, a cold December day, the tile flooring had become slick due to snow being tracked inside on people’s shoes. The “enemy” of this scenario was walking to one of the tables with their juice and toast, and as they moved past our own table my friend quickly stuck out their foot and tripped them. Of course the person went flying and their breakfast wound up all over the floor in a giant mess. As if this embarrassment was not enough, the entire lunchroom burst into laughter at their misfortune. My friend was able to conveniently blame the slick flooring on it, but the other person knew what had really happened. So, the battle between them continued on for the rest of the year.

I learned from this experience that revenge is a common thing that people do without really thinking about it. I also realized that while cathartic at the time, revenge scarcely solves the problem entirely.