I’m coming to you on this fine Friday afternoon live from my friendly neighborhood Starbucks, as a wind storm seems to have knocked out electricity at my apartment, hopefully only temporarily. It’s good to have some time to blog, though, because there’s been a lot in the news lately that’s been on my mind.

First, remember the New York City psychiatrist who was killed in her office two years ago, allegedly by her colleague’s former patient? Well, his trial got under way this week. He’s planning an insanity defense, but prosecutors say that even though he suffered from schizophrenia, he still knew what he was doing was wrong. It’ll be interesting to see the ultimate verdict and what affect it may have on similar cases - and on how the law treats people with severe mental illness.

Second, there’s been a whole spate of stories in the past few months about tragic suicides of teens and young adults who were bullied and/or harassed by classmates. Many were targeted because of their sexual orientation (whether real or perceived), and others apparently just because kids are horribly cruel sometimes.
Regardless of your opinions (religious, political or otherwise) on homosexuality and gay rights, I hope we can all agree that any kind of bullying is wrong and should never be tolerated.
If any bullies out there happen to be reading this, I urge you to knock it off and grow up. Try remembering that little thing called the Golden Rule.
And if any kids out there who are being bullied are reading this, I encourage you to hang in there and not lose hope. I got picked on all the time growing up, for everything from my curly hair to my religious beliefs, and it sucked - but I got through it and persevered. As an adult, I’ve learned to embrace my innate nerdiness, even though some of my Abercrombie-wearing, Volvo-driving, lacrosse-playing classmates didn’t appreciate it at the time. (In fact, some of the nicest people I knew were lacrosse players, and some of the meanest ones I knew weren’t.) Trust me: Life does get better. (I went to my 10-year high school reunion last year and was pleased to see how people - including me - had matured and were reaching out to people we shunned back in the ’90s.)

Granted, technology is playing a bigger role in bullying these days. It’s quite a change from when I was in school, back in the Dark Ages, when e-mail and AOL Instant Messenger were still novelties and almost no one had cell phones. But, it’s still no excuse for not showing basic civility and human decency to each other, whether on Facebook or face-to-face in the school hallway.

Third, the Major League Baseball league playoffs start tonight, and I would be remiss if I didn’t give a shout-out to Josh Hamilton and the Texas Rangers, who I’m rooting for to beat the Evil Empire (aka the Yankees). Being a lifelong Orioles fan, I’ve never quite forgiven the Bronx Bombers for beating us in the 1996 ALCS, with a little help from an obnoxious teenage fan, so I’m rooting for the underdog Rangers, as well as the Giants on the National League side (just because Tim Lincecum makes me smile). Plus, you’ve got to love a team that shows such wonderful grace toward Hamilton by taking a special step to include him in the celebration.

Hmm … grace, inclusion and putting someone else’s needs and feelings ahead of your own.
There’s a lesson bullies could stand to learn - along with the rest of us.

(Photo of Josh Hamilton by Keith Allison via Wikimedia Commons)