Dear Blake,
I recently moved from the U.S. to Germany. It has been a big change, and I honestly don’t know how to handle it. A lot of the kids at school make fun of me and call me names.
My family plans to stay here another two years. I don’t want my family to worry about me since my mom is working hard going back to college, but keeping my feelings bottled up inside seems like the wrong choice. Should I tell them honestly how I feel or keep crying into my pillow every night?
Signed, Ralph
From San Diego, California
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Dear Ralph,
I’m not sure how old you are because you didn’t say. I wanted to know, so I can determine how verbally vicious and nasty you should be toward the Germans that are picking on you. Anyway, here are some generic ideas. Tell them their country makes lousy cars and letters in BMW stands for Beaten in Many Wars. Ask them if it’s true only through extensive DNA tests can the Olympic Committee determine the accurate gender of a “female” German track and field athlete. Or, you can emphasize that the only nice family that ever came out there country, was when the Von Trapps walked out, leaving a national of brutal losers. On the other hand, you might want to be really compassionate. It’s possible that they are behaving that way because someone may have set before them some ongoing poor examples, because citizens in their country are easily influenced. If you think I’m kidding, check out their history from the late 1930’s until 1945. I hope this helps.
Blake