Photo: Louisa Manning via Facebook
Ever wish you could get even with someone who bullied and tormented you when you were growing up? A woman got her chance at revenge years later, when one of the boys who bullied her at school asked her out on a date.
When she was just twelve years old, Louisa Manning was teased and bullied by the boys in her Cambridgeshire school. One boy, who made fun of her weight and called her "Manbeast," in particular stood out. Fast forward eight years later, when Manning, now a beautiful 22-year-old student at Oxford University, got a surprise when she bumped into her old bully at a university ball and that he asked her on a date.
"My gut instinct was to say no," Manning said to Buzzfeed, "but then I realised what a brilliant opportunity it was, and after bouncing ideas off a friend for a few hours, we came up with an idea."
Manning arranged a dinner at a local restaurant and arranged to leave this note to her date:
Hey [name obscured],
So sorry I can’t join you tonight.
Remember year 8, when I was fat and you made fun of my weight? No? I do – I spent the following three years eating less than an apple a day. So I’ve decided to skip dinner.
Remember the monobrow you mocked? The hairy legs you were disgusted by? Remember how every day for three years, you and your friends called me Manbeast? No perhaps you don’t – or you wouldn’t have seen how I look eight years later and deemed me fuckable enough to treat me like a human being.
I thought I’d send you this as a reminder. Next time you think of me, picture that girl in this photo, because she’s the one who just stood you up.
Louisa.
After posting the photo on Facebook, Manning's story went viral. A local TV station even picked up her story:
Then, Manning got a second surprise: her old bully apologized. He wrote on Facebook:
"Hey… For what it’s worth, I was actually here to meet up looking for a chance to meet up looking to make friends, not because you are very good looking. I guess I had it coming though, and certainly don’t blame you for standing me up.
I can’t change who I was 8 years ago, and I won’t insult your intelligence by pretending that it didn’t happen, but I hope you believe me when I say I’m a completely different person now. I can only apologise and wish you the very best. I guess I won’t hear from you again but I mean it when I say that I hope you have every success you deserve."
There was plenty of support for Louisa and what she did in her Facebook post comments, but did she do the right thing? No doubt that the boy's bullying caused her significant distress - but do you remember all the stupid things you said to your friends when you were 12 years old? What do you think?