October 26, 2011 | 11:16 pm

Bullies, Bitches & Blogs

Posted by Ilana Angel

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This afternoon when I was out running errands, I saw a group of kids on the sidewalk of a residential street.  They appeared to be in their early teens and one girl was screaming at another one.  As I approached them, the screaming girl shoved down the other girl, and kicked her.  I pulled my car over and for lack of a better description, lost my mind.

I walked right up the girl, shoved my finger in her face and told her to back the hell up.  She was startled to be sure, and told me they were just kidding, then shot the girl on the ground a look.  I told her she had 10 seconds to walk away, she told me I needed to mind my own business, at which point I told her that she was my business.

She walked away telling the girl who left with her, that she hoped she is not crazy when she gets to be “that old”.  I helped up the girl who was pushed and asked if she was okay.  Another girl had stayed with her, and she was crying.  My heart broke for them and I was shaking at what would have happened had I not driven by at that exact moment.

The girls told me a boy at school had sat with them in class, which annoyed the bully.  I tried to be supportive, and listen to them, but what I wanted to do was follow the bully home and tell her parents what she had done.  The girls would not accept a ride, but assured me they were fine, would tell their parents what happened, and walked off together.

I hung back and watched for a minute, just to make sure they were okay.  It was very sad, and their waving good-bye has haunted me all day. While I can appreciate, and in some cases admire a woman who is bitchy, a bitch is a whole other ball game.  I have been called bitchy, and I stand by the things that got me the label, so bitchy is good.

Lately I’ve been dealing with bullies and bitches in terms of my other blog, Keeping It Real.  On that blog I write about reality television, and it can get wild as some of my opinions are not always well received. Some people like what I write, and others are certain I am going rot in hell for having an opinion that is different from theirs.

Since Jews do not believe in hell, I’m not too worried.  For those who need an explanation: by definition, hell is the eternal punishment of the soul, in the next life, for the sins committed in this life. Jews believe in punishment in the next life for the sins of this life, but do not believe in hell because we believe God to be forgiving and compassionate.

Therefore, the idea of an eternal punishment makes God look Cruel, which he is not, and thus prevents us from believing in a hell.  So hell is out for me, but I’m sure there are a lot of bitches down there. I don’t do well with bullies or bitches.  It turns out the blogosphere is the land of bullies and bitches, and sadly, that is where I work.

Reality television is entertaining.  Well, for the most part it is entertaining, yet it brings out bad behavior.  As I watched a young girl get attacked by another young girl, it made me wonder what exactly I was doing.  It turns out that it’s hard to be a reality television blogger and maintain a constant level of decency.  As a decent person, and a Jew, it’s a struggle.

I will think of those little girls often, and wonder how they are.  How all of them are.  It’s 6:45 on Wednesday night and I am exhausted.  I am going to shut down my computer, and spend the evening with my son. Tomorrow it will start all over again, so I hope I am able to control my inner blogging bitch. By control it, of course I mean I all I can do is keep the faith.