At 16, I was just finishing secondary school. And school had been a miserable existence. I think it sort of sucks for everyone, because everyone’s trying to find out who they are and your hormones are running wild. There’s this bizarre economy of popularity that exists – if you want to see Darwin’s theory in perfect motion, go to any secondary school playground and watch how it plays out. That environment was not good for me. I was at the bottom of that ridiculous food chain. And you don’t realise how ridiculous it is until you are years removed from it. Then you look back and think, that was all so dumb.
But I also handled things badly. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, I was a lot smarter than the kids bullying me. You try ignoring it for a while, but that can only take you so far. Then I decided the best or on – and I had quite a wit to me. That got me in a lot of trouble. If I could go back, I’d do it differently. I’d say, you’re better than this. Grow up and stop insulting people. I needed a bit of tough love.
