..but maybe our purpose in life is not so much about us but how we affect other people in our life. I try to always treat people the way that I would like to be treated.

You hit it on the nail there I think @deerjay. Now why that essential bit of wisdom is not imprinted first and foremost in every teacher and every learner's mind as a first principle is beyond me - that is what practical day-to-day Christianity is all about, or supposed to be about, isn't it!?

I was literally born hyper-sensitive and super-shy, which made a bit of a social misfit, which resulted in me growing up in isolation amidst a crowd, a more subtle form of abuse - not that physical abuse by both other boys and teachers was completely absent..too complicated to expand on here. Nevertheless, this isolation gave me both reason and time for gaining wisdom, for which I am grateful.

I cope with those darker moments in the knowledge that it is only by the ignorance of those that do harm that we have suffered and that by patiently spreading the light there is a better future lying ahead, especially for our offspring.

I think the guy that later apologized to you is a good example of how attitudes can change and of the joy that such progress can bring.

Best wishes to you!