“I told you.  I’m not playing unless my side gets four outs.  It’s my ball, anyway.  I’ll just go home and take my ball with me.  Then no one can play.  Is that what you want?”

“Aw, come on, Johnny.  No one gets four outs.  You can’t just change the rules.  This is baseball.  Come on, we’re all here to play.  Let’s just play.”

“No.  I told you.  Four outs for my team.”

“Geez!  What is it with you?  You know I’m not going to say yes to that!  It’s not fair!”

“You didn’t ask your team yet.  I say, four outs for our side or else no one plays.  Ask the rest of your team.”

“Okay, okay, what a dork.  Okay, you heard him, what do you guys say to four outs for Johnny’s team?  There you go.  They all say no.  Now come on, don’t be dumb, let’s play.”

“How about this then.  We’ll play if you give us four outs an inning for this game, and we can decide about the next game later.”

“But that’s the same thing!  Johnny, you’re just wasting our time.  Let’s play by the rules.  We can’t just change the rules of baseball for you.  If we do it now, next time you’ll want five outs!”

“You know what?  You’re the one who doesn’t want to play.  You won’t give up anything.  All we wanted was four outs an inning, just for this game, and now you’re going to spoil it for everyone.  You’re just being stubborn.  Everyone here wants to play ball and you’re the reason we’re not playing.”

“This is crazy!  What’s the point playing baseball if we don’t play by baseball rules?”

“I’m waaay-tinnnnng.”

“No!  Johnny, this is making you look stupid.  There’s no point in talking about this.”

“Who are you calling stupid?  Now you don’t want to talk.  You just care about winning.  Boy, this is some damn game!  Lookit, your team doesn’t want to cancel the game and neither do I.  All we’re asking is to sit down and have a discussion and then play the game.  Simple as that.  But it all has to begin with a simple discussion.   And you won’t even talk.  Wow!  Come on guys, let’s go home.”

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* For more information about bullying, visit the web site StopBullying.gov.  The first thing you will see on the screen:  “Due to the lapse in government funding, only web sites supporting excepted functions will be updated unless otherwise funded. As a result, the information on this website may not be up to date, the transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.”