Bullying and Acquired Status

“Chapman,” says the mother, with booming effrontery, addressing her young son, in a voice designed to reverberate. Chapman? It sounds selected from a catalog of WASP possibilities. It may not have been a family name before but it is now. Then later a guy driving up my street in a Mercedes SUV, honking at every little thing on an otherwise quiet Sunday. A car just ahead slows to turn into a garage and gets honked at. Next a car is merely parallel parking barely past the first incident and is honked to the curb. From the sidewalk I yell at the guy, “Stop honking!” He honks in response to this but slinks off like a hit-and-runner leaving the scene. Acquired status leads to a certain need to bully. It’s no good naming your kid Chapman if others don’t know it, and no good driving an expensive SUV if others still feel free to block your way.