There is one thing that drives mean people crazy. It can drive them into fury and attack mode. Half the time the catalyst doesn’t even realize they did anything infuriating.
When I was a school kid, I got bullied big time by three kids on my bus. It went on from the time I was in 3rd grade until 7th grade. Somewhere along the lines one of my bully’s father got sick and died. I felt really really bad for him, and even though he had made my life hell, and did some serious damage that residually effects my self esteem, I sent him a sympathy card.
When he eventually returned to school after his father’s death, he was quiet for a few days then started in on me again worse than ever. His older sister reprimanded him, reminding him that I had been kind enough to send him a card, but he never stopped harassing me, in fact he got worse.