Do You Get Made Fun Of?

definitely not a bad way to get girls....

A great way to get girls is to brag to your friends about being able to operate a high pressure boiler. I don't tell them that it is a train, but I do talk to them a lot about the railroad, but I don't actually say that I volunteer on a railroad just so I don't get made fun of. If you guys are really looking to meet girls, operating a steam engine is a good way to do it. Any time I see a girl that is my age at the W, W, & F, I make sure she, or they get a cab ride, or at least I will try and talk to them if they can't get a cab ride for whatever reason.

Joe

i operate at seashore, that helps quite a bit.

I tell them that I'm planning to build a steam engine, and stretch the truth with them saying its a potential bomb and could explode if I didn't pull this or turn that, mean while theres a safety valve. Dumb blondes!

haha that's awesome! i want to get a lawnmower engine and build a ride-on around it...not sure what i'd build, how i'd build it, or where i'd run it...but it's a nice idea, right?

I've been made fun of, I have some tales:

I've been interested in train my whole life. When I was in grade 4, my teacher asked me not to talk about trains because I talked about them a lot. (I still did occasionally after that, but I didn't get in trouble) Two years later, when I wrote a short story for a class assignment that had a train in it, my teacher again asked not to include any trains in future short stories. And this was a different teacher too.

Six years later, I wrote something (either a test or class assignment) on the impending retirement of VIA's LRC locomotives and the teacher wrote a comment that said something along the lines of "write about something different" {not trains}.

Some of my peers did make fun of me in elementary and high school, but one guy in particular started sending me hate emails at school. Though after awhile, he got in trouble (I believe) and stopped. But one such message said "I want to blow up the TTC"! That was before 9-11. Had it been after, I could have gotten revenge by making an anonymous phone call to crimestoppers reporting that this guy may be planning a terrorist attack against the TTC.

I don't get made fun of by anybody as I don't exactly boast about my railfan interests to many non-railfans. Unless you were to talk endlessly about trains to non-railfans, I don't see how you could be made fun of.

Many people ask me what my hobby is. I never lied to them. My hobby is model railroading (O gauge and HO gauge) and train watching. I got my first train on my first Christmas. For 15 years I have been into HO trains with my father. For the past 4 years I have been an O gauge collector and operator. I have been train watching since I was 5 years old watching Conrail trains on the River Line. Every time I visited my aunt's house, the tracks weren't too far away! In the year of '97, every friday of the summer my father and I visited North Bergen Yard and CP 5 in NJ. (closest to the NYC area) When I am ever off from college or my father is off from work we go train watching. Now we mostly go to Bound Brook, NJ. (Busy place!) Im 19 and you will think im over it by now. NEVER Im a drummer studying music as a career. I spend more money on trains than drums.LOL Never be shy about your hobby. I usually shove it in their faces. LOL My friends love it. They love my layout that Im working on and fascinated with the horns and bells of the trains. Many never seen or heard about it. I have done a speech on the improvement of the sound systems in O gauge locomotives. People thought I was crazy bringing in a $4oo engine to class as a prop! Hey, it gave me an A in the class! Every year I set up a Christmas display in my parish for the children. They love it of course! Made me make new friends with locals and politicians. ( yes some of them are into trains) You will meet many nice down-to-earth hobbyists and train watchers. They are always lookin for a good time! LOL Don't let your friends turn you down about your hobby. Remember the next time you go train watching: You are photographing history in the making! Preach the gospel of model railroading and train watching. Your hobby is what you make of it. Drumming is my career and trains is my hobby. Love them both!

I have been made fun of, but its all in good fun. My locker doorr is lined with train pictures. Everyone knows that I am into trains. Including teachers. I remember one time in English class, my english teacher was going around the room asking questions about the short story that we were supposed to read. I hadn't read. He asked me a question. " You didn't read did you? You could have read while you were hanging out with hobos in the train yard" We all laughed about it.

If anyone is NOT getting made fun of, please let me know... so we can make fun of you.



-otto-

The only one who gives me issues is my sister, who also bashes me for my hoby in Avation and studying. Being a Red Sox fan though my freands do poke fun at me now and them.

Oh Yes, Granted I'm not a teen anymore, but I didn't just get teased, I got harrased. Most people can't conceived of having an interesting in something that is not a accepted part of main stream popular culture so they react strongly in a negative way to anyone whom does, that's part 1. Part 2 is that We live in a world that has decided that since trains[mainly freight trains] block up grade crossings for, say 3 minutes or so everything the railroads have done and continue to do is to be forgotten and overlooked and those whom show affection towards these "terrible" traffic blocking machines should be sent to the local Sanitarium. That is my feeling on why this is, do not advertise yourself as a rail-fan unless Your out doing it, I used to wear railroad related shirts to school, wasn't really teased over it but I'm sure people thought it was odd.

I grew up and still live in an area where things of a more "hip-hop" nature are the thing and the way to be and clearly trains and railroading don't fit into that, plus I didn't attend the same school as everyone else[the public school meaning] so the "choo choo" guy was the easy target for those
whom wanted to out-lash at someone, and NO they were not African Americans, they were what We used to be call "wiggers" or wannabes. Be proud to be a rail-fan but realize the rest of the world does not "get it", but the sure don't think anything of anyone going to a beach[like Here in Chicago] and watching a bunch of stupid air planes flying circles in the sky!

if people tease you about it, then they're not who you want to be friends with anyway because they're not willing to accept you for who you are. when i get to know someone, and they ask me about my hobbies, i tell them flat out that i'm into trains. the ones who laugh at me then i usually don't end up friends with, the ones who think it's cool become good friends. the way i see it is, who cares what other people think? you are who you are, and don't let other people have a negative effect on that.

Agreed... A couple girls have branded me trainboy... I don't mind, I find it amusing... Everyone likes something, and those who don't like anything are really pitiful... Otto, please make fun of me...

i never got made fun of in HS for liking trains but i think that has to do with my love for Football(soccer) they made fun of me for that instead.