I'm 14 and am in lower high school. I made the mistake of telling some people what my hobby was in years before, such as middle and elementary school. I got made fun of, but yet, ignored it. I don't know if this is just one case, but when people say "don't say anything, they'll just stop", they're wrong. I ignored them for six years and they never stopped,.......EVER. But at least I was ignoring them. One thing that made me mad was when one of my friend's (who I trusted letting know that I liked trains) came over to my house once, and smacked one of my diesel locomotives off the track and stepped on it. I punch him into the hallway (I lived in an apartment at the time) and nearly kicked him down the steps into the parking lot. So you may need to "throw fists" if need be.
I let nobody know that I like trains in my new school, and needless to say, they have nothing to make fun of me about. Fortunately, these "ghetto" kids don't look at my shirts. LOL
Rich
alstom wrote: I'm 14 and am in lower high school. I made the mistake of telling some people what my hobby was in years before, such as middle and elementary school. I got made fun of, but yet, ignored it. I don't know if this is just one case, but when people say "don't say anything, they'll just stop", they're wrong. I ignored them for six years and they never stopped,.......EVER. But at least I was ignoring them. One thing that made me mad was when one of my friend's (who I trusted letting know that I liked trains) came over to my house once, and smacked one of my diesel locomotives off the track and stepped on it. I punch him into the hallway (I lived in an apartment at the time) and nearly kicked him down the steps into the parking lot. So you may need to "throw fists" if need be.I let nobody know that I like trains in my new school, and needless to say, they have nothing to make fun of me about. Fortunately, these "ghetto" kids don't look at my shirts. LOLRich
Richard i think you might be making a mistake by doing that. But thats mu opinion
How so, RRFreakazoid? I am saving myself the trouble of being ridiculed. I think it is the best choice. Sometimes it is best to keep some things quiet. Just because I'm proud of my hobby, doesn't mean I have to go blasting and blaring that out. Eventually, someone will think, "what a jerk." I don't want to sound conceeded.
alstom wrote: How so, RRFreakazoid? I am saving myself the trouble of being ridiculed. I think it is the best choice. Sometimes it is best to keep some things quiet. Just because I'm proud of my hobby, doesn't mean I have to go blasting and blaring that out. Eventually, someone will think, "what a jerk." I don't want to sound conceeded. Rich
You got a right to do whatever. I kinda agree with you but not completly. Sorry if im making you mad just kinda of a bad idea i think. Cause when i was in elementry i acted like somebody that i was not. I belive that was my worst mistake not telling anybody what my hobbies where.
RRFreakaziod1992 wrote: alstom wrote: How so, RRFreakazoid? I am saving myself the trouble of being ridiculed. I think it is the best choice. Sometimes it is best to keep some things quiet. Just because I'm proud of my hobby, doesn't mean I have to go blasting and blaring that out. Eventually, someone will think, "what a jerk." I don't want to sound conceeded. Rich I agree i never told of my hobby till this year. You got a right to do whatever. I kinda agree with you but not completly. Sorry if im making you mad just kinda of a bad idea i think. Cause when i was in elementry i acted like somebody that i was not. I belive that was my worst mistake not telling anybody what my hobbies where.
I agree i never told of my hobby till this year.
HEdward wrote:I was always a little behind the curve physically but way ahead mentally as a kid. So being the BRAIN and instant favorite of the teachers made me an easy target for the bullies. Nobody teased me for what I did at home. It doesn't matter what you do, the dumb losers who have to insult, attack and hurt others in order to prop up their own pathetic egos will find something. So go ahead and enjoy your trains. In moderation. Don't bury yourself in trains. There's lots more stuff out there. Oh, and in my 25 plus years in retail sales, it's always the thirteen year olds that need to be watched most carefully. You're at a vital spot in life. Don't screw it up because some twits are trying to push you around.
It is also a tender time. People are easily damaged in a variety of ways around this age. I personally took care of several bullies because they needed it. But did not go out looking to take on others.
The toughs at the Produce Market makes these middle school bullies look like infants asking for mommy. Fists is one thing, meat hooks is totally serious. At least for me.
Try to find love for others even if something really bad about them turns you off. There might be a variety of good life experiences waiting those who learn to love good things that others do in life.
The one who does not bend to the will of the teaser and stays with hobbies or other interests to develop and mature are the ones who are winners. The bully has no power over anyone who decides that they will not be the victim.
To the poster who punched a desiel engine breaking person into the hall, consider having that person's parent pay damages or better yet have that person who broke your engine work it off in a variety of tasks or money to cover the loss. You may want to be very careful because different areas have different laws when people break other peoples things.
years ago I broke another person's toy, it was a good toy and well used. My punishment was to do housekeeping for that person's room for a week. It was very intense but good medicine for such a hard head like me.
I am 16 and I am not made fun of at all except for one person(but thats because Ive beat him in airsoft so much which is similar to paintball). My close friends know that I like trains and one of them even had me come to his house to help him work on a little set that he had away in a box for a while.
mj5890 wrote: I am 16 and I am not made fun of at all except for one person(but thats because Ive beat him in airsoft so much which is similar to paintball). My close friends know that I like trains and one of them even had me come to his house to help him work on a little set that he had away in a box for a while.
Airsoft wars are so fun. What kinda gun do you have?
Woah..more posts than I thought...Thanks comrades!
I am still debating..the only thing holding me back is $$.
I play ice hockey and snowboard which really cost big $$.
But thanks. Keep the topic flowing because I know there are others that look at this for advice.
Lets see some of you fellow teenagers' layouts.
This is an interesting subject. I have been into trains since before I can remember. I started modeling when I was 5. I am now 31 and love it more than ever. However between the ages of 13 and 25 MR was on a backburner. I don't think that it was ever due to teasing. A few of my friends also had model railroads. I just lost interest for a while. Now that I am married and have kids, I am fully imersed in the hobby, more than ever. However, I never want to be called "a train guy". I don't need any labels. I'm just Tom. I want to be defined for my personality and my character, not for my hobbies (I am also a Star Wars fan which can attract criticism as well). For that reason I don't go around broadcasting these things. Not that I am ashamed at all, I just don't want people judging me based on a Santa Fe shirt that I wore to work or a "Come to the darkside" bumpersticker. I want to be known as a hellavu nice guy who happens to like MR, not a model railroader who happens to be nice. The media portrays most guys in this hobby as adult children that can't grow up and are less mature. My favorite was on the sopranos, Tony Soprano's brother-in-law, also a mafia captain, has a 3 rail layout (please don't debate wether it is a MR or a toy train display) in his garage and everytime you see him running his train he has an engineer's cap on. They make him look silly and incompetant. Regular everyday people who don't know better assume that this applies to everyone who likes MR. As soon as they see the "one track mind" bumper sticker, a bell goes off in their head and they think "Train Nut" and all sorts of stereotypes follow.
Now don't get me wrong, I am not advocating closet railroading (I'm in Oscale, there isn't a closet big enough). Let's take a guy that knows plumbing and he enjoys doing it. Now if that guy was walking around all day in shirts from his favorite plumbing supply store and constantly wanting to argue the merits of copper vs pvc, you are going to think he is a little nuts. But if you got to know a diiferent guy who just wore normal shirts and talked about normal stuff, and then after getting to know him you find out that he is handy with a pipe wrench you will probably have a totally different opinion of him. Same applies to MR.
My point is:
You need to define your hobbies. Don't let your hobbies define you.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics:
Yeah, just ignore it....if it keeps up, you might want to have a swift boot in the junk availible for 'rental' by the bullies. ;-)
People used to make fun of me for liking trains. Then they grew up a bit, and stopped. Right now I'm in grade 12, into MRR'ing and railfanning, and as a rabid foamer, am wearing a shirt with MILW 261 on it (The same design that can be seen in MilwaukeeRoad's avatar, coincidentally!)
Nowadays (for me at least) if you introduce it the right way (Not "I LIKE TRAAAAIIIIINS!!!") people will actually think that's cool. And remember, railways are such a big part of culture that almost everyone you know has a family member that works for the RR.
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/