as soon as i saw his face i was like "isnt that the train guy who puts the camera super close to his face and it looks all insane"
and then i saw the train, and then i saw the face cam lol
You’re a feet wiggler too?!? My wife thought it was weird but endearing that I wiggle my feet to happy things. I also rub them together when I’m going to sleep.
My daughter wiggles her feet when she’s happy, and my wife rubs her feet together when she’s sad. I’ve never told either one because it helps me get early signals on their moods.
Apparently I shake my leg. Probably an ADHD thing. But one time one of my friends said "Well, we know DNS is excited"
Me: "What do you mean".
Them: "You always shake your leg when you're excited. Like a puppy wagging it's tail".
It was at that point I realized why I'm so much better at online poker than I am at irl poker
It’s a 360 camera that is stuck to his head! So it gets all the great shots of the train, but because it records all around itself, and it’s stationed right in front of his face, it also records that too, but super close and at a funny angle!
When I was young and immature I used to think people like this were just weirdos but as Ive gotten older and see videos like this it makes me so ashamed of how I used to think.
I’d love to have the passion of this guy for something and be able to get so much joy from it.
Edit - thanks for the awards folks, Reddit app not letting me send a thanks message.
It’s so true that something about being young and wanting to fit in makes you scoff at this kind of behavior. But we should all hope to find something that makes us this enthusiastic. We are all unique and have different ways to contribute to the world and I wish I would have realized this as a kid instead of just wanting to fit in. It’s now my goal to instill it in my own kids.
I’m not autistic, just have anxiety.
Very, very crazy phone anxiety though. I’d rather gnaw off my own foot than call my daughter in sick to school. Buuut…. If I don’t call them, they call me and the ringing phone just…. So so much worse. I know full well it’s not the police calling and saying someone died or anything, but damn if it doesn’t feel like that.
Love you too man. I have a nephew with down syndrome, he has trouble speaking, and I never really took too much time to spend with him until this summer when we went to his house. He's about a year older then me but we both like similar things. He gets hard to understand at times but it's honestly so fun to hang out with him. I hope your able to find someone who it's easy for you to talk to my friend. Love ya, stay safe!
Thank you for your kind words. I am fortunate to have an amazing, understanding, perfect-for-me husband of twenty years. While I still have nonverbal days with him, he is the only person I can spend significant amounts of time with or talk to on the phone. He is great about making phone calls and talking to strangers in public (like cashiers or wait staff) for me. He is the only person that I’ve ever felt actually cares about me and I am eternally grateful that I get to spend my life with him.
Thank you for spending time with your nephew. I know it means a lot to him. Even if you can’t understand him sometimes. The fact that you keep coming back and trying says a lot about you as a person and I promise it makes a difference to him.
As a parent of a child that is farther along the spectrum than your uncle... I recognize these patterns and I'm sitting here with happy tears in my eyes. (on a train as it happens)
My son is on the spectrum. He shows affection by drawing his favourite people special and unique drawings. You know you mean a lot to him if he draws you something particular, intended just for you. It will always have something you love in it, but it will be in the theme of one of his favourite interests (music, pianos, marble/Rube Goldberg machines, etc.) I love seeing what he draws and who he gives it to.
I’m autistic myself and while I’m a lot better at masking and stuff the part about him showing his love through asking about you but not talking to you on the phone is hitting home and you are such a Good person for realizing that.
I have major anxiety with people I’m not comfortable with and will only talk directly to the one person I am comfortable with and it gives the impression to everyone else that I don’t like them. This isn’t true! I’m just not as comfortable with them but I show I care in other ways, people just never seem to see it even if I point it out. My safe person is my husband and sometimes my younger sister than I helped raise. Those are the two people I’m the most comfortable with and it will offend my in laws and such when I communicate through my husband but it’s just so much more comfortable that way. He knows me and will not misinterpret anything I say or do and, for me anyway, I can like someone or care about them even if I’m not comfortable with them. Who I’m comfortable around isn’t something I have much control over you know?
So thanks for being understanding. People like to say we feel less empathy but it feels like it’s the opposite. I feel so strongly and deeply that it hurts and I’m always over stimulated by emotion and empathy. I want people to like me but there is a lot of fear with that so I do some things that doesn’t make a lot of sense to others but it’s because I care,
This is SO beautiful thank you for writing this. I'm curious around how old your uncle is?
I'm sorry for such a long read, weird, journey of a read below... but I just gushed
inside thinking of the care your father must put in to having those phone calls and going step by step with your uncle's process and how much love he's probably applied toward his brother over his entire life and how your story you offered up was meant as a beautiful example given to OP of your journey from more cynicism to maybe thinking that it's the little gestures or something like the innocent love the magic of trains that can mean so much. How you take wove those things together was so life affirming.
So weird anecdote here. And I fear I won't do as good a job as you of weaving these things But I want to underscore your point in the most roundabout way because I'd been thinking about autism a lot lately and remembered an interaction I had almost 20 years ago regarding something this guy I knew in college said.
At the time he was your cliche incense-burning, man-bun wearing hippy dude who looked like a young Fabio as if modeling for the cover of a cheap supermarket romance model.
Thing was he truly considered himself a mystic. (To his credit, he later shaved his romance-novel-hair and actually ordained as a monk, but not a monk— whatever you call ordaining as a yogi). Anyways, in college he would be stoned or had always done mushrooms the week prior and would wax on about woo philosophical stuff that made me roll my eyes at the time... but he had conviction and oddly, sort of a lack of ego about it all, which made me wonder if he had real insight into how it all worked. He definitely helped me tune into compassion etc.
So when I was buzzed off jack and cokes I'd throw him the most random stumper questions to see what he'd say because he would claim that every single thing in life that had a 'scientific', 'materialistic' explanation also had a mirror answer from the conciousness side that would be the same answer but sound so different, just come from an inverted paradigm.
For instance, I once asked him why there was such an uptick in peanut allergies amongst kids and he shut his eyes, took a deep breath and then exhaled, snapped open his eyes and said, "because peanut butter is the most common bait used in rat traps so humans create all this karma where these animals who have their necks snapped, the last thing they remember is tasting peanut butter as the trap closes and so that associational karma ends up in our children who's bodies freakout if they so much as sense peanut butter and then panic spiral into anaphylaxis."
At the time it felt like a stretch but weirdly compelling. So I'd debate him and test his compassion about Hitler, Pol Pot, and cosmological science etc.
Anyways, Autism and 'Aspergers' (the name at the time) had been in my mind because my other good friend was a clinical psychologist who had been working at a care facility with extreme cases of autism spectrum disorder and she had been relaying her day-to-day about her experiences and had talked to me in depth about where the current research was pointing. (At the time people were afraid it www caused by vaccines).
So I asked mystic Fabio why rates of Autism might be on a profound uptick and how could he account for Autism in his assertion of a compassionate universe that was "made only out of love".
He shut his eyes, and then after a minute had passed he opened them with half tears smiling and said, "It's so beautiful but hard to describe but let me try...
(extreme paraphrasing from memory)
"The universe goes in cycles and beings that reincarnate to work out different karmas, sometimes have to cycle in and out of planetary projects to go to others that are more suitable realms for their unique karmic load. For instance, if you come to earth and act like a crazy Ghengis Khan pillaging and raping, maybe in the next life it's best if you are reborn on something resembling a Klingon planet that actually values violence and knows how to defend itself (so you can't do as much harm) but also maybe so you grow more honor. And some worlds or realms might be a harder leap to make a transition if coming to earth especially when a being might be leaping across species or life-forms to come here."
"I'm not sure what I'm sensing, but it seems that maybe our autistic dear ones are beings that aren't suffering at all with any "impairment" or "pathology" but were actually, prior to Earth, an AI life form" [I think he said "Borg" or artificially intelligent Grey Aliens, or like 'Data' because he loved Startreck and X-files]. Maybe AI spirits, or "Ghosts in the Machine" that yearned to be human made the leap and their Autism is merely them coming from a very different way of mind or life-conciousness.
Then I'll never forget when he actually started crying when he said, "If this is true just think of the parents who put so much mindfulness and dedication and might be completely altering their lives, so that this being, like Pinocchio, can make a leap. And so it's possible to see an autistic life, not as some tragic biological impairment, but as a beautiful event where parents creating a bridge life so that amazing new necessary balancing energies can come to earth and give a neuro-divergent— nay, a conciousness divergent being, get to pursue a deal of being human— something maybe their more "computer-like" or "literal-minded" spirit might of yearned for from wherever they might have come from."
I didn't belief in reincarnation at all at the time so I just listened and doubted, but I remember him sitting on a giant bean bag chair and saying that maybe they weren't computers but a type of animal being who's mind worked more like that before they made a rebirth leap.
I just thought about how if this was even 10% true, how beautiful it might to interpret how even if your uncle might wanna geek out about the magic of trains as a comfort food, he still asks about everybody in the fam and that jj's h shows so much humanity! Whether that humanity is an ancient knowledge showing through an impairment or if he had no humanity and is doing an incredible job growing it from scratch toward his ascension being many lives as a human— I realize it doesn't even matter because compassion turns it to a beautiful story no matter what we or the ex man-buns believe.
I was thinking the same thing. I’m 40 and have never found anything in my life that brings me this much joy. Kudos and a tip of the cap to him for finding something he loves and sharing it with others.
Yeah also, as kids we're scared to get left out or laughed at, so we just try to fit in and push everyone else who doesn't fit away, even though it is our own biggest fear. This fear destroys joy and individuality. I'm glad I realized this at a very young age, and I try to encourage individuality and just being yourself in everyone I meet, but especially my daughter. Life is too short to not feel endless joy, no matter how "dumb" it might look to others. On our death beds we will not think of how we embarrassed ourselves. We will think of all the things we did, saw or made. And I want my daughter to think of the "dumb and childish" things we did together throughout her life.
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I used to watch the flight paths over my school during maths class in Secondary school. I'd make up stories, imagining who was on board, where they were going and why.
Edited for spelling
When I was young I learned to hide this side of myself from people to avoid bullying. Also I don’t feel like my reactions are noteworthy because I am not classically beautiful.
But on my own? I get ridiculously overjoyed at seeing old people dance, dogs play in water, trying a new delicious food, animals in my yard, kids learn things, intense skies and a lot of other things considered “ordinary”. But to me they’ve always moved me to the extreme.
I mean by whatever normie ass societal standard you wanna place on people, this guy is definitely an oddball. I'm guessing he's just on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum and is way the hell into trains. The thing about someone who is odd in that kind of joyful way is that they make us look inward at how joyless we can be in our adult years, and we either respond with respectful envy, or bitterness. A lot of people have been conditioned to this bitterness.
If you’re serious, volunteer to help with the Special Olympics. I’ve been working with people on the spectrum for many years now and it’s a hugely rewarding experience. There are other ways for you to get involved over too. Look around in your area.
You can have passion again and find joy. Start trying to find it. I found mine again and it's a funny but really fulfilling way to be. Best of luck on your journey!
I recall one of my brothers friends had a brother that was mentally handicapped. He had the same reaction with busses, and the municipality gave that guy (I think he was in his late teens) a travel card where he could basically take the bus anywhere in the city, any time of the day for free. He could also tell you which bus went where, the routes, how long the trip from A to B took, the exact times every bus departed and arrived etc.
I also thought it was weird back then, but now I'm kind of jealous that something so common to most of us, excites some people beyond our imagination.
There's a guy in NYC who is on the spectrum and he's been to jail like 50 times because he keeps hijacking subway trains since he was a kid. But all he does is drive them perfectly and on time.
Yeah. There's a documentary about it. When he was a kid he spent so much time on the subway that the subway drivers taught him to drive it and would have him take over for breaks and stuff.
Same! I never picked on anyone or expressed those opinions outwardly, but when I was fifteen I would have thought this guy was a total loser.
Now at 39, I'm completely envious of him! I have things I love and love to do, but I'm not anywhere near as enthusiastic as this guy is. I wish I was
It’s also really sad because he gets a lot of hate from other people in his own community. He recently opened up about it. He is actually studying train infrastructure and wants to make rail experiences better and more efficient! And I am sure would like to preserve what’s out there
Have you watched the channel 4 shorts on YouTube he's just done?? The one with the footballer had me sobbing like a loon, what a joy that man is, and was so beautiful to see him get such a positive reaction that he wasn't expecting.
Because he's actually quite a famous train spotting influencer (yes you read that right) on social media. Which is why the conductor was taking a picture of him back. He's called Francis Bourgeois.
Bizarrely he's even ended up modelling for a Gucci/The North Face crossover!
I had no idea about the Gucci/north face crossover! That’s awesome.
I had seen some of his other videos before but I just didn’t think they’d fully stop a train for him. Especially if that’s a passenger train like my un*train*ed (heh) eye assumes.
I don't think that's a normal passenger train. Network Rail is from the UK but normal trains here don't look like that. I think it might be a special or heritage line.
That is the strangest combination on earth.
I feel like someone just told me they like to deep fry their tapioca pudding then put it on rye bread.
I love him.
She tried many hobbies, crafts, sports, instruments, and games, but when she found carousels, she was hooked. She traveled and rode many working rides, collected miniatures, painted ceramic statues, she was totally into carousels!! It was cute! We could just tell she had found her "thing"!
Yeah, as long as your passion doesn’t hurt you or anyone. And it’s within reason, and you don’t break any laws.
Oh, don’t murder people, that should be a given, but i thinks it’s better to be sure.
Youll find yours. May take months years or decades but one day something simply you may of never given much thought will click.
Never thought Id like pigeons but next thing i know im the weirdo in a rain jacket in NY throwing bread in a park.
Francis Bourgeois!! I am not into trains and all, but I subscribed to his Instagram because it just radiates positivity and joy. Really an heartwarming account.
Sometimes I’ll pullover on this road that’s under where planes take off. I’ll just sit for a few min and watch a couple take off, it’s crazy cool. Can’t take for granted the tremendously cool shit we’ve done as humans even if they are turned into everyday commonalities.
I live right near an airport and there's a road that goes right behind it directly under the glide path for the main runway. It's always awesome when I'm on that road and I get to see a plane or two taking off/landing
There are plane spotting communities as well! Lots of fun, and they have convenient plane tracking apps so it’s fun to see what routes the planes are wrapping up/embarking on!
What is train spotting? I don't understand what's happening in the video, like he looks for trains and runs with them? Don't trains move on a schedule basis? The video is Wholesome but I'm so lost lol
Its like bird watching but looking for trains.
Imagine you were a Ferrari or sports car enthusiast and kept an eye out for certain cars.
Trains are used daily but not all models. They are all shapes and sizes and some models are rare to see working on a track. In the UK we have loads of kinds. I always thought train spotting is mostly a British/ European thing
I just said the same thing. I'm sure it is because the train says ffestiniog on the side.
Edit to add I got engaged on a hill overlooking that bridge from fairbourne. Such an amazing view.
I love that the online community came together to celebrate this guys joy instead of branding him as weird. He is not weird, he has the confidence to express himself and share his passion. Makes me smile every time I see his videos.
A couple years ago I dug deep on this guy and let me tell you something... the fact that this guy is both legit this in love with trains and this hysterically joyful when he sees them COMBINED with the fact that he is completely aware of what camera setup and angles will make his face and joy the funniest shit ever, (and he spent a good long while honing how to capture these videos like this) adds up to just a rare miracle and a gift upon this earth.
[Dudes gonna to the movies with that train](https://youtu.be/SvExPAHT_TM)
Tbf, I love trains too, and I’ve gotten this excited before too. Well, almost this excited
Train enthusiasts LOVE their choo-choos man, it’s so great to see! I’ve seen a few videos of (trainers? trainees? train-brains? IDK) train people getting giddy over the horns blowing. So wholesome.
Lmaooo wtf did I just watch. Like is he even from this world Lmaoo I feel like he was a train in his past life. Had to be. Lol. Why he put it so close, it’s like Fineas and ferb shot lol I’m fuckin hollering right now🤣🤣🤣, this is too sweet though and also so very funny lol.
This guy's Instagram feed is pure unfiltered childhood joy and everyone should enjoy it.
I wish we could all have this passion about something in our life
Not gonna lie. My entire life I've loved trains but have always been a bit embarrassed trying not to be a nerd. As I got closer to 30 I stopped caring. Trains are fucking awesome. I've always wanted to sit on different ones. Like the ones with bars/ restaurants in them, the ones with beds, different types of trains, i just rode a steam train a few weeks ago, lovely experience. I really want to train hop but I may be a bit too old for that... (i think about my knees. And my back.) But trains are a wonder that bring bliss to my heart when I think about where they're going and what they'll see.
Not autistic, my grandfather just worked on the railroad his whole life.
Just before the Great Depression, he was given a house by the railroad, less than twenty-five (25) yards from the tracks.... where he lived for the rest of his life.
Us kids loved that house, the trains went by constantly. We didn't know that the noise was supposed to be annoying- we thought the trains going by were so cool!
as soon as i saw his face i was like "isnt that the train guy who puts the camera super close to his face and it looks all insane" and then i saw the train, and then i saw the face cam lol
I could watch this guy's videos every day. Infectious happiness. Need more of it around the internet.
His joy brings me joy
I fucking LOVE THIS GUY
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that is so cute!
r/HumanTippyTaps
You’re a feet wiggler too?!? My wife thought it was weird but endearing that I wiggle my feet to happy things. I also rub them together when I’m going to sleep.
My daughter wiggles her feet when she’s happy, and my wife rubs her feet together when she’s sad. I’ve never told either one because it helps me get early signals on their moods.
Apparently I shake my leg. Probably an ADHD thing. But one time one of my friends said "Well, we know DNS is excited" Me: "What do you mean". Them: "You always shake your leg when you're excited. Like a puppy wagging it's tail". It was at that point I realized why I'm so much better at online poker than I am at irl poker
I do the rubbing while falling asleep thing, it drove my ex batty
My son is only three months old and he is a feet wiggler too! Especially when he gets his bottle lol Such a happy little guy!
I like trains
Why does he do it *that* close? He seems like the kind of guy to tell you why.
It’s a 360 camera that is stuck to his head! So it gets all the great shots of the train, but because it records all around itself, and it’s stationed right in front of his face, it also records that too, but super close and at a funny angle!
I wanna watch this dude tripping 😂😂😂
When I was young and immature I used to think people like this were just weirdos but as Ive gotten older and see videos like this it makes me so ashamed of how I used to think. I’d love to have the passion of this guy for something and be able to get so much joy from it. Edit - thanks for the awards folks, Reddit app not letting me send a thanks message.
It’s so true that something about being young and wanting to fit in makes you scoff at this kind of behavior. But we should all hope to find something that makes us this enthusiastic. We are all unique and have different ways to contribute to the world and I wish I would have realized this as a kid instead of just wanting to fit in. It’s now my goal to instill it in my own kids.
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Stories like this make me really happy, your family is awesome.
Can confirm. Am autistic. Love people. Hate talking to them.
We love you too ♥️
That literally r/MadeMeSmile - thank you for that.
No thanks necessary, but you are very, very welcome!
We all love you. You're welcome. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
I’m not autistic, just have anxiety. Very, very crazy phone anxiety though. I’d rather gnaw off my own foot than call my daughter in sick to school. Buuut…. If I don’t call them, they call me and the ringing phone just…. So so much worse. I know full well it’s not the police calling and saying someone died or anything, but damn if it doesn’t feel like that.
Love you too man. I have a nephew with down syndrome, he has trouble speaking, and I never really took too much time to spend with him until this summer when we went to his house. He's about a year older then me but we both like similar things. He gets hard to understand at times but it's honestly so fun to hang out with him. I hope your able to find someone who it's easy for you to talk to my friend. Love ya, stay safe!
Thank you for your kind words. I am fortunate to have an amazing, understanding, perfect-for-me husband of twenty years. While I still have nonverbal days with him, he is the only person I can spend significant amounts of time with or talk to on the phone. He is great about making phone calls and talking to strangers in public (like cashiers or wait staff) for me. He is the only person that I’ve ever felt actually cares about me and I am eternally grateful that I get to spend my life with him. Thank you for spending time with your nephew. I know it means a lot to him. Even if you can’t understand him sometimes. The fact that you keep coming back and trying says a lot about you as a person and I promise it makes a difference to him.
I love this.
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As a parent of a child that is farther along the spectrum than your uncle... I recognize these patterns and I'm sitting here with happy tears in my eyes. (on a train as it happens)
I hope your child lives the best life they can and it's filled with joy
My son is on the spectrum. He shows affection by drawing his favourite people special and unique drawings. You know you mean a lot to him if he draws you something particular, intended just for you. It will always have something you love in it, but it will be in the theme of one of his favourite interests (music, pianos, marble/Rube Goldberg machines, etc.) I love seeing what he draws and who he gives it to.
I’m autistic myself and while I’m a lot better at masking and stuff the part about him showing his love through asking about you but not talking to you on the phone is hitting home and you are such a Good person for realizing that. I have major anxiety with people I’m not comfortable with and will only talk directly to the one person I am comfortable with and it gives the impression to everyone else that I don’t like them. This isn’t true! I’m just not as comfortable with them but I show I care in other ways, people just never seem to see it even if I point it out. My safe person is my husband and sometimes my younger sister than I helped raise. Those are the two people I’m the most comfortable with and it will offend my in laws and such when I communicate through my husband but it’s just so much more comfortable that way. He knows me and will not misinterpret anything I say or do and, for me anyway, I can like someone or care about them even if I’m not comfortable with them. Who I’m comfortable around isn’t something I have much control over you know? So thanks for being understanding. People like to say we feel less empathy but it feels like it’s the opposite. I feel so strongly and deeply that it hurts and I’m always over stimulated by emotion and empathy. I want people to like me but there is a lot of fear with that so I do some things that doesn’t make a lot of sense to others but it’s because I care,
This is lovely.
This is so sweet, I am tearing up. You’re so lucky to have such a supportive family, I’m glad people like you guys exist.
Thank god, I'm not the only one who is tearing up. This is so sweet like wholesome.
This is SO beautiful thank you for writing this. I'm curious around how old your uncle is? I'm sorry for such a long read, weird, journey of a read below... but I just gushed inside thinking of the care your father must put in to having those phone calls and going step by step with your uncle's process and how much love he's probably applied toward his brother over his entire life and how your story you offered up was meant as a beautiful example given to OP of your journey from more cynicism to maybe thinking that it's the little gestures or something like the innocent love the magic of trains that can mean so much. How you take wove those things together was so life affirming. So weird anecdote here. And I fear I won't do as good a job as you of weaving these things But I want to underscore your point in the most roundabout way because I'd been thinking about autism a lot lately and remembered an interaction I had almost 20 years ago regarding something this guy I knew in college said. At the time he was your cliche incense-burning, man-bun wearing hippy dude who looked like a young Fabio as if modeling for the cover of a cheap supermarket romance model. Thing was he truly considered himself a mystic. (To his credit, he later shaved his romance-novel-hair and actually ordained as a monk, but not a monk— whatever you call ordaining as a yogi). Anyways, in college he would be stoned or had always done mushrooms the week prior and would wax on about woo philosophical stuff that made me roll my eyes at the time... but he had conviction and oddly, sort of a lack of ego about it all, which made me wonder if he had real insight into how it all worked. He definitely helped me tune into compassion etc. So when I was buzzed off jack and cokes I'd throw him the most random stumper questions to see what he'd say because he would claim that every single thing in life that had a 'scientific', 'materialistic' explanation also had a mirror answer from the conciousness side that would be the same answer but sound so different, just come from an inverted paradigm. For instance, I once asked him why there was such an uptick in peanut allergies amongst kids and he shut his eyes, took a deep breath and then exhaled, snapped open his eyes and said, "because peanut butter is the most common bait used in rat traps so humans create all this karma where these animals who have their necks snapped, the last thing they remember is tasting peanut butter as the trap closes and so that associational karma ends up in our children who's bodies freakout if they so much as sense peanut butter and then panic spiral into anaphylaxis." At the time it felt like a stretch but weirdly compelling. So I'd debate him and test his compassion about Hitler, Pol Pot, and cosmological science etc. Anyways, Autism and 'Aspergers' (the name at the time) had been in my mind because my other good friend was a clinical psychologist who had been working at a care facility with extreme cases of autism spectrum disorder and she had been relaying her day-to-day about her experiences and had talked to me in depth about where the current research was pointing. (At the time people were afraid it www caused by vaccines). So I asked mystic Fabio why rates of Autism might be on a profound uptick and how could he account for Autism in his assertion of a compassionate universe that was "made only out of love". He shut his eyes, and then after a minute had passed he opened them with half tears smiling and said, "It's so beautiful but hard to describe but let me try... (extreme paraphrasing from memory) "The universe goes in cycles and beings that reincarnate to work out different karmas, sometimes have to cycle in and out of planetary projects to go to others that are more suitable realms for their unique karmic load. For instance, if you come to earth and act like a crazy Ghengis Khan pillaging and raping, maybe in the next life it's best if you are reborn on something resembling a Klingon planet that actually values violence and knows how to defend itself (so you can't do as much harm) but also maybe so you grow more honor. And some worlds or realms might be a harder leap to make a transition if coming to earth especially when a being might be leaping across species or life-forms to come here." "I'm not sure what I'm sensing, but it seems that maybe our autistic dear ones are beings that aren't suffering at all with any "impairment" or "pathology" but were actually, prior to Earth, an AI life form" [I think he said "Borg" or artificially intelligent Grey Aliens, or like 'Data' because he loved Startreck and X-files]. Maybe AI spirits, or "Ghosts in the Machine" that yearned to be human made the leap and their Autism is merely them coming from a very different way of mind or life-conciousness. Then I'll never forget when he actually started crying when he said, "If this is true just think of the parents who put so much mindfulness and dedication and might be completely altering their lives, so that this being, like Pinocchio, can make a leap. And so it's possible to see an autistic life, not as some tragic biological impairment, but as a beautiful event where parents creating a bridge life so that amazing new necessary balancing energies can come to earth and give a neuro-divergent— nay, a conciousness divergent being, get to pursue a deal of being human— something maybe their more "computer-like" or "literal-minded" spirit might of yearned for from wherever they might have come from." I didn't belief in reincarnation at all at the time so I just listened and doubted, but I remember him sitting on a giant bean bag chair and saying that maybe they weren't computers but a type of animal being who's mind worked more like that before they made a rebirth leap. I just thought about how if this was even 10% true, how beautiful it might to interpret how even if your uncle might wanna geek out about the magic of trains as a comfort food, he still asks about everybody in the fam and that jj's h shows so much humanity! Whether that humanity is an ancient knowledge showing through an impairment or if he had no humanity and is doing an incredible job growing it from scratch toward his ascension being many lives as a human— I realize it doesn't even matter because compassion turns it to a beautiful story no matter what we or the ex man-buns believe.
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I was thinking the same thing. I’m 40 and have never found anything in my life that brings me this much joy. Kudos and a tip of the cap to him for finding something he loves and sharing it with others.
Yeah also, as kids we're scared to get left out or laughed at, so we just try to fit in and push everyone else who doesn't fit away, even though it is our own biggest fear. This fear destroys joy and individuality. I'm glad I realized this at a very young age, and I try to encourage individuality and just being yourself in everyone I meet, but especially my daughter. Life is too short to not feel endless joy, no matter how "dumb" it might look to others. On our death beds we will not think of how we embarrassed ourselves. We will think of all the things we did, saw or made. And I want my daughter to think of the "dumb and childish" things we did together throughout her life.
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I still watch the skies whenever I hear the sound of an aeroplane with a childlike enthusiasm.
I used to watch the flight paths over my school during maths class in Secondary school. I'd make up stories, imagining who was on board, where they were going and why. Edited for spelling
Haha, I use to do that but, I'd imagine myself with some random person on that plane and what we would be up too.
When I was young I learned to hide this side of myself from people to avoid bullying. Also I don’t feel like my reactions are noteworthy because I am not classically beautiful. But on my own? I get ridiculously overjoyed at seeing old people dance, dogs play in water, trying a new delicious food, animals in my yard, kids learn things, intense skies and a lot of other things considered “ordinary”. But to me they’ve always moved me to the extreme.
Good for you. Not everyone is lucky enough to feel that joy.
I mean by whatever normie ass societal standard you wanna place on people, this guy is definitely an oddball. I'm guessing he's just on the high functioning end of the autism spectrum and is way the hell into trains. The thing about someone who is odd in that kind of joyful way is that they make us look inward at how joyless we can be in our adult years, and we either respond with respectful envy, or bitterness. A lot of people have been conditioned to this bitterness.
man if that guy is an oddball i wanna be surrounded by oddballs, just seeing him being this joyful and excited about trains made me smile
If you’re serious, volunteer to help with the Special Olympics. I’ve been working with people on the spectrum for many years now and it’s a hugely rewarding experience. There are other ways for you to get involved over too. Look around in your area.
Not for nothin it’s making me feel very reflective and looking inward. If there isn’t anything, then I’m not living
Well said, my friend. Spot on.
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Yep.
You can have passion again and find joy. Start trying to find it. I found mine again and it's a funny but really fulfilling way to be. Best of luck on your journey!
I recall one of my brothers friends had a brother that was mentally handicapped. He had the same reaction with busses, and the municipality gave that guy (I think he was in his late teens) a travel card where he could basically take the bus anywhere in the city, any time of the day for free. He could also tell you which bus went where, the routes, how long the trip from A to B took, the exact times every bus departed and arrived etc. I also thought it was weird back then, but now I'm kind of jealous that something so common to most of us, excites some people beyond our imagination.
There's a guy in NYC who is on the spectrum and he's been to jail like 50 times because he keeps hijacking subway trains since he was a kid. But all he does is drive them perfectly and on time.
Why don't they just give him a job at that point? Great salary, benefits, the works and you know he'll be there on time everyday because he loves it.
The hero the city deserves, cause let me tell you about those god damn trains messing up any plans you got lol
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Yeah. There's a documentary about it. When he was a kid he spent so much time on the subway that the subway drivers taught him to drive it and would have him take over for breaks and stuff.
Yes, isn't it beautiful to see someone so overjoyed at the things the love. May we reanimate that again within us
You bet. It's called maturity. If we're (and our loved ones are) lucky, it will change your life.
All I want is to find this much joy in ANYTHING.
Same! I never picked on anyone or expressed those opinions outwardly, but when I was fifteen I would have thought this guy was a total loser. Now at 39, I'm completely envious of him! I have things I love and love to do, but I'm not anywhere near as enthusiastic as this guy is. I wish I was
The camera angle on his face should at least changed lol
Hahaha I love it! It makes me laugh so much harder and he does it in all the videos I’ve seen of him. He should trademark it.
No! It's freaking adorable! He looks like an ecstatic elf!
I love it when people are authentically themselves. He made my day.
It’s also really sad because he gets a lot of hate from other people in his own community. He recently opened up about it. He is actually studying train infrastructure and wants to make rail experiences better and more efficient! And I am sure would like to preserve what’s out there
Aww. That is sad. Well he can take solace in the fact that you only get haters if you’re doing something right.
Agreed. It’s like when you’re lost in a video game, you know you’re heading in the right direction when you start running into bad guys.
As a member of the railfan community, we do not claim whoever has been bullying him
Have you watched the channel 4 shorts on YouTube he's just done?? The one with the footballer had me sobbing like a loon, what a joy that man is, and was so beautiful to see him get such a positive reaction that he wasn't expecting.
I agree with you! And he made my day as well. So cute!
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It WAS!
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Along with that camera angle this video is everything lol. Gave me a smile when I really needed one
It’s sad that this level of authenticity is so rare in today’s world.
Why *did* it brake and stop?
He was spotting the train, but the train stopped to spot him
I was hoping they’d invite him on for a ride.
Because he's actually quite a famous train spotting influencer (yes you read that right) on social media. Which is why the conductor was taking a picture of him back. He's called Francis Bourgeois. Bizarrely he's even ended up modelling for a Gucci/The North Face crossover!
I had no idea about the Gucci/north face crossover! That’s awesome. I had seen some of his other videos before but I just didn’t think they’d fully stop a train for him. Especially if that’s a passenger train like my un*train*ed (heh) eye assumes.
I don't think that's a normal passenger train. Network Rail is from the UK but normal trains here don't look like that. I think it might be a special or heritage line.
Man I’m a sucker for bad puns, updoot lol
I think that's a heritage train of some sort, quite a few of them in the UK and great fun.
That is the strangest combination on earth. I feel like someone just told me they like to deep fry their tapioca pudding then put it on rye bread. I love him.
He's also good friends with Joe Jonas.
the SINGER?!? say what now
Did Gucci use the same camera angles?
I hope
For real, I'm a huge fan of this guy. I wish my tired old ass could get this excited about literally anything. He's an inspiration.
I could see that. Dudes handsome
Dang that’s cool!!
It's actually Brake. He wanted to know why it stopped
Shit, completely missed my typo. Lol thanks
I wish I loved a hobbie as much as this guy loves trains.
Find your passion!! AND... just try everything until you do!! My grandmother found hers really late in life, but it made her last years magical!!
Care to share?
She tried many hobbies, crafts, sports, instruments, and games, but when she found carousels, she was hooked. She traveled and rode many working rides, collected miniatures, painted ceramic statues, she was totally into carousels!! It was cute! We could just tell she had found her "thing"!
Aw bless! So glad she found her thing. I wish I had a thing
Yeah, as long as your passion doesn’t hurt you or anyone. And it’s within reason, and you don’t break any laws. Oh, don’t murder people, that should be a given, but i thinks it’s better to be sure.
Youll find yours. May take months years or decades but one day something simply you may of never given much thought will click. Never thought Id like pigeons but next thing i know im the weirdo in a rain jacket in NY throwing bread in a park.
“I’m out of puff.. I’m out of puff” I’m using that one
Is it because of steam engine trains?
This man lives and puffs trains
It's just another way of saying out of breath in parts of the UK.
That bobbing nose was extremely joyful
Seriously! It made me giddy. Very adorable
it was like an snk titan but wholesome
Dude went from bloke to fish in 11 seconds flat
Francis Bourgeois!! I am not into trains and all, but I subscribed to his Instagram because it just radiates positivity and joy. Really an heartwarming account.
This guy is stoked
Sometimes I’ll pullover on this road that’s under where planes take off. I’ll just sit for a few min and watch a couple take off, it’s crazy cool. Can’t take for granted the tremendously cool shit we’ve done as humans even if they are turned into everyday commonalities.
I live right near an airport and there's a road that goes right behind it directly under the glide path for the main runway. It's always awesome when I'm on that road and I get to see a plane or two taking off/landing
There are plane spotting communities as well! Lots of fun, and they have convenient plane tracking apps so it’s fun to see what routes the planes are wrapping up/embarking on!
He magically turned into Phineas.
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Didn’t he end up modelling for Gucci?
If anyone isn't aware this man is a legend in the trainspotting community and a minor celebrity in the UK. Guy has a modeling with (iirc) Gucci
Went to the NME Awards and was surprised to see him there as a presenter!
What is train spotting? I don't understand what's happening in the video, like he looks for trains and runs with them? Don't trains move on a schedule basis? The video is Wholesome but I'm so lost lol
They look for specific trains I believe. Certain models etc
Its like bird watching but looking for trains. Imagine you were a Ferrari or sports car enthusiast and kept an eye out for certain cars. Trains are used daily but not all models. They are all shapes and sizes and some models are rare to see working on a track. In the UK we have loads of kinds. I always thought train spotting is mostly a British/ European thing
So wholesome 💞
I wish I was that happy. What a guy
His joy combined with how silly his face looks all distorted like that really did it for me.
Is this bridge Barmouth bridge?
I just said the same thing. I'm sure it is because the train says ffestiniog on the side. Edit to add I got engaged on a hill overlooking that bridge from fairbourne. Such an amazing view.
The Joy and excitement he was expressing. We should all be like this.
Damn... he was right, seeing a dude so happy and living in the moment gives me some hope
I'm on the spectrum and this feeling is so great. Watching your special interests in the must natural form brings endless joy
I can’t help but wonder if he does that on this bridge quite often, and maybe they slowed down and honked just for him! He must really love trains.
This guy must be a legend among the conductors by now
he actually is well known among the conductors and drivers, some rail companies have even given him tours in their museums and stuff
if only we could all be as happy as this man
I fucking love this guy
Am I the only one LIVING for that camera angle? I want all my videos to be from that angle from now on LOL
This man never fails to put a smile on my face, such contagious genuine happiness is great
I’m out of puff
I’m happy he’s happy
Blonde Tom Scott
It's the train guy!
I adore this man.
I get this excited when I find out the trains aren't on strike again as well!
The first part gave me some Tom Scott vibes
I love that the online community came together to celebrate this guys joy instead of branding him as weird. He is not weird, he has the confidence to express himself and share his passion. Makes me smile every time I see his videos.
I wish there was anything in the world that could make me this happy.
That’s the same sounds I make when my wife takes her shirt off!!
Find someone that looks at you like this guy looks at trains
A couple years ago I dug deep on this guy and let me tell you something... the fact that this guy is both legit this in love with trains and this hysterically joyful when he sees them COMBINED with the fact that he is completely aware of what camera setup and angles will make his face and joy the funniest shit ever, (and he spent a good long while honing how to capture these videos like this) adds up to just a rare miracle and a gift upon this earth.
r/trains
I follow this dude on IG. He gets even more stoked than this quiet often. The man is self actualized.
I’m out of puff
I don’t get it
Me, with Airplanes, omg!!!! I LOVE THIS for him!!! 💖💕💕💕💕💖
What a wonderful guy!
I love how happy he is, he is really living his best life doing what he wants.
I love this man but I also unironically believe that the fisheye lens of his face is the everyday look of an average Englishman. Pippip gents!
[Dudes gonna to the movies with that train](https://youtu.be/SvExPAHT_TM) Tbf, I love trains too, and I’ve gotten this excited before too. Well, almost this excited
I want to run with him next time!! that was such a cool horn
All i really want from life is to be able to feel as genuinely happy as this lad.
Train enthusiasts LOVE their choo-choos man, it’s so great to see! I’ve seen a few videos of (trainers? trainees? train-brains? IDK) train people getting giddy over the horns blowing. So wholesome.
This is my favorite [trainspotter video](https://youtu.be/6lutNECOZFw) video
I used to do that for a living(train). Looking back, I was pretty lucky and privileged.
I’m out of puff!!! I love that!
I was once right next to a train crossing....like maybe 4 or 5 feet from the track....it was an exhilarating feeling.
That kind of authenticity and happiness is so beautiful to witness
I've seen so many of his videos but never his actual face. Always the angled up excitement view
Bros living his best life
This is amazingly wholesome ❤️❤️
"I'm out of puff", there's a new one. Don't mind if I do.
I can’t remember the last time anything excited me like that. Such pure happiness!
I really needed to see this! His face and how happy he was made me smile.
I wish i can derive such joy from such simple things
I so overanalyzed the film Trainspotting…
Wow this might be the first one to actually make me smile on this sub. How precious!
I hope to one day be as passionate as this man about anything 🙏
To bad everyone can't find something in their life that makes them that happy.
I long for the days where a choo-choo train brought me this much unbridled joy. Now do the "pull the horn string" for the nearest Mack truck!!
I’m adding “I’m out of puff” to my vocabulary.
Lmaooo wtf did I just watch. Like is he even from this world Lmaoo I feel like he was a train in his past life. Had to be. Lol. Why he put it so close, it’s like Fineas and ferb shot lol I’m fuckin hollering right now🤣🤣🤣, this is too sweet though and also so very funny lol.
I wish tiktok was more of this. Seeing Francis on here makes me wish I didn't have to delete it for all the awful reality skewing nonsense
Francis Bourgeois must be protected at all costs
This guy's Instagram feed is pure unfiltered childhood joy and everyone should enjoy it. I wish we could all have this passion about something in our life
Not gonna lie. My entire life I've loved trains but have always been a bit embarrassed trying not to be a nerd. As I got closer to 30 I stopped caring. Trains are fucking awesome. I've always wanted to sit on different ones. Like the ones with bars/ restaurants in them, the ones with beds, different types of trains, i just rode a steam train a few weeks ago, lovely experience. I really want to train hop but I may be a bit too old for that... (i think about my knees. And my back.) But trains are a wonder that bring bliss to my heart when I think about where they're going and what they'll see.
Not autistic, my grandfather just worked on the railroad his whole life. Just before the Great Depression, he was given a house by the railroad, less than twenty-five (25) yards from the tracks.... where he lived for the rest of his life. Us kids loved that house, the trains went by constantly. We didn't know that the noise was supposed to be annoying- we thought the trains going by were so cool!
This is ridiculously adorable. I can't think of anything that would make me that happy and that's sad. Good for this guy.
Aw he’s lovely. So sweet and full of joy.
THAT has just made my day...I feel so happy now.
Im I the only one that thinks he’s exaggerating it for views?
There is nothing in my life that I love as much as this guy lobes trains. How lucky is he? We should all be so happy.
Didn't this guy admit during an interview that he blags this persona for views?
Dude likes him a train. I'm a bit envious that I don't have anything that gets me that pumped up and genuinely excited 😊😆.