As a kid, I was very afraid of trains and train tracks. And I can remember in — being in the car — when we would drive over train tracks, I would — I could feel the anxiety welling up in my chest and go — and being so scared we were gonna, like, hit a train. Or when the train would come by and you’d have to stop at the gate, and the loudness of the train whistle and the train, would be so scary to me. And I would have to plug my ears. I’d be, like, humming so I couldn’t hear it.
But, I conquered that fear because I had a friend. Well, he was — I guess he was a friend, but he was also, like, a big crush of mine in high school. This kid and I went — we were hanging out at night, and I thought, maybe someday — I was hoping we would be a couple.
And we’re hanging out, and just — in the middle of the night and stuff. And we went for a walk, and he took me to the train track. And I was like, “I am too scared. I am not going anywhere near that train track.”
And he was like, “It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s nothing to be scared of.” And he’s like, “You just don’t have — just don’t walk on the track. You can stand next to it as it goes by. It’s fine. And you’re not going to get hit.”
And, I was like, “No, no, no. That’s too scary. We have to get away. We have to get away.” And then a train, you could hear in the distance, was coming.
And he’s like, “Nope, stay here. Stay here. We’re not leaving.”
And so, he stood, like, pretty near the train track and then, I stood a little ways away and watched him. And the train came by and, like, it blew his hair back, and he just, like, closed his eyes and put his hands out and was, like feeling the wind of the train go by. And he just looked like he was having the greatest moment of his life. And I saw him do that, and I moved a little bit closer and I felt the wind, too. And then, I was like, “Hey, this isn’t so bad. This is, this is pretty cool.”
And then, ever since then — he was like, you know, “See, that wasn’t so bad.” And I’m like, “You’re right. That wasn’t so bad.”
And then, ever since then, I have not been afraid of trains anymore. But, I will not play on a train track. And I will not play on a boxcar, or whatever, you know. I’m not going to be playing around anyways, I’m 46 years old as of [date]. But yeah. So that was something I was very scared of as a child, but now realize it’s not a big deal as long as you’re not being stupid.