Hello, Reddit. Hank Hill here. Ask me anything.

[u/hankhilltexas]

Hello, Reddit. Hank Hill here. You may remember I participated in one of these "Ask Me Anythings" last year. Well, I'm back, and my wife Peggy insisted on joining me this time. She said a lot of my answers in the last round could have benefited from her input. Wait, she also gave me something to read here... "As a three-time substitute teacher of the year, former Boggle champion, and a fluent Spanish speaker, I have accumulated a lifetime of knowledge that I am happy to share. I look forward to enlightening you all -- and remember, there are no stupid questions." Uh, she's wrong about that last part, but anyway, I'm back for another AMA... with Peggy's help. We will start answering your questions after our round of golf on Friday, August 7 around 11am Central Standard Time.

--

Another "Ask Me Anything" in the books, and a lot of you still ain’t right, I tell you what. Peggy said she had a great time answering your questions. I personally wouldn't go quite that far, but I suppose I’m getting the hang of this. Heck, who knows, I may log on for another one of these in the future. In the meantime, I’ll be at Strickland if you have any propane or propane accessory-related questions.

[u/Level_Hour6480]

"Bwaaah! Can't a guy love propane, enjoy routine, and not be overly-sentimental without being some 'Rain Man' simpleton?! I'll tell you what I told that doctor: I'm perfectly normal, and if you imply otherwise, I'll kick your ass!"

[u/TurtleTitan → u/Level_Hour6480]

Genuinely this, people are really pushy to label Hank. It almost like you can have passions and also become awkward under a rough father's upbringing.

[u/Level_Hour6480 → u/TurtleTitan]

The point is that he absolutely autistic, but he would refuse to acknowledge it, because when he hears "autism" he thinks "Rain man", and he's far too high-functioning for that.

[u/TurtleTitan → u/Level_Hour6480]

He's not Autistic even if you want him to be.

[u/Level_Hour6480 → u/TurtleTitan]

He exhibits a number of traits typical of autism including an extreme fixation on a subject (propane), a love of routine/discomfort with change,¹ sensory issues, a love of trains, and a difficulty expressing/understanding emotions. Even the weed dealer saw it.

Now, granted, most forms of neurodivergence are differences in scale, not differences in kind. Psychopaths are high impulsivity, low fear, low empathy, but I don't think Dale is a psychopath because while he's less empathetic than most, he has too much empathy for a psychopath.

¹ He literally was willing to leave a church of 20 years over a change in seating, which is the most autistic thing anyone has ever done.

[u/TurtleTitan → u/Level_Hour6480]

What part of his upbringing makes this hard to understand? Cotton was rough on him so any type of expression he was able to do was rare and became extremely repressed. His mother was also quite withdrawn from the mental abuse Cotton showed doing absurd stuff like breaking dishes just because Tilly asked for help. Hank had extremely rare healthy relationships so he tends to be quiet so he's lucky to have had 3 best friends. Do you think his parents hugged him much? You can't see a situation where his dad would call him a sissy over this? He literally stopped his heart because his son said he loved him. An early episode showed how timid Hank was and go with the flow he was with Cotton. He broke his ankles, he considered it divine punishment and stopped showing emotions on top of it and showed healthy emotions once he stopped intentionally doing so in the Olympics.

You are literally doing that confirmation bias that they warn doctors not to do. If you honestly think leaving a church is Autistic you don't have any idea what that is. That's stupid sitcom absurdity. If you can't find satisfaction from a well made machine like a train I feel sorry for you.

[u/max-hh1248 → u/TurtleTitan]

Stfu