This is the funniest thing I have read in forever... not sure how many of you may have seen it.. but think it should be read by all.. thanks to kscharfenberg, who wrote it... Time for a Rant - Hide the breakables Went out to a fancy restaurant with my extended family Thanksgiving. Wonderful meal and great company. Since we were a somewhat larger group, we got a large table in the rear 'party' (?) room. There were a couple other large tables with groups in there also. As I was listening to one of my family members drone on about something (Snooooore) I happened to 'pick up' bits of conversation from the group next to us. I zeroed in on their conversation, as ours was waaaayyyy out there. They were talking Prius and hybrids in general. Interesting! Then it turned dark. Oh Oh. They began to say how this "60 MPG advertising" was all a crock! One of them actually read where these cars "Only REALLY get 35 MPG!" It was nothing but advertising!" "Why, my Lincoln gets close to 30 MPG and it's just a regular engine! Hybrids! Hurrrumph!" I really wanted to turn my chair and set these sixty-something, Glenn Miller listening, Black socks with sandals wearing, Hy-Ball (???) drinking, Hi-Fi listening, Vinyl-roof sporting, white-walls are 'spiffy, Viagra popping geezers a lesson but my wife wouldn't let me. All I could get in was a "Honey, do you have the keys to the PRIUS? (very loud ) as we passed their table on the way out. I doubt any of those Geritol jet-setters had their hearing aids turned up anyway. As I drove home I began to ponder why these oldsters were so down on us? What did we do to them? All we're trying to do is save the danged planet and reduce our use of fossil fuels. Geee, what an awful thing to want! I was bum-fuzzled by their attitude. As I drove around for the next couple of days it began to sink in. I saw a guy getting into his Prius in Wally's Parking lot so I tried to engage him in friendly conversation. Really friendly like. Told him I drove a Salsa Red Prius. Asked about his Mileage and so on. He responded to me like I just got out of Prison and wanted to date his daughter! I might as well have been covered in some weird flesh- eating bacteria! Very COLD fellow. Odd. I pulled up next to one at a stop light and rode side by side with them for a couple of miles. I beeped and tried to get their attention. No dice. I beeped again and still nothing. Huh. Maybe their stereo is up? I pulled in behind them and followed for a mile of so. Maybe he would see me. No response. When I got to my last light before I turned, I beeped again. This time they both looked. Was my flesh-eating bacteria showing again? I gave them both a big smile and a thumbs up and all I got was a dead- pan glance then they ignored me! Whhat the **&^^? I drove along side another prius a day later and got the exact same treatment! No smile, no wave, just a blank glance then looked away. Do any of you people really understand what driving a Prius means???? We are the FUTURE! We are the pioneers! We are the Modern day Conestoga wagons heading out into the Mountains in search of the Pacific ocean! We are few in number but large in courage! We are here to blaze the way for millions that will (MUST) follow if we are to save this blue marble we call Earth! Yet, we continue to treat each other as some weird nutcase waving at us at stoplights! Any of you ever own a VW Beetle? Those had to be the friendliest, most tight-knit group of car owners on this Earth! It was almost EXPECTED that when you passed another beetle you either waved, Beeped or flashed the lights! We are brothers and sisters in arms and we supported each other till the end! If you saw one broken down on the roadside you almost always saw another parked behind it trying to help! Beetle people SUPPORTED each other! All for one and one for all, as they say. What do we Prius people do? IGNORE each other!!!!! Act like a bunch of danged snooty-patooties who are just too good to associate with each other! And what do we get in return for this snotty attitude? Idiot journalists (???) in some useless rag making up LIES about our cars!!! Then we have the people who know nothing at all about Prius' spouting this IDIOT'S garbage to each other as divine truth because you current Prius owners won't take a moment to smile at each other or speak nicely to someone who may approach you in a parking lot!!! WAKE UP AND SMELL THE LATTE YOU SELF RIGHTOUS DINGLE BERRIES!!! THE FUTURE IS NOW AND YOU ARE IT!!!! GET UP OFF YOUR SMUG, HOLIER THEN THOU, BATTERY POWERED BEE-HINDS AND GET OUT THERE AND PRESS SOME FLESH! SHOW 'EM THOSE PEARLY WHITES!!! KILL 'EM WITH KINDNESS!!! MAKE IT CLEAR WHO WE REALLY ARE!! LET'S GO!!! THE PLANET NEEDS US!!! WHO'S WITH ME????? LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! kscharfenberg Bob Andersen
haha! nice read! Yeah, some old fogey pulled up in his 80s LeSabre and pointed to our CAT sticker. He winded down his window and yelled "Who's gonna steal that?" Too bad I couldn't come up with a witty response at that time
A few comebacks for your arsenal: * It’s impossible to hot-wire this car . . . unlike your bucket of bolts which only requires a large screwdriver. * A thrifty and considerate thief. One who would enjoy 60 miles to the gallon during their get-away - yet kind enough not to grossly pollute the earth in the process. I GUESS THAT PRECLUDES YOU!!!! * Anyone smart enough to want to drive this car wouldn’t have to resort to steeling it. HEY! Wasn’t you car voted the best ghetto ride for under $300? [I’m sure other PriusChatters could come up with others for you. ]
Most car drivers do not wave, period. They are in their "safe" little cocoons, transversing this planet's surfave oblivious from other outside influences. If you really want to get noticed, ride a motorcycle. It does not matter what kind of bike, just ride one. Enjoy, Randal
It's a habit of safety in cosmopolitan Los Angeles. If you look at somebody wrong, they could road-rage/shoot you. Doesn't stop a few of us from still daring to wave.
I've attempted a few waves and nods but just got sneers or the "deer in the headlights" look. One old lady in a Driftwood Prius like ours attempted to run away from me...and she was in MY parking space!!! I've noticed more friendly folks who drive Scions and mostly from Insight owners...
Very funny! I've had my Prius for over a year now and I have received ONE wave. I parked next to another Prius in a store parking lot and the gentleman was walking to his car as we were leaving. He smiled, waved and pointed to his own Prius... letting me know he wasn't some weird old man, but rather the Prius' owner. Since I've moved to Houston I have seen a whole lot of young female Prius drivers.... they don't wave or smile! I'm so bothered by this. Why is everyone such a snob? I get more waves and smiles from people who are driving 'regular' cars. Oh! And the few times that I have initiated the smile or wave, I've been rejected! I think I'll make a t-shirt that says "My Prius is Better Than Your Prius." I'm sure the snobs in this town would jump on it!
Couple comments: 1)I've noticed that there's a relatively high percentage of Prius drivers in my area that would fall into the 'geezer' category. I think these are the folks with enough money to buy what they want and like the idea of saving money on gas. I don't think they buy into or care too much about the technology, the environmental benefits, or joining the "cult". 2)Those of us in the "cult", esp. those of us who've been in for a while now, think that everyone who owns a Prius has gone through the same mental exercises we have to arrive at a purchase decision. They haven't. Some of them just drive it. And the number of "just drive it" owners is increasing all the time. 3)I think a lot of Prius drivers are completely oblivious. I now see a Prius almost daily, I wave, flash headlights, position the car to be seen, etc. I rarely get even the slightest acknowledgement. It befuddles me, but I've grown to accept it. 4)The attitudes of the folks at the nearby table probably has less to do with being 'Prius haters' than the fact that the latest press has been so negatively based. Clearly the guy's Lincoln doesn't come close to 30mpg, and the percentage Prius people getting in the 30s for mileage is pretty small. But they didn't want facts or to be corrected. Babbling on about how smart they are for not buying a Prius makes them happy. 5)At the physician's Christmas party the other night I had at least 3 different people ask me about my Prius....including one of my wife's partners who drives an H2 and he actually tolerated some ribbing about his car choice from me. His wife was thrilled to hear about the upcoming Lexus 450h. Another partner of mine was unaware of the existance of the 3 hybrid SUVs. And, yes, I still get questions about having to plug it in!! sigh....
I was down in naples fl a couple of years ago visiting my dad, who had just picked up a 2004 driftwood prius (12/03, my dad was 75 then). one day, we're driving in it through some neighborhood and we see a guy, who has to be 80+, out in his driveway next to a seaside pearl. so we stop and yell out "nice car!" he says "thanks...it's a pie-rus!" not only did he not recognize that we had one as well, he didn't know how to prounounce the name of his own car! oh well, I'm just happy he had one! and, no Lincoln is getting close to 30mpg as an average, I would guess. rpm
I strongly suspect the "waving" thing is totally misunderstood by most new Prius folks. It's like "Wth is this idiot waving at ME for?" The other day I drove past a lady in a Prius, and gave her a big smile and friendly wave as I drove by. At first she looked very puzzled, then she saw what I was driving, her face lit up, and yep, she returned both the wave and the smile. Let's all keep waving. I think it's infectious.
The only reaction I got from a stranger was another Prius owner that I happened to be behind at a gas station. I had thought of a Prius commercial using the waving. Too bad it can't be filmed. 1) Bottom of screen shows caption SUNDAY. Prius owner is getting out of car in mall parking lot and waves to an SUV owner. SUV owner waves back using only one finger. 2) Bottom of screen shows caption MONDAY. Closeup of SUV owner, at gas station, filling up. Prius owner waves as he drives past. The return wave is the same as Sunday. 3) Bottom of screen shows caption WEDNESDAY. Closeup of SUV owner, at gas station, filling up. Prius owner waves as he drives past. SUV owner just watches Prius drive past. 4) Bottom of screen shows caption FRIDAY. Closeup of SUV owner, at gas station, filling up. Prius owner waves as he drives past. SUV owner just looks down. 5) Bottom of screen shows caption SUNDAY. Prius owner is in the same parking lot heading to his car with bag of groceries. FORMER SUV owner drives past in new Prius and waves. Original Prisus owner waves back. Fade out.
i get the extremes here. either a ridiculously (in a good way ) enthusiastic wave or nothing. one day we were making a left turn on our way home, and we noticed a prius in the left turn lane of the street we were crossing. so hubby rolls down his window, sticks his hand out for a big wave (he loves waving at people in hybrids and people with wisconsin license plates) and as we roll by i just give the guy a thumbs up. the guy gets all excited and starts waving frantically, and giving us big thumbs ups in return. it was so fun to see someone else so enthusiastic. brightened our day. too bad we couldn't communicate that we have a local prius club for people who are that excited about their prii. i just let the fun experiences get me through the 'Wth are you waving at me for' experiences...
I've only had one "encounter" despite the fact that there are a fair number of prii in the denver metro area. I was driving up to boulder with a friend. We had our kids in the back. We got passed by another silver prius that had a family with two kids in the back. My friend nudged me when she noticed that the folks in the other car were looking over at us. I turned and smiled to the lady who was riding shotgun. I mouthed "Nice Car" to her and she mouthed "You too" back. It was pretty cool. Other than that I've gotten no response from anybody.
I'm curious to know what happened between the Prius driver and the SUV driver on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday? Or did their paths not cross on those 3 days? Perhaps the SUV driver only fills up every other day??
I never thought it out that far. My guess was that the SUV was economical enough to only require filling every other day. :lol: I supposed that they didn't cross paths the other days. I figured Saturday would be the day for the SUV owner to buy the Prius. Now, why the original Prius owner waved was unclear. They could be neighbors. Either that or the Prius owner was downright friendly.
I'll occasionally look over at the driver of another prius to see if any eye contact is possible and be prepared to give a grin or thumb, but I generally don't try to do anything overt in the middle of traffic that might just confused people. Depends on context. The majority of the time the other drivers are concentrating on driving, as they should be. . Outside the car, though, I spent much of the summer handing out various flyers and URL-farms and graphs and being the total hybrid evangelist. Parking lot encounters are fine; people are either stopped or walking. This has ramped down with the advent of cold weather, but just the other day I happened to walk into a mall alongside a lady who'd just pulled in in another prius and I opened with "nice car!" Since she'd seen me pull in too she was receptive, took my one-page-to-thousands-of-URLs sheet, and started asking me about the bladder and how she couldn't get more than 7 or 8 gallons into a supposedly 11.mumble gallon tank. . That's how it usually goes for me. Somewhere where talking is possible, and rapidly into techie subjects. The extra gauges on the dash are often a good conversation starter. . _H*
I'm one of three here at work who own a Prius. One guy with a Classic and the other with an '04. I've attempted to have enthusiastic conversations with both of them and told them about Priuschat, and tried to compare mileage. Both times the responses were basically that they bought the cars to cut down on their gasoline purchases and that's it. To them it's just a car no better, no worse, no different than any other.
