Warning-watch out for radical anti-electric thinkers

[GREENEV]

On March 23, 2012 I pulled into a Walgreens in Broomfield, CO to charge my '12 Leaf. Within minutes of plugging in to the FREE Walgreens L2 EVSE, I was approached by a lady who appeared to be between 65-75 years old. She bluntly asked, "Do you have to pay for that? I kindly responded, "NO, it's free for right now. Walgreens is currently providing complimentary electric vehicle charging. I briefly explained to her that Walgreens cannot currently charge customers or anyone for that matter to use the charger due to Colorado state law which clearly states that an entity cannot resell electricity until the Colorado House Bill is finalized." She looked at me perplexed. I don't believe she understood a word I said. She started to walk away towards her car parked directly next to mine. FYI: It was a brand new Range Rover/Land Rover. As she slowly walked away, she said in a soft voice, "I'm not sure if I agree with that." I said, "agree with what? She said, "with Walgreens paying for the electricity. I don't think that's right" I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was hanging to the floor. I didn't know what to say, yet lots of thoughts were running through my head. As she entered her vehicle I politely said, "Talk to the CEO." She proceeded to get into her car. I mumbled a few choice words under my breath. Before too long, this strongly opinionated lady rolled down her window. She says, "and I dont think I'm going to shop at TCBY either." FYI: My LEAF is fully wrapped in TCBY Frozen Yogurt graphics. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I looked directly at her and said, "Ma'am if you don't have anything nice to say don't say anything at all." I repeated myself. She said, in a stern voice, " I never said it was nice." As she pulled out of her parking spot I believe she was mumbling something, but I was unable to hear. Her window still rolled down, I yelled, " enjoy your $4.00 gallon gas prices. Enjoy your life too."

The nerve of this individual to say such belligerent remarks. What gave her the right? Opinions are fine in certain situations, but her thoughts were psychologically inept. I thought to myself later on, does this woman work for the oil industry or does she own a gas station?

In summary, be careful out there. People are crazy. The public is crazy. The LEAF is a precious gem, especially since regular unleaded gas prices are $3.55-$4.75/gallon across the country. People might be jealous of electric car owners and may try to say or even do something to the vehicle. Keep your head up and your eyes wide open. Assume nothing.

 

[abasile]

As she slowly walked away, she said in a soft voice, "I'm not sure if I agree with that." I said, "agree with what? She said, "with Walgreens paying for the electricity. I don't think that's right" I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was hanging to the floor. I didn't know what to say, yet lots of thoughts were running through my head. As she entered her vehicle I politely said, "Talk to the CEO."

There are many otherwise reasonable people out there who do not like the idea of perks for EVs. When possible, I think it is best to gently remind them that all of humanity is paying a price for our excessive dependence on oil, and that the United States in particular is less secure because of this dependency. And of course we all share the same air. In your particular case, it would have been more productive to point out how little money it costs to charge an EV, especially in comparison with the store's overhead and the cost of providing parking, and how this has increased your loyalty to that store.

Her window still rolled down, I yelled, " enjoy your $4.00 gallon gas prices. Enjoy your life too."

IMHO, that was uncalled for. There is no sense in self righteously inflaming the situation. Until a couple of years ago, we owned an SUV that seated eight. People are more likely to hear your point of view when they feel respected.

 

[thankyouOB]

i dont agree with her.
I dont think she was belligerent, though she did take off on your employer.
You could have asked her if she paid for parking. that would have made the point more clearly, and maybe asked her if she ever considered that free parking might offend/takes advantage of the people who take the bus or walk or ride a bicycle to the store.

and perhaps suggested that if she would like to charge for free she could buy an EV too, and reduce the amount of pollution in the air or the need to spend billions stationing troops in the Mideast, or a host of similar arguments...

 

[LTLFTcomposite]

It is easy to make the mistake of falling into the trap of getting into a confrontation, I certainly have, although not yet over the EV. I am trying to think how I will handle a situation like this in the future. Maybe I will say "It's new technology, and I don't have time to explain now but if you would like to learn more about it there is a lot of information available on MyNissanLeaf.com".

 

[Smidge204]

As she slowly walked away, she said in a soft voice, "I'm not sure if I agree with that." I said, "agree with what? She said, "with Walgreens paying for the electricity. I don't think that's right" I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was hanging to the floor. I didn't know what to say, yet lots of thoughts were running through my head. As she entered her vehicle I politely said, "Talk to the CEO."

The CORRECT reply is:

"Ma'am, the cost of the electricity this vehicle will consume while I shop here will be well under 50 cents - a sum they will certainly make back with whatever I buy. They will probably lose more than a hundred times that amount in redeemed coupons over the course of a day. Do you then not agree with coupons?"

=Smidge=

 

[CWO4Mann]

As she slowly walked away, she said in a soft voice, "I'm not sure if I agree with that." I said, "agree with what? She said, "with Walgreens paying for the electricity. I don't think that's right" I was stunned. Floored. My jaw was hanging to the floor. I didn't know what to say, yet lots of thoughts were running through my head. As she entered her vehicle I politely said, "Talk to the CEO."

The CORRECT reply is:

"Ma'am, the cost of the electricity this vehicle will consume while I shop here will be well under 50 cents - a sum they will certainly make back with whatever I buy. They will probably lose more than a hundred times that amount in redeemed coupons over the course of a day. Do you then not agree with coupons?"

=Smidge=

Better response, (just sayin') would be to ignore her completely, and drive away. Remember, when you have a face-to-face encounter with a person who demonstrates that they may be aggressive or overly opinionated with ideation directed towards you, the best route is to escape the encounter as soon as possible. Otherwise, violence may occur as the situation escalates. Ever 80-year- little old ladies in tennis shoes may pull out a box cutter or a Glock and settle your hash right there while you are thinking about a polite answer to an unpolite statement. My after-military career was spent mostly in the Criminal Justice System within the Public Defender's Office and believe me when I tell you that I have seen little old ladies using a walker bash someone over the head with their cane and then attempt to beat them to death with their colostomy bag.

Oh the other hand, my Better Half and I were parking this afternoon by a local restaurant and a couple approached after we dismounted and said "Well! Don't think we've see one of them before". I had a few moments of proselytizing for the Leaf with the nice folks.

Dave

 

[TRONZ]

You might want to edit "thinkers" out of your thread title. It is confusing and misleading. Thank You.

 

[ebill3]

Better response, (just sayin') would be to ignore her completely, ..................

+1.

Life is too short to get into petty little squabbles like that.

Bill

 

[adric22]

I believe most L2 chargers are free just about everywhere you go for the moment.. but that should be changing pretty soon. Then these types of arguments will disappear.

 

[kubel]

Do you think this may have just been a simple misunderstanding? Maybe she assumed you were taking the electricity without paying for it and then when you said that they couldn't legally charge you for it, she thought you were using that as cover for essentially stealing. In other words, she felt that you were taking advantage of Walgreens but wasn't aware that Walgreens is OK with offering free electricity for its customers.

 

[DaveinOlyWA]

she is lucky she did not ask me.

i would have told her

"oh course i pay for this electricity just like i help pay your unfairly large portion of the gas you burn. we all pay for burning gasoline. cheap gas is our deal with the devil. cheap gas is the reason we chose to drive our 20 mpg SUV's 30 miles to the country to by that 3500 Sq foot house we could barely afford and ended up in an interest only predatory loan which many have defaulted on and moved out. now the house sit empty because no one wants to pay whats owed the bank because the housing bubble inflated by that devil cheap oil burst making it easier to walk away from the investment than it would be to fight to keep it, but then again, my health insurance went up and my kids' asthma meds went up and i didnt get the bonus at the ski lodge this year because of Global Warming and lack of sn...."

then i would say to myself "hey, that lady did nt even say good bye?"

 

[klapauzius]

She probably had Alzheimer's...you cant reason with people like that.
Scary that she drove such a huge car....

 

[smkettner]

Next time ask if she ever uses a coupon or shopping card to get discounts.
Just another marketing tool. You got what 20 cents of electric while there?

 

[Caracalover]

Never try to reason with an unreasonable person.

If you think she was reasonable, simply say Saudi Arabia loves her attitude, and leave it at that.

Being too enthusiastic can seem cultish, and unreasonable, so don't be the reverse of the equation, and be someone that can't be reasoned with.

She may have reasonable thoughts for why she does not want to support change. Many older people fear change, and frozen yogurt is likely a change she never made either - so no loss there. In a not too distant future she will be dead, and it won't matter. Don't live in fear of her kind though, or warn others to fear them. That is how the terrorists win.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I believe most L2 chargers are free just about everywhere you go for the moment.. but that should be changing pretty soon. Then these types of arguments will disappear.

Today:

 

[Smidge204]

Better response, (just sayin') would be to ignore her completely, and drive away. Remember, when you have a face-to-face encounter with a person who demonstrates that they may be aggressive or overly opinionated with ideation directed towards you, the best route is to escape the encounter as soon as possible. Otherwise, violence may occur as the situation escalates. Ever 80-year- little old ladies in tennis shoes may pull out a box cutter or a Glock and settle your hash right there while you are thinking about a polite answer to an unpolite statement.

My first reaction is "where the hell do you live?" - but then again, since you spent time in law enforcement of course you'd see things like that and might come off thinking it's more common than it actually is: You've got a sample bias.

Not that I don't understand or appreciate the point you're making... problem is, neither of us were there. In an actual confrontation it would be a judgement as to when to try clarifying or to walk away. I've had more than one occasion trying to remove myself from an argument only to have someone attack me from behind anyway! Who knows, if he just walked away maybe this lady would have felt slighted at being ignored and done something harmful. Just going by the scenario as described, it didn't seem that dangerous to hang around and explain things a bit. *shrug*

Do you think this may have just been a simple misunderstanding?

Pretty much how I took it . That's why I thought a coupon was an appropriate analogy - offer people a few nickels worth of convenience and they become customers.

Never try to reason with an unreasonable person.

Too bad you often can't tell the difference until it's too late
=Smidge=

 

[Drivesolo]

Well.. she's old so she'll die soon enough. Problem solved; one less EV hater in this world.

 

[edatoakrun]

My solution, at some point in the future (I hope), will be to use QC almost exclusively for my public charging, and leave the parking lot L2's to the less capable "electric" vehicles, that require them.

But I think the inherent absurdity, of putting mass numbers of L2's in parking lots, as a means of recharging BEVs after they use their, cheaper, cleaner, more convenient "private" station charge, will become apparent.

And probably, lead to most of the L2's now being installed, to be abandoned in the future.

It's a shame, that much of the billions of dollars spent on these L2s, will have been wasted.

 

[Herm]

And probably, lead to most of the L2's now being installed, to be abandoned in the future.

be careful what you wish for, the lack-of-use of L2 chargers will be used as an excuse to kill L3 chargers

 

[thankyouOB]

My solution, at some point in the future (I hope), will be to use QC almost exclusively for my public charging, and leave the parking lot L2's to the less capable "electric" vehicles, that require them.

But I think the inherent absurdity, of putting mass numbers of L2's in parking lots, as a means of recharging BEVs after they use their, cheaper, cleaner, more convenient "private" station charge, will become apparent.

I disagree completely. Having L2s at places where you stop to eat, shop, walk, be a tourist or a customer is an excellent idea.

billions?