The Kids Get It, Part 2 — An Aussie Sequel
I recently collected the cans and bottles from various family members and headed for the recycling centre. I noticed a car follow me in. A young boy (about 10) and his mother got out of the car and came over to Tess and me. “I’m so glad you turned in here, my son has been talking about your car all the way up the road.” We had a great chat, and he was definitely going to buy one when he had collected enough cans. At 10¢ refund a pop, that’ll take a while.
This wasn’t my first and won’t be my last encounter like this. Here are a few more vignettes that I have collected from Facebook.
I’m in a small country town in North Queensland — first electric car in the town. It’s the kids who know it’s a Tesla and point it out. One kid at primary school drop-off pointed at our car and said, “Look, mum!” Mum said, “Yes, that’s a nice car, isn’t it?”
Kid rolled his eyes and said, “Mum, that’s not a car. It’s a Tesla.”
Our future is in pretty good hands.
I recall showing my friend the test car, and one of the super excited kids asked, “Does it fly?” I paused for a moment wondering where they got the idea from. I had to restrain myself from saying, “Yes … yes it does, young man.”
My street cred is at an all-time high with the local kids.
Short conversation between our 5 year old and an adult friend today:
Friend — “I heard you got a new car.”
5 year old — “It’s not just a car, it’s a Tesla.”
I’m driving around the country, currently in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, getting asked questions everywhere. At Kings Canyon, Northern Territory, I met a 10 year-old boy with his mum. He knew more about my car than me after almost 2 years ownership, simply from YouTube. For example, he could tell I had a 2019 model, not 2020 or 2021.
This happened to me! A whole family walked past and then you can see one of the kids mouth “mum, it’s a Tesla,” so then they came around to the side of the car and had a look in through the window. It’s eye opening watching back the footage, that’s for sure!
The teenagers running the drive-through are consistent fans.
Remember, you’re now a glimpse of the future for others to muse over.
Drive past a skate park. Pretty much every teenage boy stops and stares.
There will be lots of sentry footage of my son. He stalks Teslas like candy, to the point we will turn around my car so he can go look at one he sees if there is anything out of the norm with it. Sometimes we go to the drive day meets just to see the cars.
Feel free to add your experiences in the comments … unless you are in one of those communities where Teslas are common and kids don’t get excited anymore.
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