Encounter with a "Tree-Hugger"...Has this ever happened to you?

[cfiiman]

Hey all,

Haven't been on in a while as I've been really into motorcycles and racing at trackdays over the last year and kinda been not playing with Viper as much Well as the summer season is drawing closer to an end I wanted to get the car out a bit which I have been enjoying (damn I forgot how much fun these cars are!). So today I go for a little ride, the weather is perfect and was having a great time. I pulled in to a gas station on my way home and was filling up when I saw what could only be classified as a "Hippy" guy get out of a red Civic. I'm not paying much attention until I hear him say "Hey!" so I turn around and he says....and I quote...."So is you driving that thing worth killing the environment? Does it make your dick bigger?". Obviously he said it dripping with disdain for me and I have to admit I was pretty shocked. I'm not sure why b/c I've had the car vandalized in the past by a jealous ***** but it still amazes me when someone goes out of their way to do something negative STRICTLY b/c of the car i'm driving, I just don't get it. This is still America right? We still have freedom to drive what we want right? Why would people make an assumption about someone with knowing absolutely nothing about them?

Anyway in about 1 seconds time I went from enjoying a beautiful day to really pissed and as he opened the door to go in the gas station I yelled twice as loud as he did to me, "I don't know, does driving that piece of $hit make your dick smaller?" to which he said nothing. I waited for him to come out to say anything else but he just walked back to his car and drove off. Now I realize this guy is just a fu$@#%ing ***** that knows jack $hit about the environment probably. I wouldn't even try to waste my breath explaining the finer points of conservation and how i'm 99.9% sure he does more damage to the environment with his Civic driving it every day then I do with my Viper the few times a year I drive it, but the point is just ****. It would be like a guy that BBQ's every night and then refrains one weekend from doing it and criticizes others about eating meat or something, just pointless and asinine IMO. I'm guessing the root cause was like the vandalism, just unchecked jealousy which I don't understand either. I'm just noticing a "shift" in American's attitudes like anyone who has achieved anything is just a *insert favorite derogatory word here* and they've done something to someone else to get it, and it is bothering me. Anyway just thought I'd see if anyone else has any funny encounters with these kinds of dip$hits, sorry for the rant, I should probably let it roll off more then I do but it really pissed me off for some reason.

 

[georgethedog]

Hi cfiiman. I've been away for a while too. Too bad you had that incident on a day you are just trying to enjoy. Nice comeback. I may have asked "why are you interested in my dick?" "Are you a urologist doing some type of dick research?" But, I like your comeback even better. Too bad it is illegal to punch a-holes.

I get the evil eye when I pull up next to someone in a Prius when I drive my GMC Acadia. I just laugh. Shake it off and have a good rest of the day.

 

[Moodie]

I agree with your rant, the way society sees a successful individual is definitely different then it was 10 years ago. Someone that has made a life for himself is no longer an individual to be looked up to but an individual to be torn apart. He must have made it on the backs of the poor, the weak,or the minority that's the only way to prosper in the USA.

 

[Viper808]

I think its based on more where in the USA you are ...
Here in south Florida...There are a whole lot more high end cars with worse gas mileage on the road all the time...
I drive the Viper occasionally also..and any every once in a while Ill get a hater but its rare, but that's not just the vipers
the haters will hate you with a Corvette Ferrari , Lambo , Hummer etc... They are just Jealous... and or poor..

I actually get more grief in my daily driver ( 2011 Prius ) .. which I go the speed limit only... to maximize fuel economy ( 72.1 average currently) ...and all the fancy cars mercedes, bms's , lexus, etc etc etc. are pissed because Im not zipping along fast enough for them
as they're flooring it off the line and slamming on the brakes 200 feet later ..repeating the cycle for miles down the road at every stop light...so who is hurting the environment now....all these people zipping around excessively and unnecessarily wasting more fuel than I do in my occasional viper drive.... People just don't get it and are ignorant of their own waste...they want to blame everyone but themselves..

Don't worry about it Buddy...... Drive it proud ......

 

[cfiiman]

Thanks for the replies guys, I just am floored by people like this, b/c he is so ignorant he doesn't even know that I drive a 4 cylinder Honda as my everyday driver just like him, but it doesn't matter, If I wanted to drive an 18 wheeler everyday b/c I can then it is my F$%^#@&ing business. I just don't know how people like this function in society. Now that I've had more time to think about it I wish I would have said "why don't you ask your mom/girlfriend, she knows how big it is" lol, but I guess hindsight is 20/20, oh well. I'm just sick of this mentality I'm seeing lately that if these type of people don't agree with what you do/have, they believe it should be taken/not available to you and that is $@^#@%&$*& wrong! Do these morons not realize that when you start taking things from people it will never end? Of course not, they are not bright enough, it is just scary to me is all. I'm not that old, in my 30's but I can remember when people thought you could do anything/be anything, and now it is just "different" it seems, like people want it given to them or no one should have it, ***??!!

 

[plumcrazy]

yep, had a tree hugger try to chastise me in a parking lot, she got about 3 words out and got a giant **** *** and a finger pointed in her general direction..lol she up and left quickly

 

[sun diego]

Next time tell him you are trying to use up the gasoline to speed the switch to alternative energy. That'll confuse him.

 

[Stonep185]

” Being *** isn't a choice, but being an ******** is”

 

[Mutts02GTS]

Lol, it's funny you mentioned an 18 wheeler, that used to be my daily job. Use this next time " driving the Viper no, not really, but driving my 18 wheeler, yeah you betcha! Wanna know why? Cause I can run a POS like you off the road and not even feel it.... CFI, sorry you had someone ruin your good mood day, we have all been there I believe at one point or another because you know we surely didn't work hard and EARN our toys! They were just handed to us all..... Rant over, as you were......

 

[madninjaskillz]

Never before have I seen more of a culture of class warfare fostered than by our current administration. This kind of fostered hate, because someone worked for what they have, can only end badly. What Viper808 said is very true though. I don't ever get dirty looks when driving in GA. On the west coast I got some occasionally, but never confronted as you were.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Just shoot him It would be one less person making a carbon footprint in the world

 

[Gustfront]

Just shoot him It would be one less person making a carbon footprint in the world

And y'all are suppossed to be the peaceful ones.

 

[Nine Ball]

"Do you know how many people I've had to assassinate, to afford a car like this?"

 

[BigsViper]

Get one of Wrenchmob's window stickers which says:

DEATH before Prius

 

[Matt M PA]

I had that happen once when filling the Excursion. Some woman got out of a tiny car on the ther side of the pump and lamented about gas prices. I agreed. She responds..."Well, maybe if you drove something smaller....no one needs a truck that big.". Me, being a wiseas* says...."it's a hybrid...runs on gas and air". She had never heard of such a thing and thought it was wonderful.

 

[denniskgb]

Never before have I seen more of a culture of class warfare fostered than by our current administration. This kind of fostered hate, because someone worked for what they have, can only end badly. What Viper808 said is very true though. I don't ever get dirty looks when driving in GA. On the west coast I got some occasionally, but never confronted as you were.

So right. Just saw a t shirt that said " I have to work hard to support millions on warfare"

 

[impalassed]

"Do you know how many people I've had to assassinate, to afford a car like this?"

LMAO! Good one!

highway cruising at 70... My 94 Viper vs 95 Tahoe- twice as much MPG. And the Viper had the gas guzzler tax....

 

[Kala]

I had some problems with Prius owners when driving my H2... The toxic levels of smugness emmitted from PO's has to be harming the environment... LOL

 

[STUGOTS]

I more they likely would have "lost it"

I have always felt if some is intentionally TRYING to start **** when your minding you own business, however it may end, is their problem, what they did is the cause and what I do is the reaction.

Now its a different story if theres a situation between the 2 of you and it gets heated such as an accident ect, but just going up to someone, out of the blue and saying things like that IS and forever will be an "a$$ whoopable offence"

 

[VYPR BYT 94]

My response...
"Why yes, Yes it does! - is it that obvious?"

 

[ViperTony]

When I decided to get vanity plats for my Viper I was seriously considering this one for my greenie-extreme friends:

 

[Nine Ball]

My response...
"Why yes, Yes it does! - is it that obvious?"

Good one. Or a variation of that:

"Well, to be honest, it only grew an extra inch. Now I'm a solid foot long."

 

[FrgMstr]

"Do you know how many baby seal pelts it takes to buy one of these?"

 

[Bobpantax]

In 1997, I was baby sitting a friends Porsche Turbo S. It was a beautiful car and, for the time, very, very fast. My wife and I went to a music store in the car. (Times have sure changed.) When we came out, there was a 35 or so year old man standing there looking at the car. When we got in it, he made a similar comment to what you experienced and an additional comment about "rich people". Since he was a complete stranger, I just smiled; started the engine; revved it to about 3000 which made him jump back a bit; smiled again; backed out and drove off. There are many nut jobs out there that have no boundaries and believe that they have a right to act any way they wish to at any time they wish to regardless of how rude and inappropriate the behavior may be. The best thing to do is just ignore them. You cannot change them.

 

[MtnBiker]

I had a lady roll down her window at a red light and yell at me about global warming and why did I need to drive that car? I promptly asked her why she wasn't riding a bicycle. Then I left the pleasant aroma of melting rubber as I departed.

 

[Mopar Boy]

I have a buddy that works at Honda. I just had my Etest done there. They did the E test twice. The techs were SOOOO confused that my E test came out cleaner than a brand new Civic.

 

[ViperSmith]

So is you driving that thing worth killing the environment

YES

 

[Husker]

I think everyone should drive a Prius or a high mpg car.... that leaves more fuel for me and my Viper.

 

[VRYALT3R3D]

"How can you possibly afford this car?"

"My agent bought it for me"

"What do you play?"

"Ping-Pong. I am really good..."

 

[slysnake]

I haven't had too many people say bad things about my car. Usually it's someone running up to see it.

I get the evil eye when I pull up next to someone in a Prius

I do too. But it's probably the revving engine thing that really bothers them.

they're flooring it off the line and slamming on the brakes 200 feet later ..repeating the cycle for miles down the road at every stop light

Is that wrong? ooops