Day 1 with my first car, a Tesla Model S, at 21 years old.
Day 1 with my Tesla Model S,
I’m at a stop light and “bump!”. Just like that, I get rear ended at a red light. I panic and stop the car. As I get out of the car, a little old man walks out and tells me “No damage! No damage? Nope!” I notice this man’s car looks like it hasn’t been in a shop in 20+ years.
He doesn’t have any fingers. (yes, you read that correctly) Looking at his hands I noticed this poor old man had no fingers! It looked like he didn’t have car insurance on a car of his that was beaten down and more than 20 years old.
I felt bad and couldn’t tell if there was any visible damage in the moment, so I told him “don’t worry, it’s all good” and he thanked me and shook my hand (without any fingers, it looked like the second half of his fingers were chopped off, with visible scars).
Later on, I notice that there was indeed a tiny scratch on the back bumper, but thankfully no damage. Not knowing what to do, I called Tesla. To my surprise, they offered to have me take it back in today to get the scratch out. I drove over immediately. In about an hour, not only did they completely get rid of the scratch, but they did a fresh buffer / paint job on the whole fucking vehicle! 100% free of charge. Incredible customer service.
My car now looks newer than when I got it yesterday!
But the story does not end there…
As I drove back from the Tesla Service Center, I realized I was running out of battery on my car. I stopped at a nearby charging station in a hotel parking lot. As I got out of the Tesla to grab the charging cable, a couple approached me from the side-door to the hotel, (it was pouring rain HARD) and they asked me if I would be so kind as to drive them across the street to the hotel next door (they were looking for an ATM).
I needed to charge my car which was running out of battery. But I felt bad for the couple, so I accepted and let them into the vehicle. The man sat in the back, and the woman sat beside me in the front. She was shocked at what she saw inside. “What kind of car is this?! This is so futuristic! Damn boyyyyy” she said to me as I start to wonder whether I am about to mugged. “Rich white boy wadduuppppp” She high fives me.
Nonetheless, I drive them across the street and drop them off at the front entrance of the other hotel as I look desperately at my mileage left over. Before they exit my car, the girl asks me, “Would you be able to wait for us real quick? It’ll be super quick please!”
As rain continued to pour down heavily, I figured I wouldn’t just leave them there so I responded, “No worries. I’ll wait right here.”
Minutes later, they come back into the car and the girl looks visibly disappointed. The guy she was with gets in the back of my Tesla. She then tells me, “They didn’t have an ATM. Would you be able to drive us to the bank that’s right by here? It would be so helpful.”
At this point I couldn’t just accept. So I tell them that I’m running out of mileage and if I don’t go charge my car, I won’t have enough miles to make it back to my place. The guy sitting in the back tells me, “No don’t worry. It’s understandable, we can get out here. Thank you.”
Meanwhile, the woman next to me ignores him and insists, “No yes no yes here. Yes. Please please. It’ll be really quick. If you could that would be so helpful.” I take a deep breathe, and accept. We begin driving towards the bank as the woman next to me, extremely thankful and visibly anxious, is guiding me. She tells me she’s from New York and I tell her I come from Miami but my family is from South America.
Curious about the car, she asks me how much the car cost me, still shocked over the massive display. I tell her I was extremely lucky to be able to afford something like it, and I left it at that. The guy in the back then asks me where I work and I tell him I work at Google, still glancing at my mileage as we approach the bank.
We arrive at the bank ATM and the guy gets out of the car to withdraw money. She then asks me what people at Google do, and I in turn ask her how long she’d been out of New York. She tells me it’s only recent and that she’s from the South Bronx (the projects, one of the poorest neighborhoods in New York City). I tell that I visited / knocked on doors in the South Bronx for a week back in 2016, helping out the community there. She was like “No way!” And we chatted a bit about all the familiar areas of the South Bronx that we both recalled. The tiny tiny elevators that take you up and down the buildings in the projects, the railway stations we both travelled on.
I then ask her why she left New York. “Oh, I’m an escort.” she says.
Not knowing what to say I respond, “Cool. I’m glad I could help ya’ll out in this pouring rain.” “Thanks!” she says as I begin to realize who the man is, and why she was insisting that he go to the ATM and get the cash before I go drop them back off at one of the hotels. In my brand new Tesla Model S 75D. One day old.
I drop them back off at the hotel, and they thank me so much for having driven them in the rain. She congratulated me on the car and they left.
I quickly drive to the nearest charging station to plug my car in, and now I’m sitting the vehicle sharing my crazy first day with my first car while it charges up it’s battery.
