E V O B S E S S I O N

The Tesla Community Shows Its True Heart — Every Time 💕

By Johnna CriderOn

The Tesla community is one of the most inclusive, kindest, online brand-supporting communities in existence. Many people perceive Tesla owners to be random rich people (I’ve had friends tell me I am weird for being a Tesla fan and that was an exact description.) Yet, deep down, this is a community that spans the globe while being connected heart-to-heart.

Whoever said the Tesla community is toxic doesn’t know just how kind, warm, and loving this community really and truly is. I’ve been the recipient of this community’s kindness and so have others. I’ve seen people come together to support others in their time of need and lift those up who are feeling the blues.

Today, I want to share a story that showed up in my own Twitter that literally had me in tears — the good kind. Tesla Raj actually created a video detailing everything this sweet community did for a member who had something horrible happen to him.

For those of you who own your own business, whatever that may be, your tools are your life support. Having those taken away, well, is a brutal blow that will mess with your livelihood. This happened to a young Tesla owner named Zack, aka Blckmdl3 on Twitter.

“You know, we as humans can all be just a little bit nicer. I think the world would be a much better place,” Raj says in the video. He explained that for whatever reason, Zack drove up from Southern California to the Fremont area and they were all going to meet up — Raj and many members of the Tesla community in the Fremont area. Zack has his own detailing business in Los Angeles.

What Zack didn’t know was that Raj and the rest of the community had a gift for Zack. Raj said that when he first met Zack, it was at the Tesla Cybertruck reveal and Zack picked him up from the airport and they got to hang out. Raj had never met Zach before, but this is just how awesome the Tesla community is — it’s like a huge, online family. Fast forward to last week, Zack and Raj were hanging out when someone broke into Zack’s trunk and stole all of his detailing equipment. The thieves literally took his work supplies — tools that he needed to make a living.

Imagine for a moment that you have your own business and someone literally takes it away from you. It’s a horrible feeling when you are suddenly faced with the loss of how you are going to earn your income and you have to plan how you are going to survive.

“I just love that we as a community can come together and do things like this,” Raj said in the video. They meet up at the Tesla Fremont Factory and here is where Zach is surprised by what Raj and the Tesla community have planned for him. Raj introduces Tim, who runs a detailing business in the Bay Area and was part of the team that put this sweet surprise together for Zack.

Upon opening the box with all of the gifts, Raj said that, “Everything that you could possibly want to get your detailing business back up and running is in these boxes and in the trunk.” Raj also shows how innovative members of the community are and introduces FreeYourTesla’s iPad Tesla mount, showing a video of Tesla’s contactless delivery service where customers are able to pick up their new vehicles without any contact. This is primarily for safety reasons due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Towards the end of the video, Raj stresses how important it is to be kind toward others. “As a community, as a Tesla community, as a nation and as a world, we could just all afford to just be a little bit nicer to the people around us. Everyone’s going through their own kind of things and issues and problems and so this was just a small gesture that I thought would be nice to do. But I think as a world, I think Tesla community as a lot of you guys are watching Just take a moment. Do something nice. Hold the door open, be polite. Wave at someone. Say hello. You only live once,” he said before opening a lot of cool packages.

My 2.5¢

I think the message Raj shared was very beautiful and powerful. Not only the Tesla community, but everyone should take his advice. To be honest, I think that the Tesla community has been hit hard by a lot of rumors of its “toxicity,” and these accusations leave many, including myself, feeling a bit personally attacked. We are all good people and we, like Raj said, have a lot of things going on in our own lives.

In my case, I had to sell my shares because I was very sick last spring. I missed out on having shares when it hit the $1,000, $1,200, and $1,500 marks. I was devastated, yet really happy for those of my friends who held their shares. These friends have helped me in the past and truly deserve their success. And so do Tesla and Elon Musk.

The doctor said it was probably COVID-19 even though the test came back negative. I was told that there was nothing they could do for me. Antibiotics weren’t working and I was having trouble breathing yet wasn’t sick enough to be hospitalized. I sold my shares, took profits, and used the funds to buy respiratory supplements, and to live off of for a month. It took me 3 months to fully recover and I am still not at my 100%. I’ve been fever-free for almost two months now. However, Louisiana is slowly starting to go back into lockdown mode as the cases skyrocket here.

Many other members in the community either had COVID-19, lost someone to it, or have other problems going on in life. And then for a popular news blog to sit there and say we are all toxic because he doesn’t agree or like many of the members is very hurtful. Look at Earl, @28DelaysLater. He is currently serving in the military and isn’t with his family. He should be going home soon, but the pandemic delayed things for him.

One thing we can all remember is to be kind toward one another. The Tesla community is really good at this. This is a community that has warmly embraced me, a jewelry artisan who at one time couldn’t tell the difference between a Model X and a Lexus. (Shush — I grew up taking buses and walking everywhere!) I wouldn’t be here, writing this today, if it wasn’t for this community.

Two weeks ago, I tweeted to Elon and told him that a wise person once told me to believe in good. I mentioned that he is good, but he isn’t the only one. This community is the pure essence of good — seeing what Raj did for Zack and having been helped in the past when I had my own struggles, I know this. This community is something I dreamt of experiencing when I was a homeless child living with my mother in her car and watching her cry because her own family turned their backs on her.

This community is that family I’ve always wanted and I am grateful to be a part of it.

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