One Mom’s Tesla Giga Texas Breakfast Show, TSLA Short Shorts, & Litter

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Gail from the Tesla Owners Club of Austin shared her story of the behind the scenes of a photo that Elon Musk recently liked on Twitter. The photo was taken of Gail’s Tesla Short Shorts and two glasses of Champagne on top of her Tesla Model 3 while Giga Texas chased the sun with its cranes in the background.

Good morning Tesla Giga Texas! pic.twitter.com/Q0yWDx1uDd

— Gail (@GailAlfarATX) December 20, 2020

Gail told me that she was extremely inspired by Elon Musk and one of his tweets. She wanted to ask the Tesla community exactly what they planned to do with their Tesla short shorts. The tweet she shared was Elon’s tweet poking fun at the SEC when he promised to send them some short to comfort them.

Good morning ☕️
What do y’all plan to do with your Tesla short shorts? Wear them, keep them in a vault, sell on eBay, put them on display? Curious. https://t.co/xtG9IF8Jqa

— Gail (@GailAlfarATX) December 19, 2020

“Later, I started thinking about what I wanted to do with the short shorts that I had received in the mail,” she told me in a Twitter message. “Sunday morning, I started packing up the champagne glasses, the shorts, and my fully charged iPhone. I visit the factory very often with one of my sons, we grab a barbecue breakfast taco, and we sit and watch the factory for a few hours a couple of times a month.”

Something Disturbing

Gail told me that as she was packing up her Tesla to leave, she remembered the trash that is littered around the viewing area. It is rather sad that people still litter — in spite of the fact that a major company that has a focus on helping the environmental is being built right there. Gail took action, and soon, Tesla’s own security team sent out a guard to keep a close eye on her and her son.

“As I was packing up the Tesla, I started to remember about all the trash that is strewn around the viewing area. I grabbed a box of gloves and some big hefty bags. The Tesla Giga Texas security team sent out a guard, he kept a close eye on everything we did, watching us carefully. My son wondered if it was OK to pick up the trash and I said, ‘don’t doubt your vibe.'”

It made sense that security would want to keep a close eye on someone near the site — that is understandable. The disturbing thing is the fact that people have no problem with littering. I think that is so ingrained in humans in general. When I was married, my ex used to complain that I would never litter. He told me it was a status symbol — you were cool if you littered. I told him that was dumb and that destroying the planet isn’t cool.

The mentality that littering is cool is found in various places. Picking up trash or not littering are often looked down on because it means that you care about something bigger than yourself — selflessness is not often taught, but ridiculed.

Taking The Photo

Gail told me that in her photo, what she wanted to create for the casual viewer.

“I wanted to portray the Tesla passion, humor, dedication, and short shorts all in one shot. I tried different angles with the champagne glasses, and the wind kept blowing the beautiful red satin shorts with the gold trim all around. I thought that was cool but I needed something a little bit better.”

“After I snapped a lot of photographs, I looked closely and saw an ‘E’ in the second champagne glass in the picture I chose. I decided that it was mandatory to tweet that picture. Anybody who is a fan of Elon Musk and Tesla will probably understand what I mean,” she told me.

“After that tweet, I went ahead and continued to help my son pick up trash. The security guard meanwhile had driven around to the factory site and was actually standing on the ledge between us and the construction area. When my son asked me what time it was, I noticed that my phone had gone wild, and I could see that none other than the Meme Lord of the universe, Elon Musk, had actually liked the tweet very soon after I had created it and sent it.”

Gail told me she hung around after picking up the trash — she was feeling pretty great. One of the things she enjoyed was sharing Tesla with people who were randomly stopping by to view the construction. “I talked to a family from Illinois who were so excited to see ‘a great American factory, in the state of Texas, making American cars.’ I talked to an older gentleman from Dallas, who said he was so thrilled to talk with another like-minded person, his obsession over Tesla had made his wife fall asleep night after night.”

Gail also spoke with a member of the Giga Texas Quad Squad, Joe Tegtmeyer, with whom she enjoys bantering about the Tesla stock.

However, the proudest moment of that day was when her son wanted to know if Elon would be proud of him for helping pick up the trash.

“I liked it when my son said, ‘do you think Elon is thankful that I picked up the trash?'”I think it’s safe to say that we are all proud of her son helping to clean up the trash.

Final Thoughts from Gail on Tesla & Tesla Owners Club of Austin

Gail, who is the vice president of communications for the Tesla Owners Club of Austin, now finds her club at the center of many a news story. She and her fellow club members are not only witnessing history in their own city, but are helping to make it happen. Whether it’s a cute picture of shorts on the roof of a car with champagne glasses or educating passers-by about the importance of a cleaner and sustainable future — Gail is making a difference.

“I am pretty humbled to be the vice president of communications for the Tesla Owners Club of Austin. I love thinking up ways to get the community more united, more educated, and feel connected, through events and through campaigns,” she said to me.