Old Mechanic and Metro have the right of it. Laughter has always been my most powerful weapon/friend, and baby steps are definitely a good route to take. Honestly, I don't get attacked verbally, even when approached by small groups of obviously confrontational people. That may be, in some small part, because I look like a big-scary-biker with a couple "stoopid stamps" on my arms, but I'd like to think it's mostly because I try to meet people( who are obviously walking toward the car to find out what the heck I'm driving) with a smile and witty response. I've met quite a few really cool people, who may even be reading this right now
as I always try to fit Ecomodder into the conversation somewhere, and would never have met them without the tail on the car. Maybe I've even showed a few people a new path to walk. Who knows. I still have yet to see video or pics of my car on another forum with the usual " This moron actually drives this POS on the road" line under it, even though there have been HUNDREDS of both taken.
Everyone has to walk there own path. If you want to put a tail on your car, do it. If someone wants to make fun of it, let them. Personally, I'm my own worst critic. There isn't ANYTHING that anyone can say to me that I haven't already said to/ about myself.
P.S. I do appreciate the irony of your new avatar pic, Cd-cassette
!!!