"When you fully commit to what you believe in and change your lifestyle to accommodate that vision, the universe starts providing the resources and the energy to keep pursuing that vision."
I've mentioned the Bay Area's Tanforan Shell station in a previous letter. But this week I stumbled upon on a long form article about the enterprise that reveals it to be much more than just a vegan gas station. It is a one-man consciousness-raising art project that is completely re-defining the retail experience.
There is, for example, a life-size T-rex in a top-hat with a hip-hop boombox that for much of the previous administration had a model Trump in its mouth. There's the Zoltar machine right next to the ice machine. There's the all-night car wash that is modeled on amusement rides to provide an immersive "self-care wash experience, a sound healing experience", complete with light show and its own FM channel. There's the music played at the pumps, from ambient to Gregorian chants. There's the fact that they give a full 10% of their profits to local charities.
Franchise owner Bobak Bakhtiari was motivated to make the change after watching a film on factory farms. "I was like, wow," he said, "for the last 40 years of my life, I've been sponsoring terror essentially. And contributing such immense misery to these animals. So I decided, okay, this store has to be plant-based...and not only plant-based, but a source of advocacy and education–as comprehensive as possible."
Article: Why is This Interesting? The Tanforan Shell Edition