> Suggestions welcome.

So when I was a child, laser tag became a thing you could buy. Little kits that came with 2 or 4 sets of vests and guns that tried to simulate experiences like Q-Zar laser tag, but at home for kids.

We had a couple of sets, and one of the frustrating aspects was that firing the guns made a lot of noise - they had little speakers built in that played really, genuinely awful laser noises for about 5 seconds every time you pulled the trigger.

But... as curious kids, we found out that slipping a butter knife between the plastic grill over the speaker on the gun and giving the speaker membrane a good slashing solves the problem real quick. The speaker might vibrate, but without a membrane, no real noise is going to be made.

So I guess what I'm saying is that it would be a real shame if folks just slipped a pocket knife through the grill on those gas station pump speakers every now and then.

Sounds like we had a similar childhood!

More to the point: this is a good idea. I have half a mind to grab a razor blade and fill up my tank...

Buy an electric vehicle. No kidding, avoiding the pump (and paying the petroleum industry tax) was my #1 goal (not saving money - I live in CA where kWh prices are very high).

And I can't express how much I love not feeling anxious every time I drive by a gas station to worry "do I need to fill up now"?

Filling up at home every single day is much more serene. We also have a 2nd vehicle that's non-EV for trips.

There is a mute button, sometimes labelled, sometimes hidden, but try pressing them all.

Doesn't help much, but helps a little.

And then stick some unapproved sticker on the pump of your choosing.

The stickers are a good idea. I also wonder if there's a discrete way of permanently damaging a speaker, e.g. with a magnet or something that could fit discretely in the palm of one's hand.

stab them with car keys.

Cameras, my friend. It's going to have to be much more discrete.

Also, they're way ahead of us. They've got those monitors and speakers covered with thick plastic.

Audio ads playing at gas pumps is now the only factor that determines which gas station I go to.

try the button one down from the top on the right side

It has worked for me.

Where I read about it: https://www.thedrive.com/guides-and-gear/how-to-mute-gas-sta...

> Just one more of the many reasons to drive electric

Oh yeah, just wait until your charging station installs ads. Then you're stuck watching an ad while your vehicle charges. That, of course, takes longer than inserting fuel into a tank. So more advertisements and more money for the charger!

I don't know how that's going to work given that the charging station in my garage doesn't even connect to a network.

Beside, if you're talking about public charging stations, it's already been done (can't remember the name at the moment). The difference between those chargers and a gas station is, you charge for free (Level 2, though). It's odd, too, because the ones I've seen are at grocery stores. So, plug in, go into the store...when am I supposed to see the ads?

Your car connects to the network.

...and then what? And remember that in your (very) hypothetical situation, I'm asleep while the car is charging.

Don’t worry, I’m sure Elon will find a way to integrate those charging networks with the screens inside his cars to show you ads there too. What’s better than showing ads on a small screen at a gas station? Showing ads on a big screen inside an electric car that charges for 5x as long!

I'll then have pretty good standing to ask how they got into my garage in the first place. :)

Electric charging takes long enough that you don’t want to stick around, right? No captive audience for this type of ad.

I promise you, this is coming to charge stations too.

Not my charging station. That would be a neat trick.