| ▲ | doodaddy 8 hours ago |
| > Instead of the clear, itemized pricing system that passengers currently rely on, airlines could hide fees until later in the booking process… They call what we have now “clear”? Where when looking at a page of flights I don’t know how much the multitude of economy/economy+/economy++/premium economy/business/business++ seats will cost until I click on each flight? Where every carrier offers slightly different variations of these seats such that I can’t cross-shop on Google Flights? Is that the clear and transparent system the airlines are complaining about? |
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| ▲ | kindatrue 4 hours ago | parent | next [-] |
| Those are all optional fees. What they want is a return to the old pre-Obama days where all the taxes and mandatory fees (government and stuff they made up) were only displayed at check out. Kind of like resort fees on hotels. |
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| ▲ | code_for_monkey 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| yeah, now imagine when its even worse |
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| ▲ | caycep 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | it was worse in the 80's-90's...I guess the past few years of enjoying refunds was not meant to last... | | |
| ▲ | OhMeadhbh 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | It absolutely was not worse in the 80s. Unless you mean more expensive. Yes. It DEFINITELY was more expensive. When I booked through a travel agent or over the phone with the airline, the fees were pretty transparent. I sorta feel for the airlines here because before deregulation they had to commit to unprofitable routes before they realized HOW unprofitable they would be. That cost was spread over the profitable routes and ultimately everything was more expensive. But... oh man... remember when you could get on a flight where only about 25% of the seats were filled and the food wasn't great, but was free? I remember being able to lift the arm-rests on seats up and stretch out and take a nap on the plane. Those were the days. Before American's MD/SD-80s started falling out of the sky, I would fly out to DFW from SJC each week and it was delightful. And baggage handling systems are much better than the 80s. It's been 5 years since an airline has lost checked luggage for me. But of course, it's been 5 years since I checked luggage, so who knows? I really miss Yamato 宅配便 from when I lived in Japan. Americans really don't know how to travel correctly. Meh. The dollar is probably going to be devalued soon so the dream of air travel for the typical American will likely only be in the rear-view mirror. We'll all be lost in wistful nostalgia about the time when normal people could afford air travel. So... SOME things were worse in the 80s/90s. Not all things related to traveling. | | |
| ▲ | Telemakhos 2 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > It's been 5 years since an airline has lost checked luggage for me. It hasn't even been two weeks for me, although my luggage arrived the next day. I remember on Slashdot hearing the advice of always packing a firearm (even a starter pistol) in checked luggage when traveling domestically—not only is it legal, but the BATFE gets involved if the airline loses your luggage, so the airline is very careful not to lose your luggage. | |
| ▲ | ardit33 3 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | No sure why this comment got downvoted. The 90s were more of no hidden fees at all. You paid the ticket, and that's it. Usually 2 baggages were included in the flight (standard), and food was free. US inland trips had crappy snacks, and some soda, but international ones all had food and drinks, including alcoholic ones. Prices of tickets were more expensive for sure, so air travel was more of a luxury. The era of the hidden fees started during the late Bush era, and with the advents of online booking, and with the rise of the 'cheap airlines' like RyanAir, Spirit, etc... They had hidden fees as part of their busisness model. The larger carriers started following suit with more restricitons for the cheapest base tickets (no luggage) and more fees for things that used to be included before. This is completely different from the 90s, which you paid and things were more upfront. | | |
| ▲ | caycep 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | I could have gotten my decades wrong. I just remember not being able to get refunds by default, and then it was a glorious past several years where JetBlue and southwest would automagically refund my tickets back to my credit card. |
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| ▲ | Mistletoe 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | I’ve seen the movie Brazil and I wish more people had so they would have voted better. | | |
| ▲ | dfee 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazil_(1985_film) Looks interesting! | | |
| ▲ | pstuart 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | It's a must watch movie -- there's multiple editions and you should watch the directors cut. | | |
| ▲ | lisper 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | I know that "me too" comments are frowned upon, but I really feel the need to chime in here. Brazil is my favorite movie of all time. It is eerily prescient. It's important to keep in mind while watching it today that it was made forty years ago. And yes, the director's cut. Absolutely the director's cut. |
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| ▲ | nyc_data_geek1 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Is your form stamped? There's no stamp on it. | | |
| ▲ | thombat 8 hours ago | parent [-] | | This is your receipt for your husband. And this is my receipt for your receipt. | | |
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| ▲ | scrps 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Don't forget the inverse can happen, like when tech-bros read sci-fi and end up thinking Bad Thing is a good idea... :| | | |
| ▲ | herval 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I love/hate how many people in tech watched Black Mirror and went "that's a great idea! I'll build that" | | |
| ▲ | MangoToupe 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | I see the causality as reversed: the show is based on extrapolating current tech trends to produce near-future dystopian sci-fi. |
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| ▲ | bryanrasmussen 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | geez, can you people stop tearing down the torment nexus for just one minute! | | |
| ▲ | MurkyLabs 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | Ah yes, the Torment Nexus from the popular sci-fi book, "Don't build the Torment Nexus!" |
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| ▲ | smt88 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | I'm not sure why you think that would've helped. A lot of the people who won't shut up about 1984 and Ayn Rand still vote for the closest thing to monarchy they can find on their ballots. | | |
| ▲ | mr_toad 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | In the end they will lay their freedom at our feet, and say to us, "Make us your slaves, but feed us." | | |
| ▲ | forgotoldacc 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | We're at a point where people would be glad to starve if they think it pissed someone else off. | | |
| ▲ | recursive 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | I think most of them would say that right up until they could actually feel the hunger. People spend hundreds of dollars on drugs that just make them less hungry so they eat less. So I don't think so. |
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| ▲ | wat10000 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Some people see "don't tread on me" as "don't tread on people," while others see it as "don't tread on ME specifically." | | | |
| ▲ | ReptileMan 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Okay - democrats will push us in 1984 dystopia where they force you to accept that reality is what they tell you, and republicans will push us in low life high tech Cyberpunk dystopia where corporations reign supreme. Choose your poison. | | |
| ▲ | raddan 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Which reality is that? The real reality? Admittedly real reality is a pretty bitter pill at times. | | |
| ▲ | jacobgkau 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | Maybe the one where biological sex is imaginary. Or the one where Biden's health is good enough for another four years. You pick (or keep looking the other way and losing, to the detriment of far more important issues). | | |
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| ▲ | buellerbueller 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | oh, like that classic Democrat line "tylenol causes autism"? | | |
| ▲ | ReptileMan 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | We are talking about the same hepatotoxic compound that is absurdly easy to OD on but it gives negligible relief on stuff you should just power trough? That anecdotal - is barely better than a pacebo? Personally - I think that the two main drivers of autism are people having kids later and too high rates of smart people intermarriage. Of course Trump should not have said Tylenol, but paracetamol. And there are some very mild hints in the data that they are correlated, but not enough sigmas. And of course it could be Tylenol and something else with which ot interacts. And autism is so hard to be linked to anything because of how big the umbrella is and that we have such high delay to diagnosis that we will never know. Not taking medications when not really necessary is probably a good precaution principle | | |
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| ▲ | wartywhoa23 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | [flagged] | | |
| ▲ | red_rech 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Sure, but what then? The people would rather slaughter each other than reject their favorite entertainment personalities. | |
| ▲ | carefulfungi 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Everyday I think to myself, "Biden and Trump sure do govern exactly the same - I can hardly tell anything changed!" | | |
| ▲ | tialaramex 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Assuming you felt the /s tag was superfluous I'm with you. Change is the only constant in the universe, if you only want different then voting really was a waste of time, that you are getting for sure. | |
| ▲ | CPLX 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Odd comment on an article that is a specific detailed example of a distinction between the two approaches. | | |
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| ▲ | wat10000 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Where did these regulations come from that they're trying to roll back now? | |
| ▲ | nerdponx 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | "Voting doesn't work" is a right wing authoritarian propaganda lie. Don't fall for it. | | |
| ▲ | googlywoogly 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | The right wing very vocally and openly calls for votes every election. In countries like the US and Canada voting is very obviously a scam - you get to vote for a few preselected candidates, and what determines the winner is actually the media and special interests who decide how much and what kind of coverage a candidate gets. Then, after the election, whoever wins just serves the special interests and is free to go back on every promise they made (and they always do). If you look at Canada (probably US too), every federal government for the last ~50 years, regardless of party, has had multiple corruption scandals involving various types of fraud and embezzlement of public funds. The RCMP, who are meant to investigate this, are top-down directly controlled by the PMO, who are free to block or shut down any investigation - and they do so routinely. There have been essentially zero punishment or repercussions for anyone involved and the scam continues. | | |
| ▲ | brendoelfrendo 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | Perhaps the GP comment was too US centric, but in the context of US politics, you can't really both-sides this argument or say that the right-wing are the champions of free and fair elections. The Republican party is by far the leader in voter suppression tactics, including closing polling places; restricting or banning mail-in or absentee voting; restricting who is allowed to vote; calling for partisan election observers; claiming fraud and abuse when they lose, in spite of a lack of evidence; and gerrymandering. On the last one, I don't dispute that the Democratic party also engages in gerrymandering, but it's hard to say that Democrats have been even close to as successful in that regard, and Republican gerrymandering is currently in the news as several states appear to be redrawing their voting districts specifically to benefit Republicans. | | |
| ▲ | googlywoogly 5 hours ago | parent [-] | | > you can't really both-sides this argument or say that the right-wing are the champions of free and fair elections. Those are like two opposite statements, and I think you missed the whole point of my comment. You think you're in some noble partisan fight where your side are the good guys. In reality both sides work closely together to maximally fuck you over, while your cheer one of them on for some reason. | | |
| ▲ | brendoelfrendo 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | No, I'm far too cynical to believe that anyone has my interests at heart. But I will acknowledge one side as being openly anti-democratic while the other is merely spineless in the face of opposition. My opening statement being contradictory was, admittedly, my fault. I couldn't tell if you were trying to champion the right wing or if you were trying to build a both-sides argument, so I tried to cover both bases. And that just made me look silly. | | |
| ▲ | googlywoogly 2 hours ago | parent [-] | | Both parties are very openly very anti-democratic and very corrupt. They openly sabotage and attack their own candidates if they don't fall in line (Bernie Sanders is one of MANY examples). They are pretty openly corrupt (look at Biden and family, look at all of the insider trading, etc), and pretty openly serve special/corporate interests like the military industrial complex. They constantly lie and try to misinform voters - which so very anti-democratic. If you think one side is not anti-democratic, all that means is that you drank too much side-favoured coolaid. |
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| ▲ | ahmeneeroe-v2 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| This is a pro level feature set. I don't think most flyers feel bilked that they can't do this. Absolute price sensitivity (meaning bottom line, not "cheapest business class") is the factor for most people and that is easy to see on any of the flight search engines. |
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| ▲ | bluGill 4 hours ago | parent [-] | | For most perhaps, but I want to know what I'll really pay. I already know I'm going to check luggage (or not, but now that I have kids and am going for longer vacations checked bags is not something I'll do without), so I want to see the price with checked bags. Likewise I know I'm willing to pay for the legroom of economy plus (the rest of my family doesn't care, though my kids are soon hit their final growth and soon will). I've just added $1000 to my actually price, but all I see is the per person ticket price with no options... There is a reason I took Amtrak last vacation. Too bad they doen't go do where my next vacation will be. |
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| ▲ | lumost 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Not to mention the lack of standards on leg room/entertainment packages/food quality for any of the above combinations on any airline! |
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| ▲ | SpaceNoodled 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I literally don't fit in certain carriers' seats because my legs are longer than their seat pitch. | |
| ▲ | ahmeneeroe-v2 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | You want regulations on in-flight entertainment packages?? | |
| ▲ | FinnKuhn 4 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | At least Google flights shows you an estimate for the airline | |
| ▲ | supertrope 4 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | You can always buy an economy plus ticket. | | |
| ▲ | jacobgkau 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | The point wasn't minimums, it was that you don't even know what an "economy plus ticket" will get you since it's not standardized. |
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| ▲ | BeetleB 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| What airlines are you searching on? Whenever I search (admittedly mostly on Southwest), I get everything up front. |
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| ▲ | JustExAWS 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| Well rule #1 is never to book a flight on a third party travel portal. When things go wrong, you now have to deal with the travel portal and the airline. |
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| ▲ | jghn 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Many people will do things like use Google Travel to narrow down an initial set of potential flights based on times & cost, and then go to the individual airlines from there to book things. The GPs post is still a problem in this scenario. | | |
| ▲ | AdamN 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Kayak has a flag to limit tickets shown to only those sold by airlines. That's the way to go. | |
| ▲ | scarface_74 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | That seems like a Google problem because of a poor interface. Unless you want each airline to standardize their offerings. Even then their would be differences based on loyalty programs, which airline you have a credit card for etc. The legislation nor the regulations were geared toward third party aggregators. |
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| ▲ | trzy 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Google Flights isn’t a third party portal! It takes you directly to the airline web site to book. It attempts to estimate the fare price but that’s becoming increasingly difficult with variably priced seats and other “gotcha” expenses that get figured in deep into the booking flow. | | |
| ▲ | khuey 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | For domestic flights, perhaps. It routinely refers me to third party OTAs for the cheapest prices on flights to less common international destinations. | |
| ▲ | scarface_74 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | And in that case, this was never regulated by the government. The airlines shouldn’t be responsible for how their products are presented on a random aggregator. |
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| ▲ | lotsofpulp 8 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] |
| If each flight leg is a different price, how can the website show you the total until you select both (or all) legs? |
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| ▲ | sjm-lbm 6 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | FWIW, at least as of today, American Airlines' website attempts to show you round trip prices. When choosing your outbound leg(s), they show a price inclusive of the cheapest return journey on the day you selected to return using the class of service on your outbound leg. So, there's all sorts of ways for it to be incorrect - maybe you want a different class of service, maybe the cheapest return has a stop but you'd like the direct, etc. - but it's still really useful for figuring out the best options for your flights. | |
| ▲ | gertlex 6 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Kayak.com does it... it's very much a UX choice of whether to show combinations of flights at a given "level" (economy/main/1st class) or instead dedicate the space to showing the prices at all levels, and only show a flight at a time. | |
| ▲ | nostrademons 5 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | They usually show you a minimum, then have you select each leg, with the price for that leg fully displayed. | |
| ▲ | nerdponx 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | That doesn't mean it's not opaque and complicated. | | |
| ▲ | terminalshort 5 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | "We can't tell you the exact price because you haven't told us what you want to buy yet" isn't opaque or complicated. | |
| ▲ | lotsofpulp 6 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | The context is making pricing more opaque than it needs to be in order to earn more money. I don’t understand how it could be made simpler, unless you want every flight to cost the same, which is stupid. Hence the complaint does not make sense. |
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| ▲ | xenator 8 hours ago | parent | prev [-] |
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| ▲ | Aurornis 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > Every time I paid by cache on oil stations. Sometimes my car was half empty, sometimes it was almost full, but I expected long run. And every time amount I need to pay was completely unpredictable. How is this any different than filling up a car in any other country? Gas stations post their prices outside. You should get a feel for how many gallons are going into the tank when it’s half full or mostly full. The pump shows the price in real time as you’re pumping. You can stop whenever you want. I’m having a hard time believing your story because it’s so clear what your price is by the second as you pump. Also FYI: You could have walked into the gas station and asked the attendant for “$20 on pump #3” and then pump #3 would only dispense $20.00 of gas before stopping. > I had very strong aftertaste that USA as part of the Western Civilization at this moment built on top of hidden slavery, Gas stations charging by the gallon is slavery? What? I’m having a hard time believing this comment is real and not just some “America bad” thing. You can’t honestly equate paying for gas to slavery or act like paying by the gallon only happens in the United States. | | |
| ▲ | imgabe 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | > paying by the gallon only happens in the United States It does. In other countries they pay by the liter and it's also much more expensive unless you're in the middle east. | | |
| ▲ | lupusreal 3 hours ago | parent [-] | | There is no meaningful difference between paying by the gallon and paying by the liter. |
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| ▲ | ericmay 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | If you drove your car across 17 countries in Europe would you expect to pay the same at every station you come across? I don't think what you're saying is even the norm within European countries, is it? | | |
| ▲ | bc569a80a344f9c 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | I suspect it’s something about how often in the US, taxes are added to the displayed price at the cash register. That’s not true in Europe, and is jarring when visiting or moving here. However, this doesn’t apply to gas stations in the US. The displayed price is always inclusive of all taxes and fees. I don’t think there are any states in the US where that isn’t true. | | |
| ▲ | Aurornis 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | > However, this doesn’t apply to gas stations in the US Which is why the comment above is illogical. The prices are posted on a big sign outside. The prices are posted in real time on the pump itself. Equating gas stations to slavery can’t be a real comment, can it? This feels like someone who hasn’t been to the United States trying to tell a story about the United States being bad based on how they imagine it working. | |
| ▲ | terminalshort 5 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Which is strange because gas stations are a very notable exception to this rule and the tax is all included in the posted price. |
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| ▲ | JackFr 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Exactly. States in the United States are more than just administrative districts. in the case of the first thirteen states, the predate the federal government. Each one has its own elected government. They have their own criminal and judicial system, as well as their own tax regimes. Apart from the tax regime though, some states are home to large refineries which produce gasoline and many states don't. The distance you are from the point of production of the gasoline also comes into play. | |
| ▲ | anal_reactor 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Big difference is that prices shown include all taxes and other fees. | | |
| ▲ | ghaff 7 hours ago | parent | next [-] | | Filling up at a gas station in the US (or buying booze or many other food/drink items at a store I guess) actually are cases where the advertised price actually is the price. (OK, some gas stations have member rewards prices but you still know up front.) | |
| ▲ | mgkimsal 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | petrol is one of the few things we buy that has tax built in. you pump $23.72, that's exactly what you pay. You prepay with cash - you're having to estimate what, say, $15 will get you. Delta of $2.80/gal vs $3.30/gal - yeah, it's a bit different, but nothing is hidden. Sales tax on literally everything is fairly different state to state (and within sometimes) but petrol is a major daily thing that is tax inclusive. | |
| ▲ | bc569a80a344f9c 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | Gas station prices in the US are always inclusive of all taxes and fees. One of very few products where this is true. |
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| ▲ | tshanmu 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | you would know before consuming how much you would end up paying. not so in the land of the free. | | |
| ▲ | thesmtsolver 7 hours ago | parent [-] | | Only if you can’t multiply two numbers or if you can’t monitor a digital gauge that literally shows how much it will cost. I suspect the person above hasn’t even travelled to the US. | | |
| ▲ | jeltz 6 hours ago | parent [-] | | Yeah, if he had he would have known the gasoline is one of the few things in the US where the pricing is fully transparent. |
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| ▲ | some_random 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Gonna be honest, I think you're just lying. There is a giant sign outside every gas station with the exact price per gallon of gas including tax. As you pump, there is a display with the exact cost of what you have pumped. It's one of the few cases where the cost is completely transparent. | |
| ▲ | zitterbewegung 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | Each gas station in America does two things. One they take delivery of gas and they have to factor this with the future price of gas which requires one piece of data to setup the price of gas. The other piece of data is that they determine the price to also factor in demand which is obvious for them. Thats primarily why you can't predict gas prices. They can mess this up this easily. | |
| ▲ | wat10000 7 hours ago | parent | prev | next [-] | | What a bizarre example. Gas in the US is priced about as transparently as it is possible to be. There isn't even the thing where you have to add sales taxes on to the posted price, like there is with most other things in the US. Every single station has the total price per gallon, inclusive of all taxes, on a giant sign. The amount you pay is literally the number of gallons you pumped multiplied by that number. If you're going to make up stories, at least do five seconds of research first to make it vaguely plausible. | |
| ▲ | kortilla 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-] | | You didn’t know how to pay for gas so you felt like you were in a country built on hidden slavery!? |
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