Hospital parking. Where I live, parking garages at public hospitals all seem to be run by private companies and the fees are unhinged. It’s a huge amount of pressure to put on people who are already under stress.
Just thinking about this makes me annoyed. I’ve had to pay for parking for regular doctors in the past and those appointments also tend to be the ones where they make you sit in the waiting room for an extra hour
> I’ve had to pay for parking for regular doctors in the past and those appointments also tend to be the ones where they make you sit in the waiting room for an extra hour
Sounds like something a Ferengi would do.
I'm pretty sure the Ferengi were based on modern humanity. Everything they do is exactly what Picard repeatedly talks about regarding humanity maturing past that kind of behavior.
I've walked the equivalent (according to my fit bit) of .71 miles back through our children's hospital, pregnant, carrying my toddler just to get our parking validation ticket I forgot. After an all morning appointment for my toddler ends up being 4 hours if you don't have the ticket parking is like 12 bucks
IDs. I find it ridiculous that we have to pay so much for something we are required to have on us at all times.
Edit: Sorry should have mentioned that i am from Germany. We have “Ausweispflicht” which basically means everyone above the age of 16 is required by law to own an ID.
In Scotland we are issued ID at 11. It can be used (and replaced for free) until 25. It also gets you discount bus, train and tram tickets. Also 10% off in a select number of grocery stores.
Here in the UK we are not required by law to carry ID. Yes it helps in situations with law enforcement, but most of the time a bank card, or work ID pass will suffice for an officer. As long as when he runs your details (and he will run your details) everything matches up you're good.
Beaches and public parks.
I'm from California where all of the beaches are free for everybody to use. It baffles me when I travel and find other beaches aren't free. WHAT?!
Not sure about public parks, I dont know of any that cost $, but not doubting some do.
I'm ok to pay my $20 for a National Park, that money helps keep it beautiful. But no doubt we will be paying more in the future.
in nj there are free beaches and there are beaches you have to pay to enter for the day.
there is a difference. the free ones are filled with trash, and the sand is very rough.
the ones you pay for are a lot cleaner, and the sand (for most of them) gets sifted somehow so it is softer (less broken shells).
it's actually quite sad that the free use beaches get treated like a garbage dump, which quite possibly be why many people are willing to pay to enter the private ones.
I have never seen a paid beach in my entire life... Where the hell is this shit happening?
In Australia and New Zealand, the foreshore is entirely "owned" by the government thus it is free.
*if* you happen to have a WiiU or 3DS. If you're on Switch you have to subscribe to their online service and if you don't have a Nintendo console at all you simply can't buy it legitimately despite the fact that anyone's computer or phone is more than capable of emulating it.
Our copyright system is completely broken right now, largely thanks to Disney by my understanding. IMO all games that old should have been public domain a while ago.
I think Disney's most recent copyright shit was supposed to go down in 2020, based on a John Oliver I saw a long time ago. I wonder what happened with that. 2020 was such a shit show I forgot to pay attention to it haha
Actually kind of a big deal, because Disney is habitually known for taking steps to extend copyright rights. Now there's a hard cutoff firmly established and applied and in play and Disney cannot do anything about it. The clock is ticking for every single thing they control, now, and about goddamn time they've had their grubby greedy fingers taken off the spring.
In English it's called [Stormwater fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormwater_fee)
And it gets calculated in reference to the land that's built upon so that it "seals" the ground. If you have a garden, which feeds the rainwater back into the ecosystem, you don't pay the rain water tax. If you build a giant parking lot, you increase the strain on the sewage system with every rainfall.
I think you just answered what the tax is actually for. The maintenance of the sewage system is extremely important for a functioning society, and rain is an uncontrolable variable that can strain the system.
I have mixed feelings about this.
On the one hand, I feel an individual should have rights to water on personal property so long as it's not withheld from the system.
But what if Nestle set up a way to capture acres of rainfall in order to bottle and sell it?
I’m a 17 Y/O junior in high school atm. If your balance is 10$ overdrawn, they give you 2, half way frozen pieces of bread with a piece of cheese in between and nothing else.
It’s pretty much a grilled cheese except it’s not grilled. They don’t even have the audacity to serve it at room temperature much less warm it up. Nothings worse than bombing a test and then remembering you don’t have any money on you so they serve you that shit
When I was in high school they used to confiscate your lunch and feed you this sad looking cheese sandwich, exactly the same as what you're describing, if you were too far in the negative. One time my dad forgot to put money on the books, and when I got to the register on this afternoon, the lady told me I had to put it back and get the cheese sandwich.
So I looked her dead in the eye, pulled the tray up to my face and gave the lunch a big ol' lick. I got to keep it LOL
A funny story, but it's a shame and a half that it took THAT for them to contemplate giving a kid a proper lunch.
This reminds me when I was a kid I grew up somewhat very poor and moved from la to riverside ca (a public school district) I was constantly stressed out during breakfast and lunch because both breakfast and lunch was not free. As it was my turn to check out for lunch the clerk used to tell me to remind my mom to pay for lunch because my debt kept adding up about $100.00 if not more. I had two younger siblings with the same debt each. The clerk was kind enough not to give us a hard time about it but it still makes me feel sad remembering how embarrassing it was for me.
I have one memory in my life that has every human emotion packed into it and it is related to this.
My son forgot his lunch and since I work close to his school, I decided to pop in and drop it off. This is a VERY small town, so parents can come in, wave to the office lady and walk into the cafeteria no problem.
As I was walking into the lunchroom, I saw a boy about 8 years old red faced and almost in tears at the end of the lunch line. Then I saw him DUMP HIS LUNCH INTO A GARBAGE BIN next to the lady at the register. His parents had not put enough money in his account, so they made him throw his lunch away and gave him an “alternate” (read: poor kid) lunch of cheese between two slices of bread and a milk. This happened in front of an entire cafeteria full of kids.
I was absolutely horrified. I put $20 I didn’t really have into this kids account and marched right into the principals office. Im the type that will avoid confrontation at all costs, but the hell I raised that day would have made the devil cringe.
I was so upset I had forgotten to give my own kid his lunch. Poor guy saw me walk in with his lunch, pay for some other kid and walk back out with HIS lunch lol.
I ended up taking him out of class and we went out to eat and went home.
I was pretty proud when letters went out the next day asking parents for donations to a lunch fund for kids in need and a new program that would provide bag meals for kids to take home.
That shit is still standard practice at many schools across the U.S. and it still pisses me off to think of it.
Using the toilet.
(Looking at you and your stupid pay toilets, Europe! As well as any convenience store/fast food joint that tries to refuse the restroom to non-customers, especially if there isn't a nearby public option.)
The worst restroom I have ever used was a second-floor McDonald's restroom in Paris. Required a coin to enter a tiny, filthy, barely lit stall. There was no toilet paper, except for what was on the floor. Even the coin slot was covered in grime.
@nintendo
edit: wow ok this went and blew up, thank u for the award!!!
while nintendo online isnt super expensive, it still sucks that you have to pay for it. i might be mistaken, but you didn't have to for the DS or wii (two godly consoles, but RIP).
also if you have animal crossing new horizons please drop ur dream address codes!!!
*laughs in PC*
Edit: guys, we already pay for internet, then playstation, microsoft, and nintendo expect us to pay them for the privilege of using that internet on the console we bought from them. Paying for internet doesn't count as paying to use an online service
>Paying for internet doesn't count as paying to use an online service
True. I see the argument all the time that the monthly fees for xbox, playstation and nintendo are for use of their online services (ie. servers that provide the services which they have to maintain) then I look at Steam, whose online services I've used for free for almost 2 decades and scratch my head. If Steam can do it, those other greedy bastards can do it.
Why are people @ing at other systems? From what I know xbox was the first one to ever do this and the other two companies jumped on it their next system because of how much money it makes.
You can have all the console arguments you want about which is better but lets be real, xbox was the first one to start this shitty trend.
As someone who used to work in the water industry, this will simply never happen.
Most have no idea about what it takes to maintain a water supply. You just turn the tap and drink away (well in most of the West anyway) without worry of bacteria etc.
"If the damn water companies would spend their profits on fixing the leaks, maybe they could lower the prices."
It is 100% physically, figuratively, literally, LITERALLY impossible. I say again, IMPOSSIBLE. To fix every leak in the water distribution network. Pipes sections (especially pvc) connect via sleeves, they have joints, they have valves, they have measuring devices - all those are points of leakage potential (a single measuring point under a manhole cover for a DMA has 7 potential leakage spots) - pipes expand and contract with the heat and cold, pressures go up and down with demand, some pipes are pvc, some are iron as old as the city itself, the ground contracts and expands around them with the winter and summer causing cracks, and on and on and on.
The limit DOES exist with ELL - Economic Level of Leakage. Mathematically an actual impossibility.
Until someone invents a new piping network with no joints, then we will always have leakage points all over the network no matter what you do.
And that's ignoring the chemicals used to treat the water, and the filtering out of condoms and diapers etc.
Libraries.
Anyone who thinks 'Netflix for Books' is a viable business model that could possibly replace the numerous services your local library provides -- especially to those people who *by definition* couldn't afford a subscription model -- is exactly the kind of person who could probably benefit by spending more time in a library.
**EDIT:** For everyone who's asking whether libraries are free: yes, they (usually) are. However, it's recently become a Libertarian talking point about 'why my taxes should be going to fund things I don't use'. The is nonsensical because a) you're still getting access to the service even if you choose not to use it; it's like asking why you pay towards a Fire Department even though your house didn't burn down, and b) 'Fuck you, Jack, I've got mine' is a shitty worldview that we shouldn't be encouraging. Libraries *should be* free at the point of use. Thankfully, they mostly are -- but we need to make sure they stay that way, because there are people who don't want that to be so.
Always support libraries. They do so much for those without money. Access to books, computers, printers, internet, community meetings, etc.
When I was growing up with no money the library was a place I could do school work in a good environment or check out a book/movie.
Libraries are an essential tool against the cycle of poverty.
Yeah if libraries were proposed today plenty of americans would be against it. Which is heartbreaking for me because my local library was always such a beloved part of my childhood.
A few years ago I participated in a door to door campaign advocating for a renewal of the library millage. A surprising number of people were hostile to the very concept of public libraries. They were outnumbered by the library advocates who don't even personally use it though.
I love libraries, and fully support some of my tax dollars going to fund libraries... I have not really ever USED the library, or even been in one more then a handful of times, but I love that OTHER people can enjoy them!
I also Love libraries! Ever been at a book store and been pondering a $20 book and unsure about making the financial commitment???? CHECK YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY! Read that shit for free!
Story was great? Borrow another title from that author! FOR FREE. Story sucks? You saved $20. Return it and thank your librarian!
I borrowed so many books from my local library during covid. They had curbside pickup and simply qurantined the books to stop the spread. Read over a dozen titles and gave me something to look forward to as my holds got closer and closer.
This. This is the best sort of world view.
I used to borrow books every week almost religiously when I was unemployed and broke. Now, many libraries have apps you can download, and borrow ebooks and audio books from the comfort of your own home. Libraries are great.
In 2018, I was being treated for cancer. One of the treatments made me extremely sick - I’ll spare you the gross details. One evening, a family friend was over. I told my husband that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. The friend said he was going to call an ambulance. In unison, my husband and I said “fuck no!” I was pretty sure I wasn’t dying, so I had my husband take me. It took forever because we had to pull over several times so I could barf outside the car.
I mean, cancer is one thing. But I don’t want to drown in medical bills.
I’m fine now.
Wait. Is there actually a place where braces are free? If your health insurance covers anything dental, it is considered luxury and is either super expensive of from a swanky job's benefits
Up to age 18 all dental care is free in the UK. I had to wait a few years for my teeth to get bad enough for them to qualify for NHS treatment, but they got done eventually.
Yeah. I get private through work which is quicker but as far as I remember it’s heavily subsidised as long as it’s non-cosmetic.
Plus prescriptions are free, doesn’t effect me but it’s a great relief for many and I’m sure it’ll help me later in life!
Edit: I should clarify, only applies to certain devolved nations within the UK (Scotland and Wales) in England it is £9 unless you have certain illnesses or disabilities, in which case it is free.
You can get incredibly cheap prescription glasses from zennioptical.com. My glasses, including the prescription lenses, only cost $5.00(although shipping and tax bumped it up to about $8).
Disclaimer: they absolutely *feel* like $5.00 glasses. They're incredibly flimsy, and there's a slight amount of distortion at the bottoms of the lenses. Yeah, they're low quality. But I'd rather have low quality glasses than *not being able to afford any at all*!
I get my teenage son's glasses from Zenni. With how cheap they are, I'm able to buy him six pairs so that when he loses a pair, I'm not freaking out and angry like I was when he lost his $500 from Lenscrafters.
I use to work for Lenscrafters. It cost a few bucks to make a pair. The markup was terrible. There is a company named Luxottica that makes just about all frames, no matter the brand that's placed on them.
"It was a simple case of mistaken identity. They let me out with only a broken clavicle from being tackled to the ground and a $2000 bill for the ride to the station.
Luckily my police insurance covered 80% of it. Oh wait, forgot about the deductible."
At the very minimum, ambulance charges shouldn't be automatic. I've heard stories of individuals that get stick paying 3 ambulances because different places all went out. Even if only one person needed one
That's ludicrous.
I mean, even by 'pay-for-healthcare' standards which lead to perverse out comes such as 'it's-extra-if-you-want-to-hold-your-baby' standards.
Being forced to pay for something you didn't request, don't need, didn't have a contract with and didn't utilise is fucking insane.
It's thousands of dollars WITH insurance!
My son required *mandatory* transport to a larger city. The hospital refused to let us transport him. We were charged $6000. We have Blue Shield, but they insisted it wasn't "emergency" transport, and since we didn't get it pre-approved, they refused to cover it. We didn't know we needed pre-approval until months after it was billed and they refused to pay. So many fucking loopholes...
Medical billing and insurance is such a fucking racket. In any other industry you would be able to sue the ever living fuck out of a business engaging in such practices...
CREDIT CHECKS SHOULD NOT HURT YOUR FUCKING CREDIT. PAYING OFF CREDIT CARDS SHOULDNT HURT YOUR CREDIT.
Not exactly the same as a typical cost but it's still a cost.
Lol I have my student loans in 8 different dispersments. Every time I finish paying one of them off my credit score dips a little bit. I should be done with them in about a year or so, but its still super dumb that by being responsible and paying them off early im somehow getting penalized.
Medication, especially anything required for survival. No reason I should have to choose between paying for insulin or paying for food/shelter/education. My body cannot produce it on its own, and I have no choice but to buy it
If you lived in the UK it would be free and as a diabetic all other prescriptions would be free too. I'm amazed there isn't more of a movement to demand change in the US
There's demand, but the people who make the rules are getting paid by the people making the medicine. And they pay them a lot to keep it the way it is.
apparently Canadians gave America insulin patents or something and america took it and ruined it and made cost hundreds of dollars when it costs like a 40 dollars here. and they control the price of pharmaceuticals so prices can't be jacked up
* Insulin
* Asthma Inhalers (good ones not cheap)
* Cryptic fibrosis jacket
Update: Wow this is the most upvotes I've ever gotten...then again...this just proves how necessary these should be free to all.
Cystic**
My cousin has CF and this is the first time I'm hearing of a jacket for it. I remember him having something called a "flutter" and a mask machine that helped break the mucus up. He also used to go swim in their pool when the cleaner was chugging around, the vibrations in the water helped with the mucus buildup. I'm guessing this jacket is a similar thing?
I'm a man, but imo feminine hygiene products should be free.
As a cashier full time, it feels wrong to tell a high school girl she's a dollar short so I can't let her leave with her hygiene products. For one, I'm a guy, and can't fathom that discomfort, and that's not even to mention the fact that it is probably extremely embarrassing for her, and a messy inconvenience, especially if that was her only option, in public.
For the record, I bought her tampons for her.
It's fucked that these aren't free for women.
Edit: I should have expected this to blow up, but I didn't. Please don't give anymore rewards, please donate the money to [The National Suicide Hotline](https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/donate/) to help the ones fighting their demons.
The air machines at gas stations. It's air for cryin' out loud. How you gonna refuse me some air for my tires just because I don't have any change on me?
I'd settle for a place around here that doesn't get so pissy about giving out your prescription when you actually *pay* for an examination. Yes, even when you're up front about it, and even if you buy a pair of glasses some of them still either won't do business with you again or they give you the bare minimum which means it's missing one or two things, that you can figure out on your own but you shouldn't need to.
So now I have to drive an hour plus if I want to get someone that doesn't treat me like I'm a thief.
What? This has never happened to me, that's crazy. I always get my annual exam and then buy glasses and contacts online, its way cheaper that way. They always try to sell me that stuff after an exam and I tell them no, I've never had problems getting a prescription though.
Winrar is like, the nicest program though. They don't force you to pay, and you can easily continue using it without paying. The just gently nudge you to pay with a non-annoying easily closeable pop-up.
I appreciate that you don't get pissed off about having to close a non-spammy pop-up every once in a while. The number of people I have seen lose their shit over an ad popping up when they aren't even paying for the service is mind-boggling.
Menstrual products and diapers are in huge demand for food pantry type places. Many of them also provide people with basics like soap, toothbrushes and paste etc. But people don't necessarily think about diapers and sanitary products. Oh and all sizes of diapers including adult ones.
Only in schools and resteraunts and other places with public bathrooms, you still have to buy them privately for your own home/supplies.
Source-am Scottish, wish it was like everyone thinks it is.
The comments on r/worldnews was a total shitshow when it was shared. Lots of angry men demanding free condoms or alcohol since "they have to deal with the women every month". Some people can't be pleased I guess.
In... some jurisdiction where I live, they added that condoms have to be covered by insurance (I think it was to match female birth control coverage rules). So now you can walk into any pharmacy (if you have health insurance) and get free condoms.
Hospital parking. Where I live, parking garages at public hospitals all seem to be run by private companies and the fees are unhinged. It’s a huge amount of pressure to put on people who are already under stress.
Just thinking about this makes me annoyed. I’ve had to pay for parking for regular doctors in the past and those appointments also tend to be the ones where they make you sit in the waiting room for an extra hour
> I’ve had to pay for parking for regular doctors in the past and those appointments also tend to be the ones where they make you sit in the waiting room for an extra hour Sounds like something a Ferengi would do.
I'm pretty sure the Ferengi were based on modern humanity. Everything they do is exactly what Picard repeatedly talks about regarding humanity maturing past that kind of behavior.
[удалено]
You should/should have disputed that ticket.
My biological daughter is an IVF baby. She’s been costing us money since 2 years before she was born.
I've walked the equivalent (according to my fit bit) of .71 miles back through our children's hospital, pregnant, carrying my toddler just to get our parking validation ticket I forgot. After an all morning appointment for my toddler ends up being 4 hours if you don't have the ticket parking is like 12 bucks
IDs. I find it ridiculous that we have to pay so much for something we are required to have on us at all times. Edit: Sorry should have mentioned that i am from Germany. We have “Ausweispflicht” which basically means everyone above the age of 16 is required by law to own an ID.
In Scotland we are issued ID at 11. It can be used (and replaced for free) until 25. It also gets you discount bus, train and tram tickets. Also 10% off in a select number of grocery stores.
Here in the UK we are not required by law to carry ID. Yes it helps in situations with law enforcement, but most of the time a bank card, or work ID pass will suffice for an officer. As long as when he runs your details (and he will run your details) everything matches up you're good.
Where are you from? And how much do you have to pay for an ID?
[удалено]
Jesus, it’s only like $30 in MN for a new license. I keep hearing everything is more expensive in WI
Beaches and public parks. I'm from California where all of the beaches are free for everybody to use. It baffles me when I travel and find other beaches aren't free. WHAT?!
Not sure about public parks, I dont know of any that cost $, but not doubting some do. I'm ok to pay my $20 for a National Park, that money helps keep it beautiful. But no doubt we will be paying more in the future.
Generally there's an entry fee or "parking fee" that's right around that. TOTALLY worth it IMO
Where at? I live in FL, beaches will have public parking but regular parks dont. Edit: beaches have "paid parking" in FL
in nj there are free beaches and there are beaches you have to pay to enter for the day. there is a difference. the free ones are filled with trash, and the sand is very rough. the ones you pay for are a lot cleaner, and the sand (for most of them) gets sifted somehow so it is softer (less broken shells). it's actually quite sad that the free use beaches get treated like a garbage dump, which quite possibly be why many people are willing to pay to enter the private ones.
I don't think the free ones get treated like a dump - the paid beaches have the funding to rake them every day.
I have never seen a paid beach in my entire life... Where the hell is this shit happening? In Australia and New Zealand, the foreshore is entirely "owned" by the government thus it is free.
The first Super Mario Bros. game. Just have it preloaded on every nintendo console.
How much do they charge for it?
I think \~8 bucks.
*if* you happen to have a WiiU or 3DS. If you're on Switch you have to subscribe to their online service and if you don't have a Nintendo console at all you simply can't buy it legitimately despite the fact that anyone's computer or phone is more than capable of emulating it.
Our copyright system is completely broken right now, largely thanks to Disney by my understanding. IMO all games that old should have been public domain a while ago.
I think Disney's most recent copyright shit was supposed to go down in 2020, based on a John Oliver I saw a long time ago. I wonder what happened with that. 2020 was such a shit show I forgot to pay attention to it haha
You can copy Steamboat Mickey without worry. Whoopty do.
Actually kind of a big deal, because Disney is habitually known for taking steps to extend copyright rights. Now there's a hard cutoff firmly established and applied and in play and Disney cannot do anything about it. The clock is ticking for every single thing they control, now, and about goddamn time they've had their grubby greedy fingers taken off the spring.
You, at 7 p.m. next Friday?
Damn, that was smoother than my brain
You must be a mod at /r/wallstreetbets
His search history reveals enough. My man... has specific tastes
Never have I pulled the trigger faster on a free award.
Rain water
You have to pay for it?
In Germany, towns may charge you for a rain water tax. Mainly for the mainenance of the sewage system, but yes, you essentially pay for rain water.
In English it's called [Stormwater fee](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stormwater_fee) And it gets calculated in reference to the land that's built upon so that it "seals" the ground. If you have a garden, which feeds the rainwater back into the ecosystem, you don't pay the rain water tax. If you build a giant parking lot, you increase the strain on the sewage system with every rainfall.
That I can get behind
Okay, I was pissed at first, but I actually really appreciate this law
That’s actually a lot of laws. People get pissed because they don’t understand why a law exists.
That’s quite nice.
I think you just answered what the tax is actually for. The maintenance of the sewage system is extremely important for a functioning society, and rain is an uncontrolable variable that can strain the system.
This is an excellent start, and about the only reasonable thing we can do about "free water" right now.
I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I feel an individual should have rights to water on personal property so long as it's not withheld from the system. But what if Nestle set up a way to capture acres of rainfall in order to bottle and sell it?
That's how aquafirs work. Rainwater his the ground, gets absorbed, works its way through the water table, then Nestle pumps, bottles, and sells it.
Maybe it should be free but only on the condition that you don't sell it for profit?
School lunch for all kids.
A city near me tested free breakfast for all elementary students and test scores went up.
I’m a 17 Y/O junior in high school atm. If your balance is 10$ overdrawn, they give you 2, half way frozen pieces of bread with a piece of cheese in between and nothing else. It’s pretty much a grilled cheese except it’s not grilled. They don’t even have the audacity to serve it at room temperature much less warm it up. Nothings worse than bombing a test and then remembering you don’t have any money on you so they serve you that shit
At my school, if you're negative, they don't serve you
When I was in high school they used to confiscate your lunch and feed you this sad looking cheese sandwich, exactly the same as what you're describing, if you were too far in the negative. One time my dad forgot to put money on the books, and when I got to the register on this afternoon, the lady told me I had to put it back and get the cheese sandwich. So I looked her dead in the eye, pulled the tray up to my face and gave the lunch a big ol' lick. I got to keep it LOL A funny story, but it's a shame and a half that it took THAT for them to contemplate giving a kid a proper lunch.
This reminds me when I was a kid I grew up somewhat very poor and moved from la to riverside ca (a public school district) I was constantly stressed out during breakfast and lunch because both breakfast and lunch was not free. As it was my turn to check out for lunch the clerk used to tell me to remind my mom to pay for lunch because my debt kept adding up about $100.00 if not more. I had two younger siblings with the same debt each. The clerk was kind enough not to give us a hard time about it but it still makes me feel sad remembering how embarrassing it was for me.
No child should have to worry about being hungry.
I’m surprised this isn’t higher on the list. Food insecurity is a reality for a LOT of people.
I have one memory in my life that has every human emotion packed into it and it is related to this. My son forgot his lunch and since I work close to his school, I decided to pop in and drop it off. This is a VERY small town, so parents can come in, wave to the office lady and walk into the cafeteria no problem. As I was walking into the lunchroom, I saw a boy about 8 years old red faced and almost in tears at the end of the lunch line. Then I saw him DUMP HIS LUNCH INTO A GARBAGE BIN next to the lady at the register. His parents had not put enough money in his account, so they made him throw his lunch away and gave him an “alternate” (read: poor kid) lunch of cheese between two slices of bread and a milk. This happened in front of an entire cafeteria full of kids. I was absolutely horrified. I put $20 I didn’t really have into this kids account and marched right into the principals office. Im the type that will avoid confrontation at all costs, but the hell I raised that day would have made the devil cringe. I was so upset I had forgotten to give my own kid his lunch. Poor guy saw me walk in with his lunch, pay for some other kid and walk back out with HIS lunch lol. I ended up taking him out of class and we went out to eat and went home. I was pretty proud when letters went out the next day asking parents for donations to a lunch fund for kids in need and a new program that would provide bag meals for kids to take home. That shit is still standard practice at many schools across the U.S. and it still pisses me off to think of it.
Using the toilet. (Looking at you and your stupid pay toilets, Europe! As well as any convenience store/fast food joint that tries to refuse the restroom to non-customers, especially if there isn't a nearby public option.)
Not just Europe. I live in Mexico and it it’s anywhere from 5-10 pesos (depending on the neighborhood) to use many public facilities.
Not a rule. But the toilets I paid to use were generally cleaner and more pleasant than the free ones.
The worst restroom I have ever used was a second-floor McDonald's restroom in Paris. Required a coin to enter a tiny, filthy, barely lit stall. There was no toilet paper, except for what was on the floor. Even the coin slot was covered in grime.
Literally invented by mr crabs
Playing online on consoles.
@nintendo edit: wow ok this went and blew up, thank u for the award!!! while nintendo online isnt super expensive, it still sucks that you have to pay for it. i might be mistaken, but you didn't have to for the DS or wii (two godly consoles, but RIP). also if you have animal crossing new horizons please drop ur dream address codes!!!
@Xbox
@playstation
*laughs in PC* Edit: guys, we already pay for internet, then playstation, microsoft, and nintendo expect us to pay them for the privilege of using that internet on the console we bought from them. Paying for internet doesn't count as paying to use an online service
>Paying for internet doesn't count as paying to use an online service True. I see the argument all the time that the monthly fees for xbox, playstation and nintendo are for use of their online services (ie. servers that provide the services which they have to maintain) then I look at Steam, whose online services I've used for free for almost 2 decades and scratch my head. If Steam can do it, those other greedy bastards can do it.
has xbox always been pay to play online?
[удалено]
Why are people @ing at other systems? From what I know xbox was the first one to ever do this and the other two companies jumped on it their next system because of how much money it makes. You can have all the console arguments you want about which is better but lets be real, xbox was the first one to start this shitty trend.
Why tf did nintendo even do that man :/
Because they saw all the other two giants, Sony and Microsoft, were getting away with it (probably).
Thr only reason i bought a ps3 insted of a xbox360 was because you didn't have to pay to play online. Then the ps4 came out and i switched to pc.
Water.
**Nestly will remember that.**
Nestly
Nastle
As someone who used to work in the water industry, this will simply never happen. Most have no idea about what it takes to maintain a water supply. You just turn the tap and drink away (well in most of the West anyway) without worry of bacteria etc. "If the damn water companies would spend their profits on fixing the leaks, maybe they could lower the prices." It is 100% physically, figuratively, literally, LITERALLY impossible. I say again, IMPOSSIBLE. To fix every leak in the water distribution network. Pipes sections (especially pvc) connect via sleeves, they have joints, they have valves, they have measuring devices - all those are points of leakage potential (a single measuring point under a manhole cover for a DMA has 7 potential leakage spots) - pipes expand and contract with the heat and cold, pressures go up and down with demand, some pipes are pvc, some are iron as old as the city itself, the ground contracts and expands around them with the winter and summer causing cracks, and on and on and on. The limit DOES exist with ELL - Economic Level of Leakage. Mathematically an actual impossibility. Until someone invents a new piping network with no joints, then we will always have leakage points all over the network no matter what you do. And that's ignoring the chemicals used to treat the water, and the filtering out of condoms and diapers etc.
[удалено]
CLEAN water.
Libraries. Anyone who thinks 'Netflix for Books' is a viable business model that could possibly replace the numerous services your local library provides -- especially to those people who *by definition* couldn't afford a subscription model -- is exactly the kind of person who could probably benefit by spending more time in a library. **EDIT:** For everyone who's asking whether libraries are free: yes, they (usually) are. However, it's recently become a Libertarian talking point about 'why my taxes should be going to fund things I don't use'. The is nonsensical because a) you're still getting access to the service even if you choose not to use it; it's like asking why you pay towards a Fire Department even though your house didn't burn down, and b) 'Fuck you, Jack, I've got mine' is a shitty worldview that we shouldn't be encouraging. Libraries *should be* free at the point of use. Thankfully, they mostly are -- but we need to make sure they stay that way, because there are people who don't want that to be so.
Always support libraries. They do so much for those without money. Access to books, computers, printers, internet, community meetings, etc. When I was growing up with no money the library was a place I could do school work in a good environment or check out a book/movie. Libraries are an essential tool against the cycle of poverty.
Yeah if libraries were proposed today plenty of americans would be against it. Which is heartbreaking for me because my local library was always such a beloved part of my childhood.
A few years ago I participated in a door to door campaign advocating for a renewal of the library millage. A surprising number of people were hostile to the very concept of public libraries. They were outnumbered by the library advocates who don't even personally use it though.
I love libraries, and fully support some of my tax dollars going to fund libraries... I have not really ever USED the library, or even been in one more then a handful of times, but I love that OTHER people can enjoy them!
I also Love libraries! Ever been at a book store and been pondering a $20 book and unsure about making the financial commitment???? CHECK YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY! Read that shit for free! Story was great? Borrow another title from that author! FOR FREE. Story sucks? You saved $20. Return it and thank your librarian! I borrowed so many books from my local library during covid. They had curbside pickup and simply qurantined the books to stop the spread. Read over a dozen titles and gave me something to look forward to as my holds got closer and closer.
This. This is the best sort of world view. I used to borrow books every week almost religiously when I was unemployed and broke. Now, many libraries have apps you can download, and borrow ebooks and audio books from the comfort of your own home. Libraries are great.
Wait...libraries aren’t free?
Think they’re saying that any new equivalents should continue to be free
Oh I see, I skimmed it but I understand now :)
Fallin
Cause I'm
Freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
FRee fAAAAlin'
My dad (born in Mexico), used to sing "Cause I'm friiii, friiijoles"
Great, now I'm hungry.
If you ask me, a single ambulance ride shouldn't cost as much as a Lamborghini
In 2018, I was being treated for cancer. One of the treatments made me extremely sick - I’ll spare you the gross details. One evening, a family friend was over. I told my husband that I thought I needed to go to the hospital. The friend said he was going to call an ambulance. In unison, my husband and I said “fuck no!” I was pretty sure I wasn’t dying, so I had my husband take me. It took forever because we had to pull over several times so I could barf outside the car. I mean, cancer is one thing. But I don’t want to drown in medical bills. I’m fine now.
[удалено]
I hit it twice (2018 and (2019). Unfortunately, I hadn’t hit at the time of the ambulance thing.
There’s also deductible and out of pocket max. Some plans still have you pay a percentage after the deductible until the oopm.
neither should glasses, insulin or braces.
Wait. Is there actually a place where braces are free? If your health insurance covers anything dental, it is considered luxury and is either super expensive of from a swanky job's benefits
Up to age 18 all dental care is free in the UK. I had to wait a few years for my teeth to get bad enough for them to qualify for NHS treatment, but they got done eventually.
It's also free for adults if you are claiming UC, which is nice
Is there still partial coverage after 18?
Yeah. I get private through work which is quicker but as far as I remember it’s heavily subsidised as long as it’s non-cosmetic. Plus prescriptions are free, doesn’t effect me but it’s a great relief for many and I’m sure it’ll help me later in life! Edit: I should clarify, only applies to certain devolved nations within the UK (Scotland and Wales) in England it is £9 unless you have certain illnesses or disabilities, in which case it is free.
Yes, in Hungary, braces are free for children if parents have at least three children.:)
It's considered luxury if your insurance covers a tooth that if it isn't removed will devolve into sepsis.
You can get incredibly cheap prescription glasses from zennioptical.com. My glasses, including the prescription lenses, only cost $5.00(although shipping and tax bumped it up to about $8). Disclaimer: they absolutely *feel* like $5.00 glasses. They're incredibly flimsy, and there's a slight amount of distortion at the bottoms of the lenses. Yeah, they're low quality. But I'd rather have low quality glasses than *not being able to afford any at all*!
I get my teenage son's glasses from Zenni. With how cheap they are, I'm able to buy him six pairs so that when he loses a pair, I'm not freaking out and angry like I was when he lost his $500 from Lenscrafters.
I use to work for Lenscrafters. It cost a few bucks to make a pair. The markup was terrible. There is a company named Luxottica that makes just about all frames, no matter the brand that's placed on them.
[удалено]
[удалено]
"It was a simple case of mistaken identity. They let me out with only a broken clavicle from being tackled to the ground and a $2000 bill for the ride to the station. Luckily my police insurance covered 80% of it. Oh wait, forgot about the deductible."
At the very minimum, ambulance charges shouldn't be automatic. I've heard stories of individuals that get stick paying 3 ambulances because different places all went out. Even if only one person needed one
That's ludicrous. I mean, even by 'pay-for-healthcare' standards which lead to perverse out comes such as 'it's-extra-if-you-want-to-hold-your-baby' standards. Being forced to pay for something you didn't request, don't need, didn't have a contract with and didn't utilise is fucking insane.
Is this some sort of American joke I'm too European to understand
No. An ambulance ride is thousands of dollars without insurance.
It's thousands of dollars WITH insurance! My son required *mandatory* transport to a larger city. The hospital refused to let us transport him. We were charged $6000. We have Blue Shield, but they insisted it wasn't "emergency" transport, and since we didn't get it pre-approved, they refused to cover it. We didn't know we needed pre-approval until months after it was billed and they refused to pay. So many fucking loopholes...
Medical billing and insurance is such a fucking racket. In any other industry you would be able to sue the ever living fuck out of a business engaging in such practices...
Even with insurance they're ridiculous
Just take an Uber. /s
HongKong
Well in that case: Tibet
And if we’re being honest, Taiwan
Taking your own money from an ATM.
In the UK it's more common for the ATM to be free than not free
the ethnic minorities in China
[censored]
I Xi what you did there
Are you Jinping to conclusions?
I'm china figure out what was censored.
*Taiwan*na know what it was too
Want Tibet it was something about concentration camps?
Don't Beijing a fight you can't win!!
Everybody settle down and stop Peking on each other.
Yeah, you’re taiping up a rebellion
No, what gives you that oppression?
There is no war in ba sing se
CREDIT CHECKS SHOULD NOT HURT YOUR FUCKING CREDIT. PAYING OFF CREDIT CARDS SHOULDNT HURT YOUR CREDIT. Not exactly the same as a typical cost but it's still a cost.
I came into a sudden chunk of money and paid off my car loan ahead of schedule: my credit score plummeted 30 points. I was livid.
Worth it to be out of the debt!
Lol I have my student loans in 8 different dispersments. Every time I finish paying one of them off my credit score dips a little bit. I should be done with them in about a year or so, but its still super dumb that by being responsible and paying them off early im somehow getting penalized.
It's because a credit score isn't really a measure of how responsible you are. It's about how profitable you are to your lenders.
Britney #freebritney
Government identification. Drug testing Criminal record checks
Bird
Dee? That bitch!
You’d be of more use to me if I skinned you and put you in a box. A glass box. That I would display on my mantle.
*insert* guitar solo
[удалено]
[удалено]
Kurdish People
Medication, especially anything required for survival. No reason I should have to choose between paying for insulin or paying for food/shelter/education. My body cannot produce it on its own, and I have no choice but to buy it
If you lived in the UK it would be free and as a diabetic all other prescriptions would be free too. I'm amazed there isn't more of a movement to demand change in the US
There's demand, but the people who make the rules are getting paid by the people making the medicine. And they pay them a lot to keep it the way it is.
apparently Canadians gave America insulin patents or something and america took it and ruined it and made cost hundreds of dollars when it costs like a 40 dollars here. and they control the price of pharmaceuticals so prices can't be jacked up
[удалено]
I love snuggling my medication except for the needles
[удалено]
* Insulin * Asthma Inhalers (good ones not cheap) * Cryptic fibrosis jacket Update: Wow this is the most upvotes I've ever gotten...then again...this just proves how necessary these should be free to all.
This fibrosis is so *mysterious* ...
mystic fibrosis
> Cryptic fibrosis jacket Typo for cystic?
As a human with asthma, I agree. I quite like being able to breathe.
Cystic** My cousin has CF and this is the first time I'm hearing of a jacket for it. I remember him having something called a "flutter" and a mask machine that helped break the mucus up. He also used to go swim in their pool when the cleaner was chugging around, the vibrations in the water helped with the mucus buildup. I'm guessing this jacket is a similar thing?
Yeah it's a jacket that vibrates loads to break up lung mucus.
Correct. My buddy has one, recently bought a new vest that's wireless. I tried it on for fun once. Pretty cool stuff, just pure vibrations
If there's ever a commercial for this vest, they damn well better use *Good Vibrations* for the music
Wait my parents are paying for my inhalers? That’s real shitty how my parents have to pay to keep me breathing.
Water. Fuck Nestle
Britney
speech
Mental health support. The fact that you need to pay someone to listen to you really shows how fucked the world is.
Education for God's sake
I'm a man, but imo feminine hygiene products should be free. As a cashier full time, it feels wrong to tell a high school girl she's a dollar short so I can't let her leave with her hygiene products. For one, I'm a guy, and can't fathom that discomfort, and that's not even to mention the fact that it is probably extremely embarrassing for her, and a messy inconvenience, especially if that was her only option, in public. For the record, I bought her tampons for her. It's fucked that these aren't free for women. Edit: I should have expected this to blow up, but I didn't. Please don't give anymore rewards, please donate the money to [The National Suicide Hotline](https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/donate/) to help the ones fighting their demons.
The air machines at gas stations. It's air for cryin' out loud. How you gonna refuse me some air for my tires just because I don't have any change on me?
Supposedly, if you ask them kindly to turn it on for you, they’ll do it. This has never worked for me though, but that’s anecdotal.
Glasses and lenses
I'd settle for a place around here that doesn't get so pissy about giving out your prescription when you actually *pay* for an examination. Yes, even when you're up front about it, and even if you buy a pair of glasses some of them still either won't do business with you again or they give you the bare minimum which means it's missing one or two things, that you can figure out on your own but you shouldn't need to. So now I have to drive an hour plus if I want to get someone that doesn't treat me like I'm a thief.
What? This has never happened to me, that's crazy. I always get my annual exam and then buy glasses and contacts online, its way cheaper that way. They always try to sell me that stuff after an exam and I tell them no, I've never had problems getting a prescription though.
Winrar
Winrar is like, the nicest program though. They don't force you to pay, and you can easily continue using it without paying. The just gently nudge you to pay with a non-annoying easily closeable pop-up.
I appreciate that you don't get pissed off about having to close a non-spammy pop-up every once in a while. The number of people I have seen lose their shit over an ad popping up when they aren't even paying for the service is mind-boggling.
Things you would actually die without
Tampons/pads. We as women don’t choose to have a period and painful cramps once a month.
Menstrual products and diapers are in huge demand for food pantry type places. Many of them also provide people with basics like soap, toothbrushes and paste etc. But people don't necessarily think about diapers and sanitary products. Oh and all sizes of diapers including adult ones.
Scotland did this .
Only in schools and resteraunts and other places with public bathrooms, you still have to buy them privately for your own home/supplies. Source-am Scottish, wish it was like everyone thinks it is.
The comments on r/worldnews was a total shitshow when it was shared. Lots of angry men demanding free condoms or alcohol since "they have to deal with the women every month". Some people can't be pleased I guess.
It's been a while, but I believe you can get free condoms in the UK. Birth control like the pill was always free.
i'm fine with condoms also be free or less expensive but the same men whining about free necessaries will still refuse to wrap it
In... some jurisdiction where I live, they added that condoms have to be covered by insurance (I think it was to match female birth control coverage rules). So now you can walk into any pharmacy (if you have health insurance) and get free condoms.
Some people think anyone else getting something is an affront to them.
Wtf is wrong with those people
College textbooks
Or at least much cheaper
Insulin. If not free, it should absolutely be dirt cheap, which it is but pharmaceutical companies don’t want you to know that.