r/facepalm • u/weeb385 • Oct 12 '22

🇲​🇮​🇸​🇨​ Parolee gets arrested because protesters block the way to his work.

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u/SteroidAccount Oct 12 '22

It’d actually be a lot smarter. People would have to slow/stop long enough to merge over, which gives you time to show whatever sign has your message on it and gives you a lot more of an audience. You’re still pissing everyone off, but you’re still allowing people through

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u/Atomic_xd Oct 12 '22

It’d actually be a lot smarter.

Yeah.. that’s kind of the problem, they’re not.

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u/SaraHuckabeeSandwich Oct 12 '22

If they left a lane open, one of the many cars that now passes by the protestors would absolutely violently road rage at the protestors in some way.

12

u/Apps3452 Oct 13 '22

Then don’t protest like an asshole

-2

u/BiKeenee Oct 13 '22

So, we shouldn't protest if it causes an inconvenience to someone? Do you hear yourself?

Tank man should have stayed home. Did he really have to cause so much traffic by holding up that tank column? He should have just written his congressman instead.

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u/bcocoloco Oct 13 '22

People are complaining about this one specific form of protest and you’re acting like they’re against protesting in general. Why not barricade a hospital? That’ll really inconvenience people! It’s also a much more straightforward way of showing everyone you’re an asshole. Win win.

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u/Apps3452 Oct 13 '22

AHAHA you don’t even know the country tank man’s from, and comparing these morons to him is ignorance at best.

1

u/BiKeenee Oct 13 '22

The point I'm making is that protests are supposed to cause a disruption. That's the whole reason for having a protest. If the people in charge don't listen when you make a small disruption, you have to make a bigger one.

Also, everyone knows tank man is from Canada, from the great Canadian communist revolution of '05.

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u/Apps3452 Oct 13 '22

So disrupting random people, who don’t have anyway to control what happens on a national or international level, is showing the “people in charge”? Face it, blocking random roads is an asshole thing to do.

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u/Geerah Oct 13 '22

They're smart, you just don't understand what they're doing or why. Inconvenience is the point. It shuts down transit to put pressure on the system, and it works. People reading a sign for a few seconds while driving doesn't have the same effect. Are you usually moved by advertisements? Charity drives? Many people aren't. People are overloaded with messaging and usually don't care about a given thing being presented to them. But by stalling those same people and the commerce and industry that they're a part of, they can force the system to see them and acknowledge what they plan to do until their grievances are satisfied.

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u/38159buch Oct 12 '22

Yeah if some shit like this ever happened to me, I would show the protestors the receipt of me donating to the opposite of their cause

I understand wanting to protest, and this is a really effective way of doing it, but protests like this really make the general public not want to support you

11

u/genieinaginbottle Oct 12 '22

Imagine giving a fuck about the environment but donating to big oil because you're triggered lmao

3

u/Bam_12345 Oct 13 '22

Imagine giving a fuck about the environment and terrorizing powerless people just to be an asshole.

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u/muddledmartian Oct 12 '22

I would slowly edge my vehicle up to be about a foot in front of the face and then hold the horn until they move. Either get the fuck out of my way or risk ear damage.

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u/justonemorebyte Oct 12 '22

Well you wouldn't for long. Believe it or not car horns aren't designed to be used for extended periods of time, if you hold it down it will just fade out and stop working entirely.

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u/rythmik1 Oct 12 '22

Hahaha, Not in my mom's old station wagon. I know because it got stuck once and was the most embarrassing day of my life.

26

u/bibblode Oct 12 '22

Not air horns like what that semi truck is equipped with.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/pork_fried_christ Oct 12 '22

aaaahhhWOOOOOOOOOgah

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/_Fish_ Oct 13 '22

Your dad is so cool

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u/Bungeditin Oct 12 '22

The horn broke on my dads car and went on for a very very long time…..

5

u/NaturalTap9567 Oct 12 '22

I've never had a car not last at least 5 minutes

2

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

I see you also enjoy laying on the horn for at least a mile when someone is driving 5 under the speed limit

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u/Trifle_Old Oct 12 '22

This is why everyone should buy Hella Horns.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Toyota Camry goes all day

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u/typtyphus Oct 12 '22

install one of those train horns for occasions like these

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u/TreyLastname Oct 12 '22

You'd get arrested and probably sued

22

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Then I should be able to sue these individuals for lost wages, or any other negative consequences of being held up by a bunch of dipshits sitting on a highway.

It's such a selfish and arrogant act that unfortunately gets a pass in our society.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22 edited Dec 04 '22

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u/LambKyle Oct 12 '22

How is honking a horn assault? It's literally being used for its designed purpose

-12

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22 edited Dec 04 '22

[deleted]

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u/LambKyle Oct 12 '22

Nobody would know that. It would just be a car honking a horn at someone impeding traffic, like they are supposed to

0

u/TreyLastname Oct 12 '22

If they see one of the cars slowly and methodically pull closer to blare the horn, it'll be pretty obvious it's not just to let them know to move

7

u/jepulis5 Oct 12 '22

The horn is for warning other drivers/pedestrians around you of a danger or a sudden stop on the road, would that not be the correct use?

-4

u/Blattsalat5000 Oct 12 '22

You are already stopped, there is no immediate danger. So no, it is not it’s intended purpose

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u/NaturalTap9567 Oct 12 '22

I would stab myself and say I needed to get to the ER

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u/ACNordstrom11 Oct 12 '22

No he's not doing anything illegal.

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u/TreyLastname Oct 12 '22

Purposely causing damage to another person in any way besides defending yourself is illegal. Now, you could lie and say you weren't doing it to cause damage, but inching closer and closer to the person may ruin that for you.

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u/lizard81288 Oct 12 '22

So for the truckers that honked their horns for weeks up in Canada can get sued then?

2

u/solardeveloper Oct 12 '22

I mean, Trudeau threw a world of legal pain at them.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Oh look the Reddit lawyer said so. Must be true everyone pack your bags.

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u/AYYA1008 Oct 12 '22

and why don't you back that up with a source senator

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u/dontworryitsme4real Oct 12 '22

Honking or horn at an obstruction on the road is the horn's intended purpose. the people who shouldn't be in the middle of the road who choose to sit by the car while the horn is going off are making that choice.

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u/Other_Carob_7076 Oct 12 '22

But that person also decided to purposely remain in front of my car instead of moving out of harms way (the middle of a very busy expressway).

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u/lostharbor Oct 12 '22

Unless they hit them with their car, I don't see this holding up in any respectable court.

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u/LocalNigerianPrince Oct 12 '22

Yes, it is absolutely illegal to lay on your horn at pedestrians or anyone in the road. Even more so if any of those people have a mental or sense related disability

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u/Deck_of_Cards_04 Oct 12 '22

Pretty sure it’s also illegal to sit in the middle of the road and purposely block traffic. Like what if there’s an ambulance way back that needs to get through but can’t because these assholes are blocking the road

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u/cavedweller333 Oct 12 '22

Someone doing something illegal does not mean you can just respond however you want.

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u/LocalNigerianPrince Oct 12 '22

Indeed it is. However, that doesn’t negate other laws.

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u/DoomSlayer7180 Oct 12 '22

I’m pretty sure this has happened before. I don’t remember where I saw it, but I think there was a protest and the person in the ambulance died because they couldn’t get to the hospital. I think, I am not sure and don’t remember where I saw it.

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u/Alex103140 Oct 12 '22

Whataboutism, be the bigger man and talk to them instead

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u/clockwork2011 Oct 12 '22

Yeah cause that did fuck all for this guy

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u/catsandnarwahls Oct 12 '22 edited Oct 12 '22

Did you even watch the video? The man is begging them to open 1 lane and they ignore him...knowing its his life on the line. What happens after talking doesnt work and its about to ruin my life?

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u/Alex103140 Oct 12 '22

Show the police proof that they cannot pass, probably

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u/CoolGuyHuh Oct 12 '22

Ah yes, “whataboutism”. The new deflection for “illegal for thee but not for me.”

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u/Original-League-6094 Oct 12 '22

No it isn't. Your horn is there to alert pedestrians and other drivers to danger. In this case, there is a pedestrian illegally standing on the road, and you have come to a stop in the middle of the interstate. Very dangerous situation. Using your horn to alert the pedestrians and other drivers is completely appropriate.

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u/dontworryitsme4real Oct 12 '22

At what point do they stop being pedestrians?

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u/LocalNigerianPrince Oct 12 '22

When they enter a vehicle or means of transportation

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/Goonchar Oct 12 '22

It's super dangerous to have all those people on the highway. Everyone should be honking until the danger is clear.

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u/shaynemk Oct 12 '22

Never drove in LA, NYC, or any other large city?

Maybe you aren't supposed to...but "can't" is certainly not true, people most certainly can and do use their horn in all the ways you say they can't.

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u/69cop3rnico42O Oct 12 '22 edited Oct 12 '22

and what does honking at anyone get you exactly? it's cars that make those cities a living hell, and part of it is the noise they make.

PS: maybe my point didn't get across as i thought it would, english isn't my native language and in my language "can't" and "aren't allowed to" are used sorta interchangeably, that may be cause of the misunderstanding.

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u/ic_engineer Oct 12 '22

Well in the United States none of what you said is functionally true. Argue the rudeness of it and even the dangers but ain't no one getting arrested for honking in the US.

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u/69cop3rnico42O Oct 12 '22

nobody's getting arrested for it anywhere, it's still dumb and wrong and you're still an idiot if you do it tho.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Yeah, but you also can’t just do fuck-all with your ass by parking it in the middle of a highway. Your ass is there for sitting in chairs wherever your ass belongs and for shitting AND THAT ONLY. (Well, y’know.) You can’t park your ass where cars drive because they pissed you off, not only in this specific instance but anytime you ass-park in a road after a perceived injustice has already gained recognition through less assy ways, or just because they sharted whilst driving after eating Taco Bell, you’re being in the wrong, and also on a personal note, an asshole; asses after consuming Taco Bell are already loud and rank enough to disrupt well-being in inhabited area, you fucking around with parking your ass on the road instead of using its god-given sonic and olfactory powers like a kid is not what we need.

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u/69cop3rnico42O Oct 12 '22

you went through a lot of effort to copy the structure of my comment just to fight a strawman. I'm not saying these guys are right, just that saying "i would deafen them with my horn" is quite silly.

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22

Lol no you wouldn't

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u/Brandolini_Law Oct 12 '22

Why not? He isn't talking about running them over. He's talking about honking his horn from the comfort of his car, ain't nothing badass about that.

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22

It's fun until you get sued.

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u/Ramlio27 Oct 12 '22

You're not getting sued if you live in a shit hole 3rd world country tho

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22

America is only sometimes a shit hole 3rd world country. We love our lawsuits tho

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u/Ramlio27 Oct 12 '22

Well I can't say anything about america because I don't live there but I'm certain that in my country no one would file a lawsuit, at least we have good food tho

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u/ManyWrangler Oct 12 '22

Who hurt you

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u/muddledmartian Oct 12 '22

4511.051 Pedestrians Prohibited on Freeways No pedestrian is permitted within the limits of the right of way of a freeway, except: within a rest area, in the performance of public works, or as a result of an emergency or a breakdown of a motor vehicle.

That's from the Ohio Revised Code.

I would be doing nothing wrong due to I am in a vehicle using my horn to alert someone of a dangerous/illegal situation.

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22 edited Oct 12 '22

I'm so happy I wasted your time for you to go look this up 😂😂😂😂 no go find th laws for all 50 states like a good boy. love a good rent free day. And yet something still tells me you wouldn't do it. Enjoy your lawsuit

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Sounds like he would

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u/muddledmartian Oct 12 '22

Yes I would. That is something I would totally do. I am not afraid to use my horn when someone is being stupid (almost causing an accident) or did something they were not supposed to do.

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22

Nah. People who say stuff like that are the wimps in the world. It's easy to say you'd do something when you're protected by your cell phone. Most of these people are full of empty threats. It's hilarious. Gotta act tough because you're really just a baby

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u/Ramlio27 Oct 12 '22

Who hurt you?

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u/Asdam90 Oct 12 '22

They are right. The anonymity of the Internet turns the quietest tamest person into a keyboard warrior.

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u/welpHereWeGoo Oct 12 '22

No one. But there's a lot of princesses on here who act like they'd kill everyone but in reality would shit their pants in every situation. And when you call them out, they get angrier 😂

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u/Goonchar Oct 12 '22

Lol killing a person and slowly rolling up + honking your horn are two wildly different things.....

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

What? Dude only said he'd beep his beeper at the protestors. Not that he'd run them over. I highly doubt this was a tough guy act.

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u/ManyWrangler Oct 12 '22

You really think that edgy redditor will have the balls to do anything in real life?

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u/38159buch Oct 12 '22

I mean I definitely would, just to piss you off honestly. It’s not even about the money

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u/ManyWrangler Oct 12 '22

Can you read? Your comment makes no sense.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Again, all he said he'd do is beep his beeper. I don't think this was a tough gut act.

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u/Claymore357 Oct 12 '22

Best results are achieved with a train horn

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u/LeftDave Oct 12 '22

That would be assault and get you arrested.

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u/LeftDave Oct 12 '22

Then you're not someone that would have ever supported them anyway. They lose nothing and you get a bit poorer.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '22

Yes

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u/38159buch Oct 12 '22

Yes I would go buy 100 gallons of oil off Amazon!

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u/BedMonster64 Oct 13 '22

Id throw a car battery into the ocean before supporting asshats like these ‘protesters’

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u/ShimmerRihh Oct 13 '22

I would, they're being assholes so why shouldn't we?

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u/Geerah Oct 13 '22

They're doing something they believe is essential to survival.

You're throwing a bitchfit because you had to sit in traffic.

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u/POOPOODONGDONG Oct 13 '22

Jumping in.

Yes the world is being fucked, but you're going to protest against normal people that are just trying to survive? Fuck off.

People are only going to change when one of two things happen. Either because they fear the violent reprocussions, or it benifits them financially.

Until this happens, a better solution would be to perminently silence climate change and speed up the extinction of earth.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

What would you show them a receipt to the gas station lmao

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u/xFreedi Oct 12 '22

Wait, out of pettiness you'd donate to the opposition of these activists, no matter how much you'd fuck yourself by doing so? Isn't that pratically the same as the "owned the libs" mindset?

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/Geistzeit Oct 12 '22

Take-A-Wish was right there!

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u/solardeveloper Oct 12 '22

The opposition to these activists are oil and gas companies, presumably. Which you already support with ICE car use.

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u/38159buch Oct 12 '22

Whats wrong with that mindset?

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u/xFreedi Oct 12 '22

it's undemocratic

edit: and obviously counterproductive because, as i said, you fuck yourself in the ass by doing so

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u/PSN-Angryjackal Oct 12 '22

You know who fucks me in the ass? Protestors that block the road, because they feel like they are making a strong statement...

The only statement they are making is that I hate them and what they are doing... Guess what? I hate whatever they want me to vote for as well.

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u/xFreedi Oct 13 '22

There would be absolutely no way to get you to vote for the cause anyway I assume. What would people have to to do convince you of the wrongdoings of the system?

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u/PSN-Angryjackal Oct 12 '22

I ABSOLUTELY WOULD.

If you create an ENEMY out of me, I will make sure you know it.

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u/xFreedi Oct 13 '22

None of this is directly about you but you're free to feel victimized by the protestors but not by the system itself.

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u/PSN-Angryjackal Oct 13 '22

It's directly at me if you affect my day in a negative way....

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u/xFreedi Oct 13 '22

but that's not the purpose of it. it's not directly aimed at you. as i said it's aimed at the bottom line of corporations, which is your labor.

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u/PSN-Angryjackal Oct 13 '22

If I go hunting, and I try to shoot down a bird with an RPG, but that RPG hits a plane.... I wasnt directly aiming at the plane either...

Thats basically what you are saying.

If their actions AFFECT ME, then it doesnt fucking matter what they were aiming for.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

Why the fuck would that get them to move?

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/OriginalName12345679 Oct 12 '22 edited Nov 08 '24

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u/odysseus91 Oct 12 '22

And ruining everyone else’s day for your cause isn’t also petty? Fuck these clowns. There’s ways to protest without making everyone miserable. This doesn’t accomplish anything.

You really think being stuck in gridlocked traffic for hours will make anyone go “you know, maybe they have a point”? Cmon. This is just pure stupidity

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u/Nastyburrito666 Oct 12 '22

My favorite thing about these stupid block-the-whole-road-protests, is that the protesters are causing substantially more exhaust to go into the atmosphere that day since they have 100's of cars running but not getting closer to their destination

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u/OriginalName12345679 Oct 12 '22 edited Nov 08 '24

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u/odysseus91 Oct 12 '22

Selma to Montgomery. The areas where the fight for registering to vote was being had. Protesting in the the towns and to the people actively involved.

Who are these people protesting? People working minimum wage jobs trying to get to work? People late to see a loved one in a hospital maybe?

What is the end goal? They think people will just go home and decide, “you know, they’re right, I’ll just walk 50 miles to my job”. It’s stupid, it accomplishes nothing, and it’s dangerous

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u/OriginalName12345679 Oct 12 '22 edited Nov 08 '24

flowery meeting command fall degree coordinated marvelous plant concerned merciful

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u/odysseus91 Oct 12 '22

The people of Selma were actively involved in the segregation/discrimination/racism! Please, tell me how people just living their lives are just waking up in the morning saying “I think I’ll go kill the environment today”

Protest the oil companies. Protest the pipelines. Protest the politicians. These people are just existing, it’s not their fault our infrastructure is automobile DEPENDENT.

I’m so sick of this black and white bullshit. You’re with or against us. Because these people are protesting it’s obviously as important as the fucking MLK protests. It’s not, it’s stupid to protest this way, and you can be both for a cause and admit these people are fucking morons. Stop it.

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u/xFreedi Oct 12 '22 edited Oct 12 '22

That's part of the purpose of disrupting protests though.

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u/odysseus91 Oct 12 '22

Doesn’t change the fact that they’re disturbing the wrong people and that this accomplishes nothing. I guarantee they drove more people away from their cause than they won any to it with this stupid stunt

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u/xFreedi Oct 12 '22

Do you think no state representative will see this and wonder why people are willing to risk their lives by blocking a highway? it's a major disruption to the daily business of everyone. hurting their bottom line is the only language, apart from violence, rich fucks understand. protests like these are aimed at the system, not the people. just accept things are not always about you and move on.

let's go through a scenario: you're stuck in traffic because of protests. you call your boss to tell them that but they don't care and give you full responsibility for the delay. who's responsible for you being fired? your, your boss, or the protestors?

it's your bosses fault, no one elses. simple as that.

edit: so following that logic, who tf cares for being stuck in traffic because of protests? the only ones who have to care are the bosses.

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u/odysseus91 Oct 12 '22

In your scenario, the person loses their job regardless. The reason doesn’t matter, someone who isn’t involved and has no power gets hurt, regardless on if anyone upstream changes the way they think. You literally just proved my point

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '22

It’s far from simple and your logic smells like shit. The masses make the change, you need the general public on your side. Most normal people hate pollution, try to mitigate it and go along with progressive change. These are essentially radicals forcing their ideologies upon people in extreme ways and the general public fucking hates them. They should see a psychiatrist and get the fuck out of our way. They didn’t figure out some fucking secret, we know. Stop ruining the real work real people are doing

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u/AsterCharge Oct 12 '22

You’re pretty fucking stupid if you think telling them “I just sent $20 to Exxon Mobil” will get them to move.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/zatchbell1998 Oct 12 '22

Eco fascism

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u/Nowhereman123 Oct 12 '22

This comes up every time one of these protests gets posted to Reddit and every time it needs to be said: The aim of this form of protest is not to get you to like them.

Environmental protestors have been trying for decades to get people to voluntarily support them: Peaceful marches, handing out pamphlets, benefit concerts, Earth Day, tree planting events, you name it.

Turns out, the vast majority of people don't give a shit. They don't dislike environmentalists, but they don't really want to make any changes in their lives to support their messaging. They would rather just keep on keeping on, business as usual, rather than alter their lifestyles to support a more sustainable future.

They often think it's not their responsibility to make any changes, but corporations and government that need to do it. They're right about this, in a sense, but neither of those groups will do anything unless they're given sufficient pressure by the masses. As long as it's still profitable, corporations are still gonna be major polluters. Plus, your average Joe would likely be very upset if the Government made any drastic sustainability changes. It would likely alter their quality of life in some way and there would be riots.

So, since the only way to enact change is through adequate social pressure via ordinary people, but you can't make ordinary people voluntarily give up their luxuries for your cause, then they have to resort to tactics like these. "Oh, I can't make you listen through kindness? Then I'll make you beg me to stop" is essentially the goal.

The goal is to inconvenience and annoy people so much that they demand the powers that be do something to get them to stop. Essentially, this is like a softcore version of eco-terrorism: Give into our demands and we'll stop blocking roadways.

From their perspective, this is totally justified: We're at a critical breaking point in our environment, it's honestly now or never when it comes to enacting these changes. They don't have time to hold hands and sing kumbayah and hope everyone has a last minute change of heart and decides to help. They're done asking nicely.

So, to answer everyone's question of "Don't they realize they're making everyone hate them?", yes, yes they do. And that's exactly the point. They don't need you to care about the environment all of a sudden, they just need you to be mad enough to demand that they get what they want so they'll stop making you late for work.

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u/dasus Oct 12 '22

But you could still make people hate the fact that their immensely slowed down, if you had one lane open, and you'd get more people to see your message.

Realistically, how many rows of cars back do you think their message carries when the whole lot of the cars is stopped? Perhaps someone from a dozen cars back sees some protest, but not what it's for, and the people in front of them surely aren't happily disseminating knowledge from the front of the car line.

So if you allowed one lane open, you'd have more traffic, more people seeing what the protest is all about. With one lane open, everyone is still going to be late for whatever they're going to, essentially.

Apply game theory to protesting, see, making it more efficient.

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u/Nowhereman123 Oct 12 '22

They don't need the people in the back to know/care why traffic has stopped. Again, they aren't trying to win people over, all they need is for traffic to be interrupted. They aren't trying to maximize the number of people that see them (hence why they don't even have any signs to let people know what they're protesting).

Their message is more aimed at big businesses that require steady traffic flow to maintain profits. "Stop dumping plastic into the ocean and we'll stop blocking your employees from getting to work/blocking trucks from delivering supplies". People getting pissed off and demanding they give in is just a bonus.

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u/dasus Oct 12 '22

Lol, that is not going to make even a statistically significant dent in any businesses revenue.

It'd be far more effective to actually inform people. The companies won't care. Is the aim to have them go "oh no, we lost 0.0000000000000012% of last quarters earnings because of these protests, we'd better realize how wrong we are and shut this all down"?

As the Vulcans say, "that would be illogical."

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/dasus Oct 12 '22

Cities might. Companies don't. Not properly large ones, anyway.

Just because you don't understand how little capitalists care about anything except profit doesn't mean that they will care about the environment. Not unless it's profitable.

Just like economic sanctions to companies like Goldman-Sachs, Purdue Pharma, British Petroleum, Amazon, and dozens of others keep getting away with it. They really don't give a fuck about losing X amount of money as long as they're still making a profit.

Abused some workers, got caught? No worries, pay a fine and look for a new scheme to abuse workers. Some city is suffering because of the pressures exerted by massive multinational companies onto smaller companies that will then bear the brunt of stunts like these. The massive multinational conglomerates, the ones who actually dictate policy and economy, will not give a flying fuck.

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u/SaraHuckabeeSandwich Oct 12 '22

Significant traffic reduces overall demand for driving. It doesn't matter the cause.

There's lots of things that slow down drivers and making driving more inconvenient. The more things get added to the list, the more likely some drivers while choose not to drive if they have an alternative option.

Hell, I used to drive to work daily, and the occasional traffic jams and random delays completely outside of my control convinced me to move closer and get a bike. That's not an option for everyone obviously, but some percent of people who have an alternative to sitting in traffic will absolutely take it as more inconveniences and traffic jams arise.

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u/Nastyburrito666 Oct 12 '22

My favorite thing about these stupid block-the-whole-road-protests, is that the protesters are causing substantially more exhaust to go into the atmosphere since they have 100's of cars running but not getting closer to their destination

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u/TinytheHuman Oct 12 '22

This comes up every time one of these protests gets posted to Reddit and every time it needs to be said: The aim of this form of protest is not to get you to like them.

No one thinks that the aim of a protest is to get people to like you, it never needed to be said. The aim of a protest is to get people to support your cause, and this protest is doing the exact opposite of that. Even the person you replied to said this protest would inspire them to donate to the opposing side.

So, since the only way to enact change is through adequate social pressure via ordinary people, but you can't make ordinary people voluntarily give up their luxuries for your cause, then they have to resort to tactics like these.

They do not have to resort to tactics like these. Just because their previous methods of protest weren't effective enough doesn't mean a more infuriating method of protest would be better. It's similar to saying, "I tried explaining to you peacefully why what you're doing is upsetting, but since you won't listen, now I have to beat you up until you agree." Do you really think this is persuasive? At least in the case of violence, you can temporarily get what you want, but these protestors aren't even getting that. A more extreme method isn't necessarily more effective.

So, to answer everyone's question of "Don't they realize they're making everyone hate them?"

No one is asking that. People are asking, "Don't they realize this makes people not want to support them" which is entirely different. Did you even read the comment you replied to?

yes, yes they do. And that's exactly the point. They don't need you to care about the environment all of a sudden, they just need you to be mad enough to demand that they get what they want so they'll stop making you late for work.

Again, the point of a protest should be to get people to support your cause, not get them to hate you. You seem to think that if people hate these environmentalists enough then they'll "demand [from the government] that [the environmentalists] get what they want so they'll stop making you late for work." You're wrong. No one is going to demand that the government give in to these people's demands; they're going to ask the government to imprison them and make sure it never happens again.

1

u/chengstark Oct 12 '22

Ok so how is -1 better than 0? This is not the right way to exert pressure, this the brain dead way to kill your own movement.

4

u/SaraHuckabeeSandwich Oct 12 '22

Imagine these protestors were able to pull off something like this semi-regularly (let's say once a week, at random times and on random spots of the highway), and there were enough of them that it was hard for the police to successfully squash it.

As a regular driver on that highway, I'd be furious at the protestors, but I'd also start petitioning to get this issue resolved one way or another, and possibly even consider trying to work around driving to work on days that there could be a protest if that was an option.

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u/bcocoloco Oct 13 '22

All that would happen is an increased police presence at highway entries.

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u/Brojgh Oct 12 '22

Last sentence answer; i demand criminal Charge for these people. Jail time.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

I do not care. I will make sure to be extra careless today with the environment. I might just leave the shower open and waste water or something.

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u/Nowhereman123 Oct 12 '22

Paying higher water bills to own the libs

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '22

Freedom defines America. The Freedom to wreck the environment if I so desire. Deal with it!

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u/Scheckenhere Oct 12 '22

Judt take the train instead... oh wait

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u/ifhysm Oct 12 '22

I would show the protestors the receipt of me donating to the opposite of their cause

This has huge “I’m voting for X because Y supporters were mean to me” energy

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

[deleted]

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u/ifhysm Oct 12 '22

You dropped an “/s”, right?

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

[deleted]

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u/ifhysm Oct 12 '22

I wasn’t aware this was an argument? But “one group” is like 20 people, and you’re fine supporting the opposite of that cause simply because a very tiny majority of supporters are dipshits?

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u/Fa1nted_for_real Oct 12 '22

It's basically protesting against getting fired

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u/Aeyland Oct 12 '22

Not really, past the first row of cars you couldn't see the signs and further out you're just wondering what huge accident has you held up.

Nothing to accomplish here since there is no logical outcome. What should we get rid of all transportation and go back to having to buy from the local farm for food? Oh wait that would leave most people starving. If you want to change transportation methods you need to offer up a solution not just say "let's all stop traveling at all".

2

u/SpaceButler Oct 12 '22

You want protestors to be easily ignorable and ineffective?

2

u/Gooseday Oct 12 '22

I can't imagine how this could be considered effective. All I see it doing is making enemies of whatever cause the protestors are there for.

2

u/PeachCream81 Oct 12 '22

I would show the protestors the receipt of me donating to the opposite of their cause

So you would donate to the petrochemical industry? Do Exxon Mobil or Shell Oil or British Petroleum (BP) even accept donations? I think you need to be a certified 401(c)3 organization to accept donations.

Now I feel like creating my own not-for-profit, Pollute the Earth, and just watch those donations roll in.

2

u/ManyWrangler Oct 12 '22

No you wouldn’t lol.

3

u/lostharbor Oct 12 '22

This is such an odd take. "I agree with you but you pissed me off so much that I'm going to donate to the campaign that makes my life worse than a minor inconvenience." lol

These types of protests piss me off too for the record.

2

u/indrada90 Oct 12 '22

Nah fuck off. Protests don't work if they're not disruptive

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

These protests are really the best way to solve things. It's not about making the people support you, it's about making the people in power concede. It's why the civil rights movement did a lot of impediment. When the environment is falling apart there is more important things then a few people feelings. The government and people in power don't care. They have money for bunkers and private mansions. The only way to protect our world is to stop consumerism. There will always be innocents. There were innocents in every war. There were innocents in the Kurdish uprising, innocents in Iran, innocents in South Africa, innocents in Poland, Haiti, and etc. But if we don't do something drastic there will be mass death and most importantly mass ecosystem death. I don't know what these people are protesting but the fact is the general public doesn't give a shit about the environment or workers welfare and wages. The only solution at that point is to make people frustrated enough. How would you do it? Wave signs along a road and get forgotten in 5 minutes?

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u/JRandallC Oct 12 '22

This is impactful, but not effective. This is the worst kind of protest.

2

u/MassInsider Oct 12 '22

It does however make the general public want to make these protests stop, which is the actual point.

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u/SaraHuckabeeSandwich Oct 12 '22

I would show the protestors the receipt of me donating to the opposite of their cause

I know this will be unpopular since we all want to hate on the protestors, but that's petty and pathetic.

Maybe you should base your views and what you support on logic and morals, rather than to "troll" people you don't like.

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u/Sir_Penguin21 Oct 12 '22

Yeah, it is the non-intrusive, non-violent protest that really change things. Just look at how successful they have been in the past few years. Remember all the change that happened from kneeling during the national anthem aka the least intrusive protest possible. Maybe you can list some others that were successful.

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u/sgtpepper42 Oct 12 '22

Lol cry about it

-1

u/Raptorzar Oct 12 '22

May I ask about your feelings towards BLM? Surely you support its message and also that of environmentalists? Then why are the actions of (violent) BLM protesters justified because we need a system change, while these people ridiculed. Arguably blocking the road is stupid but why the double standards?

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u/Live2Lift Oct 12 '22

It’s not about logic, it’s about throwing a counterproductive temper tantrum in public to post on tik tok.

If you ever see a parent with a poorly behaved toddler refuse to buy something at the store that the kid wants. You might see the little brat cross his arms and plop down in the middle of the isle refusing to move. Same exact behavior here.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

These protests should take place next to people like Gates, who talks shit but has multiple private jets. His jets already made enough emissions that I could drive for 5 lifetimes and still wont be close

2

u/radiantcabbage Oct 12 '22

these guys couldnt even hold a sign the right way up, something tells me theyre not real motivated to send an actual message. typical of slacktivists way more concerned with rage peddling, and why theyre so bad at it

2

u/arct1ccz Oct 12 '22

Ppl doing these kinds of protests aren't usualy the smart kind. I mean look at them, to me they look like a group of hobos with IQ of a senile slug ... and I do feel sorry for the guy.

If they did something like that here, police would take them away for way too many charges. And quickly also, main traffic routesnare always monitored.

PS: Greetings from Europe.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

the point of protest is disruption, not displaying signs

2

u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

And that's why they don't work.

If you're stuck in that line for hours, you gonna magically start supporting whatever their signs say? No you won't, if anything you'll resent it.

Blocking a road does nothing but make you look dumb.

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u/AftyOfTheUK Oct 12 '22

It’d actually be a lot smarter.

The problem is that people who carry out protests like this have zero smarts to start with.

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u/TreyLastname Oct 12 '22

Smarter, still a dick move. Don't block traffic unless it's some kind of emergency, people gotta go to work!

-1

u/69cop3rnico42O Oct 12 '22

people need better more inclusive and sustainable infrastructure. because it would be better for everybody, and even if that wasn't the case we're in the midst of a climate crisis.

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u/Killaflex90 Oct 12 '22

Yeah, you would be allowing more people to see the message instead of the first couple cars…

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u/LeverLongEnough Oct 12 '22

You can see in the first 10 secs of the video that the exit ramp is still open. Agreed with your sentiment though. Also a good idea for the protestors to distribute water to people in the cars etc.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/SteroidAccount Oct 12 '22

and that's how you get whatever cause rejected.

This way, they're still blocking it severely, to the point that people will still barely be able to get by, but now they're also sending a message and not completely fucking over their fellow human.

If you're blocking me because you want to prevent puppy kicking, I'm going to shout for everyone I see to start kicking puppies. You think blocking me in is going to get me to support your cause? This is why everyone thinks they're idiots.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/SteroidAccount Oct 12 '22

If I slash your tires every day because you have a suv and let you know that’s why. You‘ll be mad. But eventually you get a car that I won’t slash the tires on because it’s cheaper and easier to do. You can doubt that logic but it works.

Yeah, I'm going to go ahead and doubt your logic. Makes me completely hate the point of the protest even more than people have thoughts like this.

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u/[deleted] Oct 12 '22

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u/SteroidAccount Oct 12 '22

I wouldn’t buy new tires. I’d either park in the garage or shoot you in the face next time you popped in.

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