# How should Lyft respond to recent Uber cuts?



## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

Lyft CEO is in an unenviable position right now. Being second best is never an easy position especially when your main competitor is a ruthless predator with no regards for rules and has made it clear they will pull no stops in their bid to get your jugular. Uber is simply not happy with being the big dog, the want to be the ONLY dog in the ring. Lately, Uber cut prices to an incredibly low rate in most US cities and has targeted Lyft drivers with lucrative sign on bonuses. Also, Uber has way deeper pockets (10 times more cash to be precise). The grapevines has it that Lyft is raising extra money to fund its battle. For Lyft the success or otherwise of their next move may decide their fate forever.
What would you do if you were Lyft CEO? 
Will you lower rates to continue the price war?
What incentives will you offer your drivers to keep them from driving for the competition?
Other than lowering rates, how else will you entice riders that are already offered 20-40% less by Uber?


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## ElectroFuzz (Jun 10, 2014)

Lyft needs to survive the current round of assault somehow
without going head to head with Uber..... I am not sure
if they will make it, it really depends on how long Uber can keep it's current pricing
and how long Uber drivers will keep driving for a loss.


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Luberon said:


> Other than lowering rates, how else will you entice riders that are already offered 20-40% less by Uber?


Easy. Provide better quality.

Uber may be increasing it's customer base with these low rates with a lot of new customers who don't know what Uber quality was like before. But Uber also has a lot of customers who DO remember, and they are typically the ones with business travel expense accounts, which means they don't save money taking a cheaper ride. They are also the customer that made Uber what it is today.

As the quality of UberX drops with quality cars and quality drivers giving up on UberX at the new rates, it opens up the door for Lyft to cater to these customers who pay more (because they aren't really paying for it) and would prefer a quality ride from Lyft instead of the crap UberX is becoming.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

I'm hoping the Lyft driver base, even though increasing and thusly cutting into driver pay time overall remains viable. It's already damn near impossible to get a Lyft fare out of the airport for example now that Uber slashed. Probably cut my best paying gig by 2/3rds in volume. To do these same runs for Uber now results in a LOSS ONLY for me, *so **** that. * What I can't figure out for the life of me is why so many XL drivers here are doing X fares with Uber. It has to be only the guarantees, which is still costing Uber anyway. WTF?! Why doesn't Uber just pay like they were? They're going to lose all these guys anyway when the guarantees come off. Good lord can't they run the numbers?

It's bad enough for the normal X vehicle, but XL?! No way in freakin' hell does Uber pay and we can't opt out here. You either take 'em or get terminated eventually.

Nevertheless there is still enough Lyft business to justify keeping on at this point. If they follow suit with Uber my ride share days will be over instantly. I'm no Lyft pimp but I do like them better for many reasons, primarily because their pax base seems generally 'nicer' and they TIP decently enough.

*As soon as Uber takes off the guarantees or ****s enough drivers out of it, their driver base will be GONE. * This should play out sufficiently in a month or two to find out where the pieces will land. Uber raced to the bottom with driver pay and are bare knuckling it at this point. Uber won.

OR DID THEY?

I'd say they haven't. At least where I'm at.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Luberon said:


> Other than lowering rates, how else will you entice riders that are already offered 20-40% less by Uber?


It's not that much less. The fares here remain seemingly wide apart, somewhere in the neighborhood of 45 cents a mile. But on a short run it's almost imperceptable. Even on a longer run of 10 miles 4 or 5 bucks ain't that big of a deal to the average joe. I think if Lyft wants to survive they cut out their low end slacker drivers, don't take Uber's shitty drivers, and just provides a better experience.

This could clinch it for them without having to move rates lower if the drivers bite the bullet and NOT turn on the Uber app.


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## Tommy Tours (Sep 19, 2014)

If Uber was smart and the better option they should of never reduced their fares. If your superior to your competition then you should never reduce your rates.
Lyft should keep the fares were there at now, don't reduce. Most people don't know the difference.
Lyft needs to get the name out there, it seems they need to advertise more and gey the word out. loose the mustache image, fist pump, change the web page to a little more business like. In NJ get the word out.
Never reduce and go to a lower level. You affect your driver base, but see Uber doesn't give a crap about that,


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## Former Yellow Driver (Sep 5, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> It's already damn near impossible to get a Lyft fare out of the airport for example now that Uber slashed.


This contradicts @UberHammer contention that offering quality will appeal to the business traveler. You're saying it's all about price and the business travelers are not taking Lyft because it's a few cents more expensive.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

For drivers there is little choice but to go with what pays. For customers, it's the reverse, though not always. Most of the remaining Lyft airport runs have been biz customers and they have also tipped well with Lyft. Not big money but hey, 5 bucks is five bucks. Just 2-4 times a day that goes a long way over 20-25 days a month driving.

The net fare on Lyft is also substantially higher than Uber. With XL compared to Plus (same thing) the min. $7 is still the same BUT and this is a BIG BUT, the net to driver is substantially different.

With Uber's $7 fares they knock a buck off the top to $6 then minus 28% for a net $4.32 to driver.

The identical ride with Lyft is $7. minus only their 20% cut for a net to driver of $5.60, 30% higher than Uber.

And do tips make a difference? I thought I was getting burned last night on a couple std. (non Plus) fares that had 6 pax. The net to me on these fares are $4. In both cases they tipped $2, *netting me $6*, higher than a std. Plus fare with no tip and much higher than UberX's standard fare of net *$2.40. *Those same stiffs with Uber really pissed me off and I knew they were stiffing, so I would cancel them. With Lyft I'll deal with it to some extent, which makes for slightly better pax experience as well. I just wish Lyft would get their heads out of their asses and identify Plus and surge/prime time rates in the PING. That's damn near my only complaint about their system, believe it or not. (well, of course there is more, but just sayin.)

Things like this tend to add up to at least a somewhat more positive driver experience.

At this point I wish Uber nothing but a hasty bankruptcy.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Former Yellow Driver said:


> This contradicts @UberHammer contention that offering quality will appeal to the business traveler. You're saying it's all about price and the business travelers are not taking Lyft because it's a few cents more expensive.


I'm saying that Uber's drivers are going straight into the financial shitter as soon as their guarantees expire.

Lyft should just ride this thing out for now. If they are dumb enough to **** their drivers as bad as Uber ****s theirs, they are both going to be dead in the water.


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

I'm probably engaging in wishful thinking on that count but I can't help but think Lyft leaned the lesson by following Uber down too low in Cali (at least in LA) and it maybe didn't work out like it should have for them. I haven't heard much from the Lyft Cali drivers here. Anyone got some feedback from the left coast?


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

Lyft needs to start a stronger marketing campaign...

"Lyft drivers don't rape their passengers." 

"Lyft drivers get rewarded for good service, so they're happy to have you in your car." 

"Lyft drivers don't ***** about Lyft to you, but they'll happily complain about Uber if you'd like to do it with them."


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

Anyone who even breathes Uber will get a short succinct and very memorable attempted death blow from me. Nice part is, it's also entirely TRUE so Uber can kiss my ass if they think they'd have any angles of response to shut me up.


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> Anyone who even breathes Uber will get a short succinct and very memorable attempted death blow from me. Nice part is, it's also entirely TRUE so Uber can kiss my ass if they think they'd have any angles of response to shut me up.


The nice thing is when Lyft passengers complain about Uber, now I get to join 'em and justify their distaste for Uber.

It used to be that I made higher net hourly with Uber by a huge margin because of all the surges and the decent rates. So it'd be hard to join in on Uber bashing with Lyft riders, I'd usually tell them how to be smarter about surge and to use both services. Now surges don't happen and I don't drive for Uber any more, I really hate them. Now I bash with the customer and glorify their decision to stick with Lyft, tell them never to use Uber again. And I DEFINITELY DO NOT mention that Uber lowered rates. Wouldn't want them to think they could save money...

At least until Lyft matches these new rates anyway.2


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## scrurbscrud (Sep 11, 2014)

duggles said:


> The nice thing is when Lyft passengers complain about Uber, now I get to join 'em and justify their distaste for Uber.
> 
> It used to be that I made higher net hourly with Uber by a huge margin because of all the surges and the decent rates. So it'd be hard to join in on Uber bashing with Lyft riders, I'd usually tell them how to be smarter about surge and to use both services. Now surges don't happen and I don't drive for Uber any more, I really hate them. Now I bash with the customer and glorify their decision to stick with Lyft, tell them never to use Uber again. And I DEFINITELY DO NOT mention that Uber lowered rates. Wouldn't want them to think they could save money...
> 
> At least until Lyft matches these new rates anyway.2


Yeah, I'm going to be surprised if Lyft doesn't follow suit. If so, *** 'em both.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

scrurbscrud said:


> Yeah, I'm going to be surprised if Lyft doesn't follow suit. If so, *** 'em both.


Price cuts will be inevitable. The dilemma for lyft is like the mini-skirt thing, they need to cut them short enough to sound attractive to riders and long enough to cover driver demands


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## Raquel (Jan 9, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Easy. Provide better quality.
> 
> Uber may be increasing it's customer base with these low rates with a lot of new customers who don't know what Uber quality was like before. But Uber also has a lot of customers who DO remember, and they are typically the ones with business travel expense accounts, which means they don't save money taking a cheaper ride. They are also the customer that made Uber what it is today.
> 
> As the quality of UberX drops with quality cars and quality drivers giving up on UberX at the new rates, it opens up the door for Lyft to cater to these customers who pay more (because they aren't really paying for it) and would prefer a quality ride from Lyft instead of the crap UberX is becoming.


You can't be serious...Lyft allows cars from 2000. And they don't even have an upscale side.. Believe it or not Lyft is designed to be "cheaper than uber."

Trust me I've ridden in some Lyft cars and most have turned out to be some real beaters.. like a 2000 Chevy cavalier..

Expect Lyft to drastically reduce rates.. to lower than Uber..


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Raquel said:


> You can't be serious...Lyft allows cars from 2000. And they don't even have an upscale side.. Believe it or not Lyft is designed to be "cheaper than uber."
> 
> Trust me I've ridden in some Lyft cars and most have turned out to be some real beaters.. like a 2000 Chevy cavalier..
> 
> Expect Lyft to drastically reduce rates.. to lower than Uber..


Did you even read the question my post was a response to?

I'm not describing what Lyft is. I'm describing what Lyft could do in its battle against Uber.

If Lyft followed suit with Ubers cut, it would go on life support before the end of the year... maybe sooner.


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## Raquel (Jan 9, 2015)

UberHammer said:


> Did you even read the question my post was a response to?
> 
> I'm not describing what Lyft is. I'm describing what Lyft could do in its battle against Uber.
> 
> f Lyft followed suit with Ubers cut, it would go on life support before the end of the year... maybe sooner.


I read what you suggested...but for Lyft to do what you suggest that would mean they would be forced to deactivate half the drivers with older cars..

I'm pretty sure they won't do that..

The most likely is they will cut rates.. to lower than uber..than offer to waive the 20% commision for driving a certain amount of hours..same as now..


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

Raquel said:


> I read what you suggested...but for Lyft to do what you suggest that would mean they would be forced to deactivate half the drivers with older cars..
> 
> I'm pretty sure they won't do that..


Why not? There is a huge pool of drivers so pissed off at Uber they wouldn't even have to pay a bonus to on board them.


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## Former Yellow Driver (Sep 5, 2014)

Raquel said:


> I read what you suggested...but for Lyft to do what you suggest that would mean they would be forced to deactivate half the drivers with older cars..
> 
> I'm pretty sure they won't do that..
> 
> The most likely is they will cut rates.. to lower than uber..than offer to waive the 20% commision for driving a certain amount of hours..same as now..


I seriously doubt whether HALF of Lyft cars are "older" cars. And @UberHammer is correct....there is a huge pool of disenchanted Fuber drivers. Basically....if you can't compete with Fuber on price then compete on quality. Taxi cabs could have kept Fuber to a local SF cool kind of thing if they would have offered better quality than Fuber....even at a higher price point.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Why not? There is a huge pool of drivers so pissed off at Uber they wouldn't even have to pay a bonus to on board them.


Deactivating many drivers at once will ruin Lyft's image as a company that cares about their drivers. Many of those drivers with 2002 volvos helped build a loyal driver and rider base for lyft. Maybe just stick to the strict 4.6 star thing and deactivate any driver who falls short will weed out 10%-ish of drivers and offer bonuses to Uber drivers


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## SDUberdriver (Nov 11, 2014)

ElectroFuzz said:


> Lyft needs to survive the current round of assault somehow
> without going head to head with Uber..... I am not sure
> if they will make it, it really depends on how long Uber can keep it's current pricing
> and how long Uber drivers will keep driving for a loss.


_I will not continue to drive for peanuts ._


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

SDUberdriver said:


> _I will not continue to drive for peanuts ._


My wife wants me to drive for a week and see. Likewise, my gay neighbor says not to knock it until I try it. I think I'd almost rather try the gay thing. Uber already loosened me up a bit...


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## UberHammer (Dec 5, 2014)

UberRey said:


> My wife wants me to drive for a week and see. Likewise, my gay neighbor says not to knock it until I try it. I think I'd almost rather try the gay thing. Uber already loosened me up a bit...


I have to admit, giving out stars after every trip has felt pretty gay.


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## ChrisInABQ (Oct 21, 2014)

UberRey said:


> I think I'd almost rather try the gay thing. Uber already loosened me up a bit...


Well, until you've tried it, you're still suspect!


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## Struggling Actor (Jan 9, 2015)

Uber screwed the drivers and soon themselves with lower rates. I won't take Uber rides unless it's surging! Or until they add a tip option!
What all Uber drivers need is a way for people to tip like on the LYFT App, Riders get a box after the
ride where they can add an optional tip along with their rating, so obviously it can be done and people
can still do a cashless trip. Also many riders falsely believe they are already tipping as they saw an optional 
box on the account page but what most don't realize is that the 20% changeable tip percentage only
applies to Uber Taxi ( Taxi's using uber app for payment like in New York City). So all drivers need to
email Uber and demand a tipping option on the app!!!


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## no more taxi mafia (Oct 15, 2014)

UberHammer said:


> Did you even read the question my post was a response to?
> 
> I'm not describing what Lyft is. I'm describing what Lyft could do in its battle against Uber.
> 
> If Lyft followed suit with Ubers cut, it would go on life support before the end of the year... maybe sooner.


This could be Lyft's only chance to not only survive, but overtake Uber. Consider: it doesn't matter how many customers you have if you can't service them; if your response time goes up due to lack of drivers. Consider the possibilities if Lyft launched a major campaign to get drivers--by raising the rates to $1.50/mile and .40/minute. That would get Uber driver's attention. The other necessity would be to launch a major ad campaign for customers, which drivers could contribute to, coordinated with Lyft HQ. Some subsidy might be needed initially until inroads were made to Uber's customer base. 
'


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## no more taxi mafia (Oct 15, 2014)

Former Yellow Driver said:


> I seriously doubt whether HALF of Lyft cars are "older" cars. And @UberHammer is correct....there is a huge pool of disenchanted Fuber drivers. Basically....if you can't compete with Fuber on price then compete on quality. Taxi cabs could have kept Fuber to a local SF cool kind of thing if they would have offered better quality than Fuber....even at a higher price point.


Ubers' Achille's heel: discontented drivers. Without enough drivers response time goes up. Lyft needs to win over Uber drivers with higher rates and a serious ad campaign.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

I agree Lyft needs an ingenious ad campaign. For better or worse uber is a household name that is in the news every single day


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

no more taxi mafia said:


> This could be Lyft's only chance to not only survive, but overtake Uber. Consider: it doesn't matter how many customers you have if you can't service them; if your response time goes up due to lack of drivers. Consider the possibilities if Lyft launched a major campaign to get drivers--by raising the rates to $1.50/mile and .40/minute. That would get Uber driver's attention. The other necessity would be to launch a major ad campaign for customers, which drivers could contribute to, coordinated with Lyft HQ. Some subsidy might be needed initially until inroads were made to Uber's customer base.
> '


This is equally as stupid. Supply does not create demand. And as Uber has illustrated time and again, they always have a backlog of drivers to onboard and any surge would draw enough drivers soon enough.

Lyft would face a huge oversupply, existing drivers would see earnings plummet from not enough rides. Uber drivers who were swayed to try Lyft will think Lyft has no business, meanwhile, logging back into Uber would result in seeing increased demand, or even surges, due to the lack of drivers.

But again, all that happens only if there are dramatic swings, which the onboarding process of both companies could easily prevent. Changing the supply side will not change the equation here. Only demand. Lyft needs to grow up, market itself to adults and suburbs (the people who currently use Uber but not Lyft primarily) instead of to hippies, hipsters, and college kids who aren't frat/sorostitute ******s (who obviously use Uber, as we know).


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## no more taxi mafia (Oct 15, 2014)

duggles said:


> This is equally as stupid. Supply does not create demand. And as Uber has illustrated time and again, they always have a backlog of drivers to onboard and any surge would draw enough drivers soon enough.
> 
> Lyft would face a huge oversupply, existing drivers would see earnings plummet from not enough rides. Uber drivers who were swayed to try Lyft will think Lyft has no business, meanwhile, logging into Uber would result in either increased supply, or even surges, due to the lack of drivers.
> 
> But again, all that happens only if there are dramatic swings, which the onboarding process of both companies could easily prevent. Changing the supply side will not change the equation here. Only demand. Lyft needs to grow up, market itself to adults and suburbs (the people who currently use Uber but not Lyft primarily) instead of to hippies, hipsters, and college kids who aren't frat/sorostitute ******s (who obviously use Uber, as we know).


Lyft would have to initially offer some guarantee until they quickly get off the ground, combined, of course, with a serious marketing campaign. They would have to offer something of greater quality (how bout high-quality sound systems in cars that they could help subsidize?) and focus on a narrow segment of the market to maximize returns (the under 30s or a specific area).


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## Yuri Lygotme (Jul 27, 2014)

Well we can close the debate: Lyft has lowered its rate yesterday TO MATCH UBER.


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## jo5eph (Jul 14, 2014)

Yuri Lygotme said:


> Well we can close the debate: Lyft has lowered its rate yesterday TO MATCH UBER.
> View attachment 4129


Not here in so. Cali yet.


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## jo5eph (Jul 14, 2014)

Maybe do some serious changes on their marketing. This whole gay looking pink mustache and balloon has to go. I think they are digging themselves deeper with the news of this lousy pink glowing mustache deal they announced. I dont care what crowd it attracts or caters to, but it is a minority. If they dont , it could be another company with a different look that could overtake uber in the future.


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

jo5eph said:


> Maybe do some serious changes on their marketing. This whole gay looking pink mustache and balloon has to go. I think they are digging themselves deeper with the news of this lousy pink glowing mustache deal they announced. I dont care what crowd it attracts or caters to, but it is a minority. If they dont , it could be another company with a different look that could overtake uber in the future.


I agree... the pinky thing may have helped them with an initial loyal fan base but it is hurting their marketing now


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

I find it odd since I spoke to a consultant for Lyft who informed them that the pink thing was a failure in Texas....


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## duggles (Aug 25, 2014)

UberRey said:


> I find it odd since I spoke to a consultant for Lyft who informed them that the pink thing was a failure in Texas....


There's a ****ing surprise. Texans don't dig pink...


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## Luberon (Nov 24, 2014)

UberRey said:


> I find it odd since I spoke to a consultant for Lyft who informed them that the pink thing was a failure in Texas....


To me it seems like a case of corporate arrogance. All those MBAs are too blinded to see it aint working with the average "Joe"


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## Casuale Haberdasher (Dec 7, 2014)

UberRey said:


> My wife wants me to drive for a week and see. Likewise, my gay neighbor says not to knock it until I try it. I think I'd almost rather try the gay thing. Uber already loosened me up a bit...


POST # 36 / @UberRey : ♤♡♢♧ One 
of @chi1cabby 's Posts had an article
on how Lyft "ditched the 'stache" 
MONTHS ago. I guess "So. Cali. Joe"
didn't get the Memo. Must be pix
from a Pride Parade somewhere.

Kudos on the Darth Avatar w/ "AXE".
ROCKIN' THE DFW!


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## UberRey (Sep 1, 2014)

duggles said:


> There's a ****ing surprise. Texans don't dig pink...


Speaking for me, personally, I don't like the pink 'stache. The balloon doesn't bother me. Lyft also is ditching the mandatory fist bump. I'm glad for this, since it feels contrived and completely ham handed. I suggest that pax greet us with a $20 bill, but that's just my personal preference.


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