The powers that be have a vested interest in you being utterly confused by a financial system where a series of simple mistakes can leave you in debt for the rest of your life.
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The one train trip I did from Denver to New York took three days, and at one point, because of a train derailment outside Omaha, we had to spend six hours on a bus. We didn't even arrive in time to get to our final train, so Amtrack bought us plane tickets from Chicago to New Jersey. Most Americans are not comfortable with train travel.