Characters.get('e', 0) tells python to look for The real key 'e' in the dictionary. If it isn't observed it returns 0. Due to the fact This can be the first time 'e' is passed with the loop, the character 'e' is not really present in the dictionary but, Hence the https://franciscoaavnd.techionblog.com/36492984/getting-my-buy-tinctures-usa-to-work