Selling plasma to be a bridesmaid: Journalist Kathleen McLaughlin interviewed more than 100 people who were paid to donate their plasma, a liquid component of blood. Among the interviewees, one woman said that she sold her blood plasma for $800 (which was six donations) in order to pay for the expenses attached to being in a wedding party. (Dress, travel, etc.)
While the subplot here is that the expectations around wedding culture are wild and pricy, it’s not the most upsetting part of this story. The real plot twist is that around 20 million people might be selling their blood plasma a year, especially among college students (to pay for their education), the working poor (to keep up with inflation), and Mexican citizens (to supplement wages). You can make a few hundred to $800 dollars a month.
It’s noble—you’re saving lives. My issue is that it’s become a multibillion dollar industry where many are putting their bodies through a physically taxing procedure to make ends meet.
Desks designed for caregivers: Last year, a picture of a workstation that doubled as a playpen for babies and children went viral. The multi-functional furniture, which was implemented at a public library in Virginia, was designed for parents who needed to get some work done and use the internet but also, at the same time, had to take care of their kids.
It’s amazing, and it should be available and affordable across all major furniture stores.
"At first, we were surprised to see them go viral and some of the impassioned responses online," Barbara Weedman, the director at the library, told Insider. "But then we understood that people with small children were happy to feel seen and considered in a public space."
Don’t learn about death from the movies: We should be paying more attention to experts in end-of-life care. It’s an inevitability, and it doesn’t have to be so mysterious or taboo.
In fact, a few years ago, I made my friends play a board game preparing us for death. It was not depressing (I made a playlist and had snacks) and it made us, a group of twentysomethings, really think about our mortality and end-of-life wishes.
More recently, I read an article centered on insights and advice from palliative care and hospice professionals. Specifically, what we get wrong about death. A decade ago, I’d probably actively avoid these types of headlines. A future me problem. Now, I actively dive in, and I actually feel comforted in my new knowledge. Maybe you will, too.
Can you tape away your face wrinkles? TikTok is basically the Wild West of health and beauty tips. In the same scroll, you can get a cute little dopamine makeup tutorial and also how to apply tape to your face to avoid aging.
As with any advice on TikTok, consult the experts. In this explainer on whether taping your facial skin can reduce signs of aging, my feeling is: Come on.
I understand we live in an age where we demonize wrinkles at increasingly younger ages, but aging is okay! A wrinkle is okay. Do you want to spend a chunk of your beautiful, precious life tediously applying scotch tape to your forehead for minimal results?
“The main takeaway is that it will not prevent wrinkles from forming. I don’t think that the benefit from these is worth the irritation,” plastic surgeon Craig Lehrman, MD told Verywell. “Using it for an event or a photo shoot to stimulate a facelift is one thing, but for just general use, it’s not worth it.”
