Spoiling a dog with birthday cakes and a fancy bed is easy. Paying to have a sock surgically removed from its stomach can make you question every financial decision you’ve ever made.

A survey commissioned by Healthy Paws Pet Insurance and Money.com asked 1,542 American dog and cat owners about the financial realities of having pets. Some 77% consider their animals practically children, but 76% admitted there’s a price at which they’d consider turning down treatment their vet recommends. For about a third, that limit is under $1,000.

Healthy Paws obviously has an interest in getting people worried about vet bills, given that it sells pet insurance. But the cost of veterinary care is a genuine concern, and other research has found that owners are already skipping treatments they can’t afford.

Pet Owners Are Facing an Impossible Choice as Veterinary Bills Continue to Climb

A PetSmart Charities and Gallup study of 2,498 pet owners found that 52% had skipped or declined recommended veterinary care in the previous year. Among those who passed on care, 71% cited financial concerns.

And veterinary care has gotten significantly more expensive. Prices climbed roughly 43% between January 2021 and January 2026, according to Labor Department figures cited by Healthy Paws. Veterinarian Matthew Murdoch told the New York Post that an X-ray used to cost about as much as dinner for two. These days, he compared the price to a weekend getaway.

The consequences can be heartbreaking. Veterinarians even have a term for euthanizing an animal with a treatable condition because the owner can’t afford care: economic euthanasia. Veterinarian Barry Kipperman has argued that the profession should treat it with the same urgency as a disease that needs preventing.

Pet insurance can give owners another option, but it has its own costs and limitations. In a 2021 University of Melbourne study involving 147 dogs with gastric dilatation-volvulus, a life-threatening stomach condition, insured dogs were less likely to be euthanized before surgery. It’s a small study involving one emergency condition, but the association is hard to ignore.

For some people, the expense of having a pet has gotten so high they’ve had to give up the animal altogether. In a 2024 LendingTree survey, 12% of pet owners said they’d surrendered a pet because they couldn’t afford to care for it. That number was even higher among Gen Z respondents, at 25%.

You can love your dog like a member of the family and still have a mortgage, groceries, and a bank account that can’t absorb a surprise surgery. Building an emergency fund or looking into insurance before a pet develops health issues could help, though neither guarantees you’ll be able to cover every bill.

Unfortunately, dogs have no idea how expensive eating a sock can be.

The post How Much Would You Spend to Save Your Pet’s Life? Here’s Where Americans Draw the Line. appeared first on VICE.

Ordering coffee seems harmless, at least until the person next to you hears what you asked for.

A Talker Research survey of 1,586 American coffee drinkers found that about one in three judge other people by their coffee orders. Some are worried about getting judged themselves, with 23% admitting they have a drink they’ll only order when nobody they know is around.

The things people are putting in their coffee might explain some of the embarrassment. One respondent adds maple syrup and peanuts, while another pours coffee over black tea. Someone else orders a double espresso with five sugars, a teaspoon of butter, extra whipped cream, and caramel syrup. That’s a lot happening in one cup.

Only 14% of those surveyed drink their coffee black. Everyone else reported adding something, whether it’s the usual milk and sugar or ingredients like marshmallows, salt, and honey.

Your Morning Coffee Order Could Be Getting You Judged, and You Might Not Even Know It

There’s also some research that might make black-coffee drinkers uncomfortable. A 2015 University of Innsbruck study found an association between preferences for bitter tastes and certain antisocial personality traits, including psychopathy and everyday sadism. Black coffee was among the bitter foods and drinks examined, but the research didn’t establish that people who drink it have those traits. A later replication attempt also failed to reproduce the psychopathy finding.

People couldn’t even agree on what qualifies as coffee. In the Talker survey, 78% considered a Frappuccino a coffee drink, and 67% said the same about pumpkin spice lattes. Starbucks’ Pink Drink didn’t fare as well, with 69% saying it doesn’t count, which…good, because it doesn’t have coffee. Another 65% rejected the “chaider,” a combination of chai and apple cider. Again, not coffee.

Baristas have opinions about customer orders, too. One former barista told BuzzFeed that “anyone who orders a cortado wishes so badly that they were European.” Others care much more about how customers behave. A barista quoted by Eat This, Not That! said they judged people by how they treated the staff, not what they ordered.

So go ahead and order the maple peanut coffee if it makes you happy. Just say please.

The post Your Morning Coffee Order Could Be Getting You Judged, and You Might Not Even Know It appeared first on VICE.

Telling your parents you want to be an influencer probably isn’t the career announcement they were hoping for. Now you can at least hand them a diploma.

Arizona State University recently launched a bachelor’s degree in content creation through its Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Students learn media production, podcasting, on-camera skills, and how to build an audience. Syracuse, Quinnipiac and Colorado State offer related minors, while St. Bonaventure has introduced a major of its own.

The idea hasn’t exactly won over the American public. A Talker Research survey of 2,000 adults found that 52% don’t consider influencing a legitimate career. Only 32% said they did. A third wouldn’t support their kid pursuing a degree in it, though 43% had no objection.

Age obviously influenced the responses. Nearly half of Gen Z, 49%, considered influencing a real job, compared with 42% of millennials, 32% of Gen X and just 19% of boomers. Some adults were interested in going back to school themselves, with 22% saying they’d consider enrolling.

Want to Be an Influencer? You Can Now Get a College Degree for That.

The survey also asked people to choose between a steady 9-to-5 and having a million social media followers. About half chose the regular job, while 25% wanted the followers. Among Gen Z, that figure climbed to 38%.

Counselor Amy Mosset, founder of Interactive Counseling, told Talker she saw the results as frustration with traditional work. But she also cautioned that “followers are attention, and attention is fickle.”

And having an audience doesn’t mean you’re making tons of money.

NeoReach’s 2025 Creator Earnings Report surveyed over 3,000 creators and found that about half earned under $15,000 annually. Even among those creating content full-time, nearly 57% made less than $44,000 from their content, the report’s benchmark for a U.S. living wage. And unfortunately, you can’t pay your rent in Instagram followers.

The degree, as all others, requires a serious financial commitment. ASU lists approximately $39,000 in annual tuition and fees for out-of-state students in 2026–27, with estimated total expenses exceeding $63,000 before financial aid. Cornell professor Brooke Erin Duffy, who studies the creator economy, told the AP that content creation can be demanding work that doesn’t pay particularly well.

Still, ASU isn’t promising to turn students into TikTok celebrities. The program also teaches skills used in journalism, marketing, and media production, giving graduates career options outside influencing.

People spend a lot of money on degrees that never lead to the jobs they imagined. At least content creation students know they’re entering an unpredictable business.

The post Colleges Are Now Offering Influencer Degrees. But Are They Worth It? appeared first on VICE.

The UK hedgehog has been in the news for a while due to its dwindling population, which has fallen by 30-75% since 2000. In fact, these beloved animals are on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and have been categorized as at risk of extinction in Britain. It is believed the UK now houses fewer than one million hedgehogs.

Thus, a wildlife expert is urging households to leave out between 50 and 100g of food for the prickly little charmers, as such acts of kindness could amount to the “difference between life and death.” This message is being received loudly and clearly, as sources like Wales Online and The Mirror have been dutifully spreading it.

This is a very important time of year to extend a helping treat to hedgehogs, since these typically nocturnal friends will soon be going into hibernation mode. This summer proved unfavorable to them for a number of reasons, including drought, pests, the difficulty of nabbing food from modern gardens, and humans taking over their habitats. Gardening chemicals have likewise proved a menace to the hedgehog.

Wildlife Experts Are Urging People to Leave Food Outside to Help Save Hedgehogs

Wildlife expert Sean McMenemy, the founder of Ark Wildlife, cautions that if hedgehogs do not weigh about 600g before entering hibernation, they could die. This means that each hedgehog should plump up to grapefruit size or, hopefully, even bigger. McMenemy recommends that the food be left in a space where hedgehogs will feel sheltered and unthreatened.

Country Living kindly lists the foods you can leave out for hedgehogs, in addition to specially-made hedgehog food that can be purchased online and from select pet stores:

• Plain, meat-based wet dog or cat food NOT including fish varieties
• Cooked, unseasoned chicken, turkey or mince (leftovers work well)
• Tinned meat (in water, not brine or sauce)
• Scrambled or hard-boiled eggs (plain, no salt or milk)
• Crushed dry dog biscuits (in moderation and broken up)

They also note, “Always put out a shallow dish of fresh water alongside any food. And one key rule: never give hedgehogs dairy products (especially milk), bread or sugary foods, as these can make them seriously ill. Similarly, avoid fish varieties of cat food, as this can cause indigestion.”

Creating openings at the bottom of gardens dubbed “hedgehog highways” allows the adorable creatures to travel from garden to garden with ease in search of food. Hedgehogs like to eat invertebrates, so creating conditions in your yard conducive to bugs (by setting up piles of logs, for example) will help them find their natural food sources.

The post Why Wildlife Experts Want People to Leave 100 Grams of Food Outside This Fall appeared first on VICE.

A margarita is supposed to have a bit of that tequila burn on the way down, but what allegedly happened at a North Carolina Chili’s this week was horrific.

Three customers at the chain’s Forest City location allegedly suffered chemical burns in and around their mouths Wednesday after an employee accidentally used a granulated degreaser to prepare their margaritas, according to the Foothills Health District. The employee supposedly thought it was sugar. Customers immediately noticed something was wrong, alerted the staff, and left to seek medical attention.

And how an industrial cleaning chemical ended up anywhere near the margarita station is a story in itself.

Three Chili’s Customers Hospitalized After Industrial Cleaner Ends Up in Their Margaritas

On Monday, a contractor was power-washing the outside of the restaurant when a worker took some degreaser and put it in an unlabeled container. It somehow ended up inside the restaurant, behind the bar, where another employee found it Wednesday while preparing for lunch service. Mistaking the granules for sugar, the employee used them to prepare the margaritas.

After customers reported something was wrong, two employees tasted the powder themselves and developed similar symptoms. The health district suspended Chili’s food service permit and ordered a thorough cleaning of the affected equipment and surfaces. By Thursday morning, inspectors had returned, and the restaurant was allowed to reopen after passing its food safety inspection.

Health District Director Jason Masters said the incident demonstrated why restaurants need to properly label, store, and handle cleaning chemicals.

One regular customer wasn’t exactly eager to return. Levonne Baker told WLOS News 13 he was nervous about sitting at the bar again. With an auto shop and urgent care next door, he joked about becoming the next person “going next door. And not for an oil change.”

Unfortunately, the Chili’s incident isn’t the first time a restaurant has mistaken a dangerous cleaning product for something edible.

In 2014, an employee at a Utah Dickey’s Barbecue Pit confused a lye-based fryer cleaner with sugar, and the chemical eventually ended up in the restaurant’s sweet tea. Jan Harding, 67, suffered severe burns to her esophagus and spent nearly two weeks in the hospital.

A similar incident in Oklahoma had an even more tragic outcome. Elementary school teacher Holly Hill was reportedly served a margarita containing an industrial degreaser at a restaurant in Elgin in February 2023. Her family said the chemical damaged her esophagus and caused years of medical complications before her death in October 2025. The restaurant acknowledged the incident, while the family attributed her death to the injuries.

Busy restaurants make mistakes, but an unlabeled container of white powder sitting behind the bar should set off alarms for anyone. Label your chemicals, people.

The post Chili’s Customers Suffer Chemical Burns After Employee Mistakes Cleaning Product for Sugar appeared first on VICE.

An invasive fish thought it was slick, rapidly increasing its population along Maryland’s eastern shores. But the dummy forgot to take something into account as it turned into an apex predator that was wiping out local fish, a problem I’ll let second-grader Ben Rochon describe while speaking to a reporter: “It’s yummy.”

According to an NPR report, the blue catfish is a massive, 100-pound Midwestern sea beast that didn’t call Virginia rivers home until the 1970s, when it was brought in for recreational fishing. State officials assumed the salty water would keep them confined to a small area, but after massive rainfall, the fish found they actually kind of liked the brackish water and started living in every tributary in Maryland, gobbling up local blue crabs and rockfish.

Maryland’s Newest School Lunch Is Helping Fight an Invasive Species

It has no natural predators, so humans eventually had to step up to bring some order to the local food chain or risk throwing off the delicate hierarchy of who gets eaten for dinner. That’s when Beth Brewster was brought in. Brewster is a food service supervisor for Caroline County Public Schools.

State officials asked her to find a way to take this fish that was threatening the local ecological balance and feed it to kids in local schools. That’s how she invented the “catty patty,” a USDA-approved crab cake-style fish patty that sold in school cafeterias.

These blue catfish have some rich tastes. Those crabs and rockfish they eat make their own meat surprisingly sweet, white, and deliciously flaky. Local fishermen harvest thousands of pounds of blue catfish year-round with no catch limits, and those fish are served patty-style to kids across Maryland and Virginia. The kids can’t get enough of them.

Is a good chance that the blue catfish will never fully go away, but as long as it remains tasty, it will always have a spot on a child’s lunch tray.

The post Maryland Is Turning an Invasive Fish Problem Into School Lunch (And Kids Love It) appeared first on VICE.

I don’t envy the people responsible for creating overseas ads. There’s so much to consider about social nuances in other countries that creating an ad that doesn’t accidentally offend someone must be an absolute nightmare.  It’s a lesson Apple seems to be learning right now.

As reported by Asian tech news outlet IT Home, Apple, in an attempt to highlight the 5.4mm thickness of its new OLED iPad Mini, posted on its website some promotional images featuring a hand using a thumb and index finger to hold the tablet, a simple pinching gesture using two fingers that kind of forms the letter “C.” Nothing wrong with that, right? Not to us in the States, at least.

Well, it happens to carry a very specific meaning in South Korea, according to IT Home: it’s a gesture used to mock the size of a guy’s penis.

Apple Removed a Hand From Its iPad Ad, and the Reason Is Pretty Bizarre

This is the first time the “C” gesture has ruffled some South Korean folks. In 2023, gaming company Nexcon included a similar hand gesture and some promotional material for the game MapleStory. That one led to some online pearl-clutching and an issued apology. Apple quickly edited out the hand gesture on the South Korean product page. Where once a hand pinched the iPad Mini, there is now a free-floating iPad.

As far as offensive promotional materials go, a hand gesture that connotes a tiny member is fairly insignificant. Localization is tough across the board, especially when you have to take the shape two fingers make into account, or else you risk suggesting to fragile men that their penises are perhaps too small and therefore they are unworthy of using an iPad.

Or, maybe the Mini is the exact iPad for them. This feels like something only a few people were actually up in arms about, if that, but it also feels like at least a couple out there felt seen. Finally, an iPad for those who are not well endowed.

The post Why This Seemingly Innocent Apple Ad Sparked an Unexpected NSFW Controversy appeared first on VICE.

It is the kind of story that can happen anywhere, but the second you find out it happened in Florida, it feels like it couldn’t have happened anywhere else.

According to reporting from The New York Times, a cop from the South Florida city of Lauderhill, smack in the middle of Broward County, spent the past three years living under the identity and in the home of a 71-year-old man who died alone.

Back in July 2022, Officer Brian Sguros responded to a welfare check on Dennis I. West. West had passed away from cardiovascular disease, but instead of just processing the scene, Sguros apparently saw a prime piece of real estate waiting for a hostile takeover. Court records show Sguros lied to the medical examiner, claiming to be West’s close pal, telling officials that the guy had no living relatives. He signed off on West’s cremation.

A Florida Cop Allegedly Lived in a Dead Man’s House for 3 Years, and Nobody Noticed

Sguros then moved into the home and became a ballsy squatter, abusing his access to public records as a police officer to run unauthorized database searches to track down West’s Social Security number and driver’s license info. He started paying taxes and utility bills under West’s name, even forging the dead man’s signature on building permits. He put $214,000 of his own money into renovating the place, telling neighbors he planned to turn it into an Airbnb.

The whole charade collapsed when a real estate firm legally bought the house from West’s actual living family and rolled up to take possession, only to find Officer Sguros hanging out inside. He surrendered the keys, but then sued the real estate company so he could get his renovation costs back.

Broward County investigators had opened an inquiry into Sguros, who was arrested in October on multiple felonies, including official misconduct and criminal use of the deceased person’s identification. He has resigned from the police force.

The post Florida Cop Allegedly Stole a Dead Man’s Identity and Lived in His House for Years appeared first on VICE.

Warning: reading this Associated Press story about the guy who might be the world’s best pumpkin carver will either inspire you to carve a gorgeous jack-o’-lantern in the few days left before Halloween, or make you toss the one you already carved into a woodchipper. Either reaction would be appropriate once you’ve seen some of the work of the guy known as the “Picasso of pumpkin carvers.”

Mike Valladao is a cybersecurity systems engineer. But when the fall season rolls around, he transforms into his alter ego, Farmer Mike, a chisel-wielding maniac who has spent the past four decades turning giant pumpkins into stunning, sometimes grotesque, Halloween masterpieces.

According to the AP report, Valladao has no formal art training. He’s just a guy who takes the weird facial features he encounters in day-to-day life and then transposes them into the faces of dragons, pop culture icons, and original characters. He uses the gourd’s thick skin to create the illusion of depth, making eyes sink back into the skull and noses jut out at weird, unsettling angles.

This Man’s Pumpkin Carvings Are So Detailed, They’ll Make Your Jack-o’-Lantern Look Embarrassing

Where the real Picasso preferred a thicker weave of cotton canvas, like linen, to paint his masterpieces, Farmer Mike prefers Atlantic pumpkins because they have plenty of thick skin for him to carve into, creating intricate, expressive caricatures.

He started this niche hobby back in the mid-80s when he grew some massive pumpkins at home and didn’t know what to do with them other than stab them with a knife until they were pretty. Four decades later, his skill has taken him far beyond the local Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival, to the San Diego Zoo, the California Academy of Sciences, and even The Tonight Show, where he shows off his skills.

While the real Picasso’s art lives on in museums all around the world, Valladao’s turns into a pile of fly-covered rot within days, but such is the nature of his medium. It’s temporary, like the season in which he gets to show off his skills.

The post Meet the ‘Picasso of Pumpkin Carving,’ Whose Halloween Creations Are Absolutely Insane appeared first on VICE.

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Believe it or not, traveling has become an unfulfilling pastime for some people, so much so that they’re actually seeking skill development from their travels. Also known as skillcations, these trips ensure travelers come home with new talents and expertise to add to their resume.

What Is a Skillcation?

According to Amy Zhou, aka Amy is Alive, “skillcation is travel structured around learning a new skill.” The travel influencer coined the term on the podcast Solita, where she discussed various examples of skillcations, such as “bachata in the Dominican Republic, capoeira in Brazil, tango in Argentina, birdwatching in Puerto Rico,” as the podcast notes state.

“The more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve realized the modern tourism history reduces friction to the point [that] you can see everything but experience less,” Zhou said on the podcast episode, “Hate Being a Tourist? Take a ‘Skillcation’ Instead.” “By reducing friction and by giving you a hop on, hop off all-inclusive, they just don’t activate your curiosity.”

Skillcations, on the other hand, allow you to hone new skills and develop new interests/passions while discovering different parts of the world. For example, rather than attending yoga classes at your town’s studio, travel to India to learn the roots of the practice. Rather than drafting poetry at your local coffee shop, schedule a writer’s retreat in Europe to strengthen your craft.

“I think travel is less about what you see and more about how you experience that city and what it can teach you,” Zhou adds. “My travel is structured specifically around a hobby or skill I want to learn.”

Planning a Skillcation

Set Your Budget

Unfortunately, as appealing as the above vacations might sound, they’re likely costly for most average travelers. But by turning your trip into an opportunity to develop new skills, you can view it as an investment in your education and career. Determine what you’re willing and able to spend on your skillcation and set a realistic budget before proceeding.

Choose a Skill

Once you have a budget for your skillcation, you can begin to explore the different skills you might want to nurture. Are you interested in cooking, dancing, music, genealogy, etc.? Choose one skill you’re most passionate about, then select a destination that will help improve it. 

For example, if you’d like to learn more about preparing Italian cuisine, book a trip to Bologna, aka the culinary capital of Italy, where you can attend workshops or classes by experts. If you’d like to learn how to surf, schedule a retreat at a Costa Rica surf camp. Just make sure the accommodations and the associated costs of skill development fit your budget.

Not every skillcation needs to be “bougie,” filled with expensive dinners and fancy accommodations. In fact, “living like a local” will help you learn more about the destination and its offerings.

Create a Loose Itinerary

While you don’t need to plan out every hour of your skillcation, you do want to create a loose itinerary that ensures you stay on track. The entire purpose of the trip is to hone a new craft. Don’t leave too much time for dilly-dallying under the sun or splurging on fancy drinks and dinners (though those can totally be part of the experience, too). Remember the “why” behind your skillcation, and book all necessary classes/courses in advance.

The post Travelers Are Ditching Traditional Vacations for ‘Skillcations.’ Here’s Why. appeared first on VICE.

We’re dealing with a loneliness epidemic and a literacy epidemic at the same time, so there is a bit of unfortunate logic to the news that, according to a team of researchers who published their findings in Perspectives on Psychological Science, the human race has spent two decades slowly whittling down the number of words we are speaking every year.

As the BBC reported, researchers at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and the University of Arizona analyzed audio data from 22 studies involving more than 2,000 participants. They weren’t even trying to find this. All of this began as they were attempting to replicate the findings of an old paper on gender differences in talkativeness, but lead authors Dr. Valeria Pfeifer and Prof. Matthias Mehl happened upon a weird and disconcerting pattern: between 2005 and 2019, the average person’s daily spoken word count plummeted from about 16,000 words to 12,700 words.

That’s a 20 percent drop in overall words spoken, or an average of about 338 words that go missing from our mouths every day, totaling about 120,000 fewer words spoken per person every year.

Humans Are Becoming Less Talkative, and a New Study Reveals Just How Much

Modern technology is the easy thing to blame, and it deserves some of the blame. Participants under 25 showed the steepest decline, 452 words unsaid annually, which we can largely attribute to tech reducing how much we have to say to one another. The real problem here is how our society of the past 15 to 20 years has restructured itself around a lack of human contact.

Think about it: if you’re outdoing your Saturday chores, think about how many fewer people you interact with than you used to, now that so many businesses force you to use self-checkout lanes and touchscreen kiosks. Our reliance on tech has engineered humanity out of all the places where we once experienced human contact. As much as GPS can be a lifesaver, it has made it obsolete to ask someone for directions, to the point where, personally, it feels weird when someone asks me for directions. Don’t you have a phone that can do that for you?

The researchers point out that total communication might technically remain stable thanks to all the texting we do; typed words don’t deliver the same emotional punch as a human voice and physical presence in a real-life conversation. We’ve spent 200,000 years feeling accepted as part of a larger community by speaking face-to-face, and in about 15 to 20 years, we’ve seemingly done everything we can to sever the deep, personal connection we’ve built with one another.

Who knows where it goes from here, but so far it seems to be draining us of something we need.

The post Humans Are Using Significantly Fewer Words Than They Did 20 Years Ago, Study Finds appeared first on vice.

The Wall Street Journal recently explored the issue of phones in restaurants, noting that many eating establishments have come to resemble “scroll zones that simply serve food and drinks.” The paper had earlier declared, “phones are becoming the new cigarettes.” You might think that very few individuals would appreciate their dinner companions staring down at their Apple devices during shared outings, but, then again, you often see whole tables absorbed in scrolling as a way to avoid actually communicating with each other or just to stave off social awkwardness, thereby often increasing the awkwardness.

The Wall Street Journal visited The Edge in Harlem, which proudly boasts a sign reading, “No Wifi / No Screens / Connect / With Each Other.” Phones, however, aren’t actually banned there, as it’s the philosophy that’s important. WSJ highlighted that The Antagonist in North Carolina makes a practice of distributing pouches by Yondr for electronics that can only be unlocked by staff. Meanwhile, Tribeca’s Eulalie outright bans phones. They told WSJ that they view their ban as empowering to diners, as it gives them an “out” and an explanation as to why they couldn’t take any calls that might have come their way while on premises.

The Rise of Phone-Free Restaurants Is Changing How Americans Eat Out

Personally, I agree with the sentiment that phones should generally be put away while eating. Even if there are no phone-addicts at your table, others can still spoil the atmosphere. No one wants to be in the background of someone else’s Instagram video. Another concern is that eating mindlessly while texting, for example, is highly disrespectful to the chef who prepared your meal, assuming that it is worthy of your focus.

However, too many rules can be perceived as off-putting, obnoxious, and make patrons feel like they’re in elementary school rather than paying for a luxury experience. While most calls are far from urgent, phones do serve as safety lines. The question becomes difficult because, in an ideal world, people would behave sensibly without having to be forced, but that is far from the case in 2026. In fact, I have even witnessed individuals go so far as to have the volume turned up on their devices while in restaurants, causing me to want to use the cutlery for purposes other than those for which they were designed.

Fortunately, as WSJ points out, according to recent findings by The Harris Poll, 83% of Gen Zers say they have taken steps to limit social media usage at some point. Thus, there is hope for a better future with fewer screens.

The post Why Some Restaurants Are Starting to Ban Cell Phones (and Why Customers Are Loving It) appeared first on vice.

This is bananas: Around 4:00 a.m. on October 24, a woman, Stephanie Oropeza, in a banana costume, stopped to help a driver who had just crashed into an eating establishment, The Moderne — Bar & Grill. According to WFTV Channel 9, the driver’s black SUV drove onto the bar’s patio, hit a cement planter, and sent tables and chairs flying, destroying six of the former and over twelve of the latter.

Oropeza was driving home from a Halloween party with her fiancé when they saw the driver veer off the road. They, thus, checked the individual for injuries and called for help. Oropeza told the local news channel that she’s actually studying to be a nurse, so lending a hand felt natural. The restaurant has confirmed that none of their staff members were hurt, and, fortunately, no one was dining outside at the time of the crash.

Woman in Banana Costume Rushes to Help After SUV Plows Into Florida Restaurant

Still, the photos of the wreckage weren’t pleasant… The establishment’s owner, Michael Nguyen, estimates that replacing the custom fence alone could cost between $30,000 and $50,000. He was in Japan when the crash occurred.

Despite its own losses, The Moderne posted a surveillance video and asked the public to help find the good Samaritan in yellow who came to the rescue, joking that the banana had “split” before they could thank her. Of course, Oropeza was identified pretty quickly.

The cause of the crash is still unconfirmed.

The post Florida’s Newest Local Hero Is a Woman Dressed as a Giant Banana. Here’s How She Saved the Day. appeared first on vice.

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A Canadian inmate apparently succumbed to whimsy and desire when he had an all-American McDonald’s meal delivered by drone right to his prison-cell window. The 3 a.m. drop-off on October 15 included fries, chicken nuggets, sauce, and booze. Surprisingly, the man, who would likely find a kindred spirit in the Hamburglar, did not make out with any Quarter Pounders or Big Macs.

This audacious display of adoration for fast food occurred in what is supposed to be Canada’s highest-security facility — the Special Handling Unit of the Regional Reception Centre in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, Québec. What is criminal is that the meal was probably cold by the time it made its way between chain-link fencing and a broken window.

An anonymous source informed Narcity Québec, “When a correctional officer was doing his rounds, he realized that the inmate was under the influence of alcohol. He also seized McDonald’s leftovers in his cell.” The inmate, who had a saucy way of figuratively saying, “To Hell with prison food!,” apparently had a hearty laugh. However, there is nothing funny about losing one’s golden nuggets—treasures the prankster is unlikely to see again anytime soon, given the severity of the crimes committed by those in his unit.

Inmate Pulls Off Ridiculous Drone Delivery to Get McDonald’s Behind Bars

While the caprice seems cute and relatable, it highlights the potential for contraband to slip through the cracks in the system. Drones may carry more sinister goods to inmates, meaning drugs and weapons, and their visits to prisons are apparently a very common problem. Correctional officers now have even more reason to fear for their safety at work, and their union is making that clear.

Granted, the inmate’s paranoia-inducing scheme seems to have been pretty sophisticated, as the drone wasn’t detected by cameras or anti-drone technology. With all the time in the world to dream up trollish plots, it’s suspected he might have sent multiple drones to find a smooth path for the bringer of food and libations. More barriers, such as nets, will be used to combat the threat of drones.

Those with Antisocial Personality Disorder make up a significant portion of the prison population. Such individuals often demonstrate remarkable ingenuity, yet their minds aren’t always concerned about the potential consequences of a moment of pleasure.

The post A Prisoner Had McDonald’s and Booze Delivered by Drone to a Maximum-Security Prison. Seriously. appeared first on VICE.

Some of us seem to be naturally distinguished gentlemen, while others seem to be born boars. A viral clip shows a baby, supposedly from Ecuador, with a full, bushy mustache, worthy of an aristocrat or perhaps the video-game hero Mario, depending on interpretation. Some might perceive newborn’s looks as villainous, others as noble.

Images manipulating the clip poured in, even depicting the baby as a “Supreme Leader.” Netizens placed the baby in different costumes from around this wretched earth as well as with a cigar in hand and mouth like a “true player,” for example.

While the internet seems to think the baby has all the potential it the world, members of the online community also remark that he gives the impression of already bearing the weight of the world on his shoulders. One commenter penned, “He was born retired with three kids and two mortgages.”

WION points out that babies can be born with soft, fine, and unpigmented hair called lanugo that usually vanishes before birth but can remain for a few weeks after. Lanugo clearly would not compose the dark mustache of today’s speculation. WION also notes that there are indicators, glitches included, that the mustache is the product of technological tricks.

This Baby Looks Like a Middle-Aged Man Thanks to His Suspiciously Perfect Mustache

Granted, excess hair on babies is no laughing matter, as it could be caused by congenital hypertrichosis, which may cover the entire body or a specific area. Historically, those with hypertrichosis, which has been unkindly dubbed “werewolf syndrome,” have been stigmatized.

There have been cases of babies developing hypertrichosis from physical contact with parents using topical minoxidil, an antidote to hair loss. After the parents stopped applying the medication, the condition observed in the infants reversed itself.

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Many new parents rely on their own parents for childcare, especially when they return to work after parental leave. While this is common in many families, it’s crucial to consider how this expectation affects your parents’ health. In fact, some grandmas are actually experiencing what experts call “depleted grandma syndrome.”

What Is Depleted Grandma Syndrome?

According to Dr. Ashwini Nadkarni, psychiatrist and assistant professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, “Depleted grandmother syndrome refers to the phenomenon of caregiving burnout that can befall grandmothers who have a significant role in caregiving for their grandchildren.” 

Today, new parents often rely on their parents—their children’s grandparents—to care for their kids while they work, as they can’t afford daycare or time off. Most often, grandmothers, not grandfathers, take on this responsibility. 

Though it’s not a true medical diagnosis, depleted grandma syndrome accurately describes a common yet harmful experience many grandmothers face. And as Dr. Nadkarni notes, this syndrome “does have some overlap with a proposed diagnostic entity, ‘depletion syndrome of the elderly’ from the 1980s, which was thought to be a mental health disorder in which geriatric individuals experienced depressive symptoms with prominent physical symptoms.” 

The Rise of Depleted Grandma Syndrome

While grandmothers have provided childcare for generations, this added stress and pressure on aging adults can be especially harmful in today’s climate.

“We need to look at how family life has changed,” says Jane Eagle, CPT3A, Inclusion Manager and Designated Safeguarding Lead at Crimson Global Academy. “More households rely on two incomes, and childcare costs can be enormous. This means grandparents are often needed more than ever.”

“At the same time, many grandparents are still working, facing financial pressures or caring for a partner, an ageing parent or another family member,” she adds. “Some are managing their own health concerns.”

As they say: it takes a village to raise a child. But at the same time, no grandparent should feel responsible for becoming a primary caregiver for their grandchild—especially not at the detriment of their own health and wellbeing.

“Expectations can differ between generations, too,” Eagle states. “Parents may expect regular childcare, while grandparents may see their role as providing love, guidance, and support without taking on a second parenting role. When those expectations aren’t discussed, it can lead to resentment on both sides.”

Warning Signs of Depleted Grandma Syndrome

Whether you’re the new parent leaning a little too heavily on your mother/mother-in-law or you’re the depleted grandmother yourself, it’s important to notice the signs of this syndrome and address them immediately.

“In depleted grandmother syndrome, individuals experience the emotional exhaustion characteristic of caregiving burnout because of the intensive demands of caregiving without boundaries,” Dr. Nadkarni says. “With this, people might feel irritable, on edge, overwhelmed, resentful, or even guilty.”

This is especially true if the grandmother is still juggling work and other responsibilities, or is battling a chronic illness or other condition.

“From a family wellbeing perspective, I would be concerned when a grandmother feels there simply aren’t enough hours in the day, or when caring for her grandchildren consistently means putting her own needs and commitments aside,” Eagle adds. “Disappointment or resentment can also be a sign that the arrangement needs an honest conversation. A grandparent may have understood her role as offering occasional support, while the family has gradually come to depend on regular childcare.”

Protecting Grandmas From Depleted Grandma Syndrome

Rather than continuing to rely on or take advantage of (knowingly or not) the depleted grandmother, her children should be checking in with her to ensure she’s mentally and physically well—and she should be addressing any symptoms with a healthcare professional, too.

Just because this syndrome exists does not mean grandmothers can’t still be a supportive force in their grandkid’s lives. It’s about setting the appropriate boundaries while prioritizing your own needs. A depleted grandmother will not be the most alert or stable caregiver anyway.

“As a grandmother myself, I know how special this relationship can be,” Eagle says. “But loving your grandchildren and being available to provide regular childcare are two very different things. Grandparents have their own needs, responsibilities, and relationships, and those can get overlooked when families rely heavily on their support.”

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