New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers should have thought twice about making false allegations about late-night host Jimmy Kimmel. It’s probably not a great idea for an NFL quarterback to pick a public fight against a man who spent decades taking shots at people in the news.
It all began when Rodgers speculated that Kimmel would be on the Jeffrey Epstein client list, basically insinuating that he’s a pedophile, on the January 2 episode of ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show.” It was a tasteless, baseless accusation that Kimmel denies and he hasn’t appeared in any of the unsealed court documents.
After the accusation, Kimmel noted that Rodgers’ “reckless words put my family in danger.” When he returned to do his monologue on Monday, January 8, Kimmel gave a thoughtful and funny takedown of Rodgers, painting him as a man who is “too arrogant to know he’s ignorant.”
He added that Rodgers probably suffers from the Dunning-Krueger effect. This psychological phenomenon occurs when a person’s lack of knowledge and skill in a particular area causes them to overestimate their own competence.
“He genuinely thinks that because God gave him the ability to throw a ball, he’s smarter than everybody else. The idea that his brain is just average is unfathomable to him. We learned during COVID somehow he knows more about science than scientists,” Kimmel continued.
“And by the way, I’m not one of those people that thinks athletes and members of the sports media should stick to talking about sports,” Kimmel said. “I think Aaron Rodgers has the right to express any opinion he wants. But saying someone is a pedophile isn’t an opinion nor is it trash talk, sorry Pat McAfee.”
Rodgers responded by denying that he accused Kimmel of pedophilia. “I don’t give a s— what he says about me,” Rodgers said. “As long as he understands what I actually said and that I’m not accusing him of being on a list, I’m all for moving forward.”
A single door can open up a world of endless possibilities. For homeowners, the front door of their house is a gateway to financial stability, job security, and better health. Yet for many, that door remains closed. Due to the rising costs of housing, 1 in 3 people around the world wake up without the security of safe, affordable housing.
Since 1976, Habitat for Humanity has made it their mission to unlock and open the door to opportunity for families everywhere, and their efforts have paid off in a big way. Through their work over the past 50 years, more than 65 million people have gained access to new or improved housing, and the movement continues to gain momentum. Since 2011 alone, Habitat for Humanity has expanded access to affordable housing by a hundredfold.
A world where everyone has access to a decent home is becoming a reality, but there’s still much to do. As they celebrate 50 years of building, Habitat for Humanity is inviting people of all backgrounds and talents to be part of what comes next through Let’s Open the Door, a global campaign that builds on this momentum and encourages people everywhere to help expand access to safe, affordable housing for those who need it most. Here’s how the foundation to a better world starts with housing, and how everyone can pitch in to make it happen.
Volunteers raise a wall for the framework of a new home during the first day of building at Habitat for Humanity’s 2025 Carter Work Project.
Globally, almost 3 billion people, including 1 in 6 U.S. families, struggle with high costs and other challenges related to housing. A crisis in itself, this also creates larger problems that affect families and communities in unexpected ways. People who lack affordable, stable housing are also more likely to experience financial hardship in other areas of their lives, since a larger share of their income often goes toward rent, utilities, and frequent moves. They are also more likely to experience health problems due to chronic stress or environmental factors, such as mold. Housing insecurity also goes hand-in-hand with unstable employment, since people may need to move further from their jobs or switch jobs altogether to offset the cost of housing.
Affordable homeownership creates a stable foundation for families to thrive, reducing stress and increasing the likelihood for good health and stable employment. Habitat for Humanity builds and repairs homes with individual families, but it also strengthens entire communities as well. The MicroBuild® Initiative, for example, strengthens communities by increasing access to loans for low-income families seeking to build or repair their homes. Habitat ReStore locations provide affordable appliances and building materials to local communities, in addition to creating job and volunteer opportunities that support neighborhood growth.
Marsha and her son pose for a photo while building their future home with Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity in Georgia.
Everyone can play a part in the fight for housing equity and the pursuit of a better world. Over the past 50 years, Habitat for Humanity has become a leader in global housing thanks to an engaged network of volunteers—but you don’t need to be skilled with a hammer to make a meaningful impact. Building an equitable future means calling on a wide range of people and talents.
Here’s how you can get involved in the global housing movement:
Speaking up on social media about the growing housing crisis
Volunteering on a Habitat for Humanity build in your local community
Travel and build with Habitat in the U.S. or in one of 60+ countries where we work around the globe
Join the Let’s Open the Door movement and, when you donate, you can create your own personalized door
Every action, big and small, drives a global movement toward a better future. A safe home unlocks opportunity for families and communities alike, but it’s volunteers and other supporters, working together with a shared vision, who can open the door for everyone.
“I had to cut my hair out because of you!” Singer Natalie Jane’s reaction when her childhood bully showed up at her concert with flowers and an apology.
What she didn’t expect was a sign that would stop her mid-performance.
“What does that sign say?” Jane asked into the mic, squinting to make out the words in the dark theater. The camera panned to reveal a big white sign with a simple question: “Do you remember me from 2nd grade?”
Curious, Jane responded, “I can’t see. Who are you?”
The fan flipped the sign over. The back read: “I put gum in your hair.”
Jane let out a shriek. “Benji! I hate you!”
The crowd erupted. The camera found Benji in the audience, and Jane wasn’t done. “I had to cut my hair out because of you,” she yelled, pointing straight at him.
Benji’s response was simple and sincere: “You were in town. I had to come by and say I’m sorry for many years ago.”
Then, from somewhere in the crowd, a bouquet of roses appeared. The audience went wild. Someone handed the flowers to Jane, and her face lit up with a mix of nostalgia, surprise, and what looked like genuine forgiveness.
“Benji, you are forgiven. Thank you. I love you,” she said into the mic. “Shout out, Benji!”
She galloped across the stage, whipping her long blonde hair around (the hair that Benji once put gum in, apparently), and continued the show.
Jane posted the moment on Instagram on March 28, and people immediately started imagining it as the plot of a future rom-com. The comments were full of people joking about wedding invitations and asking if this was staged (it doesn’t appear to be).
But beyond the rom-com potential, there’s something genuinely touching about someone tracking down a person they wronged as a child and making the effort to apologize decades later. Benji could have just stayed home. Instead, he showed up to her concert, made himself vulnerable in front of hundreds of people, and gave her something most of us never get: actual closure on a childhood hurt.
Jane walked off that stage a little more healed than when she walked on. And honestly? That’s probably the best kind of encore.
We’ve all been there. We’ve discovered the perfect Airbnb, maybe a little cottage in the mountains, or a condo with stunning beach views. And the price is right in our budget. Hallelujah! Then, unfortunately, when we get to the booking page we realize our total cost is far higher than expected. Why? It’s the dreading cleaning fee.
Airbnb defines its notorious cleaning fee as a “one-time charge” set by the host that helps them arrange anything from carpet shampoo to replenishing supplies to hiring an outside cleaning service, all in the name of ensuring guests have a “clean and tidy space.”
One host decided to try something different
But as many frustrated Airbnb customers will tell you, this feature is viewed as more of a nuisance than a convenience. According to NerdWallet, the general price for a cleaning fee is around $75, but can vary greatly between listings, with some units having cleaning fees that are higher than the nightly rate (all while sometimes still being asked to do certain chores before checking out). And often none of these fees show up in the total price until right before the booking confirmation, leaving many travelers feeling confused and taken advantage of. It’s certainly a case of sticker shock if you’re used to staying in hotels.
However, some hosts are now opting to build cleaning fees into the overall price of their listings, mimicking the strategy of traditional hotels.
Rachel Boice runs two Airbnb properties in Georgia with her husband Parker—one being this fancy glass plane tiny house (seen below) that promises a perfect glamping experience.
Like most Airbnb hosts, the Boice’s listing originally showed a nightly rate and separate cleaning fee. According to her interview with Insider, the original prices broke down to $89 nightly, and $40 for the cleaning fee.
But after noticing the negative response the separate fee got from potential customers, Rachel told Insider that she began charging a nightly rate that included the cleaning fee, totaling to $129 a night.
It’s a marketing strategy that more and more hosts are attempting in order to generate more bookings (people do love feeling like they’re getting a great deal) but Boice argued that the trend will also become more mainstream since the current Airbnb model “doesn’t feel honest.” Which is funny, because if anything listing the cleaning charge is more transparent! But users tend to feel duped because they can’t see the full price when they’re browsing the listings.
“We stay in Airbnbs a lot. I pretty much always pay a cleaning fee,” Boice told Insider. “You’re like: ‘Why am I paying all of this money? This should just be built in for the cost.’”
Since combining costs, Rachel began noticing another unexpected perk beyond customer satisfaction: guests actually left her property cleaner than before they were charged a cleaning fee.
Her hypothesis was that they assumed she would be handling the cleaning herself.
“I guess they’re thinking, ‘I’m not paying someone to clean this, so I’ll leave it clean,’” she said.
This discovery echoes a similar anecdote given by another Airbnb host, who told NerdWallet guests who knew they were paying a cleaning fee would “sometimes leave the place looking like it’s been lived in and uncleaned for months.” So, it appears to be that being more transparent and lumping all fees into one overall price makes for a happier (and more considerate) customer.
The psychology behind why it works
This phenomenon has been studied by economists across many different fields. A blueberry farmer once considered charging customers for grazing on blueberries as they walked until an economist told him paying the fee would just encourage people to eat even more. Daycares who charge parents fees for picking their kids up late often find the fee increases the number of late parents instead of decreasing it.
It comes down to the “cost” of a decision. If you pay the same cleaning fee no matter what condition you leave the property in, a lot of people will find it’s just not worth their time to tidy up after themselves. When the cost of leaving the place filthy is more nebulous, or human (forcing another person to do it), people are more willing to help out.
These days, it’s hard to not be embittered by deceptive junk fees, which can seem to appear anywhere without warning. These can include surprise overdraft charges, surcharges on credit cards and the never convenient “convenience charge” when purchasing event tickets. Junk fees are so rampant that certain measures are being taken to try to eliminate them outright in favor of more honest business approaches.
And now, the rules are changing for everyone
Speaking of a more honest approach, Airbnb has gone even further since 2022. As of April 2025, Airbnb eliminated the opt-in toggle entirely and made total price display, including all mandatory fees before taxes, the automatic global default for all users. The change was driven partly by the FTC’s Junk Fees Rule, which took effect May 12, 2025, requiring short-term rental platforms to clearly display the full price upfront.
As for Boice, business is booming. After her story went viral on TikTok, she decided to expand her property business with another glass house.
Users were thrilled, especially ones who live in Georgia, within shouting distance of her properties. And after all the viral exposure, she’s still not charging cleaning fees. Although, there’s not much she can do about those pesky “Airbnb service fees.” Oh well. You can’t win ’em all.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
Photo credit: Grandma goes viral for her three simple yet hilarious ‘funeral rules’ – Grandma goes viral for her three simple yet hilarious 'funeral rules'
Forget kids. Grandmas say the darndest things. One grandma in particular took TikTok by storm for her brutally honest, yet hilarious “funeral rules.” And though Grandma Lill adds the caveat that it won’t be anytime soon, you had better remember these rules when the day finally comes. Or there might be two funerals to plan.
But this video takes the cake at a whopping 50 million views. She’s gone full-blown viral now. Probably because she inadvertently brings up some little gems of wisdom we could all apply to dealing with the passing of a loved one.
Or, as Grandma Lill puts it, “don’t make a fool of yourself.”
Funerals can be just as much about commemorating as they are expressing grief. We can also share the happy memories we have of those who have passed, not just shed tears.
I think this is what grandma Lill was getting at. Or maybe she just doesn’t like you stealing the attention.
2. Bertha ISN’T invited
Whoever this Bertha chick is … she messed up. She messed up big time. Bertha, you have been CANCELED.
And hey, why shouldn’t we decide who’s on the invite list for our last big day? If, for example, there’s a family member who caused a lot of pain, or with whom we just didn’t share a kinship … perhaps there doesn’t have to be an obligation to invite them to these major life moments.
Basically, this is your permission slip to openly decline any and all Berthas in your life. That goes for weddings, birthday parties, baby showers … you name it. Don’t let her in!
3. Get drunk afterward
As long as you take a shot for Grandma Lill.
After the ceremony honors what’s lost, take a moment to let go and move forward with the life that is still around you. Something tells me that letting it all go and celebrating life is something Grandma Lill’s a pro at.
Thousands of commenters chimed in to celebrate Lill’s rules. But the overwhelming sentiment from almost every single one of them was: We need the full story of the beef with Bertha!
We finally found out who Bertha is
Lucky for us, all was revealed two years later when Grandma Lills made a video about attending Bertha’s funeral. Bertha had, allegedly, tried to hook up with Lill’s late husband. Not cool, Bertha! “I always knew I would outlive her,” grandma joked.
In another recent viral video, Lill spoofs popular “Get Ready With Me” videos from other influencers by bringing the viewer along as she gets dressed for a funeral. Of course, funerals aren’t the only topic Grandma Lill can make you laugh about.
Her TikTok channel is a carefully curated gallery of pure funny. Everything from bingo jokes to advice for getting back at your ex (yeah, she shows no mercy) can be found here.
No one likes funerals, least of all the person who’s there to be mourned. It’s why the idea of the Irish Wake is so popular: a spirited celebration of life that encourages laughter and merriment. Grandma Lills definitely has the right idea about how she wants to go out, and now that it’s cemented in Internet lore, her kids and grandkids will be forced to honor her wishes when the day comes.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
If you’ve traveled on an airplane in the last several years, you know it’s much cheaper to choose the basic seats in the main cabin. There’s nothing inherently different about these particular seats, other than the fact that it will be randomly selected by the airline. If you’re traveling alone, that’s really not a bad deal, but if you’re traveling with a party that you’d like to keep together, like your children, the risk gets to be a little higher. One mom traveling with an 11 and 15-year old took the risk and banked on a stranger accommodating…that’s not quite how it played out.
Her seat was taken, on purpose
Tammy Nelson did a double take at her ticket after seeing the mom in her window seat. Of course, people accidentally sit in the wrong seats on planes all the time. However, Nelson quickly realized that this was no accident. This mom boarded the plane with her older children and had taken it upon herself to sit in the same row as her children, essentially commandeering a stranger’s seat. Nelson assumed it was a mistake and informed the woman that the seat was in fact hers but the response she received was surprising.
“She said, ‘Oh, you want to sit here?’,” Nelson told Good Morning America. “She said, ‘Oh, well I just thought I could switch with you because these are my kids.’”
That’s an interesting assumption considering seats are assigned and many people, like Nelson, pay extra to have the seat they prefer. Now, there’s no telling if funds were tight and this was an unplanned trip for the mom and kids which caused her to buy the more budget friendly tickets or if she was simply being frugal and was banking on the kindness of a stranger.
Either way, Nelson specifically paid for a window seat due to motion sickness and though she paid extra, she was willing to sit in the other row if that seat was also a window seat. But it turns out, it was a middle seat.
Surely there’s someone out there that loves the middle seat. Maybe a cold natured person that enjoys the body heat of two strangers sitting uncomfortably close. Or perhaps someone that doesn’t mind accidentally sleeping on an unsuspecting passenger’s shoulder. But that person wasn’t Nelson, so when the middle seat was offered in exchange for her bought and paid for window seat, she politely but firmly declined.
Having had only 90 minutes of sleep the night before and knowing I had to give a presentation to 500 people, I desperately needed some sleep, so I did not agree to switch seats. 🤷♀️ Before anyone comes after me… the kids looked like they were about 11 and 15 years old. And the mom was in arms-reach of both of them from the middle seat in the row behind us. The mom proceeded to complain for at least 15 minutes to the person next to her loud enough for me to hear. But the woman actually defended me – several times. It was so kind and I appreciated it so much because I was feeling really guilty. 🤦♀️ #airplaneseat#seatswitching#airplanekarens
Her refusal to give in to the mom’s seemingly entitled request for Nelson’s seat has resulted in parents and child-free people cheering her on after she posted the details on her TikTok page, MyCONQUERing, which quickly racked over 3.4 million views.
“Nope. If it’s not an upgrade it’s a sacrifice,” a commenter wrote.
“You did the RIGHT thing. Folks need to plan their travel together. Lack of planning on their part does not constitute an inconvenience on yours,” one person said.
“I have 3 kids and have sat in different rows when they were passed toddler age. I agree, book your flight earlier,” another said.
“You were right. As a woman with 3 children, I always pay extra so we’re sat together,” another mom said.
It’s a trope as old as time: the charming, yet conventionally unattractive girl gets a makeover, and suddenly her looks match her winning personality, opening an entire world of possibilities…and love interests.
And how do we know she’s conventionally unattractive? Glasses (because attractive people don’t read and can see perfectly, duh) and unkempt curly hair.
In pop culture, almost nothing instantly clocks a woman as less desirable or polished. At best, they can be the carefree bohemian or funny best friend. But you can bet you bottom dollar that if they are to be seen as a romantic love interest in any way, shape, or form, that hair is gonna be flat-ironed within an inch of its life. It’s screenwriting 101, people.
An era-defining transformation
One lasting example of this is the makeover scene in The Princess Diaries, wherein Mia Thermopolis (played by Anne Hathaway) goes from adorkable to refined thanks to a bit of hair straightening, plus some makeup, contacts, and intense eyebrow tweezing.
In a recent interview with People, Hathaway shared that the filmmaker never actually intended to promote the “curly = ugly” stereotype. It was actually just a logistical strategy.
“My natural hair is rather straight, so we had to create a contrast,” she shared, adding that going with her naturally straight hair meant “less time in the makeup trailer” overall.
…with “unintended consequences”
As a result, however, the message many audiences read was “curly hair is unattractive,” which Hathaway labeled as a “terrible, completely unintended side effect.”
If the comments section was any indicator, Hathaway was correct in saying the “unintended consequence” of that scene was the profound effect it left with viewers.
“I (a curly haired girly) started straightening my hair after I saw the scene at 12.”
“Yeah, watching this movie when it came out as someone who had curly hair and glasses did something to me lol.”
“I had curly hair and glasses when this movie came out and was bullied for both. I was in middle school and to this day I can’t watch this movie because it made me feel like the bullies were right. As an adult I know better but the gut feelings are still there.”
Granted, the creative decision might have been made in part for practical reasons, but let’s not forget that this movie came out in the early 2000s…a fairly rigid time period for beauty standards overall. The Princess Diaries was far from the only movie to portray curls (or glasses, or freckles, or anything past a size 2) as “ugly.” For all its good parts, the film was definitely a product of its time.
Straightening out the curl narrative
Thankfully, we’ve seen a lot of progress in this department. Not only do we see far more characters in media sporting their curls, but, thanks to social media, there’s a much larger wealth of knowledge for how to style and take care of curly hair.
Truly, there’s an entire language (I’m 2C to 3B type myself…iykyk) dedicated to curls now that simply did not exist at an earlier time. Not knowing that curls require an entirely different routine left many of us to resort to straightening or making peace with feeling like the ”ugly” one.
Even still, curls that aren’t styled and left in their Mia Thermopolis state are still often viewed by society as unprofessional, undesirable, or unclean in some way. That’s why representation matters. It’s so important to have our pop culture reflect a different reality so that we might start internalizing a different story and unlearning harmful stigma.
All this to say…Princess Diaries 3 should definitely let Mia’s curls go free. Just sayin’.
On April 27, in celebration of National Deaf History Month, Disney unveiled three beloved songs completely reanimated to feature the characters performing in American Sign Language (ASL).
The idea for the project, titled Songs in Sign Language, came from Senior Animator and Director Hyrum Osmond, whose Disney credits include Frozen (2013) and Zooptopia (2016).
In a special “making of video,” Osmond recalled growing up with a father who was “hard of hearing,” but never learning sign language to communicate with him.
“I have a lot of regret about that, because I couldn’t connect with him. I wanted to take down barriers with this project. It’s really all about connection.”
A groundbreaking effort rooted in authenticity
In a never-before-done undertaking for the studio, a team of more than 20 animators, many of them passionate volunteers, collaborated with the Tony Award-winning company Deaf West Theatre to curate signs that best matched each character’s specific personality.
This didn’t only involve hand movements, but “facial grammar” as well, meaning specific ways the face is used in ASL to further convey linguistic information. Raised eyebrows, for example, are used at the end of a sentence when asking simple questions. Furrowed eyebrows, on the other hand, are used when asking more complex “Who, What, Where, Why” type questions.
These efforts—done without AI, praise be—resulted in new animation for approximately 95% of the shots from “The Next Right Thing” (Frozen 2), “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” (Encanto), and “Beyond” (Moana 2).
This is far from Disney’s first attempt at making its magic available in ASL. There have been many heartwarming stories of characters in the park using sign language to connect with guests. But, save that one episode of the Little Mermaid series in the ’90s (iykyk), this is something completely new.
“We’ve never done anything like this at Disney Animation before,” shared Osmund.
People are already speaking out in praise of Songs in Sign Language, and hoping it leads to more.
“As someone who is partially deaf in one ear, I fully support this and think it’s very important and heartwarming that they’re doing this.”
“I would love to see more Encanto, Frozen II and Moana 2 songs in ASL! I am currently learning ASL and I’m a senior in high school, my ASL teacher who is hearing and is learning ASL like me and my classmates are would love this!”
Many of the compliments weren’t even about inclusivity. People also shared relief to see “creativity breaking through again,” as one viewer put it.
“Disney if you get back into funding cool, artistic and niche things like this that people want you’ll win people back over !!!!!!! What was special was always the details and that’s been lost the last 6 years or so. This is amazing,” commented one viewer.
“Disney stories are the universal language of childhood. The chance to bring our language into that world was a historic opportunity to reach a global audience. Working on this project was very emotional. For so long, we have known and loved the artistic medium of Disney Animation. Here, the art form was adapting to us. I hope this unlocks possibilities in the minds and hearts of Deaf children, and that this all leads to more down the road.”
Where to watch
Songs in Sign Language is currently only available to stream on Disney+, but we know it’s only a matter of time before the Internet does its thing.
Uytae Lee is the founder of About Here, an adjunct journalism professor at UBC, and a BC Housing Board commissioner. As an urban planner and videographer, he is passionate about sharing stories about our cities.
In the video below, he explains why regulations in North America have made these quaint walk-up apartments, known by architects as point access blocks, nearly impossible to build.
It all comes down to staircases
“Quaint walk-up apartments … are a beloved feature in cities around the world,” Lee says in his video entitled “Why North Americans Can’t Have Nice Apartments.” “They’re inviting and full of character. But, here in North America, they are not allowed to be built today. Instead, our apartments are big and imposing, often stretching across the entire block and the reason why it really comes down to one reason: staircases.”
The problem is that one stairway in a point access block allows access to all apartments. This became a problem in the late 1800s when fires were commonplace in urban areas worldwide and people were more likely to die in a fire with only one exit route. So, in the U.S. and Canada, they created new regulations that made it so all buildings over two to three stories had to have two staircases to allow them to exit during a fire.
“Staircases take up a lot of space and fitting two of them in a small building means that there is much less usable floor space on every floor,” Lee says in the video. “As a result, developers here construct much larger buildings so that the staircases and hallways take up a much smaller proportion of the overall building. It’s why apartments in North America, in general, are much bigger and wider than their European counterparts.”
So why didn’t Europe make the same call?
But there are fires in Europe, too. Why did they stop short of requiring multiple staircases in apartment buildings on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean? Instead of changing the floorplans on new buildings, Europeans opted to require fireproof materials in new building construction. A big reason why the U.S. and Canada opted for larger buildings over fireproofing was because they had better access to materials and the new direction aligned with the move towards suburban sprawl.
The two-staircase regulations in the U.S also made it harder to build units greater than one bedroom because the buildings needed long hallways which reduced the number of layout options.
Now cities are rethinking the rules
The current housing crisis has many rethinking the regulations that require apartment buildings to have two stairways in North America. Many urban planners believe that modern-day demands mean we should return to building more point access block buildings, but this time with modern fire-retardant materials.
Cities like Seattle, Washington, were early adopters, but the movement has since gone national. As of 2025, seven states have passed bipartisan legislation allowing single-stairway apartment buildings, including Colorado, Montana, New Hampshire, and Texas, with 19 states and Washington D.C. having introduced bills since 2022.
Until recently, Seattle, New York, and Honolulu were the only U.S. cities that allowed apartment buildings up to 6 stories to have just 1 stairway.
More cities and towns should follow suit—it'd provide much-needed housing without risking anyone's safety. https://t.co/LWQhATtmCl
“Now, if all this makes you a bit nervous, I get it. After all, these codes are about our safety. But I do want to mention that these codes do change over time as our technology and our understanding of safety evolves,” Lee finishes the video. “It’s important that we discuss and update these rules as our world changes.”
Pew Charitable Trust reports that small, single-stairway apartments actually have a strong safety record, sharing that those kinds of buildings as tall as six stories are “at least as safe as other types of housing.” As we gather data and learn more, we should be able to adjust our regulations. So maybe, hopefully, there are more quaint apartment buildings in our future.
This article originally appeared three years ago. It has been updated.
“I live on a cruise ship for half the year with my husband, and it’s often as glamorous as it sounds,” she told Insider. “After all, I don’t cook, clean, make my bed, do laundry or pay for food.“
The one thing that makes it hard
Living an all-inclusive lifestyle seems like paradise, but it has some drawbacks. Having access to all-you-can-eat food all day long can really have an effect on one’s waistline. Kesteloo admits that living on a cruise ship takes a lot of self-discipline because the temptation is always right under her nose.
“One of the hardest things about living on a cruise ship is that I know right now, if I just leave my cabin, I can go and have cookies, pizza, a shake, I could have anything I wanted, and I want it, I absolutely want it,” she said in a TikTok video that received over 400,000 views.
“I am laying here. It is 2 pm. I had a salad for lunch, I had some fresh fruit, but that didn’t fill me up,” she continued. “Right now, all I can think about is eating a burger with some French fries and some mayonnaise.”
She added, “The hardest part is telling myself not to eat.”
She is not alone in this struggle
Kesteloo’s trouble is a common problem among people on cruise ships. A study by Admiral Travel Insurance found that over 60% of people who go on a week-long cruise anticipate gaining weight. Seventeen percent of people say they gain 2 to 3 pounds on a cruise, while 14% say they gain 4 to 5 pounds.
Other estimates show that the average cruiser will put on 5 to 10 pounds on a weeklong cruise. Imagine living on a cruise ship for half the year, like Kesteloo. She could quickly put on 100 pounds a year if she’s not careful.
The internet completely related
“I’d be huge if I lived there. I would feel like I’m on a constant vacation, and who diets on vacation?” Theresa Gramelsapcker-Wilson wrote in the comments.
“This is my main reason why I couldn’t do this HHAHAHAHAHAA,” Cara Mia added.
“I never thought about those who actually live on a cruise ship. I would be 500 pounds,” Lucky Penny2468 said.
A woman eats and drinks while enjoying the view on a cruise ship. Photo credit: Canva
Kesteloo’s battle with temptation shows that in every life, a little rain must fall. Nobody ever truly has it perfect. Kesteloo seems to be living the perfect life on board a cruise ship, but she still has to fight temptation every moment of the day or make good use of the ship’s gym facilities. But, obviously, having access to too much food is far better than having too little.
This article originally appeared four years ago. It has been updated.
