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People from states with harsh winters are sharing tips with Texans for staying safe and warm

A polar vortex swept through the southern United States this week, bringing snow and ice storms and record low temperatures that have debilitated the region. Texas in particular has been hit hard, and with an energy infrastructure that’s not designed or prepared for such weather, millions of people have been without power for days. People…

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Annie Reneau

Array
Array – Photo credit: Photo: Canva, @mixbecca/Twitter

A polar vortex swept through the southern United States this week, bringing snow and ice storms and record low temperatures that have debilitated the region. Texas in particular has been hit hard, and with an energy infrastructure that’s not designed or prepared for such weather, millions of people have been without power for days.

People who aren’t used to cold weather, who live in homes that aren’t designed to retain heat, who don’t have winter gear to keep them warm, are struggling to stay warm without power and heat. Some don’t have water, either.

While politicians bicker over who is to blame for the dire situation, Americans are doing what they can to help. For those of us in the north, that means sharing knowledge and experience for how to stay warm when the heat goes out.

Several viral threads on Twitter have proven incredibly helpful as people offer their best tips for handling the frigid temperatures while staying safe. (Sadly, we’ve seen several deaths from carbon monoxide poisoning—running a car in a garage and heating a home with a charcoal grill are things you should avoid at all costs.)

Twitter user from Michigan @mixbecca shared this bullet list of advice:

https://www.twitter.com/mixbecca/status/1361696077330722826

“Okay southern friends / people without power — as someone who has lived through many, many power outages in negative temps, while the priority is to get somewhere warm if you *can* if you’re trapped at home — here of some of the things that can help:

– Layers of loose-fitting clothes will keep you warmer than layers tight.

– Put towels / blankets / etc over windows, and if you can, choose a “warm room” for all of you to stay in that you can insulate. Shove towels under doors, tape over door frames if possible.

– Keep your hands and feet warm. Put them under your armpits, wrap them if you have to. Wear a hat indoors if needed to keep your ears warm.

– If you still have water, bottles of hot water at the foot of your bed under your sheets will help warm them up / create a “cave” of warmth.

– Turn on ALL your faucets so a teeny, tiny drip is going. Trust me. You DO NOT want your pipes to burst in negative temps. It is an actual nightmare. Someone on my tl was worried about wasting water but you will waste a lot more if you flood your house.

– If you still have gas you can use, a hot pot of water on the stove will help with heat and humidity; dry air indoors in the winter is the worst. Boiling pots of water will help on both ends also.

– Pantyhose are a godsend for layering. Those bitches are WARM. Wearing them under baggy sweatpants or something will make a world of difference. We did this when Michigan got hit with an ice storm and we had no power for a week.

– If you’ve never had to layer in the cold before, some of the best things you can wear are wool, flannel, silk, and fleece. Moisture-wicking fabrics and natural fibers are ideal for under layers; wool and flannel for top, bc they insulate you but they can’t wick moisture away.

– If there are multiple levels to your house, just accept that the top floor is going to be the warmest. Heat rises, cold air sinks. If you have a particularly toasty bedroom it’s easier to convert that to a ‘warm room’ instead of trying to heat the entire house.

– Shut doors to any rooms you don’t absolutely need. Stuff towels under the doors. Got an office, a spare bedroom, etc? Seal it off so you’re not “wasting” warm air on that room.

– DO NOT: Bring a generator inside. Ever. EVER. And don’t run it in your garage, either. Generators have to run 30 ft away from your home; most northerners know this, but we can’t expect southerners to.

– During the day, you can pull towels / etc down from windows if you have bright sunlight in and — this is going to sound silly — sitting in the sun in dark-colored clothing is a godsend when you’re stuck in a freezing ass house.

– Make sure you recover windows at night if you’re able to heat foods — hot foods like tea, soups, etc will help. There’s a reason ever ~idyllic~ Christmas movie has folks coming in from the snow to drink hot cocoa and broth, lol. now is the time to live your greatest tea / soup / chili aesthetic dreams.

– If you have pets, you need to monitor them when they’re outside. Dogs can get frostbite on their paws; let them out to do their business and bring them back in. Animals are good at letting you know when they’re cold, but don’t be afraid to make blanket nests / etc for them

– If you’re desperate to block drafts and you have them, pool noodles are a godsend. Cut them in half (length-wise not like….down the middle) and wrap them in fabric and jam that shit under your door.

– For bedding, fluffy stuff goes closest to you (goal is to have pockets of warm air!). The thinner and denser the layers of bedding are, the closer they should go to the top. So if you’re sleeping with, say, a fluffy duvet and two blankets, duvet touches your skin, blankets on top.

I am literally so sorry for everyone stuck in this position. Being without power in the cold is a nightmare. You’ll feel like you’re losing your mind, and cold /hurts/.

(tldr: Multiple loose layers, block the drafts, block off as many rooms as possible, and hot drinks, if you can.)”

Others added to the list with their own tips, such as holding hot drinks against your heart to keep your core warm. Limbs will feel the coldest, but keeping the center of your body warm is more important than you’d think.

https://www.twitter.com/KimberlyBlack/status/1361701810591862788

Movement warms you up, but you don’t want to break a sweat since the moisture will make you colder.

https://www.twitter.com/corylwrites/status/1361706388481835010

Other tips include:

– Melt snow in buckets to use for flushing toilets if your water is shut off.

– Your hot water tank holds a lot of fresh water. If your water is shut off, you can drain it from your water heater

– Line windows with cardboard for insulation. Saran wrap window edges. Bubble wrap works as insulation as well.

– Depending on the outdoor temperature, you can put food in plastic bins or coolers out in the snow.

– Stay hydrated. Your body uses a lot of energy just to stay warm, and your body regulates its temperature more effectively if it’s properly hydrated.

– Hats are a must. You lose a lot of heat out of your head.

– If you must drive somewhere, go slower than you think you should, and don’t slam on your breaks. If you lose control, don’t turn the wheel sharply. Try to stay along the rumble strip on the side of the road where you have more traction.

– Check on neighbors, especially if they live alone and/or are elderly.

– Again, don’t run the car in the garage and don’t use a barbecue indoors. If you have a gas oven, don’t use it to heat the house. Carbon monoxide poisoning is real.

People in Texas have expressed gratitude for the tips, in addition to being thankful for people not making fun of those who are struggling.

It’s heartening to see people coming together virtually to help strangers who live thousands of miles away, reaching out with sympathy and solidarity.

https://www.twitter.com/CNoyes1/status/1361850148859617282

Anyone who’s experienced a power outage during the winter knows how brutal the cold can be. And since folks in Texas and other southern spots aren’t used to or prepared for it, handling that situation is even harder.

Hang in there, southern friends. We’re hoping this crisis passes soon for you all.

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    Mayor of Osaka visibly stunned after stranger donates $3.6 million in gold bars to fix city’s water pipes

    “It’s a staggering amount and I was speechless.”

    Erik Barnes

    When living in a community, people are expected to chip in to improve it. This is typically done through taxes or donation checks—or sometimes through anonymous gifts. In Osaka, Japan, however, an anonymous donor sent 46 pounds of solid gold to help fix the water system.

    In a press conference, Mayor Hideyuki Yokoyama shared that a mystery donor sent his office gold bars worth a total of $3.6 million. Why? The donor wanted their donation to fund the repair and replacement of the aging water pipes in Osaka.

    “It’s a staggering amount and I was speechless,” said Yokoyama. “Tackling aging water pipes requires a huge investment, and I cannot thank enough for the donation.”

    Osaka is home to more than three million people and is the third-largest city in Japan. While it’s bustling, it’s also an aging city. Its water system has had more than 90 reported cases of leaking pipes beneath its streets. As a major commercial hub, tourist destination, and home to so many residents, the donor was motivated to make such a large gold donation. Reportedly, the same donor had previously donated 500,000 yen to the municipal waterworks.

    Aging public water pipe systems aren’t just an issue in Japan, but also in the United States. With much of the country’s piping installed 50 or more years ago, the system is deteriorating. This has led not only to water leaks, but to contamination within the pipes as well.

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    Other bizarre anonymous donations

    Osaka’s golden donation isn’t the first odd or eccentric mystery donor case—and likely won’t be the last.

    In 2009, a mystery donor approached 14 colleges throughout the U.S. and donated a total of $81.5 million. Each college received the same note and instructions: Don’t try to figure out the identity of the donor, and use the money for financial aid for women and minority students.

    In 2021, a package sent to City College of New York contained $180,000 in cash. Delivered to the physics department, it sat unopened for more than a year. The donor remained a mystery, but a note inside said they had enjoyed a “long, productive, immensely rewarding to me, scientific career.” The money was ultimately used to fund undergraduate scholarships.

    In 2025, a charity bucket at a Salvation Army location in Vermont contained a gold coin wrapped in a dollar bill. The coin was worth $4,100.

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    Boomers and Generation Jones share the meals and foods they miss the most from the 1960s

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    50 years later, the iconic ‘Sesame Street’ counting song is overwhelming Gen X with nostalgia

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    Gen X is sometimes referred to as “the Sesame Street generation,” a moniker many of us wear with pride. Sesame Street was a childhood staple, along with Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood and The Electric Company. Countless Gen Xers owe a great deal of our early childhood education to those public television programs.

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    Jack Black talks about the pinball countdown masterpiece

    The brilliance of the pinball countdown lies in both the music and the animation. First, it’s so ’70s in the absolute best way. So very funky. So very psychedelic. But when you consider that the lyrics include only numbers—one to 12, plus whichever single number is featured—it’s amazing that it took such a permanent place in our psyches.

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    Then he sang the counting part with his signature Jack Black flourish.

    “It was just really good music and really good animation, and it fired up my creativity like crazy,” he said. “And it inspired me.”

    How the Pointer Sisters helped create one of the most iconic Gen X memories

    The catchy little ditty was composed and produced by Walt Kraemer, whose company, Imagination, Inc., produced many animation pieces for the Children’s Television Workshop. He shared details of the 1976 recordings of the pinball countdown pieces in an email to blogger Matt Jones:

    “Those were indeed the Pointer Sisters. All four of them. At the time only three were performing regularly and I recall budgeting for just the three when June showed up at the session with the rest. It was a bonus. The basic track was performed by San Francisco Bay Area musicians and since there were to be eleven pieces of animation I had the track structured to accomodate three different lead instrument overdubs to give the pieces some variety. On some numbers Andy Narell plays a steel drums solo, on others Mel Martin plays a soprano sax solo, on the rest… I forget. Much credit should go to Ed Bogas for interpreting my melody ideas and for the musical arrangements.”

    “The concept and design was devised by our animation director, Jeff Hale. It was his idea that I create basic tracks then record as ‘wild-lines’ the Pointers shouting the various 2-11 numbers in different intensities and different compliments of voices. Then, each time the pin ball hit a selected number he would drop in these (off-key—couldn’t be helped) wild lines.”

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    In 1997, Beatles producer George Martin was stunned by this Brazilian all-girls choir rendition of ‘Because’

    He was walking through the Brazilian airport with his wife.

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    Who deserves the honorary title of “fifth Beatle“? You could make a case for several people: guest keyboardist Billy Preston, early drummer Pete Best, even manager Brian Epstein. But on a musical level, no one was more crucial to The Fab Four than producer George Martin, who worked on all of their albums.

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    “What a beautiful, brilliant human he was”

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    “I am moved by the performance as well. What a beautiful brilliant human he was. I am grateful he existed in my lifetime.”

    “Because” exemplifies George Martin’s connection with The Beatles

    “Because,” a highlight from 1969’s Abbey Road, was an ideal choice as a Martin tribute. The recorded version, built on lush vocal harmonies, opens with one of his signature instrumental contributions: a chiming electric harpsichord.

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    Annie Reneau

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    Man walks around Brooklyn after blizzard to show off the most wonderful snow creatures

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    Art is magical because it can be found anywhere at any time. So when New Yorkers got close to three feet of snow dumped on their city, many dug deep into their creative sides. They took to the parks and contributed to building a winter wonderland of whimsical snow creatures.

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    NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced an old-fashioned snow day by FaceTiming an 8th-grade student named Victoria. “So my only ask to you is that you just stay safe, stay indoors during the height of the storm,” he told her. “Once that has passed, feel free to go out and sled.”

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    Another is a “study” Hello Kitty snow-cat. Then we get to the duck. “It’s a duck. What else would it be? That’s like super detailed,” Stewart quips.

    Some people got incredibly creative and used trees as the actual canvas and snow as the “paint.” “That is adorable. It looks like it has hair,” he says about one. Another artist used a similar idea to “paint” a snow lizard climbing a tree.

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    It’s Stewart’s joyous giggling and earnest commentary that gives the snow creature tour that extra delightful touch. “That s–t was whimsical as f$%$,” he concludes.

    The comment section agrees. The clip already has over 265,000 likes and thousands of comments. One notes, “The fact that I know without a doubt that every single one of them was made by fully grown adults and not one actual kid was around for the making of these snowmen is hilarious.”

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    A few of the artists eventually came forward to claim their work: Dori Miller (@dori.miller) writes, “I made that lizard!” And when asked who designed the “tree hugger,” Michael Galligan (@Michael_galligan) chimed in, “That was me and Maddy Rosaler (@maddyrosaler).”

    Dazed by the igloo, one Instagrammer writes, “I’m sorry, but there aren’t enough people in these comments talking about that igloo. A WHOLE IGLOO! WHAT? Incredible.”

    Perfect conditions for snowmen

    As terrific as these snow creations are, it takes a certain temperature and snow type to make it all work—even for the most brilliant artists. A 2015 article in Smithsonian Magazine explains the science behind it, citing perfectly-named physicist Dan Snowman, who says, “Snow can be either too wet or too dry.”

    “Scientists actually classify snow based on its moisture content—the amount of free water relative to ice crystals—not to be confused with the amount of water the snow would produce if melted. Snow comes in five categories: dry (zero percent water), moist (less than 3 percent), wet (3 to 8 percent), very wet (8 to 15 percent), and slush (more than 15 percent).”

    For snowman-building weather, it’s best to have moist snow. “Dry snow is like a loose powder with particles that don’t stick together very well, while slush is too fluid to hold a shape.”

    Temperature-wise, the weather needs to be just a bit above freezing. As for the “where” of it all: “Once the raw material is on the ground, it’s time to select your snowman-building surface. Level ground is best, but asphalt absorbs and holds heat from sunlight, so avoid driveways. A flat spot near the bottom of a large hill could provide shade and keep your creation safe from direct warmth from the sun—although it may wind up as a target for sleds.”

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  • Philosophy expert shares the 300-year-old rule to tell if someone is a good or bad person
    Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and a scene at a restaurant. – Photo credit: via Canva/Photos and G.Meiners/Wikimedia Commons
    , , , ,

    Philosophy expert shares the 300-year-old rule to tell if someone is a good or bad person

    It was true then, and it’s even more true now.

    Tod Perry

    Upworthy Staff

    What makes a ‘good person’ is hard to quantify, but sometimes, you just know it when you see it. But that’s the problem, you can’t always see it. Have you ever met somebody new and wondered if they were a good person with a mischievous streak or a bad person who can turn on the charm and behave occasionally? Determining someone’s true moral character is important, especially if you start dating them or have a business relationship. It is crucial to get to the core of who they are and know whether they can be trusted.

    Popular TikTok philosopher and Substack writer Juan de Medeiros recently shared a great way to determine whether someone is good or bad. His rubric for judging someone’s moral character comes from a quote commonly attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, a German poet, playwright, novelist, and intellectual known for works like Faust and The Sorrows of Young Werther.

    How can you tell if someone is a good or a bad person?

    “Here’s a pretty good indicator that somebody is a bad person and vice versa, how you can spot a good one. And this goes back to a simple rule, a moral aphorism by Goethe in which he writes, ‘Never trust someone who is unkind to those who can do nothing for him,’” de Medeiros shared in a TikTok video with over 45,000 views.

    “Never trust someone who is unkind to those who can do nothing for him.” —Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

    @julianphilosophy

    Good vs. bad #good #bad #wisdom

    ♬ original sound – Julian de Medeiros

    De Medeiros then provided real-world ways to determine whether the person you have questions about is good or bad. “A bad person is unfriendly to strangers, to the elderly, to children, to service staff, to anybody they’re not trying to impress,” he said. At the same time, the good person treats people equally, no matter what they can do for him. They’re good for goodness sake, not to get anything out of it.

    “A good person carries grace within them and shares it freely with abundance. A good person treats other people as they would like to be treated as well. And it doesn’t matter who you are, it doesn’t matter what your status is, they will treat you and see you as their equal,” de Medeiros said.

    What is ‘The Waiter Rule’?

    Goethe’s quote echoes the common red/green flag test that many people have on dates. Sure, it’s important if your date is courteous and treats you well on the date, but you really want to watch how they interact with the server. The rule is often called “The Waiter Rule,” outlined by William Swanson. Swanson, the former chairman and CEO of Raytheon Company, wrote in his book, 33 Unwritten Rules of Management, “A person who is nice to you but rude to the waiter—or to others—is not a nice person.” Boxer Muhammad Ali is also known for saying something similar: “I don’t trust anyone who’s nice to me but rude to the waiter. Because they would treat me the same way if I were in that position.”

    Rudeness toward the waitstaff also indicates that the person isn’t very smart. It’s not wise to be rude to someone who is in charge of your meal for the night.

    Conversely, a good person is kind to others without looking for anything in return because they want to spread joy and believe that others deserve respect. You are what you do, not what you think or believe, and when someone treats others with goodness, it’s a clear indicator of the type of person they are.

    In the end, we are all a mixed bag of behaviors and attitudes, and even the most perfect of us has a devil on their shoulder telling them that it’s okay to occasionally get into a bit of mischief. However, when it comes down to determining someone’s core character, how they treat those who can do nothing for them says everything.

     

    This article originally appeared last year. It has been updated.

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  • A man at a bar bought a rude stranger a drink and used it as a brilliant lesson about consent
    An uncomfortable woman is approached by a man at a bar – Photo credit: Canva
    ,

    A man at a bar bought a rude stranger a drink and used it as a brilliant lesson about consent

    “One person noticed. That was enough.”

    Adam Albright-Hanna

    The situation was familiar enough to be exhausting. A man at a bar had bought a woman a drink. She didn’t want to go home with him. He apparently felt those two things were in conflict.

    “You are not going to come home with me?” he said, audibly frustrated. When she said no, he pushed back: “But I bought you a drink.” She got up and walked away.

    A TikTok user who goes by @tripptokk10 was standing nearby when this happened, already at the bar ordering his own drink. He watched the woman leave, looked at the man still standing there working through his grievance, and made a decision. He ordered two shots.

    @tripptokk10

    But I bought you a drink??? #men #respectingboundaries #barconversations #fyp #foryoupage

    ♬ original sound – Tripp

    “I slide it over to him,” he explained in his TikTok video, posted December 20, 2025. They took the shots together. Then he leaned in and made his point: “So are you going to come home with me or what?”

    The logic was the same. The conclusion was absurd. That was exactly the point.

    In the video, filmed casually at home in a robe and bonnet, he explained what he was responding to: “This one’s for the boys who think buying a woman a drink at the bar means that she should go home with you. No, it doesn’t. She doesn’t know you.”

    A man stares at a woman at a bar.
    A man stares at a woman at a bar. Photo Credit: Canva

    The same creator posted a second video about another night, different bar, same basic dynamic. This time a man had approached one of his female friends, put his hands on her shoulders without asking, and kept going despite her visibly trying to shrug him off. When she tried to walk away, he reached for her hand. The TikTok user stepped in and told him to back off.

    What happened next is the part that stayed with people. The man started apologizing, directing the apology not at the woman he’d been grabbing, but at the guy who’d intervened. “You didn’t do anything to me,” the creator told him. “You were harassing her.”

    The man’s response: “I respect you so much.”

    He described how confused and frustrated he felt in that moment. “Go apologize to her and change your behavior,” he said in the video, “because an apology without changed behavior is just a manipulation tactic.”

    That line hit harder than the shot glass moment for a lot of viewers. The dynamic he was describing, where a man harms a woman and then seeks absolution from another man rather than the person he actually hurt, is one that gets talked about in academic gender studies literature but rarely gets explained so plainly in a 60-second video in a bathrobe.

    Neither incident is complicated. Nobody got arrested, nobody threw a punch, nobody did anything that required a news alert. What spread was simpler than that: one person noticed something wrong, said something proportionate, and kept his head on straight when the whole thing got weird. Apparently that’s still worth talking about.

    This article originally appeared earlier this year.

    Keep Reading →
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