upworthy

Jacalyn Wetzel

Woman calls out Champion for ill-placed pleat making people cackle.

Pleats just make things cuter...most of the time. Pleated skirts and dresses give the clothing more movement and can make the entire outfit feel a little more feminine, if that's the look you're going for. Pleats in pants allow them to have a more shape-hugging fit while standing, but provide a less constricting fit when you sit. Sweatpants with pleats that make them look like slacks sounds like every boss babe's dream, except if you happened to purchase a pair of Champion's pleated sweatpants.

Dr. Marcy Crouch, a women's health clinical specialist and physical therapist, recently purchased a pair of Champion pleated sweatpants. To her confusion and horror, after holding up the low-rise business-casual-appearing sweatpants, she notices the pleats don't just hit the hip area like typical pleats in pants. There's an additional pleat down the center of the pants...in the front.

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Friends capturing happy moments with a selfie.Photo credit: Canva

The pleat itself is small, so you'd think it would be unnoticeable. But...it's not. In her now-viral TikTok video, Crouch is wearing leggings, making it easy for her to kick off her shoes and pull the sweatpants on to show just what the pleat does for her (or to her). Standing in front of the camera, there's nowhere else to look but at the suddenly inappropriate pleat in the front of her pants. Crouch wonders out loud how this design flaw made it into stores, while commenters had a blast making punny jokes that just won't quit.

"Listen Target, READ MY LIPS… 'Do better!" one person writes.

"Clams down best comment section in a while," another says.

"Are those from their Tulips collection?" someone else jokes.

One woman is thinking a large-scale act would really drive the point home: "I think all of us should buy a pair and make the rest of the country uncomfortable lol."

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Joyful moment with vibrant blue nails.Photo credit: Canva

Another commenter just wasn't ready for the reveal, saying, "I thought you were upset that sweatpants had a pleat down the center of the leg. I was not prepared."

Were women in the room when these pants were designed? One person thinks the answer is no. "Tell me these pants were designed and made by a team of men without telling me they were designed and made by a team of men …"

The center pleat defies all imagination before Dr. Crouch dons them for the camera, saying, "I already knew where it was going. Holy clam flaps, Batman. I was not expecting it to be that bad! They literally recreated the whole thing. That’s honestly impressive, in its own way."

center pleat; pleated sweat pants; Champion; Target; center pleat; funny video Embarrassed by the text, she covers her face in disbelief.Photo credit: Canva

Yes, this was approved and likely went through multiple quality checks before making it to the store, though one woman is in disbelief that these pants were vetted for sale, writing, "Someone designed it, and someone else approved the design, and then they made thousands of pairs…. Nobody batted an eye. Was there even one woman involved anywhere along the way??"

Are these pants still being sold in Target stores? Did Champion get into majora trouble over their pants that accentuate the thing they're supposed to cover? The world may never know. But for everyone's sake who wants to maintain eye contact with the women they're speaking with, let's hope these pants made it to their rightful place, in a Georgia O'Keeffe museum.

Experiment of boys and girls left unsupervised return eyeopening results

What would kids do if left completely to their own devices without any adult intervention? If you've never wondered that, well, you don't have to wonder anymore.

In 2016, Boys Alone (Social Experiment Documentary) took 10 boys ages 11-12 and left them unsupervised in a house for five days. Before the boys were left alone they were given cooking classes and other life skills lessons to give them all a more even starting ground.

They repeated the social experiment with girls in Girls Alone (Social Experiment Documentary). The girls are given the same life skills lessons as the boys before being left to their own devices for the better part of a week. Both groups of children were left with cameras watching their every move as adults monitored from outside of the home. But there was no interference and when the camera crew was present they did not interact or attempt to parent the children in any way.

Recently clips of these experiments resurfaced on social media when a guy with the username Mr. Cult Daddy uploaded it to share with his 508k followers.

His condensed version of the clips along with his commentary gave viewers a quick overview of the vastly different results.



@mrcultdaddy

Replying to @mrcultdaddy In contrast, the girls displayed more responsibility and cooperation. They created a chore chart, divided up tasks, and took turns cooking meals. They even organized a DIY beauty salon to cheer up a girl who was feeling down. While the girls had some disagreements, they handled them more maturely and left the house in a clean and orderly state. The experiment showcased a sense of teamwork and care, unlike the boys' experience​ #boysvsgirls #patriarchy #psychologyfacts #greenscreenvideo

"Imagine this, 10 boys all from the ages of 11 and 12 were put into a house with no adult supervision for five days. And if you heard me say that and thought to yourself that sounds like a total 'Lord of the Flies' situation, you're not wrong because it did not take long for them to completely descend into chaos," the creator shares.



Boys playing, boys, children, unsupervised kids, parenting, modern parenting shallow focus photo of boy in red crew-neck T-shirt Photo by Tolga Ahmetler on Unsplash


He explains that the boys essentially destroyed the house by drawing on the walls, flipping furniture and "trashing everything." The boys didn't use their new cooking skills, relying solely on snacks and sodas. Eventually the chaotic fun turned into power struggles, breaking into different groups fighting each other, even tying someone to a chair.

"But what's interesting about this whole thing is just how quickly their social structure that they developed just completely fell apart. What started out as excitement turned into isolation depression," the man says.

The TikTok creator jumps into sharing the commentary from others around the societal expectations of boys being able to get away with more which people feel had an impact on the way these boys behaved.

On the flip side, the girls experiment had wildly different results. The girls were the same age as the boys but instead of immediately descending into chaos, they actually worked together.

One commenter writes about the boys, "Grown men live like this too. It’s not an age thing," with another person saying, "That’s the least shocking outcome ever."



kids, children, unsupervised children, parenting, modern parenting, parenting advice, parenting hacks Teens playing table tennis Photo by Nima Sarram on Unsplash


"As we know the boys descended into chaos relatively quickly so you might say to yourself, 'oh we can expect the same things from these girls,' no. From the start the girls organize themselves. They made a freaking chore chart, took turns cooking, cleaning. meals were planned, they didn't just survive off the snacks like the boys did. They really created this team," he shares.

The girls also painted on the walls but it was productive paintings like murals and not painting to make a mess. Evidently the girls all worked together and provided each other emotional support according to the creator. They even cleaned the house before they left. It would seem that people in the comments were not at all surprised by the stark contrast between the girls and boys experiment.

One woman tells the creator, "by 12 I could have run a whole household."

"I think it's probably 15-20% prefrontal cortex and 75-80% conditioning. I was expected to wash the dishes every night by myself from a young age while my male sibling went to bed. I was made to do his homework, even tho I was 2y younger, so he'd have free time to "be a typical boy." I'm the reason he passed elementary school, but I refused after that and his grades crashed," another woman reveals.



children, raising children, unsupervised children, parents, parenting, modern parenting two girl in pink and green shirts sitting on wall shelf Photo by Cristina Gottardi on Unsplash


"I think it shows the difference in raising. Girls are taught to behave, be smart. Boys tend to be spoiled by moms and dads. They don’t usually receive the learning of being nice, cordial," someone else shares.

"It's conditioning (at least 80%) my brother is 9 years older and I had to teach him how to do his own laundry when I was 14 (he was ripe ol' age of 23) bc my mom taught me from a young age and didn't," one commenter explains.

While many people agree that the culprit is social conditioning combined with brain development while others pointed out that it may simply be American culture. That also likely plays a large role in the outcome of these experiments, but what do you think? If the experiment was completed again today, would the results be the same?

You can watch the entire boys experiment here and the girls experiment here.

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

The joy of reuniting with your love.

Love is a beautiful thing no matter how old the couple is, but there's something special about a love that's spanned most of a lifetime. Many people dream about growing old with the love of their life, making plans to have babies and sit in a rocking chair holding their babies' babies, but few get to actually live out that dream.

When you come across a couple who have been married for 50 or 60 years or longer, it's common to ask them their secret to long-lasting love. But there's at least one centenarian who simply embodies what true love looks like in the golden years. He doesn't offer up any secret advice, just a spontaneous act of pure, unadulterated love and people cannot get enough of it.

animation love GIF Giphy

A woman from Colombia posted a video to her Instagram page, enfermeraestilosa, showing the moment her 103-year-old grandfather reunited with his wife after a month-long hospitalization. He was so excited that he forgot he needed his walker when he went running towards the love of his life.

The text that accompanies the video translates from Spanish to English to say, "This is how my 103-year-old grandfather receives the love of his life after a month in hospital where we thought she would leave forever. How sad that things have to happen to realize that the lottery touches us every day with health, with family and with the love of the people we are close to. Yes, today is one more day that we have hit the jackpot. Merry Christmas, grandparents, you are together again."

Commenters just couldn't get enough of his enthusiastic joy over seeing his wife.

"I wish nothing else in this life that a love so pure and sincere that lasts forever."

"How beautiful, you made me cry with joy and excitement. What a pity that love of that generation is lost! Cheers to them, children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and maybe great-grandchildren."

"True love is forever without doubt."

"I want a love like this.... How beautiful it made me cry."

"I'm crying on the subway and I don't think I'm the only one."

Miraculously, the grandfather in the video reached his 104th birthday in March of 2025, and yes, he is clearly still madly in love with his wife.

"Days before he turned 104 my grandfather became very very ill and I was afraid to lose him, but to him, what scares him the most is losing her," reads the translated caption on a video of the couple embracing on his birthday. "To her and to life. It sounds strange, but he never talks about death. He talks about life."

His granddaughter shared that she'd asked him years ago what he thought the key to happiness was. He answered:

- Do what you want and not what you 'should do for fear of.'

- Do no harm to anyone.

- Have a dream (and not a material one).

"I know you are not eternal and one day you won't be and I won't be able to see your wrinkles and your look when you see grandma, but you will always be eternal," the granddaughter wrote. "Grandparents are eternal."

grandpa, grandma, grandparents, old couple "Grandparents are eternal."Photo credit: Canva

What a beautiful tribute not only to long-lasting love but to the lessons we can learn from our elders, especially those who have lived such a long life and found so much success in a marriage. It's a good reminder of what truly matters and how love can endure when we treasure it like this 104-year-old treasures his wife. No matter how much time they have left together, it's clear they'll make the most of it.

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

Having a 'couch friend' or 'errand friend' can help save you money

Not all friends do all things. It's not abnormal to have friends you go to social events with, and other friends who are more comfortable inside. A lot of times, one of your indoor friends will turn into your "couch friend," and surprisingly, having a couch or "errand friend" can help you both save some money.

So, what is a couch friend? They're the friend who doesn't make you feel like you need to run around shoving dirty dishes in the oven before they arrive. They know you have a gaggle of children and work an ungodly amount of hours; they're not judging your messy house. These friends just want to hang out in sweatpants and exist next to you for a few hours.

couch friend; errand friend; money saving tips; saving money; friendships Relaxation mode: Face masks, books, and comfy vibes.Photo credit: Canva

But couch friends don't simply come over to sit in silence, although they welcome that, too. Oftentimes, they come over and jump right in with helping you cook dinner, get kids to bed, or reset your living space because their presence doesn't require entertainment. Instead, they're there to support you, whether it's with dishes or keeping you company while you finish your Bridgerton marathon. Having a couch friend while being a couch friend has its benefits, mainly that it can help you both save money, and it's fun.

Pamela Vachon, contributor for CNET, explains in her article, "How Much Cheaper Is Cooking at Home Than Takeout? We Do the Math" that cooking at home saves big bucks. "By my calculations, on average, cooking your takeout staples at home amounted to about a 50% savings over ordering those same items as carryout, and a shocking 75% savings if you're routinely getting them delivered."

couch friend; errand friend; money saving tips; saving money; friendships Tidying up: teamwork in a cozy, bohemian room.Photo credit: Canva

When a friend is hanging out with you in your home, you're not out spending money. You're more likely to enjoy cooking if someone is helping, which again, will save you both money. The bonus is, you get to enjoy the company of someone you care about. Under a video about couch friends, someone describes these friends as "framily," writing, "Framily - friends who are family. We spend the majority of our time together on couches in silence not doing much, but if one needs us, we'll drop everything and do ANYTHING to help."

Not only does having a couch friend help you save money, but it can also help you become more productive. The same can be said about having an "errand friend." An errand friend is someone who doesn't mind riding around with you all day while you run errands. It makes running errands more fun and, surprisingly, more productive.

couch friend; errand friend; money saving tips; saving money; friendships Shopping day smiles: friends and baby enjoy the day out!Photo credit: Canva

Billy Roberts, LISW-S, LCSW, the founder and director of Focused Mind ADHD Counseling, a specialized ADHD practice in Ohio and Illinois, tells Upworthy, "There is science behind having an 'errand friend' to help you be more productive. Motivation comes from two places: internal and external. While some of us might be highly motivated to do things for internal reasons (i.e., to win at something), others struggle to find their get-up-and-go around certain tasks (i.e., like cooking when going out is easier). However, when motivation is externalized (i.e., making a plan to do a task with a friend), this can work to shift or even jumpstart motivation. Suddenly, it's not just about cooking because you have to, it's about showing up for someone else, or gaining the reward of a social interaction."

Having a friend around to keep you on task isn't just good for your wallet, it's also good for your sanity. Things almost always feel easier when people work together to get them done. But if you just want your friend to come over and sit in silence while you both doom scroll, that's fine too. In fact, that's what couch friends are for.