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Some babies are born ready to rock out, and little Lucio is one of them. Lucio first took the Internet by storm in April of this year when his mom, Naya “J’chelle” Perry, posted a TikTok showing off his incredible “Farrah Fawcett” like locks.As Perry shared in the clip, Lucio caused the medical staff to do a double-take in the operating room. “The second he came out my belly, the first thing they said is ‘Oh my God, his hair!’” she said, as a picture of three-hour-old Lucio with a full head of shiny, black-brown hair popped up on screen. She dubbed this his “placenta perm.”As Lucio grew, so did his mane. By three months, he had a halo of curls. Cut to 18 months old, and Lucio looks like the spitting image of Maui from Moana. @jchellestryingherbest When your baby has more hair than you ? #momsoftiktok #boymom #curlyhaircheck Unsurprisingly, some folks have been hit with a twinge of (lighthearted) jealousy of Lucio’s luscious locks. As one person joked, “Baby got an entire roller set and I’m sitting here bald. You win, kid.”Another business-minded viewer saw a lucrative opportunity and wrote. “Get that baby a shampoo contract.” Seriously, couldn’t you just see him in a commercial with a fan blowing that mane, Beyoncé style?What is lanugo?The term “placenta perm” is an informal term used to describe the curly or wavy hair pattern that some babies are born with due to the presence of lanugo—a fine, soft hair that covers the developing fetus during the second trimester of pregnancy to keep it warm. - YouTube www.youtube.com Lanugo typically falls off in the last eight weeks of pregnancy, mixing in with amniotic fluid and becoming part of its first food, and, therefore, shall be part of its first poop after birth (the more you know). However, some babies, like Lucio, don’t lose all of theirs. Experts aren’t exactly sure why this happens, though it’s generally believed that genetics, prenatal development, and hormone levels play the biggest roles.In an interview with Newsweek, Perry further shared that while no signs of Lucio's hair popped up during any ultrasounds, there were other “old wives’ tale” omen, including an itchy stomach and some acid reflux. Hence why someone quipped, "I know that heartburn was killing you" in the comments.Perry admitted that because Lucio’s hair has the unique character trait of being “super curly in the front and straighter in the back” (which makes sense, as most curly-haired folks have different levels of curliness on their noggin), it makes things a little harder to style. But luckily, grandma is mostly in charge of that.Grandma does Lucio's hair"My mom is the master braider for him," Perry said. "He will get fussy if I try to touch his hair, but will sit just perfectly for grandma!" She also isn't worried if people judge him for having long hair. "I believe that little boys are allowed to have long hair, too! And, in all honesty, he just looks so adorable with it!" Perry continued. Regardless, that iconic look is worth all the fuss in the world. And if you’re wondering. No, there are zero plans to cut Lucio’s hair. Until he asks for it, that is.Sometimes what makes us unique takes time to discover and cultivate. And other times, we are simply born with it.Lucio turned two on September 23rd, and Perry shared a sweet video about her rainbow baby and how much joy he brings her (and all of us). In fact, Perry posted another video with the chyron, "POV: your internet nephew is TWO today ?" sweetly acknowledging all his Internet aunties and uncles out there. @jchellestryingherbest He was just a little baby in a bear suit that calmed down to music and now he’s a big boy ? Happy birthday to my sonshine ❤️ #terrifictwos #birthdayboy #twoyearold It's wonderful that Perry isn't letting her son have his hair cut until he asks for it, because, as legendary writer and poet Alice Walker once wrote, in Oppressed Hair Puts a Ceiling on the Brain: having free-flowing hair is liberating. "Eventually, I knew precisely what hair wanted: it wanted to grow, to be itself, to attract lint, if that was its destiny, but to be left alone by anyone, including me, who did not love it as it was. What do you think happened?" Walker wrote. "The ceiling at the top of my brain lifted; once again my mind (and spirit) could get outside myself. I would not be stuck in restless stillness, but would continue to grow." This article originally appeared in April. It has been updated.

Women's safety is a rising concern in modern society. Each day we switch on the news to hear about another woman getting harassed or assaulted in public places. Even shopping centers and convenience stores covered with security cameras do not help much in dangerous situations. A woman named Nina Sotom (@ninasotom on TikTok) was out at her local Target to do some shopping, when she experienced something truly terrifying. In her TikTok video, Sotom mentioned that while she was about to make her exit after the shopping spree and reached the store's self-checkout counter, Target's security personnel stopped her from leaving.Initially, Sotom was confused, but she gradually came to know the real reason behind the security personnel's action. While Sotom was busy browsing, the security person was actually keeping an eye on her. After clearing her purchase and collecting her payment, the Target staff informed Sotom that she still wasn't allowed to leave. Sotom thought she was possibly being detained because they suspected her of shoplifting. "I remember grabbing my receipt and holding it flat out because I know that little camera up there can read the smallest print," Sotom recalled. Fill Up Love GIF by Target Giphy The Target staff then spoke to another lady while Sotom waited. In time, the other woman, who turned out to be another security worker, shared a shocking revelation with Sotom: a suspicious fellow was following her around the store and sneakily taking her picture. "I’m so sorry I didn’t catch it earlier, I would have thrown him out," the security worker apologized, according to Sotom. The security worker then assured Sotom that the troublesome man was out of the shop at that point and no longer posed her any harm. To be extra safe, the security worker then escorted Sotom to her car.Sotom was thankful for everything the Target security team did to keep her safe from what could have been an extremely dangerous situation. "Even if that man was just being creepy and sending those pictures to a random person, it makes me as a woman feel so secure and so safe to know that other people are watching out for me and it’s not just me watching out for me," she reflected in her video. In a separate comment under the video, Sotom elaborated that her mom ended up calling the police and they contacted the Target store. They were taking the cautionary steps just to be on the safe side. The comment section applauded the alert security for their vigilance and professionalism. Security guard observing parking lot. via Canva PhotosOne commenter recalled, "This happened to me. I am 9 months pregnant and I was shopping alone with my 3 boys. A man was following us around and taking pictures of my kids. The worker was telling me I couldn’t leave. I promised that my kids or I did not steal and then I was told that a man was following me." Another applauded Target security, saying, "They’re the best! When I got my husband the new Xbox. It was wild that they had two guys escort me to my car because people would wait outside to snatch it." This viewer commented, "I didn’t even imagine this is where your story would go. This is so scary glad you’re safe." Another added, "Wow that’s awesome. I was not expecting that outcome! So glad to hear she was just trying to take care of you!"Watch Sotom's video below: @ninasotom @target Next time you're out shopping, rest assured there are security teams looking out for your safety, but don't let it stop there. Keep an eye out for your fellow shoppers, too. If everyone is looking out for one another, we'll all be a lot safer in this world.This article originally appeared in September.

Once upon a time, a young Fiji water brand had what they thought was a brilliant idea for an ad campaign. They targeted a specific city — Cleveland, Ohio, to be exact — and put up billboards poking fun of the city's water quality: "The label says Fiji because it's not bottled in Cleveland," they read.Clevelanders didn't find it funny. According to the Washington Post, public utilities director at the time Julius Ciaccia decided to test the quality of Fiji water against the city's tap water."The results: 6.31 micrograms of arsenic per liter in the Fiji bottle, said Cleveland water quality manager Maggie Rodgers. Cleveland tap water as well as bottled brands Aquafina, Dasani and Evian had no measurable arsenic."Before you take a cheap shot at somebody, know what you're talking about," said Cleveland water commissioner J. Christopher Nielson.It should be noted, of course, that the 6.3 micrograms of arsenic are well within the defined limits set forth by the FDA. But it goes to show — what do we really know about the bottled we're drinking? It may claim to come from "fresh mountain springs" or "rainforest aquifers," but there's a lot going on inside those bottles that most consumers aren't aware of.The Story of Stuff Project brilliantly tells the story, and explains how bottled water became America's biggest craze — and why it might be time to "take back the tap." - YouTube www.youtube.com Here are 6 powerful takeaways.1. Bottled water is more expensive than tap water (and not just a little).A Business Insider column noted that two-thirds of the bottled water sold in the United States is in individual 16.9-ounce bottles, which comes out to roughly $7.50 per gallon. That's about 2,000 times higher than the cost of a gallon of tap water.And in an article in 20 Something Finance, G.E. Miller investigated the cost of bottled versus tap water for himself. He found that he could fill 4,787 20-ounce bottles with tap water for only $2.10! So if he paid $1 for a bottled water, he'd be paying 2,279 times the cost of tap.2. Bottled water could potentially be of lower quality than tap water.Fiji's marketing campaign not only backfired, it raised all kinds of questions about what's really inside our bottled water.How was that possible? Sarah Goodman of the New York Times explains:" Bottled water manufacturers are not required to disclose as much information as municipal water utilities because of gaps in federal oversight authority. Bottom line: The Food and Drug Administration oversees bottled water, and U.S. EPA is in charge of tap water. FDA lacks the regulatory authority of EPA."Many independent watchdogs and organizations regularly test popular bottled water brands, and continue to find high-levels of contaminants and microplastics in them. @oasis.app Guess they’re telling the truth #liquiddeath #oasis #water 3. The amount of bottled water we buy every week in the U.S. alone could circle the globe five times!That sounded like it just had to be impossible, so we looked into it. Here's what our fact-checkers found:"According to the video, ' People in the U.S. buy more than half a billion bottles of water every week.' National Geographic says for 2011, bottled water sales hit 9.1 billion gallons (roughly 34 billion liters).A 'typical' water bottle is a half-liter, so that's about 68 billion bottles per year. Divided by 52 weeks would be a little over 1 billion bottles of water sold per week in the U.S. Because that's based on a smaller 'typical' bottle size, it seems reasonable that a half billion bottles a week could be accurate.The Earth is about 131.5 million feet around, so yep, half a billion bottles of varying sizes strung end-to-end could circle the Earth five times." blue labeled plastic bottles Photo by tanvi sharma on Unsplash 4. Paying for bottled water makes us chumps.Beverage companies have turned bottled water into a multibillion-dollar industry through a concept known as manufactured demand. Bottled water advertisements used a combination of scare tactics (Tap water bad!) and seduction (From the purest mountain streams EVER!) to reel us in.Well, we now know their claims about the superior quality of bottled water are mostly bogus. And research shows that anywhere from a quarter to 45% of all bottled water comes from the exact same place as your tap water (which, to reiterate, is so cheap it's almost free).5. Bottled water is FILTHY.It takes oil — lots of it — to make plastic bottles. According to the video, the energy in the amount of oil it takes to make the plastic water bottles sold in the U.S. in one year could fuel a million cars. That's not even counting the oil it takes to ship bottled water around the world.And once we've guzzled our bottled water, up to 80% of the empty bottles end up in landfills or noxious-gas-producing incinerators. The rest is either recycled or shipped to countries like India where poor people without environmental and labor protections have to deal with it.On top of all that, the process of manufacturing plastic bottles is polluting public water supplies, which makes it easier for bottled water companies to sell us their expensive product.6. There are 750 million people around the world who don't have access to clean water. a person walking in the mud with their foot in the water Photo by Andres Siimon on Unsplash A child dies every minute from a waterborne disease. And for me, that's the core of what makes bottled water so evil.The video wraps by comparing buying bottled water to smoking while pregnant. That may sound extreme, but after learning everything I just did about the bottled water industry, I can't disagree.If you're properly disgusted, here are a few ways you can help destroy the bottled water industry:Don't buy bottled water. Get a reusable water bottle. The savings will add up.Rally your schools, workplaces, and communities to ban bottled water.Demand that your city, state, and federal governments invest in better water infrastructure.This article originally appeared 10 years ago. It has been updated.

Many people might think that the job of a flight attendant is a luxurious one. After all, you're visiting different states and countries, and looking pretty sharp while doing it. But flight attendants have plenty of unenviable obligations after the flight takes off. One being collecting garbage from the passengers. So when the crew on a TUI Airlines flight asked a man to help them with collecting "rubbish" as a joke, they were certainly not expecting to get a "yes" in response. But the man, named Michael, was serious about the offer, and when his girlfriend Olivia Power, who goes by @lifewiththemancs on TikTok, looked up, she saw that her boyfriend somehow took a new job role mid-air.The footage showed Michael in the aisle of the flight, wearing disposable gloves and donning an apron along with a neck scarf to mimic the flight staff's uniform, pushing a trolley alongside a flight attendant. ""Anyone with any rubbish?" Michael spoke to his fellow passengers, who gladly played along and handed him the trash that he stuffed down the trolley he was pushing. Power recorded her boyfriend and giggled along as he inched closer to their seat. @lifewiththemancs @TUI UK & Ireland might have a new staff member by next week. We’ll take free flights as payment pls ?? #fyp #tui ♬ original sound - Olivia & Michael As Power shared in interview with Newsweek, she and Michael were traveling back to London's Gatwick Airport from their vacation in Crete, Greece, when the 36-year-old man decided to join the flight crew. When he didn't return from the washroom within the next few minutes, Power wondered what was taking him so long…until she noticed Michael in a new attire. "I turned around and he was coming down the aisle like that!" Power told the news outlet, writing "The UK and Ireland might have a new staff member by next week. We’ll take free flights as payment, please," in the caption of her video.People in the comments section of Power's video were equally gobsmacked. @claire.willis3 joked, "Took me a moment to realize he wasn't the guy behind the attendants and he was the new attendant." @garymckie2 remarked, "Airlines are going to cut staff now and ask passengers to fill in to pass the time." @beccaheywood3 wrote, "I thought he was the guy in red and he was just stuck behind the trolley." @_plsdontbotherme wondered, "I need to know how this happened lol what was the conversation with the flight attendants that he was allowed to be an honorary flight worker." To this comment, Power replied that Michael had taken up the offer as a joke for the time being. @label743 added, "If they removed the extortionate baggage prices, I’d do this to pass the time."Honestly, given how chaotic travel has been lately, maybe Michael's silly act of service feels like it's for the greater good. With government shutdown talks sparking fresh worries about air traffic delays, staffing shortages, and general airport mayhem, having a few enthusiastic volunteer-bin-collectors on standby might not be the worst idea. Hey, if everyone pitched in a little mid-flight, maybe we could shave a few minutes off boarding times—or at least score some free pretzels.In the meantime, you can follow Olivia Power (@lifewiththemancs) on TikTok for more lifestyle videos and, who knows, maybe updates on Michael’s budding aviation career.This article originally appeared 2 months ago. It has been updated.