Distracted driving is a dangerous issue that police officers are taking more seriously. But when Katie, who runs the social media page Slightly Off Balance, was pulled over for the offense, she had questions. The officer writing the citation insisted that she was driving with her phone in her right hand. That didn’t make sense to her. The woman uploaded a clip of the interaction in which she asks the officer for clarification. According to the officer, he witnessed Katie committing the driving infraction. Katie asked for clarification several more times because it would be impossible for her to hold a phone in her right hand. Why? She doesn’t have one. Police car seen through the rearview mirror. Photo credit: Canva In the video, which has been viewed nearly eight million times, Katie pokes fun at the situation. “Turns out you can still get a ticket for driving with a device in your right hand, even if you don’t have a right hand,” she says, holding up her arm. Clearly, the entire lower part of her right arm is missing. After cutting to the bizarre interaction between herself and the officer, Katie shows herself attempting to hold a phone with her nonexistent hand. Spoiler alert—it doesn’t work. In the video, the officer can be heard saying, “If you want to take it to court, option five on the back of the ticket. That’s how you take it to court.” A police officer stops a driver. Photo credit: Canva Taking it to court is exactly what she plans to do. In a follow-up video, she shares that her court date is scheduled for mid-April. Commenters are not only gobsmacked that she could be cited for this particular infraction, but they’re also completely invested in her court case. @slightlyoff.balance Low key thought I had two hands for a minute #palmbeach #cops #PBSO #floridaman #pulledover ♬ original sound – slightlyoff.balance One person begs, “Please take us to court with you, I want to hear the judge.” Another writes, “I’m glad you recorded him saying it was the right hand otherwise I guarantee he would have lied later on and claim he never said that.” “Ok but how would you ve able to drive with a phone in ur LEFT hand anyway,” someone questions. @slightlyoff.balance Spoiler Alert!!!! #limbdifference #mentalhealth #conspiracytheory #update ♬ original sound – slightlyoff.balance “Oh I wanna see a part 2. I know it sucks tho, cause you shouldn’t have to take time off work/life just to prove a cop wrong,” a person laments. One commenter shares a cheeky way Katie could have handled the situation, writing, “I would have said ‘ok I’ll see you in court’ and waved with your right hand to get his reaction. And then still gone to court to let the judge know he was lying.” A woman being pulled over. Photo credit: Canva Some people wonder why she didn’t inform the officer on the spot that she didn’t have a right hand. But others argue that the officer had already proven to be untrustworthy and would likely change his story. Katie didn’t respond to those questions, but the officer could likely see that she didn’t have a hand while looking directly into her window. Katie appears to have a sense of humor about missing a hand, liking several comments that joke about her limb difference. “I would have held my right hand out for the ticket. So glad you got that admission recorded,” someone writes. “Cutting your hand off to get out of a traffic ticket is wild,” another jokes. The post Woman ticketed for driving with phone in her ‘right hand’ has a huge surprise for police officer appeared first on Upworthy.

Airline travel has always been an evolving business, from the first commercial flight in 1914 to the thousands of passenger flights in the air at any given moment in 2026. Those of us who lived through 9/11 as adults remember a very different time in air travel. On Reddit, someone asked Gen Xers and Baby Boomers what airline travel was like in the ’80s and ’90s, with specific questions like: “What was security like? What was the actual process of getting plane tickets before the internet? Was it hard to arrange rides with pay phones only? Did people smoke on planes? Did you use pay phones to call your loved ones back home and let them know you landed safe?” What was air travel like in the 1980s-1990s? byu/Wooden_Airport6331 inAskOldPeople The folks on the r/AskOldPeople subreddit delivered answers, and it’s a trip down memory lane for those who lived it. Buying flights was a whole process before the Internet Today, we hop on Google Flights to compare ticket prices and book flights on airline websites right from the comfort of our couches in a matter of minutes. Back in the day, we didn’t have that luxury. Booking a flight meant making a long phone call or hoofing it to an office or kiosk, then receiving a paper ticket you had to keep track of. “You could either call and buy a ticket over the phone or buy it at the airport.” “Got a paper ticket. Mailed or picked up at airport or airline kiosks/offices at various locations (shopping malls, etc).” “Tickets were really precious things and you had to take care of them. They were hand-written even.” “Tickets were purchased directly from the airline or through a travel agent. Prior to the internet, it was much harder to research and book trips, so you hired an agency to help you.” “We would use travel agents in our town. You would tell them where and when and they would give you your options.  You. Would pick up your tickets at their office. They could set up your hotel and car rental.” Airport security was much less of a process It’s hard to imagine a time when you didn’t even have to show your ID to hop on a plane, but it happened. Many security measures were implemented after 9/11, though they had already been increasing incrementally before then. TSA lines at Bush Airport in Houston on the Friday morning going into Spring Break pic.twitter.com/LsJzKHN6tD— Rusty Surette (@KBTXRusty) March 6, 2026 “Airport security was just a metal detector that you walked through that anyone could walk through and go to the gate to send off or greet the departing/arriving passengers. No need to be a ticked passenger, no ID check, or anything.” “I travelled a lot for work from about 1993 onwards. I remember flying Sydney to Chicago with a full tool case as hand luggage, a Gerber pocket knife in my pocket, no scanners hardly any security, just turn up and get on the plane.” “Security was easy. Just toss your stuff in a basket and go through a metal detector. I used to fly with a swiss army knife and it was no problem at all.” “Security was basic and relaxed. You really could run madly through the airport to catch a flight and nobody cared. You passed through a metal detector arch that was tuned way down to avoid false positives. It wouldn’t notice car keys, pens, or even small pocket knives (I once realized I had accidentally tested that).” “In about 1988, I bought a round trip airline ticket from NY to San Francisco off of Craigslist from a Chinese guy with a very Chinese name. Now I am as white as Wonder Bread, but I used that ticket and no one batted an eye. No ID. No questions. Nothing.” Smoking on airplanes was allowed through the ’80s Kids today can’t fathom how ubiquitous smoking was before the mid-’90s. Smoking wasn’t banned on domestic flights until 1990, and it wasn’t banned on international flights until 2000. Before that, planes had “smoking sections” with nothing separating them from the rest of the cabin. Ridiculous in hindsight, but that’s how it was. “Yes you could smoke on a plane…there was smoking and non smoking sections.” “The first time I went on a plane (mid 80s) was with my mom to go visit family, I don’t remember how old I was, but I distinctly remember there were still ashtrays in the arm rests.” “They used to put a complimentary four-pack of cigarettes on every meal tray. My father had at some point allowed me a puff of his cigarette through my bubble pipe, which I did not enjoy at all. So shortly after my meal tray arrived, my 4-year-old self yelled, ‘Stewardess, you can take these cigarettes away, because I quit smoking three weeks ago!'” “First international flight in 1997 I smoked all the way over. Pity the poor non-smokers, because even with a smoking section the smoke was all through the plane.” No luggage fees (but no luggage wheels, either) Ah, the good old days of free checked luggage. (Paying for checked luggage is actually pretty new. All airlines let you have one free checked bag prior to 2008.) But luggage was also a whole different animal. We used to have to carry suitcases. And people didn’t generally carry on suitcases with clothing in them because they’d end up smelling like smoke by the end of the flight. Suitcase wheels are a relatively new invention. Photo credit: Canva “Nobody was dragging their carry-on baggage throughout the terminal – checking bags was always free and everybody checked their bags. But the downside of no baggage security checks was that stuff sometimes got stolen from your bags by baggage handlers – so you always locked your bags. that is why those hard-sided Samsonite suitcases with the combination lock latches were popular.” “Luggage didn’t even have wheels back then!” “I remember the early wheeled suitcases were so awkward and top-heavy like an elephant riding on the top of a London bus. They had wheels on the bottom and a ‘leash’ attached to the top front. It was better than carrying, but if you went anything other than perfectly straight, it would topple over.” People dressed up to fly It’s not at all unusual to see people boarding flights in sweats or other uber-casual attire. On a redeye, you’ll see people basically in their pajamas. Comfort has definitely overridden traditional airplane-attire etiquette, which some people love and some people hate. If you’re over 55 or so, you know there was actually a time when folks “dressed up” to fly. If you’re under 55, flying has always been an extension of “casual Friday.” pic.twitter.com/yYCOna3CTW— Richard Belcher (@R_A_Belcher) March 2, 2026 “People dressed well, not fancy but nice. I once flew ‘standby’ (my sweet Dad was an aircraft mechanic) and I had to wear my ‘nicest’ dress just in case I got bumped to first class! And I did! It was very nice. One way, the other way i was in coach, but everyone was still dressed nicely, including me. :)” “Can confirm. I flew to Germany as a kid in the 80’s and my parents made me wear my ‘Church clothes’ on the plane.” “Night and day. It was a privilege to fly, people got dressed nice to fly, now flying like taking a bus. It’s a zoo in the air and people crazy.” Pick-up and drop-off happened right at the gate Gen Xers and Boomers who flew remember saying goodbye right before boarding the plane and greeting loved ones just after exiting the jetway. That can’t happen now. Security increases after 9/11 meant that only ticketed passengers could fully enter the terminal. At least it makes terminals less crowded? Goodbyes now take place before going through security. Photo credit: Canva “Everyone could go to the gate and hang out. We used to go to the airport and watch the planes taking off and landing.” “Some time in the late 90s, I went to pick up my mother from the airport, and I brought a friend with me. They let us both go wait at the gate with no issues. We probably had to go through a metal detector but it was pretty easy.” “Pick up and drop off was a ton easier. Whoever was coming to get you parked somewhere and came to the gate to wait for you. For drop offs they either pulled right up to the terminal and let you out where there was a porter waiting to take your bags (hopefully to the correct flight), or you parked in the airport short term lot and walked in together —all the way to the gate if the goodbye was a difficult one.” “I’m glad this isn’t allowed anymore. Anytime I’ve flown, the gates have been full and I end up standing off in the walkway waiting to board. I can’t even imagine adding ‘hey, let’s all hang out with Grandma before she leaves’ into the mix. Another thing I remember about this was trying to get OFF the plane. People would crowd around the gate to greet their arriving family just like they do around the baggage carousel. And of course when grandma walked out the door, they’d run up and do their hugs and handshakes right there with everyone else trying to get around them. It was maddening, especially at the holidays.” You had to use a pay phone if you needed to call someone These days, nearly all airlines allow you to text for free even when you’re up in the air. The first thing many people do when the wheels touch down is text someone to let them know they’ve landed. Gone are the days of having to find a wall of pay phones or waiting until you got to your hotel to call someone. Airports had walls of pay phones like this. Photo credit: Canva “Airports used to have huge banks of payphones all over, but I think most people would call from their hotel phone when they got checked in.” “There were plenty of pay phones to call people, and plenty of shops that would make change for you if you needed.” “Airports would have large banks of payphones, but they would also have kiosks with courtesy phones, that were basically hotline phones with no keypad that automatically dialed, this could be the shuttle bus operation, a taxi service, or your hotel that may operate their own shuttle service. Picture a kiosk near luggage pickup with a sign for Holiday Inn Airport and a phone with no number pad that directly connects you to the front desk at the nearby Holiday Inn so they could dispatch the shuttle van driver to pick you up.” “You didn’t call anyone when you landed, people met you at the airport. You arranged in advance. If the flight was delayed, they waited. Nobody was paying for parking at airports.” Other than the secondhand smoke, flying was more comfortable Before 1978, the government set flight prices. Since airlines couldn’t compete on price, they competed on service and passenger experience. That focus spilled over into the ’80s, but as price competition grew, so did a desire for cheaper flights. Now we pay less, but we also get less. “The planes were more comfortable. The seats and legroom were better in economy/coach and you got an included meal and in-flight movie on longer flights.” “In the ’80’s it was much nicer. Larger planes, more room, bigger seats, better food, more luggage allowed. Plus few carry on restrictions. In the 90’s airlines had begun tightening up a bit but you could still expect at least a non-alcoholic drink and a snack on anything longer than a puddle jumper flight even in economy or business. Anything longer than that and you could count on a meal.” “The planes were less full and seats had enough legroom even economy.” “Seats had more leg room because they weren’t cramming in as many as possible on discount flights.” Some changes in air travel have been good, and others not so great. But flying definitely isn’t what it used to be. The post Gen Xers and Boomers share what air travel was like in the ’80s and ’90s. The differences are wild. appeared first on Upworthy.

Pregnancy cravings are one of the many bizarre things experienced during pregnancy. From sweet to salty, they run the gamut of tastes. A study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that an estimated 50–90% of women experience pregnancy cravings and noted that they often begin at the end of the first trimester and become most intense during the second trimester. A June 2025 study on pregnancy cravings found that pregnant women tended to crave cold foods rather than hot ones. They also preferred “crunchy” textures over foods described as “smooth” or “creamy.” @jayshettypodcast To all the moms out there – what’s the strangest thing you’ve craved during pregnancy? full episode all about pregnancy nutrition with @Glucose Goddess out everywhere now. LINK IN BIO or search ‘On Purpose Glucose Goddess’ to watch on YouTube #pregnancyjourney #motherhood #pregnant #moms #pregnantlife ♬ original sound – On Purpose Podcast Moms on Reddit opened up about their intense and strange pregnancy cravings, sharing the crazy combos they couldn’t get enough of while pregnant. These are some of their salty, sweet, and super-weird cravings: Salty cravings “There’s a mom and pop restaurant almost 45 minutes from my house, and very much out of my budget, that has the most AMAZING dry rub boneless wings- and their ranch is house made. I want to BE the chicken wing, I swear to god it’s the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my life.” – Disastrous-Radish504 “I just about had a meltdown at work when the fast food place forgot ketchup. I actually walked through the entire office asking if anyone had ketchup packets stashed away somewhere, ransacked the break room…I finally went down to the cafe in the building and asked to buy just ketchup. The guy took one look at me and just started pouring it into a container, free of charge, he could see my big belly and my face and pretty sure he knew exactly what was up.” – superherostitch “McDonald’s hamburgers (like the super basic one that comes in a happy meal) with no cheese and extra extra extra extra extra extra pickles.” – glory87 “Anything with lots of avocado, lemon, meat, and olive oillllll .” – PitchGlittering “My favorite craving was Olive Garden’s salad, I ate it every day for a week it was so intense, my weirdest was my craving for McDonald’s fish fillets I still can’t wrap my head around it because I think they are so gross, fish and cheese is the worst but man I’d ask my husband every other day to stop after work and get me at least 2, for a solid month. Ugh.” – CoffeeTvCandy “The first time I found myself eating beef jerky in my car in a gas station parking lot without any recollection of purchasing it was when I realized I needed to buy a pregnancy test. I’d been vegetarian for over 8 years at that point and now for over 30 years aside from that pregnancy.” – Visual-Fig-4763 Sweet cravings “Watermelon and fruit in general the first trimester. Then smoothies and milkshakes second trimester. I think I just wanted all the foods third trimester, but could only eat a few bites at a time.” – Jusmine984 “Blood oranges. I just couldn’t stop eating them. Also helped that we lived in Florida. So I was like a blood orange hoarder for 9 months. Would make my husband go to random farms to pick up oranges on his way from work.”- Senior_Tangerine3083 “Chocolate chip pancakes.” – soul-searcher3476 “Cinnamon Toast Crunch lol. I’m not a cereal person but i was when pregnant.” – tiredmillienal “Oooooh I’ve got some funny ones. I had a lot of cravings, but ironically my most intense ones weren’t for food. Except at the end- at the end of my first pregnancy, I VIOLENTLY craved snow cones. Bought a literal whole machine yo make them. At the end of my second, it was popsicles, so I was in heaven at the hospital was like ‘please can i have a popsicle?’ And the hospital was super happy to bring me all the popsicles I wanted LOL.” – Darkovika “Mine was orange juice. For about the first 8 weeks, even before I knew I was pregnant, I was going through a half gallon a day.” – ButterflyTangerine Crazy combination cravings “With my first: all the cheeseburgers and those weird candy orange slice candies. I’m 32 weeks with my second and I’ve consumed nearly all the heirloom tomatoes the world has grown. That’s why your grocery store doesn’t have them. Twas meeeeeeeeee.” – heylittlefightergirl “With my oldest I craved a mayo lettuce sandwich – yep just a mayo, lettuce on white bread.” – syaami “Sushi. Raw fish. And blue cheese. Not even kidding. I was so nauseous all the time, and thinking about eating sushi was the only thing that got me through.” – Ok_Bumblebee_3978 “The food that slapped was Sea Salt and Vinegar chips with Sardines stuck between two crunchy chips.” – DogsNCoffeeAddict “Vegetable sushi, stewed okra and tomatoes, and M&Ms.” – ghostdumpsters “One time I went to the grocery store at 10 pm because I was craving salt and vinegar chips with French onion dip. Sounds gross but damn did that hit the spot at the time.” – yogipierogi5567 The post 18 moms share their most intense and strange pregnancy cravings appeared first on Upworthy.

Recently, adolescent girls have taken to social media to flaunt that they’re “2000s skinny,” while the women who lived through it are sounding the alarm. The days of people being encouraged to embrace their natural curves seem to be over, as many now strive to make themselves smaller. Wellness culture is morphing into something dangerous, resulting in unrealistic body standards. Celebrities like Demi Lovato, Britney Spears, and Lindsay Lohan were called fat when they were still adolescents in the early 2000s. Back then, it wasn’t uncommon to see hip, collarbone, and chest bones protruding on the red carpet—or even in a local high school. A woman measures her waist. Photo credit: Canva There was a name for it back then: “heroin chic.” The term was “used to describe an ultra-thin, waifish body, as well as a style of fashion photography that glamorized a skeletal figure,” Percival Fisher Jr., a psychotherapist, writes for DetoxRehabs.net. In that era, teen girls—much like their favorite young celebrities—were developing eating disorders and body dysmorphia. Raven-Symoné has said she underwent two breast reductions and liposuction before the age of 18 due to fat-shaming. Lovato, Taylor Swift, and Lohan have also shared that they struggled with eating disorders earlier in their careers. Skinny woman refuses food on a plate. Photo credit: Canva Teen girls were doing all they could to make themselves as small as possible because that was suddenly the beauty standard. Now it’s back. The trend is catching on, in part thanks to wellness influencers who stress “clean eating” to achieve physical and mental fitness. Advice about keeping daily calories under 1,200 or doing juice cleanses to maintain a low weight is showing up in the algorithm. In a video uploaded to social media, a very thin woman poses for the camera. The text overlay on the video reads, “If you think 800–1,200 calories a day is starvation, just know that the 2000-calorie diet was made up by the elite who prey on kids.” James Cappola, a fitness coach, responded to the video by calling out the dangerous misinformation and warning about the risks of anorexia and orthorexia. Personal trainers, nutritionists, dietitians, and Millennials are among the chorus shouting into the void. But it may be too late. With social media, fear-based nutrition advice, and the re-emergence of heroin chic converging, orthorexia is on the rise. Orthorexia is a relatively unknown eating disorder that has not yet been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition as an official diagnosis. The National Eating Disorder Association describes the disorder as an obsession with healthy eating. “People with orthorexia become so fixated on so-called ‘healthy eating’ that they actually damage their own well-being and experience health consequences such as malnutrition and/or impairment of psychosocial functioning,” the association explains. The warnings from older adults and experts online don’t seem to stop teen girls from showing off their extreme thigh gaps. When a new video of a girl getting down to a size 00 goes up, a Millennial adjusts her messy bun and shares the war stories of her adolescence. In a TikTok video, wellness entrepreneur Autumn Clayman says, “Everyone is getting freakishly thin online. This trend needs to stop. This trend needs to stop. We’re right back to early 2000s skinny—it’s freaky. It’s scary, and people aren’t considering what this trend is going to do to their bodies long term.” @autumnclaymann anyone else feel similarly about this topic? ♬ original sound – Autumn Clayman After disclosing that she used to struggle with an eating disorder, Clayman shares her concern about people going to extremes to be thin. She then explains how extreme undereating is “disrupting their hormones, bone density drops, they go through mood issues, so more anxiety, depression, thyroid slows down, fertility drops, chronic stress, gut and digestion issues, skin issues, blood sugar issues, just all the things.” A man who goes by the name Brandon Ruins Everything on TikTok explains something younger people may not know about the trend: “People are talking about bringing back 2000s skinny, and I don’t think y’all realize that 2000s skinny isn’t a body type. It’s a goalpost that keeps moving. You will never be skinny enough to be 2000s skinny.” @brandonruinseverything #y2k #y2kaesthetic #y2kfashion #2000s #2000sthrowback ♬ original sound – BrandonRuinsEverything Getting healthy and being comfortable in your body are admirable goals. The way you do it—and the reasons you’re doing it—matter. Changing your body to fit a trend can lead to unhealthy expectations and behaviors, as concerned voices have pointed out. Hopefully, the ultra-skinny trend fades as quickly as it returned. The post A relatively unknown eating disorder is on the rise as Millennials warn about ‘2000s skinny’ appeared first on Upworthy.

Some people can sing, and some people can’t. A beautiful voice is a gift and you either have one or you don’t. At least, that’s always been the prevailing wisdom. However, like many pieces of prevailing wisdom, it may not be correct. According to NBC News, an estimated 10–30% of people believe they “can’t sing” because they have difficulty carrying a tune. However, further research cited by CNET shows that only a minuscule 2% of the population physically lacks the skills needed to perform a song well. These individuals may not have the required control over their vocal cords, or may have difficulty hearing pitch accurately. Everyone else simply lacks the training and practice. Learn how to sing A woman who goes by Jeska fm on social media recently took to YouTube to show her own proof that it’s possible to learn how to sing. Becoming even a half-decent singer can take years of practice. Photo credit: Canva In a video titled “MY SINGING TRANSFORMATION: no autotune or reverb, just real progress,” Jeska begins with a few words of inspiration: “I just wanted to start this off by saying that I’m only making this video because I wish I had seen something like this when I was a little girl who wanted to sing. It might have changed the entire course of my life. If you’re someone who dreams of being able to sing but just doesn’t think it’s possible for you, this video is for you.” Jeska explains that she did choir in high school and learned a few fundamentals. But while she never thought she was a bad singer per se, she didn’t believe she had the talent to sing the way she wanted to as a songwriter. “There were things about my voice that I hated,” Jeska says. However, the one thing she had going for her was a refusal to give up. She begins the transformation video by showing clips of her early attempts dating back to 2016. Even in 2021, when she was just beginning to train and practice her vocals intentionally, her singing is flat and lacks power and consistency. Her voice strains to produce volume and hit high notes, and it regularly cracks during attempts at vocal runs. Jeska explains how she spent years working with teachers, doing self-instruction and exercises, and practicing and performing. The final clip of her performing five years later is almost unrecognizable. The power, accuracy, and clarity are all improved several times over. All Jeska’s hard work had paid off, and she was far better positioned to perform her own music and pursue singing in other ways. The full transformation has to be heard to be appreciated: So many kids grow up dreaming of becoming singers or musicians However, we as humans tend to drastically underestimate how much time and work it takes to succeed. The “planning fallacy” is a psychological concept that suggests people often have an overly optimistic view of what it will take to complete a task. In practice, it’s one thing to pick up a guitar and realize just how difficult it is to maneuver your fingers with the accuracy and speed required. But when it comes to the original instrument—our voice—many people assume that if they have talent, it will present itself naturally. “Singing’s actually very different, as everyone can produce a sound,” researcher Sean Hutchins tells The Guardian. “Even if people don’t learn the technique behind how to sing, you use your voice for the purpose of speech so everyone’s reasonably adept at controlling it. The key thing which separates good singers from bad isn’t so much natural talent but getting the training to use it in the right way.” He also adds that the limiting belief people develop when their first attempts aren’t magically perfect—“I can’t sing”—causes many to give up on their dream. Hutchins says the worst singers he’s studied are often the ones least likely to practice. “My main takeaway from this whole singing journey is that it’s never too late to pursue your interests,” Jeska says at the end of her video. “You never know how far you’ll go.” She’s also brutally honest about how much work it really takes to perfect your vocal control. For most people, it takes years. The idea that someone can become a brilliant professional singer overnight with no training and little practice is mostly false. But so is the idea that none of us is capable of honing at least a karaoke-worthy voice, and maybe far more than that. The post Woman shares amazing 5-year singing transformation and obliterates the concept of ‘I can’t sing’ appeared first on Upworthy.