Non-menstruating people of the world, please take note: Menstrual products, generally speaking, do not come in different flavors.
We know the colors and patterns might make it seem that way—and we're a little bit disappointed, too—but no, we are not out here with packs of Starburst-esque pads.
We offer you this little PSA because it just keeps coming up on social media.
We don't blame you guys for not all being menstrual experts, but ... like... the boxes are labeled.
We've seen men who were asked to grab menstrual products ask the ladies in their life if they needed lemon or lime. We had the whole "left tampon/right tampon" incident.
And now we have "Black Currant Dad."
Things start out normally enough. Niamh is a young woman facing a pretty common issue; she needed more pads.
The problem was that she was working until five.
Where she lives, the stores close at four on Sundays. Of course it was a Sunday.
Niamh couldn't leave work early since she doesn't drive. Neither does her mother.
But her father does, he was going to pick her up and was heading to the store anyway. So she did what millions of daughters around the world do and asked him to grab some pads for her while he was there.
We are so glad she asked via text, because his response was just ... stellar. Stunning. Hilarious. Twitter-worthy.
@Niamhpemx / Twitter
"Blackcurrant or lime?"
Nope.
That's totally not how it works.
In this case, we are pretty sure dad was joking—but we've seen this enough times that we're 100% positive that there are several men out there who don't understand that. Hence the PSA at the beginning of the article.
When Niamh posted the screenshot to Twitter, people had a blast laughing along.
Well ... most people.
Oddly, a fair amount of people commented to say it was gross, awkward or inappropriate for her to ask her father to pick up menstrual products for her. Those people were promptly and properly shut down.
There is nothing wrong with asking your father, significant other, etc. to pick up menstrual products for you.
Twitter had no problem stating as much.
As a natural part of puberty, most cisgender females will begin to menstruate.
If you do or plan to have cisgender females in your life, plan to deal with it.
You can prepare for this with the book The Period Book: A Girl's Guide to Growing Up, available here, and the period kit, available here in the pad option. It's also available in a tampon and menstrual cup option.
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Have you listened to the first season of George Takei's podcast, 'Oh Myyy Pod!'?
In season one we explored the racially charged videos that have taken the internet by storm.
We're hard at work on season two so be sure to subscribe here so you don't miss it when it goes live.
Here's one of our favorite episodes from season one. Enjoy!
@jessicachastain/Instagram
