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It's more than sex ed. For these young women, it's a movement for equality.

When writer Meera Subramanian traveled to India, she wasn't sure exactly what she'd find.

In an excerpt from her book, "A River Runs Again," she tells us what she discovered:

It was the girls who talked most passionately. Several spoke of becoming more comfortable with their bodies after having been taught what was happening to them, after resolving at least some of the mysteries of adolescence. They had lost their shyness by learning about the details of biology…


Scene from rural Bihar. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

In rural Bihar — one of India's most impoverished states — Subramanian sat in a small brick one-room schoolhouse, listening to a group of local teenagers talk about their lives. One young woman in particular caught her attention...

Sobha was the most self-possessed. Her forehead was marked with a sparkly bindi that matched an S-shaped pendant hanging from her neck. She sat attentively as the others spoke, only once interjecting, “We should say the truth." But once she had the floor, she commanded the room. All distracted chatter stopped.

“'What sort of place is this?' you'll say if you come to my village. From Bodh Gaya, there's a river and a hill, and behind them is the village, like a cave. People were afraid to go inside. Even my father didn't want to stay in the village. It was claustrophobic." There had been changes, she said. Some villagers now had phones, and one road was being paved. She learned about the Pathfinder training course from village elders, who said all girls between fifteen and eighteen should attend.

Subramanian writes that Sobha and the other teenagers had just finished a three-day training on the basics of sexual health through an organization called Pathfinder International, led by two bold advocates, Pinki and Binod.

But “my situation was common in the village," [Sobha] said, “where each household might have six sisters, five sisters. So we made a group with at least one girl from each house. We took the training and then we went back home to teach others." She had to periodically gulp to catch her breath, as though she had been waiting a very long time to speak and felt the importance of each word.


Pathfinder mural in Bihar. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

Sobha said she was able to get a Pathfinder poster of the life cycle of a human being passing from birth through adolescence, followed by marriage and a young couple weighing birth-control options, and later holding a child as it is being immunized. She used the poster to begin talking with others in the village. Pinki and Binod exchanged looks; they had no idea that one of their students had gone rogue and appointed herself as trainer.

When Sobha finished, Pinki asked if she would continue to work with Pathfinder to organize more training courses. Sobha eagerly agreed.

Subramanian was deeply moved by what she saw. These teenagers weren't just learning about reproductive health; they were learning to find their true voices:

We emerged from the small schoolhouse into an afternoon damp with mist. Though their hair was neatly pulled back and their clothes were modest, I saw the girls as powerful goddesses, devis eager for justice, who stepped in where the male gods were failing, determined to quietly, or not so quietly, dismantle a world that treats them as second-rate citizens.

Pinki and Binod. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

As she continued her travels, Subramanian found even more reason to hope for a future of real equality and sustainability throughout India.

India is undergoing a radical test. Girls from all over South Asia are leaning in, tipping the balance, and hairline fractures are appearing in the ancient system of chauvinism. Whether sexual violence is on the rise or decline is difficult to know. Whether the aggression is men's bitter reaction to the power they perceive they are losing to women is likewise uncertain.

But what is known is that it is now news. The rise of both women and men who are unwilling to accept the status quo has been startling and encouraging. There are women who bring their daughters into the streets to protest, boys like Sanoj who fight for the rights of their sisters, men like Pinki's father who struggle to educate their daughters.

In her new book, "A River Runs Again," Subramanian writes about the real change happening — not just in Bihar, but all across the country. From villagers reviving a dead river to an engineer-turned-farmer bringing organic food to the plates of everyday Indians. And, perhaps most heartening of all, women and girls are taking the lead.

Everyone is thirsty. Girls and women, after centuries of serving tea to the men in their lives, are reaching for their own cups. I don't want to believe that power is finite. Let the teapot be topped off, let the servings be stretched. Because everyone is striving. In today's India, men and women, boys and girls, share each other's desires for what Pinki calls “self-independence."

Pathfinder training for local men in Bihar. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

Maybe this is why Pathfinder has found that its trainings are substantially more effective when they teach young men and women simultaneously. It's not just about giving knowledge to the girls or teaching the boys to be respectful. It's about what arises in the ākāșa, that ethereal space between the two sexes. It's about what happens when their lives come together.

The stricter laws against rape that passed at record pace in 2013 might translate into less violence against women. And increasing government support for safety nets and social security could make aging parents less dependent on sons, helping to balance the economic scales that favor a boy child over a girl...

In a country that has historically discriminated harshly against women, both men and women are now coming together to fight for equality. Of course, there's still work to be done...

Resistance remains. Some local government officials have responded to the rash of rapes by suggesting India lower the legal age of marriage to help curb such crimes. “Boys and girls should be married by the time they turn sixteen," they argue, “so that they do not stray." In the face of such logic, the problems can seem intractable. But traditions can be lost in just a single generation. So can the beliefs that it is necessary to marry off your daughter at the onset of puberty and that it is her fault if she does not deliver a son, and do so immediately.

Pathfinder materials. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

...but Subramanian has seen firsthand what happens when people defy expectations and find their own voices:

I have seen the shift in my own family. My Indian grandmother was married at the age of ten. Her four daughters were married in their late teens and twenties. My father, one of her middle sons, completely broke rank, marrying an American when he was thirty. I wasn't married until the tender age of forty-four and have chosen not to have children. Among my cousins' grown children who remain in India, arranged marriage remains the norm, but some are holding out against matches they're not willing to accept. Each generation has had fewer children than the one before it, and the levels of education for both males and females tick upward. Our population growth is stable.

But we are a family with relative means. For the vast majority of Indians still struggling to survive, larger structural changes are needed. They are within reach. Kerala once had the highest population growth in India, but since 1971 it has invested heavily in women's education, accessible family planning, and comprehensive health care. With neither threat nor coercion, the fertility rate more than halved in a single generation, from over four to under two…

Those teenagers in Bihar are part of a whole new generation. It starts with education...

To stabilize population growth is to rally for literacy, because reading and understanding words on a page develops the same skills needed to read and understand our own bodies. Through this knowledge comes power and autonomy. And speech. The girls I met in Bihar ... spoke in feisty voices, their excitement coupled with impatience as they told the stories of their lives. What they found was that learning how to speak — to a husband, a mother-in-law, a doctor, a police officer — is a powerful tool. With this transformation of a private voice into a public voice a public identity is born, one prepared to dissent and stand up for oneself.

“People ask us, 'Why do you go to these meetings? Do they give you something?'" Reena Kumari, an eighteen-year-old Bihari girl told me. “I say, 'When you go to pray, do you get something?' They say, 'Well, that one girl who did the training met a boy and ran away.'" She laughed, and continued speaking quickly, in a strong voice. “We argue back — you had her for fifteen years and they had her for three days and you're saying we influenced her?" she said.

“There is a flaw in your nurturing, not in our friendship."

“You fight back with their parents?" I asked.

...and it ends with a new generation that can speak their minds and own their futures.

“Hum bolti hain!" she said. “We speak up! Before training, we didn't know anything, but after, we do. We learned how to find the right words to negotiate. There are so many changes."

Scene from rural Bihar. Photo courtesy of Allison Joyce/Redux.

To negotiate such changes is to ask for everything you want, knowing you might only get a fraction. It is to remain unflinching as you look forward into the future of India's women and girls and the generations they will bear. The path ahead is difficult, littered with obstacles, still under construction. But I can imagine the youth I met in Bodh Gaya [in Bihar] growing up in this new India, their India, moving forward down this road… They shape the way as they go. They link their fingers, they quicken their pace, and their voices, rising up into that space between spaces, are unafraid.

Photo by Johnny Cohen on Unsplash

It's a good news/bad news situation for parents of young kids.

The good news? Everyone wants to spend time with the kids! Grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends. They all want a relationship and lots of special moments with the little ones.

The bad news? One phrase:

"When are you bringing them over?"

Parents have been frustrated by the expectations of orchestrating stressful visits for generations — loading the kids in a car or on an airplane only to spend hours chasing them around in an un-baby-proofed environment and watching routines go to hell.

Now they're sounding off on social media and airing their grievances.

Why visiting grandparents and other relatives is so challenging for parents

A mom recently took to Reddit to vent about everyone in her life wanting her to "bring the kids to them."

"My parents live 30 mins away and always bug me about not coming to visit them," she writes. They constantly ask, "Why don't you bring our granddaughter to come see us?"

The fascinating discussion highlights a few things that make arranging visits with young kids a potential nightmare for parents.

Grandparents' houses are rarely childproofed

Grandparents love their breakable decor! Ceramic doo-dads, glass vases everywhere. They can't get enough. And while they should be able to decorate their house however they see fit (they've earned the right!) that doesn't make it a good environment for toddlers and babies.

Ceramic bowlsThe breakable decor found in every grandparents' houseozalee.fr/Flickr

"Last week was the last straw, I took my daughter to my parents and of course she went EVERYWHERE! flooded their toilet, broke a vase, and tried multiple times to climb their furniture," the Reddit mom writes.

Parents in a foreign environment are on constant safety duty and can rarely sit down

Let's be honest. Sometimes these "visits" are hardly worth the effort. After all, it's hard to get much catch up time when you're dutifully chasing your kid around.

"They don’t understand that my 3 yo ... is absolutely wild," writes another user in the thread. "She has no self preservation and nothing we do works. She doesn’t listen, she throws, she bites, she refuses to use the potty. It’s exhausting and then ... they expect us to entertain them, when I’m trying to just keep my kid from jumping off the stairs and into an ER visit."

Even just putting the kids in the car for a 20-minute drive is more work than it seems

Taking the kids out of the house requires packing a bag, bringing extra clothes, loading up on snacks, etc.

It seems easy to "pop over" but it actually absorbs the majority of the day between prep, visit, and aftermath.

Naps and routines go to hell

Parents with babies and toddlers know all too well — there is a price to pay for taking the kids out of the house for too long.

Chances are, the baby won't nap in a strange environment and then you're stuck with a cranky kid the rest of the night.

Kids with special needs require even more consistency

Kids with autism or ADHD can really struggle outside of their zone of safety. They might become severely dysregulated, have meltdowns, or engage in dangerous behaviors.

Explaining and mediating the generational divide

man in gray sweater sitting beside woman in black and white floral long sleeve shirt Photo by Tim Kilby on Unsplash

Why is this a conflict almost all parents can relate to?

Is this a Boomer vs Millennials thing?

Some experts think that generational values and traditions might play a role.

"Many Boomers were accustomed to more traditional, hierarchical family dynamics, where visiting grandparents was a way for the younger generation to show respect," says Caitlin Slavens, a family psychologist.

But that's not to say this is a new problem. I can remember my own parents driving me and my brothers over an hour to visit my grandparents seemingly every other weekend, but very few occasions where they came to visit us. It must have driven my parents nuts back then!

Plus, it's easy to forget that it's hard for older people to travel, too. They may have their own issues and discomforts when it comes to being away from their home.

"But for today’s parents, balancing careers, kids’ routines, and the demands of modern parenting is a much bigger undertaking. Grandparents might not always see how childproofing their space or making the trip themselves could make a huge difference, especially considering how travel and disruption can impact younger kids' moods and routines," Slavens says.

"So yes, this divide often comes down to different expectations and life experiences, with older generations potentially not seeing the daily demands modern families face."

Is there any hope for parents and grandparents coming to a better understanding, or a compromise?

"First, open conversations help bridge the divide—explain how much of a difference it makes when the kids stay in a familiar space, especially when they’re very young," suggests Slavens.

"Share practical details about the challenges, like childproofing concerns or travel expenses, to help grandparents see it from a parent’s perspective. You might even work together to figure out solutions, like making adjustments to create a more child-friendly space in their home or agreeing on a shared travel plan."

Ultimately, it's a good thing when grandparents, friends, and other relatives want to see the kids.

We all have the same goal.

"It’s helpful to approach the topic with empathy, focusing on everyone’s goal: more quality time together that’s enjoyable and low-stress for everyone involved. For parents, it’s about setting boundaries that work, and for grandparents, it’s about recognizing that flexibility can really show the parents that you are ... willing to make adjustments for their children and grandchildren."

Enjoyable, low-stress quality time — that's something everyone can get behind.

Joy

Men weigh in on the male equivalent of 'women's clothes don't have pockets'

"Why can’t I get a health/hygiene product that isn’t labeled something like 'grizzly bear fist fight sleep strips for tough men'?"

""Women’s products smell like things while men’s products smell like concepts."

Few moments make a woman's face light up than the moment she realizes a dress she's trying on has pockets. It's such a simple thing, but it's like a whole world of possibilities opens up as soon as she slides her hands into those pockets and spins.

That's because women's clothes of all kinds so often don't have pockets. Even pants that look like they have pockets don't actually have pockets half the time, or the pocket is so tiny you can't even squeeze a quarter into it. And there's no real reason for this baffling reality for women—but is there an equivalent complaint for men?

Men were asked to weigh in on the male equivalent of "Why do women's clothes not come with pockets?" and a surprising number weighed in.


Why do men's products have vague, hyper-masculine names?

If something is made for men, it can't just be named what it is. It has to be over-the-top manly sounding.

"Why can’t I get a health/hygiene product that isn’t labeled something like 'grizzly bear fist fight sleep strips for tough men'?"

"'Dude Wipes' that cost double what a generic wet wipe costs. I don't get how anyone justifies that kind of wasteful spending these days."

"Strongman Righteous Fury Personal Cleansing Wipes."

"Right?! What focus group decided I wanted to smell like a bear's leather glove? Why is the bear wearing gloves to begin with? Was it going to do crime? I'm really not the criming type."

"Women’s products smell like things while men’s products smell like concepts."

"You mean you don't want to, 'smell like naval diplomacy'?"

"Yeah it's annoying. Soap marketed for women usually has what it smells like right on the bottle, while soap for men do not. When the bottle says 'XTREME ARCTIC SPORT' or 'HYDRA ENERGETIC' I have no idea what to expect."

"I use Old Spice 'Fiji and palm tree.' No idea what either of those smell like in real life, but at least the words resemble actual smells."

Why is men's formal wear oh-so-hot?

Not the good kind of hot—the sweating-at-a-wedding kind of hot.

"Men’s formal wear is really hot. Like if we go to a fancy wedding in the summer, I’m in a suit and tie, my wife is in a tiny dress."

"Was in an August wedding, 30+ celsius outside, bride wanted all the groom's party in wool suits. That day was hell."

"Yep. Undershirt, then dress shirt, then vest, then suit jacket."

"it really sucks at summer funerals. at least at a wedding its not like super rude to take your jacket off and roll your sleeves up."

"It's not just formal wear. Men don't have any short clothes that are 'acceptable' as more than casual wear. In offices, women can wear skirts when it's hot out. Men have no equivalent - they just have to sit there sweating with pants on."

"Women like it warm but their formal clothes are skimpy.

Men like it cool but their formal clothes have many layers.

Seems like it should be the other way around. Suit jackets and tuxedos for women, sheer dresses for men."

Why such a lack of variety in men's clothing overall?

Women seem to have infinite choices when it comes to style, color, etc. Men's fashion is much more limited, both in variety and quantity.

"The lack of variety for mens clothing in stores. Women's clothing will fill up 90% of the store while men get a tiny closed off section like here ya go guys"

"In the back of the store, next to the clearance aisle and the bathrooms."

"If the shop has multiple floors, it's always the one furthest from the ground floor. Usually the men's section also has to share the floor with the kid's and home decor sections!"

"For some reason, I always seem to find the men's section right next to shoes, which is usually 90% women's shoes. And the women's shoe section is still larger than the entire men's clothing section."

"Also in gym clothes. I feel like women has a vast variety in all kinds of colors and patterns that look amazing.

Men can pick between black, gray, navy blue, and white. And definitely no patterns at all."

"Sometimes there is green. Also, there might be both light gray and dark gray."

Why do clothing manufacturers assume men grow out as they grow up?

People come in all sizes regardless of gender, but since men's clothing styles are more limited, their sizing issues are notable.

"Stores assuming that if you're over 6 feet tall, you must also be 6 feet wide."

"This is the bane of my existence. Especially for work uniforms. If I go medium-sized shirt, it's way too small. If I get a large, then it looks like I'm wearing a parachute."

"Men's shirts get wider with each size but not longer."

"Similarly, if your shoulders are wider, your gut must be bigger."

"And the sleeve length to size ratio is all over the place. Trying shirt on and it's a little snug and the cuffs are in the middle of your forearms. Go up a size and the torso fits but the sleeves dangle at your knees... or they still don't reach your wrists."

"Yes. The men’s shirt paradox.

-Long enough

- Wide enough

- Sleeves/cuffs the correct length

(Pick any 2, but you never get all 3)."

Men added other things as well, such as jewelry options for men being boring, men's dress shoes having zero traction whatsoever (same goes for women's dress shoes, to be fair), men's bathrooms not coming with changing tables, and how annoying non-elongated toilets are. Women have far more things than "clothes without pockets" they could add to a list as well, which just highlights how hilariously absurd some of these gender-based constructs are.



A guy having a collaborative conversation.

The quickest way to stop having a constructive dialog with someone is when they become defensive. This usually results in them digging in their heels and making you defensive. This can result in a vicious cycle of back-and-forth defensive behavior that can feel impossible to break. Once that happens, the walls go up, the gloves come off and resolving the situation becomes tough.

Amanda Ripley, author of “High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out,” says in her book that you can prevent someone you disagree with from becoming defensive by being curious about their opinion.

Ripley is a bestselling author and the co-founder of Good Conflict, a media and training company that helps people reimagine conflict.


How to have a constructive conversation

Let’s say you believe the room should be painted red and your spouse says it should be blue. Instead of saying, “I think blue is ugly,” you can say, “It’s interesting that you say that…” and ask them to explain why they chose blue.

The key phrase is: “It’s interesting that you say that…”


conversation, arguments, communication tipsPeople coming to an agreement. via Canva/Photos

When you show the other person that you genuinely care about their thoughts and appreciate their reasoning, they let down their guard. This makes them feel heard and encourages them to hear your side as well. This approach also encourages the person you disagree with to consider coming up with a collaborative solution instead of arguing to defend their position.

It’s important to assume the other person has the best intentions while listening to them make their case. “To be genuinely curious, we need to refrain from judgment and making negative assumptions about others. Assume the other person didn’t intend to annoy you. Assume they are doing the best they can. Assume the very best about them. You’ll appreciate it when others do it for you,” Kaitlyn Skelly at The Ripple Effect Education writes.

Phrases you can use to avoid an argument

The curiosity approach can also involve affirming the other person’s perspective while adding your own, using a phrase like, “On the one hand, I see what you’re saying. On the other hand…”

Here are some other phrases you can use:

“I wonder if…”

“It’s interesting that you say that because I see it differently…”

“I might be wrong, but…”

“How funny! I had a different reaction…”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that! For me, though, it seems…”

“I think I understand your point, though I look at it a little differently…”


conversation, arguments, communication tipsTwo men high-fiving one another.via Canva/Photos

What's the best way to disagree with people?

A 2016 study from Yale University supports Ripley’s ideas. The study found that when people argue to “win,” they take a hard line and only see one correct answer in the conflict. Whereas those who want to “learn” are more likely to see that there is more than one solution to the problem. At that point, competition magically turns into collaboration.

“Being willing to hear out other perspectives and engage in dialogue that isn’t simply meant to convince the other person you’re right can lead to all sorts of unexpected insights,” psychologist and marketing Professor at Southern Methodist University tells CNBC.

In a world of strong opinions and differing perspectives, curiosity can be a superpower that helps you have more constructive conversations with those with whom you disagree. All it takes is a little humility and an open mind, and you can turn conflict into collaboration, building bridges instead of walls.

Having a bad day? Try this easy hack to turn it around.

Having a bad day or even week is inevitable if you're a conscious human on planet earth. Bad days have no age limit or gender. They happen to the best of us even when we're doing our best to keep everything running as smoothly as possible. But the universe isn't set up to allow anyone to have complete control over everything happening in their lives. It will rain on someone's wedding day and Alanis Morissette will sing all about it.

You will will spill coffee on your shirt right before an interview or your new puppy's potty accident will collide with your well meaning robot vacuum. There will always be one seemingly small inconvenience that sets off a chain of events solidifying you in the bad day category. But when that happens, how do you turn it around?

One woman has found a simple solution to hack the bad day blues and it just may work for you when you're having a glum day as well.


Gigi Peache has been open about her struggles with different mental illnesses including severe bouts of depression so the Aussie is no stranger to bad days. After a more recent encounter with sadness, Peache did what she has done for quite a while, but this time she decided to share her secret in hopes to help others.

woman looking at the floor Photo by Tiago Bandeira on Unsplash

"Do you ever have a bad day? Because I have a lot of bad days and this is one thing I like to do when I'm having a bad day and it's come to my attention that other people don't do it because whenever I say it out loud they're like, 'oh, what?' And I really want to share it with you because I think it'll be beneficial because it's a nice way to put something positive back out into the universe," the woman says before further explaining that it's a way of making the world a better place.

Already, whatever Peache is going to say sounds promising since most people do want to make the world a better place, even if it doesn't always feel like it. So if someone is giving you a simple key to make the world better while also pulling yourself out of a sadness slump, people might be inclined to listen.

a woman looking out of a window with blinds Photo by Joshua Rawson-Harris on Unsplash

Peache then shares something so sweet she can't help to be giddy about it, "so what I like to do is, I like to call and leave a compliment. Where do I call? Anywhere I've been! If I've been to a cafe and the girl that served me just...she just did her job, I'm calling, I'm talking to the manager and I'm leaving a compliment. 'Kelly did an amazing job. I'm blown away."

Through giggles the woman shares that she doesn't care where she's been that week, if she's having a bad day she will think back to anywhere she's gone and leave a compliment with the manager. She says she even does this if has no idea what the person's name is.

"It's just a silly little thing and I know and I know some people when they're having a bad day they want to talk to the manager and they want to complain, but no no no no, turn it around. Call and leave a compliment," Peache says before adding. "For all we know, that person was this far away from getting a promotion and now they've got it. For all we know they were this far away from getting fired and now they're not."


@gigi.peache How to have a slightly better bad day 😇🥰🌻 #kindness #badday #mentalhealth #goodvibes ♬ original sound - Gigi Peache

People love the idea, with one person writing, "omg I love this , I try to compliment someone when I'm out shopping etc when I'm down but this is even better."

Another person shares, "this is a great idea, I love it! plus, managers DO tend to want to know positive feedback because customers are far more likely to take the effort to leave a complaint rather than a compliment!"

"I’m going to start doing this! Adding it to my MH [mental health] Toolbox now," someone else says.

woman in gray hoodie smiling Photo by Brian Wangenheim on Unsplash

"LOVE this idea and will definitely be trying it out! So much negativity in this world - positivity is the way to go," one person chimes in.

"This is the sweetest thing & such a good mood booster," another writes as someone else points out an alternative for those who don't care for phone calls, "also, leaving good Google reviews and putting in the employees name, if you're too anxious to call. That's great as well!"

This trick may seem like it's not a big deal or something that isn't going to work, but it's free to try and the worse that happens is you make someone else smile.

Woman and her cat find buried car filled with bullet holes

Moving into a new home is almost always an exciting experience. You plan out what colors to paint the walls, how you want to decorate and even if you want to plant a garden or not. Most people purchase new homes that meet their needs for that period in their lives or their long term plans.

That's why when an Ohio woman purchased a new home she needed it to have enough acreage for her to have room for her horses to play and a pasture for them to graze. She thought she found the perfect place but there was a weird hill in her yard where she wanted to create a pasture for her horses. Upon inspecting the hill she noticed there was a tail light and part of a bumper sticking out so she grabbed a shovel. What transpires next has been captivating the internet for days.


The woman uploaded the initial video showing her discovery to social media under the screen name Nemo's Human. People were instantly invested in why a car was buried on the woman's property and why she was digging it up with a shovel without police assistance. Only equipped with her shovel and cat, it took the woman a couple of days to dig out the surface of the vehicle which appears to be covered in bullet holes raising concern among viewers.


@radagast09 I found a car buried on my land so there's that #car #weird #fyp ♬ original sound - Nemo's human

But the homeowner doesn't seem at all upset about the holes in the vehicle, "there's definitely holes in this car, so maybe they used to shoot at the car. Like maybe they used it for target practice or something, but yeah, I'm definitely finding some holes in it."

At this point in the digging process the woman still couldn't identify the make and model of the vehicle which prompted CARFAX to chime in with their best guess. After some back and forth it was determined that the car was a Dodge Caravan, though people were more worried about the bullet holes and what seems to be charred earth around where the woman is digging. It doesn't take a forensic scientist to start to wonder if foul play might have been the reason for the buried car.


@radagast09 Update: Still digging. I thought I figured out what kind of car it is, but I did not. #cartok #rugtok #buriedcar ♬ original sound - Nemo's human

This isn't the first suspicious item that has been unearthed on TikTok holding the attention of millions and several people harkened back to just a few weeks prior as this new mystery was uncovered.

"Rug lady 'the rug is in the ground I can’t dig it up myself' Car lady 'I’m going to dig this whole car up by myself'," someone laughs.


@radagast09 Apparently some people missed Tom, so he's in this one 😻 #buriedcar ♬ original sound - Nemo's human

Another person compares the two women's completely different attitudes towards their discoveries in their backyards, "rug lady: it's a dead body haunting my house.... car lady: oh it's just an old car nothing suspicious here(ignoring gloves, bullet holes, the fact that it's buried...lol)."

Still people were quite worried that the woman was about to dig up more that she is anticipating and try to warn her of just that, saying, "I love the innocence of your theory! But my mind is going in a completely different direction. I feel like it would’ve been easier to haul away. Those are big bullet holes. I wouldn’t be surprised if there are human remains in there. IJS."


@radagast09 The car is no longer buried in my back yard but I do kind of wish I never noticed it in the first place #buriedcar #rugtok #cartok ♬ original sound - Nemo's human

It seems junior internet sleuths are the only people already jumping to that conclusion since the woman called law enforcement who surmised the same scenario she had–target practice. That is a possibility, especially in a rural area. Either way the police have no intention of coming out to excavate the vehicle from it's resting place in order to investigate. Instead the woman is to give the local police a ring when she gets a vin number, until then it's a woman, her cat and a shovel.

After more than a week, heavy machinery rental and keeping social media abuzz, the van is now finally fully unearthed. Much to everyone's relief there was nothing inside that would indicate a crime has occurred outside of the van being full of cinder blocks and the vin nowhere to be found. Turns out the car was essentially covering up a makeshift landfill so the woman's yard is not only filled with pieces from the buried car but trash that the previous owners decided to leave behind. Now that's a buried treasure nobody wants but it sure was a much needed fun distraction.