Is That Really a Thing?!

Death by Caffeine

Like most Americans, I'm not really what you would call a "morning person." I get up early every day, and every day I think the same thing: "No. Please, just... no." For most of us, coffee (or caffeine in some form) is a way to at least appear to be alive and functioning in our roles as productive members of society. Consumption of caffeine ranges from the occasional coffee drinker to the four-pots-a-day caffaholic. I think I'm probably somewhere in the middle. I wouldn't say that I'm a "Do not even look at me until I have had my coffee!" person, but I've definitely reached the level of, "Things might go a lot more smoothly if we have this meeting after my first cup of Joe."

Perhaps I live under a rock with my coffee maker and arsenal of diet soda, because I only found out this morning that caffeine can cause intoxication, psychiatric disorders, and actually kill you. Yes, that's right... KILL YOU. When I read about caffeine-induced organic mental disorder on drowning.com, I thought it was a joke. But as I read and realized that they weren't kidding, I thought, "Wait... Is that really a thing?!"

Trying to corroborate the validity of the suggestion that caffeine is treacherous, I did what any normal person does: I Google'd. It turns out that there are countless websites, blogs, articles, and the like that explain the risks associated with caffeine use. There are actually diagnoses for caffeine-related intoxication, anxiety, sleep disorder, and many more. And, if a person drinks more than his or her body can handle, the person can have a fatal caffeine overdose. There are actually documented cases of deaths that happened this way!

I don't mean to sound insensitive or disrespectful, but I have to wonder... Weren't there any signs before it reached that point that maybe you had one too many double-espresso lattes? I know that for me, drinking even half of one popular energy drink (whose ads boast of making people fly) sends me into a jittery tailspin of fidgeting and using too many words in my sentences. I interpret that reaction as a sign that I shouldn't have anymore caffeine for awhile. Am I just taking crazy pills here, or don't most people have small-scale reactions like this before it reaches truly damaging heights?

The blame for most caffeine-induced hysteria is aimed at energy drinks. One article on Inventor Spot even states that some energy drinks contain the same amount of caffeine as fourteen cans of cola. I don't think that is necessarily brand new information to most people; the fact that it's called an "energy drink" pretty much indicates its purpose. Moreover, if you are drinking something that has a name sounding anything like, "Extreme Hard-Core Brain Damage Energy Fun," "You Really Can't Handle This, You Big Pansy," or "If You Ever Need to Run 57 Miles, This Is the Drink for You," that's probably a good indicator that there's some type of stimulant in it and you might want to, I don't know, monitor how much you're drinking?

Granted, I have to make the statement that in some cases, a person's caffeine threshold may be unusually low or perhaps the caffeine interacts with some other existing condition to cause caffeine-related disorders. I know there are outliers. But, for the rest of us, can we please just watch it a little, please? If people abuse caffeine, sooner or later it will be illegal to drive with an open container of coffee; and if you think caffeine-induced anxiety is a big deal, just wait until you see the effects of caffeine deprivation-induced road rage.

My Fiancee Is Empathetically Challenged

Advice King in the OSU O'Colly (reprinted from O'Colly website)

Dear Advice King,

I am living with my fiancée, to whom I’m engaged to be married next spring. She is a hairstylist who entered her profession right out of high school, whereas I am almost finished with my degree. As a senior getting ready to graduate, I am often stressed out about classes, projects and exams. My fiancée can’t relate to this and tells me I am “just overreacting.” How can I make her understand the challenges that college presents?

- Harried Hubby-to-Be

Dear Hubby,

For some people – commonly referred to as “hard-headed” – true knowledge can only be obtained through experience. Your fiancée hasn’t experienced college, and it sounds like that has prevented her from relating to your stress about the demands placed on you as a student.

Although you can’t fault her for her absence of experiential information, there’s actually a larger issue at play. Can you guess what it is?

Empathy is defined by Encarta Dictionary as, “the ability to identify with and understand somebody else’s feelings or difficulties.”

From your fiancée’s get-over-it-and-stop-whining attitude, it appears as though her empathy chip went missing when she came out of the factory.

It might not seem like a hugely important issue on the surface, but it does warrant some examination. Is it a deal-breaker? Probably not. Is it a red flag? You betcha’.

The real question here is this: Is your fiancée able and willing to take your difficulties seriously, whether they are real or imagined? Is she prepared to get on your team and support your feelings, even if she doesn’t think you should feel that way?

Reminder: She’s your fiancée. That means that you will be married with the implicit expectancy of staying that way forever.

I’d venture a guess that this isn’t an isolated incident; chronic dismissers of others’ feelings – or, “the empathetically challenged,” as I like to call them – can rarely just decide one day to start empathizing and then execute that decision immediately.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that once you graduate, this problem will disappear. This trait is highly likely to surface regularly as variations on the same thing. A close friend of mine is married to an empathy-deficient man, and they’ve been having different versions of the same fight for seven years.

As my friend and her husband have successfully worked on their marriage, so it will take effort from each of you: time, patience and honesty from you, and willingness, compassion and understanding from her. If you cannot give each other those things, you shouldn’t be together in the first place.

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Send Jess your question on twitter @advicefromjess or e-mail jess.king@okstate.edu.

Is That Really a Thing?!

For my very first "Is That Really a Thing?!" weekly segment, I wanted to to really start off with a bang. If you don't appreciate third-grade level humor, you might want to stop reading right now.

This is a product I just discovered via the magical portal known as the internet. It appears that "they" really have thought of everything, up to and including - yes, this is for real - flatulence absorbing pads. They are small pads of activated carbon, covered with soft fabric, that adhere to the inside of your undies. Where do I even begin?!

Let's start with the product name: Subtle Butt. I assume this is intended as a play on the word "scuttlebutt," but I really don't get it. I think that with a product like this, they should have gone all out with a giggle-inspiring name that simultaneously acknowledges the awkwardness and usefulness of the pads. I'm thinking of something like, "Toot Terminator," "Fart Annihilator," or perhaps something more catchy, yet subtle, such as, "Bombs Away."

Also, I'd really like to know who is actually purchasing this product. I have never seen it in stores and I don't know of one single person who would ever admit to using these Toot-sies. Would it be acceptable to give them as a gift to someone? What would you do if your mom included this as one of your stocking stuffers?

I would love to have been a fly on the wall at this product's first development meeting.

Person 1: "Okay guys, it's time to roll out a new product. Let's put our brains together... what is a need that our customers have that hasn't been addressed?"
Person 2: "What is that smell? Did someone have boiled eggs for breakfast?"
Persons 3, 4, and 5: "Awww man!" "That is wrong!" "You should have left the room!"
Person 1: "Oh my gosh. Oh. My. Gosh. This is it! This will be my masterpiece... I've got it! We shall create... a flatulence-absorbing pad. We really can change the world!"

It probably went nothing like that, but I just can't imagine being the guy who invented the Fart Pad. What would you even say? It could even result in a nickname that sticks until death. To preserve the integrity of this segment, I won't go into names that I would call someone who invented this product, but you get the idea.

So, is the Subtle Butt Flatulence-Absorbing Pad really a thing?

Amazingly, yes.