Kindness Prevails

Although some headlines may give the opposite impression, the majority of Americans believe their fellow residents are kind. Think about the last time a stranger did something unexpectedly kind for you. Maybe someone held a door open, picked up something you dropped or gave you a compliment. Did it change how you treated the next person you encountered? New research suggests that for most people, a kind gesture isn't just helping one person, it's helping many. A recent survey showed that people on the receiving end of random acts of kindness are more likely to direct kindness to strangers. Of the adults age 50 or older surveyed, 72% said they felt comfortable initiating an act of kindness after being a beneficiary themselves. That suggests that the “pay it forward” instinct is something many of us grow into, not something we’re born with. The survey indicates that the U.S. is doing better than cynics might expect, with more than 60% of Americans saying they had experienced kindness multiple times in just the past week. So, if you were looking for a sign to help someone, this is it.

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What the Royals Do With Their Old Clothing and Other Unwanted Things

Spring cleaning isn’t just for commoners — even the Royals do it. For a family that seems to have a rule about everything, there are surprisingly few royal mandates about this topic. While some things have to be kept for posterity, the royals are practical people who want their unwanted items to be put to the best use. Queen Elizabeth II hated tossing perfectly good clothes, so she would often have worn-out or unwanted pieces turned into new ones that she would use again and again when she was at home. When they were beyond repair, she turned them into cleaning rags. Imagine…….the queen’s staff could have been dusting a bookshelf with pieces of Her Majesty’s dress! Given the historical importance of Queen Elizabeth’s clothing, a lot of it is carefully preserved in a dedicated archive in Windsor that houses more than 4,000 items. Prince Philip, King Charles and Princess Anne all have a similar attitude to Queen Elizabeth. For example, King Charles often wears a coat that belonged to his father — a double-breasted camel coat with leather buttons and a distinctive belt. Princess Anne was recently spotted wearing a 57-year-old coat to a State Banquet. Not to be outdone, Prince Philip wore his wedding shoes for 70 years after his marriage. Princess Diana often upcycled her ensembles, including a long-sleeved light blue gown that she slipped on for a visit to Portugal in 1987, which then reappeared — minus the sleeves but with a new heart-shaped strapless neckline — at a charity ball two years later. Princess Kate might just be the “queen of re-wear.” She owns a pair of Penelope Chilvers boots that she’s been wearing for 22 years. Some royal pieces have also ended up in secondhand stores, mixed among the clothing of the commoners. Rewearing and upcycling have long been part of royal practice, but the late queen and her husband helped make them standard again.

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Why the Poppy Is a Symbol of Memorial Day

Every Memorial Day — which is Monday, May 25, this year — bright red poppies seem to pop up everywhere. They’re pinned to jackets, tucked into wreaths, and even mentioned in Memorial Day quotes. Unless you’ve gone down a historical rabbit hole at some point, you might not actually know why they’re associated with the holiday. The poppy as a symbol of war casualties started with the poem “In Flanders Fields”, which was written from the perspective of fallen soldiers buried among poppies in Belgium. It urges the living to honor the sacrifices of the fallen soldiers by continuing the fight against the enemy, immortalizing the poppy as a symbol of remembrance. Memorial Day poppies can’t be bought. The Friday before Memorial Day (May 24 this year) is National Poppy Day. During this time, poppies are handmade by veterans as part of their rehabilitation and distributed across the country by the American Legion Auxiliary in exchange for donations that assist disabled and hospitalized veterans.

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The Disposable Cup Keeping Your Coffee Warm May Also Be Making it Harmful

The same cup that keeps your coffee warm may be the very thing that makes it less safe to drink. A recent study found that heat can release thousands to hundreds of thousands of microplastics into a beverage, depending on the cup material and temperature. The study, published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, found that heat is the key driver of microplastics release from disposable containers. Cups and food containers showed much stronger temperature-related increases than bottles, which are usually made from more heat-resistant plastics and are less often used with hot liquids.

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