{"id":303,"date":"2026-01-14T04:02:58","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T04:02:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/storytv9.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2026-01-14T04:02:58","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T04:02:58","slug":"the-case-of-the-missing-pads-solved-in-the-most-unexpected-way","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/storytv9.com\/?p=303","title":{"rendered":"The Case of the Missing Pads: Solved in the Most Unexpected Way"},"content":{"rendered":"

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For months, I genuinely thought I was losing my mind. Every time my period came around, I\u2019d reach into the bathroom drawer and find half my pads missing. Not all of them \u2014 just enough to make me question myself. Did I use more last month? Did I forget to buy a new pack? Was I sleepwalking?<\/p>\n

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I even accused my sister once when she came over for the weekend. I asked her, half-joking and half-serious, if she had \u201cborrowed\u201d any. She looked at me like I\u2019d grown two heads and said, \u201cWhy would I? I have my own!\u201d So that was a dead end.<\/p>\n

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Weeks passed, and the mystery kept bothering me. At one point I even searched the apartment for signs of\u2026 I don\u2019t know, a raccoon with a menstruation problem? That\u2019s how ridiculous it felt.<\/p>\n

Then yesterday happened.<\/p>\n

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I came home early from work because my meeting got canceled. As soon as I walked in, I heard this weird rustling coming from the bathroom \u2014 like someone hurriedly shuffling things around. Then I heard my boyfriend\u2019s voice, panicked and whispering, \u201cCrap, crap, crap\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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Naturally, I thought something was wrong. So I rushed over and pushed the door open.<\/p>\n

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And there he was.<\/p>\n

My boyfriend. Sitting on the bathroom floor like a child caught doing something forbidden. In his hands was one of my pads \u2014 peeled open perfectly, sticky side up \u2014 and he was pressing it firmly against his armpit.<\/p>\n

We both froze. It felt like the world stopped spinning for a full ten seconds.<\/p>\n

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I finally managed to choke out, \u201cWhat\u2026 are you doing?\u201d<\/p>\n

He blinked at me, sighing like he\u2019d been keeping a Nobel-level secret. Then he said, completely earnestly, \u201cThey\u2019re perfect for soaking up sweat at the gym.\u201d<\/p>\n

I just stared. My brain was buffering.<\/p>\n

He then launched into this whole explanation: how the adhesive keeps it in place on the inside of his shirt; how it absorbs sweat better than anything he\u2019s tried; how he didn\u2019t want to \u201cwaste them\u201d so he only took one or two at a time. Like he was giving a TED Talk on menstrual-product innovation.<\/p>\n

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So yeah. Mystery solved.<\/p>\n

My boyfriend has been using my pads as armpit sweat absorbers.<\/p>\n

I still don\u2019t know whether I\u2019m horrified, impressed, or about to start charging him for supplies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n