Category: Health & Fitness

Last week, Southwest Airlines officially began charging for checked bags, ending its longstanding “bags fly free” policy in an attempt to bring in more profits. But it sounds like there’s a chance the move could backfire.

Roger Dooley of Forbes is a speaker and author who covers science-based business strategies. In a recent article, he warned that by instituting a $35 charge for checked baggage, Southwest Airlines is making a rather costly mistake in consumer psychology in a number of ways.

As Dooley explains, Southwest customers will feel the loss of the free bags more than the actual cost because it felt like the free bags were something they already “owned.”

“Behavioral economists know that people feel losses about two to three times more intensely than equivalent gains. Southwest customers aren’t only seeing a $35 change in the cost of flying from point A to point B,” Dooley wrote for Forbes.

“Rather, they’re experiencing the loss of something they already ‘owned’ in their mental accounting. The well-established endowment effect says that people value something they currently own more than the same exact thing when it’s not theirs.”

Another point, as Dooley warns, is that since Southwest established free bags as a key and integral part of its brand, getting rid of that could erode consumer trust and damage the brand.

“Southwest literally trademarked ‘bags fly free’ and built entire advertising campaigns around being different from other airlines. This major reversal is inconsistent with its long-established brand image. The change creates cognitive dissonance that damages trust far beyond the fee itself,” Dooley wrote.

“When customers chose Southwest, they were choosing to avoid exactly this kind of nickel-and-diming. Now, they’re questioning what other promises might be broken next.”

One final point that Dooley makes is that Southwest customers are “anchored” to Southwest’s promise of $0 for checked baggage, meaning customers will compare the new $35 charge against the previous $0 charge, not the similar charge currently in place by other airlines. This makes the new bag fees feel disproportionately expensive.

“Even though Delta, United, and American charge similar amounts, Southwest’s fee will feel worse because of the broken expectation,” Dooley wrote.

This is a lot to overcome for Southwest, and the numbers don’t seem to be on their side, either.

We’ll have to see how the airline fares in the coming years after making such a major change.

These days, most communication during dating, at least in the early parts of a budding relationship, is done via text. 

This means that both parties should probably give some extra thought into what they have to say before they hit ‘send.’ Dating coach Blaine Anderson says there are some types of messages men should never include in their conversational repertoire. 

Anderson, a former sorority member at the University of Arizona, is now a professional dating and matchmaking coach. In addition to the paid services she and her team offer through their Dating by Blaine website, Anderson also shares regular free advice on her Instagram page.

On Saturday, she posted a video about three texts men should “never” send women. They are as follows:  

• “When can I see you?” – Anderson says it sounds “needy and desperate. Just ask her out instead.”
• “Wanna come over tonight?” – Anderson says this might “sound like a booty call” if you two haven’t “hooked up” before and could lead to the woman declining.
• “Do you like me?” – Don’t ask for reassurance. “If she’s messaging you, she’s interested,” Anderson added.

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A post shared by Blaine Anderson • Matchmaker & Dating Coach For Men (@datingbyblaine)

There are definitely more than just three texts to avoid, but these are the ones Anderson cited in the video. 

On her business website, Anderson says she and her team aim to help men “get unstuck with women.”

“Dating is a SKILL. If you believe in yourself, and have the humility to believe there are things you can learn, you will see big changes with a little effort and the right plan,” Anderson writes.

On Instagram, Anderson boasts more than 712,000 followers. You can become one of them right here.

All Apple iPhone users have been warned to update their devices immediately to correct a potential security flaw that would leave them vulnerable to cybercriminals.

UK data expert Safe Data Storage has issued a warning to all iPhone users about a vulnerability in their devices that could allow hackers to infiltrate personal data, including photos, messages, and app information.

Apple has already patched the vulnerability with the new iOS 18.5 update, Safe Data Storage told Mirror, but it’s up to iPhone users to make sure their phones are up to date.

“Apple acted fast, but users need to act too. Updating your device is one of the most important things you can do to protect your private information. Tell your parents, your grandparents, your neighbour – anyone with an iPhone. These updates aren’t optional anymore – they’re your first line of defence,” a representative from Safe Data Storage told Mirror.

As Safe Data Storage warned, a “seemingly innocent image” sent to an iPhone that is not up to date could leave the iPhone user vulnerable, calling the issue a “serious threat.”

“Many people assume iPhones are immune to serious threats, but no device is immune to a vulnerability like this. If someone sends you a seemingly innocent image and your phone hasn’t been updated, it could silently wreak havoc or grant intruders access to your private files,” Safe Data Storage wrote.

Given the risk, iPhone users have been warned to update all iPhone XS and newer models as soon as possible. To do this, or determine whether your phone is up to date, launch the Settings app, click on the “General” tab, then tap “Software Update.”

If iOS 18.5 is available, select Download and Install. If your phone has already been updated, you will see a message on the screen saying “iOS is up to date.”

A British Airways flight attendant was reportedly found “naked and dancing” in one of the plane’s bathrooms during a recent international flight.

The bizarre situation unfolded last weekend during a trip from San Francisco to London aboard British Airways’ double-decker Airbus A380, the largest passenger plane in the world. As crew assembled for meal time to pass out drinks and snacks, they realized one of their colleagues was missing.

After a quick search, the man was discovered dancing in the nude inside the Club World cabin bathroom. It is suspected that he had gone on a drug binge before the trip, resulting in the erratic and inexcusable behavior.

“We think the guy popped pills when he was meant to be working. It is an extraordinary thing to do,” one flight worker told The Sun. “The plane was cruising at 37,000ft over the Atlantic, but this bloke seemed to be higher than anyone else.”

After dressing the steward in a pair of first class pajamas, crew members strapped him into a seat for the rest of the 10-plus hour journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The workers also had to go about their duties for the trip without breaks to compensate for the man being unable to perform his responsibilities. 

Upon arriving at Heathrow Airport on Sunday morning, the man was met by police who arrested him and took him into custody. Currently, British Airways has suspended the flight attendant amid ongoing investigations.

“Not only is it really dangerous, it is a crazy way to end your BA career. This job can do ridiculous things to people, but staging a one-man disco in a Club World toilet is a new one on me,” the man’s on-flight colleague added. 

Two people were killed and hundreds more injured in celebrations that deteriorated into riots throughout France following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League Final win on Saturday.

According to the national police service, a 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death during a street party in Dax Saturday night, hours after PSG beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich. Dax Mayor Julien Dubois called for justice, asking for the killer to be located ad “severely punished.”

Additionally, a man in his 20s riding a scooter in Paris was killed when he was struck by a car, authorities said. Police added that one officer is in an induced coma with serious eye injuries after accidentally being hit with fireworks during rioting in Coutances. 

According to Colitco.com, 264 cars were set on fire and multiple stores looted in Paris. In total, 559 people were arrested, including nearly 500 in Paris alone, and 22 police officers and seven firefighters were injured in the melees. 

“This is just half time for us. PSG’s official parade will take place this evening, and we are expecting further tensions. There will be a very strong police and military presence,” said Paris police prefect Laurent Nuñez.

Around 5,400 police officers were sent out in Paris to contain the chaos, with Nuñez blaming a lot of the damage and debauchery on outsiders who weren’t even there to celebrate the big win.

“There are people who didn’t even watch the match but came just to commit vandalism,” said Nuñez. “We will not tolerate such actions. True PSG supporters must not be confused with gangs of looters and troublemakers.”

PSG dominated Inter from the outset on Saturday, winning the club’s first Champions League title. The win marked the second Champions League crown for a French club, joining Marseille in 1992-93. 

The team is expected to hold a massive victory parade on the Champs-Elysees Sunday afternoon with more than 100,000 attendees.

Costco held their quarterly earnings call on May 29, and the call brought some good news, as well as a major change for shoppers on the way. As for the earnings, Costco reported an 8% year-over-year sales gain. While Costco doesn’t offer an annual outlook, the management on the earnings call said that in general, tariffs have resulted in higher prices and some challenges, so Costco had to work with its supply chain and raise some prices. But, the company still posted a gain.

Costco’s earnings per share was $4.28, which is higher than its $4.24 expected. Revenue was also $63.21 billion, which is higher than the $63.19 billion that was projected.

As for tariffs concerns, according to CFO Gary Millerchip, goods and items imported from China make up about 8% of Costco’s total U.S. sales. “We felt it was important to to really eliminate the impact there for the member by working with our suppliers and by us finding efficiencies and accepting that there may be a margin impact,” Millerchip said.

While numbers are fun, when it comes to what actually impacts the average customer at Costco, the earnings call also brought news of Costco working on ways to speed up wait times for people at the checkout area. A busy Costco store often means a long wait to check out, and they want to change that.

“We’ve also engaged in some ‘scan and go done by Costco’ kind of tests that we’re doing out there that have been extremely successful of moving people through the lines and expediting the transactions,” CEO Ron Vachris said on the call. Vachris added that the early tests of these “scan and go” devices were “very positive.”

“Scan and go” is a mobile self-checkout solution, where shoppers are able to use their mobile devices to scan items as they shop and pay right through an app.

Related: Costco Announces Major Change for Purchases—And It Starts This Month

In the big finale of MobLand Season 1, several revelations and twists hit nearly all at once. If the show doesn’t get a full second season, it will be a shame, because there’s simply too much story left to tell. And, among all those questions, viewers might wonder what became of one specific character who seems to disappear towards the end of the finale. After all the chaos, where does Eddie end up?

Men’s Journal caught up with MobLand star Anson Boon to figure out just what became of Eddie, how he crafted the character, and what we can expect of a hypothetical Season 2. Spoilers ahead for the MobLand Season 1 finale, “The Beast in Me.”

After learning that the man he thought was his grandfather, Conrad Harrigan (Pierce Brosnan), Eddie goes nuts, briefly attacking his mother, Bella (Lara Pulver), and then, what? While the finale focuses on Harry (Tom Hardy) and Jan (Joanne Froggat) in the kitchen, in which Jan accidentally stabs Harry, we’re not sure what happened to Eddie as the rest of the Harrigans regroup.

“I think he is fleeing, and I think he just needs some time to be on his own,” Boon tells Men’s Journal. “I think Eddie is thinking about his next move, because who do you trust anymore? The only person that he really thought he could definitely trust was his grandmother [Helen Mirren’s Maeve] because she’s always saying the right thing to him. And then he finds out he’s not even blood-related to her!”

Related: ‘MobLand’ Is a Global Hit With 8 Million Viewers. Here’s How to Stream Episode 3

The start of MobLand begins with Eddie’s seemingly insane decision to murder the son of a rival mob family, Tommy Stevenson. This single event sets the entire show into motion, and as such, makes Eddie a pivotal figure in the saga. Later, he makes advances on Harry’s daughter, Gina (Teddie Allen), complicating his entire standing within his own family.

“They are both lost souls,” Boon explains. “And why not? At first, when they’re walking around the lake, and they’re sitting in the shed when he’s saying he was confused growing up and that his family, that’s all a load of rubbish! But I think in the end they do both find a bit of comfort in each other.”

Boon also makes it clear that he never wanted to play Eddie as a complete psychopath, and that he hopes that, as Season 1 unfolded, audiences started to realize how manipulated Eddie has been the entire time.

“I never want to play someone that’s so two-dimensional because humans aren’t two-dimensional,” Boon explains. “Obviously, he’s done terrible things and he’s doing terrible things, but look, no one in that family is exactly an angel. I think that he is obviously the very youngest person in the family, and he’s being dragged from pillar to post. But I don’t believe he’s absolutely evil. I don’t think he’s a monster.”

If Season 2 of MobLand happens, Boon hopes that his character will continue to evolve.

“He’s still very much coming of age,” Boon says. “I’m 25 now, and I realize how different I am now from how I was one year ago, let alone five, six years ago. If we are lucky enough to do a Season 2 — which I’d love to do — I’m just really excited to see how this character can grow and what kind of man he could become.”

MobLand Season 1 streams on Paramount+.

Related: ‘MobLand’ Finale Will Leave You Wanting More. Here’s When To Stream

Men’s Journal aims to feature only the best products and services.  If you buy something via one of our links, we may earn a commission.

Whether you’re hiking or biking, it never hurts to see clearly. And when it comes to sunglasses, Smith knows its stuff. That’s where REI comes in, as the outdoor brand is offering over 30% off a high-quality pair of sunglasses right now.

The Smith Attack MAG MTB ChromaPop Sunglasses are on sale for as low as $190, depending on which lens color you choose. These popular glasses are 31% off the original $275 price tag and boast over 250 five-star ratings at REI with shoppers saying they’re “amazing” and the “best sports sunglasses I’ve ever worn.”

Smith Attack MAG MTB ChromaPop Sunglasses, From $190 (was $275) at REI

Whether you’re hiking in a shady area with rocks that are hard to make out or biking right out in the open sun, these sunglasses will let you see clearly. The special ChromaPop lenses allow you to thrive in bright-light and low-light, while magnetically attaching to the frame. They also offer 100% UV protection, protecting your face and most importantly, your eyes from the harsh sun. As for comfort, the sunglasses’ adjustable two-position nose pad works for both narrow and wide profiles and helps you forget that you’re even putting something on top of your nose. And if you need somewhere to store your purchase, a sturdy case is included.

“They have given me back the ability to ride with sunglasses instead of clear lenses,” one shopper began. “I have been impressed with how incredibly crisp things look when using these glasses. That was an added bonus. The fact that they seem to walk a nice line in terms of blocking wind, yet not fogging up has also been great. I often forget that I am wearing them.”

Related: REI Is Selling $60 Running Sunglasses for Just $36 Right Now That Shoppers Say ‘Don’t Slip’ Mid-Run

“They work great, look cool, and have unmatched quality,” another reviewer raved. “Another exceptional Smith product.”

The Smith Attack MAG MTB ChromaPop Sunglasses are under $200 at REI, but they won’t be forever. Add them to your cart ASAP before the sun sets on this awesome Smith deal.

It’s difficult to imagine an existence without toilet paper, but it’s possible that in the future, going toilet paperless could be a real option. So, why would humans move away from toilet paper? According to Think Stewartville, “Environmental concerns, health implications, and cultural preferences are driving this change toward more sustainable alternatives.”

According to Cottonelle, the average person uses the toilet five times a day, but anything from four to ten times is considered “normal.” Also, the average person uses about seven sheets of toilet paper per wipe, “6.41 sheets per toileting occasion for women, and 8.1 sheets per occasion for men,” Cotonelle states. Also, the average American adult uses around one roll of toilet paper every week and 50 rolls in a year.

So, what could replace toilet paper? There are a few options, and some of them have been around for a long time.

According to Think Stewartville, bidets are the most established and common toilet paper alternative, and they date back centuries. “These standalone fixtures use precisely directed water streams for cleaning, eliminating the need for paper products entirely,” Think Stewartville states. The Cambridge Dictionary describes a bidet as a “small, low bath in which a person washes the lower part of their body.”

If bidets don’t sound too appealing, there are other toilet paper alternatives that are gaining popularity, too. One is reusable cloth toilet paper, which offers an environmentally-friendly alternative. “Typically crafted from organic cotton or bamboo fibers, these washable squares provide a soft, effective cleaning option,” Think Stewartville states. On top of being better for the environment, reusable cloth toilet paper could also cut down on household costs.

One criticism of reusable cloth toilet paper is the concern that it’s not hygienic. Heathline says that to properly clean clothing toilet paper, wash it “in a hot-water laundry cycle that’s at least 160°F (71°C) for at least 25 minutes, or a sanitize setting if you have one.” Healthline also adds that a downside of clothing toilet paper is that, “it can retain stains that make the cloths appear undesirable to use.”

Related: Toilet Paper Replacement Gains Popularity Amid Shortage Worries

Dave Mustaine made a bold accusation against his former band, Metallica. In May 2025, the Megadeth frontman was a guest on The Shawn Ryan Show, where he addressed his early exit from the Los Angeles-based heavy metal band—and his feelings on their biggest hit.

“I made sure not to ever say that I quit, because I wanted people to know that I was unfairly dismissed and that I didn’t give a s—,” Mustaine told host Shawn Ryan of his past with Metallica. “Because we may not be as big as they are, [but] hell, their biggest song, ‘Enter Sandman’ — go look up the band Excel right now. Look up their song, I think it’s [called] ‘Something Into the Unknown.’… Pretty similar.”

The Excel song in question is actually called “Tapping Into the Emotional Void.” The 1989 song’s acoustic opening guitar riff is similar to the beginning of Metallica’s biggest song, which was released in 1991.

This isn’t the first time Mustaine has made the accusation against his former bandmates. In 2004, Blabbermouth reported that Mustaine said in an interview, “Their biggest song, ‘Enter Sandman,’ was ripped off from a band called Excel.”

Fans also noted the similarities. When Villanova University radio station WXVU-FM began playing the Excel song, listeners questioned if it was a demo of the Metallica hit, The Los Angeles Times reported in 1991.

Excel’s manager, Jane Hoffman, told the outlet that the band didn’t want to get into a court battle with the heavy metal giants and instead hoped the attention would help their next album. Metallica co-manager Cliff Burnstein added, “If Excel could write that one (as good as that), I’m sure they can write more.”

“Enter Sandman” remains Metallica’s biggest hit more than 30 years after hitting Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Top 10. In 2022, the song surpassed the one billion streams mark on Spotify, Loudwire reported.

Mustaine was the lead guitarist for Metallica from 1981 to 1983 before being replaced by Kirk Hammett. In his interview with Ryan, he claimed that the day he was fired, he warned the band not to use any of the guitar riffs that were on a reel tape he had prepared. “I told them when I left, ‘Do not use my music. And of course they used it,” he alleged.

“You listen to the riffs, you know they’re my riffs,” Mustaine claimed of songs on the band’s debut album, Kill ‘Em All.  “So, yeah, I wrote a lot of their music that made them, and all the solos on that first record were mine,” the rocker alleged.

Related: Black Sabbath Founding Member Is Having Nightmares Ahead of Band’s Final Live Show