The Many Repurposings of Tampons
The Many Repurposings of Tampons
By Glory Fink
I learned from a good friend while at boarding school that those phone book thick maxi pads are ideal for writing holiday greetings onto. What with the fabulous adhesive on the back of the pads you just draw on the pads, slap them on the outside of your dorm room door and Voila! Holiday decorating is done, now on to studying for mid-terms.
As a wide eyed young maiden wandering through the rice fields of The Philippines I learned that all mercenaries worth their liquor carry tampons in their emergency case. It seems that the ultra absorbent cotton rods are ideal for stoppering bullet hole wounds when you’re too many clicks away from the nearest safe house/band aid station.
I’m a dyed in the wool Girl Scout. I believe that everything can be repurposed and often should be. I am all about making the best with what you have on hand. I have made my own camp oven and let me tell you, the biscuits baked in it were delicious!
Nevertheless, my initial reaction to Tampon Crafts was, “Ewwwww!” After that I was moved by morbid curiosity and had to click through in order to view the train wreck that surely had to be the crafting of tampons.
I’m not going to try to prejudice you with my own thoughts about this site. But I will say that some of these crafts were not invented by a single, unassisted female mind. No, there were men folk involved. You don’t get a sophisticated tampon blow gun utilizing several different brands of Tampons and PVC piping without men cheering the creativity on. There’s even instructions for a tampon bandolier!
Browsing the site, I do wonder how our civilization would be altered if we were able to harness such creative brain power for solving pressing issues such as wide spread hunger, unsafe drinking water and how to get Paula Abdul to meet with Dr. Drew for a “Coming to Jesus” intervention.
Comments and suggestions are always appreciated. Send your emails to glory at askglory.com with “Attention: Glory” in the subject line.
About the Author:
Glory Fink is a writer, a purveyor of euphemistically romantic materials, a photographer, a licensed educator, a wannabe dilettante, a mystery wrapped in an enigma covered in cashmere. She can be found playing with Schrödinger’s cat, traipsing through the back roads of the Mississippi Delta or concocting experiments in her lab/kitchen. Glory does not suffer fools gladly but will gladly suffer endless tours at the Ben & Jerry’s ice cream factory as long as the samples keep coming. She does her best writing in her pajamas and her best sleeping out of them. Glory’s cat is suspicious, her dog obliging and her friends humored by her many antics and efforts to become in reality what she is in her dreams.
Glory can be found living it up in Hattiesburg, Mississippi in a quaint (read: run down) house in a newly historic district but still less reputable side of town with her miniature dachshund and one cat who isn’t. The outside cat came with the house; he is not a pet as much as a ninja. Please feel free to email or call on Glory any time, her life could do with a few more interesting people.
Copyright © 2009, Glory Fink
For information about this work, please contact the author at the address set forth below. Permission is hereby granted to reproduce and distribute copies of this work for nonprofit educational purposes, provided that copies are distributed at or below cost, and that the author, source, and copyright notice are included on each copy. This permission is in addition to rights of reproduction granted under Sections 107, 108, and other provisions of the U.S. Copyright Act. Before making any distribution of this work, please contact Glory Fink to ascertain whether you have the current version. Permission inquiries can be made to Glory Fink at copyright@askglory.com.
