OKAY, MAYBE I’M MISSING SOMETHING, but this looks like a triumph of marketing over, well, everything: A breast self-exam kit? I saw one of these while waiting in line at the drugstore last night and thought, Isn’t that called “hands?”

UPDATE: Allen Thorpe emails that at least it’s better than this.

ANOTHER UPDATE: A reader named Sabrina emails: “Yeah, you’re missing something ;-) I tried one of these things once–they are kinda like a goo-filled pad, and they seem to magnify any lumps underneath while simultaneously making it easier to slide over the surface being examined. Plus, without getting too graphic about it different women have different “grainyness” of breast texture, which can seem like lumps when it isn’t. The aid makes it easier to figure that out too. I don’t know that it is $20 wonderful, but it is useful.”

I stand corrected. Many readers are also amused at what “Customers who bought this item also bought.”