The next morning, Jackson set off early, heading toward the local supply and marketing cooperative in the town.

Being a grown man, he didn’t feel the slightest bit awkward. As soon as he entered the store, he directly asked the sales clerk for sanitary pads.

The sales clerk stared at him, as though he were some rare oddity, and replied, "We don’t have that here. Never even heard of it."

Jackson tried to explain, using hand gestures to clarify, and ...