‘Is this why we keep getting sick?’: Woman realizes the last 3 years have been a lie when she gets a surprise upon inspecting her air purifier

Sometimes in life, we have to just tell ourselves that things are getting better to get through the day. Obviously, if we have a problem that really needs fixing, we should deal with it, but the power of positive thinking — or gaslighting ourselves into believing everything is fine, like that cartoon dog about to go up in flames — is not something to be underestimated.

Take TikTok user @mj.petrlik who made a shocking discovery when she belatedly decided to take a closer look at her air purifier after three years of using it. Using it is a loose term in this instance, however. When she inspected the purifier, MJ realized that it was still in its original packaging and hadn’t actually been doing anything for the full 36 months she’s had it. Suddenly, her whole life makes a lot more sense now. As she wrote in her video description, “Is this why we keep getting sick…”

The people of TikTok seem split on the matter of MJ’s pure ignorance about her air purifier. Some are with her in seeing the funny side of the whole thing. “Hey on the bright side..you now have a brand new filter,” one joked, while others admired the strength of MJ’s imagination. “Us gaslighting ourselves to believe our air was cleaner” someone quipped, as another wrote: “the placeboo is placebooing.” Someone else thinks they might’ve found their long lost twin: “Oh… that’s… such a me thing to do!”

Others, meanwhile, can’t believe MJ went this long without changing the filter. “Don’t you have to change filters often ? How does this happen,” questioned one comment. “You thought the filter cleaned itself for 3 years,” chided another. “Here’s an idea you should have cleaned the filter every month!” yelled one more. Some have just had it up to here with these darn whipper-snappers and their lack of literacy: “Why people don’t read instructions anymore.”

It should be pointed out that some commenters are suspicious this is really how it looks and are accusing MJ of making up the detail that she truly left her purifier in the plastic for the past three years. Believe it or not, though, several are admitting that they have done the same thing — although hopefully for not as long. “Girl… same!!” wrote one. “Idk how mine didn’t catch fire. I used that thing every night.”

So, yes, just in case you’re in any doubt, please don’t leave your air purifiers in the plastic for three years without any supervision. According to Dyson, changing the filter every 12 months is acceptable, although replacing it even more regularly might be worth your while. Not only does it make the air cleaner, it also reduces dust, and will save you money in the long-run by keeping the purifier functioning. Or, you know, you can do what MJ did and just never use it properly. As the king of comments on this video put it, “Maybe the clean air was the friends we made along the way.”