My boomer mom will put a tea bag in a mug of water then nuke that until it bubbles to make tea. (Yes, even when the tea bag has a staple).
But, if she is heating up a can of soup, she will dump that into a sauce pan and heat that up on the gas range, on the burner right next to the nice kettle I got her years ago.
They stink like over-ripe mushrooms in my experience. They also easily break and you have to reinforce them with plastic packing tape. It's a nice idea, but a regular paper box is the better option.
My mom was barely there on medication and my father just wasn't. It was cool to be able to do whatever I wanted, but I had to make sure Mom fell asleep on her side.
It's what gets the clicks. A good portion of the population probably have headmistress fantasies and, while tutting this vile behavior, are like 'Damn, where was she when I was 15?'
I think that part of this narrative gets fucked because there is a fairly large segment of reporters that fantasized about getting with their cute youngish teacher back when they were in school.
This is not to say that this is ok. It isn't. This is SA, CSA, really. And even if the teacher were teaching/seducing 18 year olds on a college campus it would still be a gross misuse of power.
A towel made of tea, for tea, and by tea.