Pads can’t be flushed, because the underside (the side that sticks to the pants) is nonabsorbent. Tampons are all absorbent, except for the applicator.
“What’s the cure for disillusionment, Charlie Brown?”
“A chocolate cream and a friendly pat on the back.”
Sure, I buy tampons for my wife, if I’m the one going to the store anyway. Like Revtim said, “I’d rather be the guy buying tampons, than the guy buying a Penthouse and a box of kleenex.” I tend to buy in quantity (which for some reason my wife won’t), since they’re not exactly perishable. Never been given a hard time about it; why would they?
Sorry your BF was given such a hard time, Lanna - too bad he didn’t just say to the clerk, casier, bagger, etc., “hey, it means I’ve got a girlfriend, which is probably more than you can say, jerkface.”
For me it’s not necessarily embarrassment but out right fear. You see I have this habit of forgetting dull days. So every once in a while I wonder what I could put in my ass to make the day more memorable. Of course the idea of stuff in my ass upsets me so thus far I’ve refrained. But them tampons with that smooth glide applicator, well they just seem like they’d be too comfortable! So, I try to stay away from the things at risk of inserting one in my ass. :eek: My God I AM sick!
My boyfriend has no problem buying any feminine hygiene product, at least as of yet. I’ve never asked him to buy Mycelex just yet, though. (Yeast infection cure, to the men out there who may be lost.)
Where he does get very uncomfortable is buying condoms. The first “variety pack” box we bought was okay by him–we bought them together, in fact. (And had a good hard laugh walking out of the store after the clerk told us, “Have a great night!”) However, they were…hmm…shall we say a poor fit? We needed to go back and buy the Magnum style–the larger sized ones. This mortified him–“Oh, man, I don’t want to walk through the store and be all, ‘Look at me, I need the EXTRA LARGE condoms because I’m HUGE! That’s right, I have a big penis!’” I told him it was no big deal, but he remained too embarrassed to. So I bought them on my next trip to Target. 
Teaching: The ultimate birth control method.