Whoever thought THIS was a good idea?! Part 57

[FloridaJudy]

My toenails were looking pretty tatty, so I made an appointment for a pedi today. Woke up, looked at my legs, and realized they had more stubble than Charlie Sheen with a hangover (TMI, I know). So I had this product: Brazilian Spa Hair Remover Kit. No wax, just nasty-smelling chemicals. The directions said apply with sponge. It even included a sponge. Then I tried to open the sponge.

You know that stuff they make bullet-proof vests for the SWAT team from? I think they wrapped the sponge in it. Hard plastic. I tried a seam ripper. No dice. Then a can opener. Wouldn't touch it. Scissors? Nope. It finally yielded to the tin-snips I use for making jewelry and a LOT of unladylike words.

This was a crummy *sponge*, people! It wasn't a MP3 player, or a smart phone, or a memory stick, or some other small, pricey and fragile piece of electronics. It probably cost two cents, and could've been dropped off the top of the Sears Tower without harm to either the product or the people standing below.

Whoever comes up with packaging these days is seriously demented. It's a minor nuisance, but multiply it by millions, and you've added a ton to the landfill. Not to mention all those ER visits for stitches when people attempt to open them with machetes and chainsaws and the like. The docs even have a name for it: Wrap Rage.

[catbyte]

1. I feel your pain, lol

I got a cheap tool set that was hermetically sealed for some reason and I would have taken a bazooka to it if I had one.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Wrap rage.....

[LiberalAndProud]

16. Warning: do not google images. Ouch!

[progressoid]

3. This is for you...

[Skittles]

4. I have arthritic fingers

all packages are hell for me to open

[Zalatix]

5. What, exactly, is the point of all that plastic?

[FloridaJudy]

7. I think it's intended to deter shop-lifting

And to protect the product. That makes sense for an iPhone, but a sponge???

[ThoughtCriminal]

6. Want to be elected Leader of the Universe?

Promise to ban this stuff.

The rest of your platform could be plans to launch kittens into the Sun with money stolen from orphanages and you would still win in a landslide if you paint your opponents as "Pro-hard-Plastic Package".

[freshwest]

10. Nope. Launch Repugs into the sun with money stolen from the Koch brothers.

Must I tell you everything?

[lexx21]

12. There was an old story in Omni magazine back in the 80's calle

The marching morons. It sort of reminds me of the Teabillies and the conservative party....

Hunt it down and give it a read. I guarantee you will be sitting there nodding and saying "yeah... oh hell yeah....."

[freshwest]

13. Yes, I found this to be true. Predicted in my college poli sci class in 69..

Here's a link, I'll try to get a clearer version:

http://www.everything2.com/title/The+Marching+Morons

Thanks for bringing that one up...

[lexx21]

17. Oh man I live by that story. Every time I hear dictates come down from "upper management"

I just think about that story. When i hear a conservative talk, I think about that story. Wouldn't it be great if NASA developed a cheap reusable rocket that could send them all on a free vacation to Venus?

Think about the consequences... BMW drivers that would now let you merge into traffic, complete social reform that makes sense and people are actually taken care of, companies would become altruistic for reasons other than a tax break, and most of all.... no Fox News.

Ok, I need to sit down... the thought of a national nirvana is making me light headed.

[kickysnana]

25. Linky to PDF

http://www.scribd.com/doc/23657356/The-Marching-Morons

[Starry Messenger]

8. OMG.

[freshwest]

9. Just found out that a manual can opener is the appropriate tool for opening them.

Start on the edges and then work your way around and that's it. And don't cut yourself with the sharp plastic edges it will create. Good luck.

[NYC Liberal]

11. Yet they put light bulbs in these:

[laundry_queen]

15. HAHA! That's one of the world's greatest mysteries, isn't it? nt

[laundry_queen]

14. I have kids.

4 of them. Thankfully they are older now so more gifts that aren't packaged like that but when they were all little, by the end of Christmas morning I wanted to kill myself. My hands were usually full of cuts and scratches and we usually trashed at least one pair of scissors.

Don't even get me started on the 3 dozen twist ties required to hold one doll in place (in a package you can't even open ) Not one of them is twisted in the same direction for the whole twist tie. Fuck me. Gives the word 'overkill' a whole new meaning.

[Khellendross]

18. Industrial scissors and wire cutters >.>

I usually have both on hand on xmas morning. -.-

[Skittles]

19. OMG THOSE TIES

inevtitably one or more of those twist ties goes flying when I'm experiencing wrap rage; of course my cats find them when I'm sleeping (and I work 12 hour nights) and go crazy on them, waking me up

[Spitfire of ATJ]

20. The plastic is a petroleum and it manufacturing alone is bad for the environment.

Which leads to the question,...was it an all natural sea sponge?

[NBachers]

21. My Cutco white kitchen shears never fail me with this garbage

I've literally taken packaging like this down to the table saw in my garage to get it open. It's big time dangerous to do this, but it gets the job done.

Now, I just use my Cutco kitchen shears. They're so good, I always get the job done easily.

[VWolf]

26. Cutco shears are great!

We've had a pair for about 8 years now. What sold us on them was a live demonstration where the salesman cut a penny in half. Now we use them for all the tough jobs and haven't had to resharpen them once. Probably the best value for the money of anything in our utility drawer.

BTW, ours have a black handle.

[NBachers]

28. Yes, I specifically ordered the white ones- I really like my white-handled Cutco knives

[Petrushka]

22. Here are a few gadgets for opening those packages. The questions are:

1) Do any of these gadgets work?
2) Are these gadgets packaged---for plain ornerieness---in hard plastic bubble-packs?
3) Do the manufacturers of these gadgets own any stock in the bubble-pack industry?
4) Why is there such a difference in the cost of these gadgets?

http://www.whateverworks.com/itemdy00.aspx?T1=K2347&srccode=NXCKC6&utm_source=google&utm_medium=comparison&utm_campaign=datafeed&gclid=CLqt5qPp8LICFe5FMgodkUwASQ

http://www.buy.com/prod/as-seen-on-tv-pyranna-pyranna-plastic-package-opener/228761397.html?listingId=243017145

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Wholesale-36pcs-lot-Hard-Plastic-Package-Opener-Package-Opener-black-50off-EMS/470518970.html

http://www.kitchenbusy.com/products/Open-Smart-Plastic-Package-Opener-%252d%252d-2W4O0012AYYZN99.html

http://www.goldviolin.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=91134&Click=95048&gclid=CPOKzfrp8LICFYQ7MgodLF0AGg

http://compare.ebay.com/like/360493516310?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar

[tblue37]

23. Such impossible to open packaging is lampooned with "clamshell" awards. Did you know

that such packaging is a major cause of emergency room visits in the US, because people often injure themselves in their attemtps to get the damned things open?

I have also often hurt myself trying to cut through such hermetically sealed hard plastic packaging, though not badly enough to have to go to the emergency room.

BTW, Consumer Reports calls them Oyster Awards.

[tblue37]

24. BTW, _Curb Yoru Enthisiasm_ did an episode on this issue--and at the end,

when Larry David needs to open the package that contains the special knife he has purchased specifically to open such packages, it is similarly packaged, so he cannot get it open.

On edit--I see someone posted a video above from that Curb Your Enthusiasm episode.

[KamaAina]

27. This thread is useless without pictures.