Is it just me or are the products we buy today harder to open. The older I get (I am not that old... younger than say Amorette) the more difficulty I have opening stuff that has been shrink wrapped. I have actually added a small knife to my key ring to help deal with this problem. I can't imagine how difficult it is for the "seasoned citizens".

[This message has been edited by Richard Bonine, Jr (edited 9/20/2008).]

It's just you.

well actually i have been experiencing the same thing not just with shrink wrap but with bags of stuff. drives me nuts.

You think that's tough, you should try opening a box of shrink-wrap!

<whew>

Cheers!
FH

I don't mind the shrink wrap. It's those darn hard plastic molded things that drive me crazy. I always end up stabbing them with an ice pick. If I have a choice between two items of similar quality I always pick the one with the least amount and easiest-to-open packaging.


GVC's wife

Those bubble packages are pretty much impossible to open without a razor or a real sharp knife. I think they are that way on purpose to keep people from taking stuff out of the packaging (which is where the anti-theft device is) in the store.

so, like you are on the road, you have this agonizing headache and you need to take some aspirin. you have to buy a bottle. you get the wrap around the top off finally, you finally get the bottle open. then you have to break this seal and then figure out how to get the cotton out so you can actually take the drug. You forgot you had the headache but now you look like a maniac and in need of anger management classes. or how about those capsules in the packs. i cut my fingers trying to get the capsules out of those individual packs. YIKES> i believe in childproofing but i think the only ones that are efficient at opening these things are the kids.

Jackie:

Exactly!

Okay, I'll admit it... I can beat the heck out of box of Mac & Cheese and pretty much destroy it but that little perforated opening will be the one thing still intact amidst all the carnage.

Oh, and where I live... To the folks at the A&E Dairy - the one gallon milk jugs: One should not be required to use a plasma cutter and Rambo knife to get the freshness seal off.

...I mean, a good seal is one thing. Military spec'ed to survive an air-drop is another.

[This message has been edited by Dan Mowry (edited 9/20/2008).]

As a senior citizen, I totally agree with you Richard...It is a bit much to deal with at times...I always end up handing it to someone else to open for me lol....

I can't even open the little ketchup packets at the fast food places half the time. It's downright pitiful.

Ever unwrap some complicated Barbie (registered trademark) item? It can take forever because every little doodad is carefully secured to prevent theft and/or items shifting in the display. I don't know how long it took my husband and my older brother to liberate a Barbie carriage and horses last Christmas but they were at it for hours!

I even have trouble with those wrappers on CD's...the little thin paper around the CD is hard for me to undo without a knife...lol...

Amorette, i forgot about the ketchup packets. i made the mistake of taking a packet of mayonnaise in exchange for having the place put the mayonnaise on the sandwich for me. i like just a little dab. well, my girlfriend and i spent probably 1/4 of the lunch hour trying to open it. We got the giggles because we couldn't believe this little package was getting the best of us. i don't ask for the packet anymore. it seemed like a good idea at the time.

I have noticed that the bags of chips are getting harder to open too. by the time i get it open half the chips are all over. mostly because i have stabbed it to death.

I am so glad to hear i am not the only one that struggles with this stuff. I was beginning to think i needed to get an evaluation for some sort of muscle-fine motor disorder.

PS: I dread buying those plastic intensive packages that is all package and tiny apparatus, i.e jump drives for computers.

Amorette is right about the Barbies. And most of the other toys. There are about 45 twistie-ties per item, and they all seem to be twisted in a different direction. There can only be clockwise or counter-clockwise, but there is some sort of anomaly that's been invented. Sometimes they change direction halfway through. Every Christmas I swear there is a Chinese manufacturing conspiracy to drive Americans crazy. "We surrender!!! just please quit putting these things on the packaging!!!"

I imagine some evil chinese worker laughing devilishly as they twist them in all directions - "take THAT you filthy Americans!"

It's really great when they go up, around and through the wheels of toy cars.

I broke down and bought one of those package openers. It's actually called Open It. It is amazing. Wish I'd had one long ago. I have had more plastic cuts from trying to get into those hermetically sealed packages!!!

[This message has been edited by Kacey (edited 9/20/2008).]

I ask Santa to please bring the presents open and ready to use for my children, and with batteries but do you think he does this? ohhhhhh...nooooo....
I have a 7 year old and a 8 year old. mom....mom.... ALL I CAN SAY IS what the hell....or go find dad. These knew gadgets are awful.. I give up... I agree with all of yall. I guess it better than it all wrapped up in duck tape that really does fix every thing. I had three stitches in my hand from the little metal teeth on those dang ohhh boxes.

[This message has been edited by hallick (edited 9/20/2008).]

How about those medicines that are packaged on little sheets of tin foil with clear plastic bubbled over them? It's so frustrating cuz there is the Benadryl or Advil caplet or whatever you want RIGHT THERE - and all there is between you and it is this very thin little layer of paper and tin foil. But I swear the backing is actually made of bullet-proof Kevlar or something. There's no way to just "pop" the pill through it.

Then they add insult to injury by printing a little red arrow to the corner that you are supposed to peel back. I have yet to get one of those corners to pull up in less than five minutes ... by which time the damn thing has either slipped out off my hand and disappeared under the bathroom sink or I've smashed it into a powdery mess - depending on whether I am sneezing or have a damn headache.

[This message has been edited by Steve Craddock (edited 9/20/2008).]

Hey, I'm only 24 and can't open half the stuff I buy anymore.

Like crackers. Seriously! I was eating a salad in a restaurant tonight, and I was trying my best to open the crackers (I guess they don't believe in croutons anymore)... and finally, my husband tried to take them away and couldn't quit laughing at me. Bah.

And yes, those horrid plastic containers. There is no hope... scissors don't even work half the time, it just bends and contorts the plastic....

"Ever unwrap some complicated Barbie (registered trademark) item?"

Yup - that's me! You caught me...

OK, I guess it isn't just you. 19 post about something besides the coronation.....I mean election.

shrink wrap definitely makes for a more down to earth interesting topic, don't you think? i definitely think it is a nonpartison issue.