Some things are difficult to open, and I am not simply referring to problems people with arthritis have to deal with. It seems like many products are challenging to use because of their packaging. Some have improved, like Band-Aids. Many of you remember the old system with the red string that you had to pull to open the package, which almost always yanked out. Other products could use improvements as well — like plastic gallon milk jugs. Sure, the cap is easy to screw off, but that seal with the tiny tab that rips off in my hand is more than irritating.
Garbage sacks are another challenge. It’s like those things are ironed together. I carefully attempt to open them, only to realize that I am working from the wrong end. You may have similar problems with the bags in the produce aisle at the grocery store. Uggh.
How about starting a new roll of cellophane or packing tape? Worse yet, when the roll rips off, and you try to restart it? I struggle to get under the tape, and when I do it inevitably tears off sideways to the edge, and I have to start all over again.
If you take any over-the-counter medications wrapped in foil packages, you likely know the effort it takes to get those tiny pills out. And if you are not careful, you get a foil cut on your fingertips. Ouch.
Hot dog packaging drives me crazy, too. I am not fond of hot dogs to begin with, but trying to open a package without a knife or scissors results in hot dogs on the floor, packaging water on my shirt, and an empty wrapper in my hands.
When our kids were young, they were fans of juice boxes. If I was fortunate enough to find a box with a straw attached to it, I then had the task of inserting the straw into the tiny hole without cracking it and making it unusable. I was glad when the kids learned to do this on their own.
I continue to struggle with anything that deals with plastic wrap used in the kitchen. I can’t seem to get it to stick to the bowl, but it most certainly sticks to my hands and to itself, leaving me with numerous rolled balls of plastic to dispose of.
And finally, Christmas time brings the challenge of unwrapping items sealed in hard plastic. Of course, a sturdy scissors is required, but one must then carefully avoid the newly created sharp plastic edges that are sure to draw blood — and require some of those handy Band-Aids.
How about you? What products have packages that leave you in fits? Please share.
Have a marvelous Monday, and thanks for reading.
Shane Goodman
President and Publisher
Big Green Umbrella Media
shane@dmcityview.com
515-953-4822, ext. 305 | 
