What is up with the outrageous tensile strength of plastic packaging these days?
It's really bugging me-- what chemically is different about the common plastics now that were so easy to tear away and dispense with 20 years ago?
Every CD you buy these days is over-packaged. In addition to the shrink-wrapped plastic (often requiring a utensil to rend) there is that beastly little adhesive strip along the top of the case which also must be peeled away. A rather perverse bit of irony is that this adhesive strip says "PULL" at one end, but I find it nigh impossible to remove with even the keenest of my talons - again, I use a knife.
Tonight I was opening a package of turkey from the deli, and although it was shrink-wrapped in plastic, it didn't look like it would be such a big challenge to open. However, I went through 3 of my heavy carbon-steel kitchen knives before I found one (sharp enough? what?) which would actually pierce the plastic. This is getting ridiculous.
Have you noticed that it's become almost impossible to open a potato chip bag with your hands anymore? Maybe that's a plot by the trans-fat nazis to make you start working the empty calories off before you sink your pearlies into the first snappy chip.
Most vexing.
Maybe you should just steal your music like everybody else.
ReplyDeleteKitchen scissors for potato chips and other bags of necessary food stuffs. And g bro's right about the electronics. I had to use a very sharp pocket knife to liberate my new Palm Z22 this past weekend. And getting my new Norah Jones CD and DVD open was definetly a challenge.
ReplyDeleteIt's a conspiracy with the plastic wrap manufacturing companies!
ReplyDeleteNow that I think about it, things are harder to open nowadays. I'm going to start carrying a switch blade.
ReplyDeleteI thought they were aliens in plastic wrapper form... Potato chips - definitely, the Trans Fat Nazis - but in my case, they're protecting me from myself.
ReplyDeleteWe owe it all to potential homeland terrorist! Remember the Tylenol scare?
ReplyDeleteObviously, Store Clerks don't like y'all as much as they like ME!!! A very sweet one I had made nice with showed me the neatest trick for opening those pesky CDs. I felt like a dimwit for not having figured it out on my own, years ago.
ReplyDeleteOnce the shrink wrap is off, and your down to that aggravating adhesive strip from Hell? Open the opposite end! It's a snap to peel the adhesive strip off then. Just like a banana.
You're Welcome.
I keep scissors in the kitchen for all that nasty stuff, but do you know what we really need? That body builder who was on Miami Ink last night who crushed an apple to bits in one hand. EVery kitchen should come with one of those.
ReplyDeleteMust be global warming, changing the molecules of the plastic, dulling all your kitchen implements and rendering your finger nails too weak to tear plastic. Eh? Seriously, Mushy's pegged it. It's all security bullshit. How long has it been since there was a Tylenol or white powder scare? Doesn't help with the CDs, but there you go. I don't know how people live these days without packin' a sharp little blade.
ReplyDeleteg bro - Yup, clearly , it IS a conspiracy.
ReplyDeleteanonymous - you are the clever one, aren't you?
myron - if a tough old salt like you has a hard time with it, it MUST be ridiculous!
phoenix - we agree!
lightning bug's butt - plus that switchblade'll come in handy if you need to dress a sailcat
meg - Yes, they are a life form from another dimension
mushy - considering what we've been through, the Tylenol scare seems almost quaint
hollyb - I'll try it, but I'm skeptical
barbara - Yes, that is the answer - a bodybuilder in every kitchen and a chicken in every pot
fathairybastard - I pack a blade - I carry my little leatherman every where - you never know when you might need a Leatherman or a pair of pliers.