Packaging can often be woeful don't you think? Packaging is by far at its best when it's made of paper or cardboard, like the box a TV would come in for instance. There it's just a large carboard box with polystyrene and maybe some plastic bags to keep the TV safe and scratch free. Cereal boxes are generally easy too, although when you accidentally rip the tab in an overzealous desire to get at the cereal, it can be a pain in the ass. No, these are fine. The type of packaging I really hate is the sealed plastic packaging that is becoming increasingly more common these days.
We've all come across it for one reason or another, as it can be used to package anything from a beard trimmer to your favourite action figure or electric toothbrush. It has a nasty ridge all round the side of the box where the two halfs are sealed permanently together, with no obvious way of yanking them apart. Just try and do it; you'll fail and likely hurt your hands in the process. Then you're going to have to either get a pair of scissors or your trusty swiss army knife like me, and cut the plastic in whatever akward and dumb way takes your fancy. Again, the risk of injury slightly rises when scissors or knives are involved in slicing up this idiotic packaging.
Imagine you've bought for yourself a new playstation controller, and it comes in that packaging. In the resulting struggle cutting this box to pieces you end up either stabbing your hand with the scissors or getting cuts off of the newly exposed sharp edges of the box. Playing playstation isn't going to be very comfortable now is it?
Imagine life as an arthritic person, or as an old and infirm person. Those boxes are a mountain and a half to climb. And if you're that poor old lady on the Salvation Army appeal that has no living friends or family, it gets worse. You'll have no one to help you open that dreadful packaging, and so you'd better hope the Salvation Army does come and find you or that box is staying shut.
Aye I know what you're going to say, that these boxes allow for the security of the product inside, and I appreciate that. But isn't that what CCTV is for? Or store security guards if it's a big shop? I'm not going to pretend I know for sure, but I bet the instances of shop lifting haven't been drastically reduced because of this packaging. Half these goons will run out the door if the item is security tagged or not.
Other packaging can suck a bit as well. The mozzarella I buy from the co-op every week has a resealable packet which is really good actually. What's dumb about it is the fact that the "cut here" line is on or below the seal almost every time. I mean an occasional misprint is fine, but all the time is a fail of monumental proportions. Also, why haven't ringpulls on tin cans become universal? It's such a useful innovation and saves messing around with tin openers, and if you'd seen the last one I was using you'd understand my frustration. It cut sideways round the tin, not round the lid. Ridiculous.
Lastly, I'll moan about the kind of plastic packaging that you get for pasta and rice and things like that. I admit my complaints here are due to me being clumsy at opening them rather than them being wholly crap, but I still reckon they shouldn't tear so easily. I always struggle to rip open the seal at the top, and then out of nowhere the whole bag bursts and pasta goes everywhere. Again cutting a hole with scissors at the corner of the bag is maybe the best bet for me. I just can't be bothered with bloody goddamn scissors all the time.
*The title of today's post is an obscure reference to Metal Gear Solid 2. It'll take too long to explain the context but it beats the original title of Packaging Pandemonium!
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