Arrrrrrrrrrgh!!!
Does this look familiar to you?
It's that little waxy, torture device that is SUPERGLUED to most dry things bought in jars. Do you see a tab of any kind on there? Something to grip in order to peel it back and get it the hell off the jar so you can get some of the stuff you purchased to begin with?
Since the Tylenol poisonings in the 80's and the very financially damaging lawsuits (and don't kid yourself about altruistic motivation, because in this, as in all things..."follow the MONEY") there has been increasing difficulty in simply buying a thing and opening it.
Does this picture resurrect any old frustrations for you?
Me too. These damn caps that one must SIMULTANEOUSLY press, squeeze, rotate -and pray- have been more the cause of headaches in the years since their creation than a means to a cure. They never WORK the way they're supposed to. Never.
And we've moved beyond merely 'childproof' to TAMPERPROOF- and oh baby, those suckers have seals, arrows-- molded cellophane around the rims to get to the internal glued seal, then the cotton inside-- past the ampule of silicone in its own little capsule, just to find a simple baby aspirin. (I know because each week when I take my 88 year old mother shopping, it's my job to UN-seal and open all her purchases when we get home.) I've spent many a cussing moment in her kitchen with a steak knife, sore fingers- sometimes pliers.
The folks buying the majority of these products are elderly, arthritic, have bad eyesight and very little patience. So the very reason they open these containers in the first place, is to relieve the very symptoms that opening the containers make impossible for them. This is not to say there should be no impregnable packaging out there. No, not at all.
If you have little ones you either do not trust because they're the seriously curious type- or kids for whom Mr. Yuck stickers are simply a 'green light'- (or basically you're just frightened of tempting fate) yes... get the bottles that will still be around intact after the atomic blast. No, really- do that.
But for adult homes or for old folks- or for people like me whose brains turn to liquid trying to open these damn things, give us a f*cking choice.
And forget about the packaging that touts itself as being 'friendly to arthritis sufferers'- they simply aren't. I've watched my mother go at those things like someone trying to crack a safe. It cannot be done without maximum frustration, and yes...pain.
When the elderly customer sued McDonalds for being burned with hot coffee she should've used the brains God gave her to KNOW the thing was hot, and actually won- McDonalds thought it prudent to begin to stamp 'HOT!' on all their coffee covers, and it was a sad, sad day for common sense.
As to 'tamperproof'-- no, I don't want cyanide in my headache pills. But it seems to me a sealed outside carton with a removable seal on the bottle would allow me to feel confident- AND get into the package. Or better yet, encapsulate the bottle itself in a sealed bag of air, such as they use for cushioning and keeping the weight down in parcel posts- so we could just puncture and pull it out. Simple. And completely safe. Is the bag deflated? You know some nut's been in there.
And as to 'childproof' caps- how about more parental supervision and some locked, high cabinets where little ones can't reach to begin with.....how about that? How about the word 'no'? That's how come I'm still around today, and probably a lot of you.
How about 'use your head before you drink'? Shouldn't the steam coming out- or the way the cup feels be a pretty good indication you're probably gonna scald yourself if you spill it?
With these small measures of thought instead of regulations dictated by corporate attorneys, wouldn't this world be a simpler place? But as sure as there's ambulance chasers, the rest of us will be using steak knives, wet wash cloths, sewing needles, scissors- peeling and cutting our way into the next millennium, only worse...by then we'll be be wearing Hazmat suits and using robotics to open our stuff... probably from behind lead...and nobody will sue.
It's that little waxy, torture device that is SUPERGLUED to most dry things bought in jars. Do you see a tab of any kind on there? Something to grip in order to peel it back and get it the hell off the jar so you can get some of the stuff you purchased to begin with?
Since the Tylenol poisonings in the 80's and the very financially damaging lawsuits (and don't kid yourself about altruistic motivation, because in this, as in all things..."follow the MONEY") there has been increasing difficulty in simply buying a thing and opening it.
Does this picture resurrect any old frustrations for you?
Me too. These damn caps that one must SIMULTANEOUSLY press, squeeze, rotate -and pray- have been more the cause of headaches in the years since their creation than a means to a cure. They never WORK the way they're supposed to. Never.
And we've moved beyond merely 'childproof' to TAMPERPROOF- and oh baby, those suckers have seals, arrows-- molded cellophane around the rims to get to the internal glued seal, then the cotton inside-- past the ampule of silicone in its own little capsule, just to find a simple baby aspirin. (I know because each week when I take my 88 year old mother shopping, it's my job to UN-seal and open all her purchases when we get home.) I've spent many a cussing moment in her kitchen with a steak knife, sore fingers- sometimes pliers.
The folks buying the majority of these products are elderly, arthritic, have bad eyesight and very little patience. So the very reason they open these containers in the first place, is to relieve the very symptoms that opening the containers make impossible for them. This is not to say there should be no impregnable packaging out there. No, not at all.
If you have little ones you either do not trust because they're the seriously curious type- or kids for whom Mr. Yuck stickers are simply a 'green light'- (or basically you're just frightened of tempting fate) yes... get the bottles that will still be around intact after the atomic blast. No, really- do that.
But for adult homes or for old folks- or for people like me whose brains turn to liquid trying to open these damn things, give us a f*cking choice.
And forget about the packaging that touts itself as being 'friendly to arthritis sufferers'- they simply aren't. I've watched my mother go at those things like someone trying to crack a safe. It cannot be done without maximum frustration, and yes...pain.
When the elderly customer sued McDonalds for being burned with hot coffee she should've used the brains God gave her to KNOW the thing was hot, and actually won- McDonalds thought it prudent to begin to stamp 'HOT!' on all their coffee covers, and it was a sad, sad day for common sense.
As to 'tamperproof'-- no, I don't want cyanide in my headache pills. But it seems to me a sealed outside carton with a removable seal on the bottle would allow me to feel confident- AND get into the package. Or better yet, encapsulate the bottle itself in a sealed bag of air, such as they use for cushioning and keeping the weight down in parcel posts- so we could just puncture and pull it out. Simple. And completely safe. Is the bag deflated? You know some nut's been in there.
And as to 'childproof' caps- how about more parental supervision and some locked, high cabinets where little ones can't reach to begin with.....how about that? How about the word 'no'? That's how come I'm still around today, and probably a lot of you.
How about 'use your head before you drink'? Shouldn't the steam coming out- or the way the cup feels be a pretty good indication you're probably gonna scald yourself if you spill it?
With these small measures of thought instead of regulations dictated by corporate attorneys, wouldn't this world be a simpler place? But as sure as there's ambulance chasers, the rest of us will be using steak knives, wet wash cloths, sewing needles, scissors- peeling and cutting our way into the next millennium, only worse...by then we'll be be wearing Hazmat suits and using robotics to open our stuff... probably from behind lead...and nobody will sue.
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