Food packaging

Now proff ;

   You knew I couldn't resist this didn't you ? When I used to go with the late wife and we'ed get in the produce section she would ask " Honey , would you get some squash and tomatoes .The loose ones ? " Well, I would get them and by the time I caught up with her the bottoms had dissappeared leaving me with bags with knots on both ends !

jtilley

My pet peeve deals with those extra then, extra thin, clear plastic bags in the produce section - the ones you pull off a roll, then (supposedly) open up, stick your lettuce, tomato, or whatever inside and to shut. Even after I figure out which end is the unsealed one, I find it impossible to get the bag open. And it seems like my wife is never around when this happens to me. 

My solution is sexist. After struggling with the cursed thing for ten minutes or so I throw myself on the mercy of the nearest friendly-looking woman who's shopping in that section and ask her for help. She invariably gets the bag open in about three seconds, leaving me feeling even more incompetent than normal. How do they do it?

Another pet peeve: those cardboard twelve-packs of soft drinks. The package usually has some perforations on top, so if you press hard enough next to the perforations you form a handle that lets you carry the carton comfortably in one hand. My question is: Are the stock boys ORDERED to stack those cartons with the handles either on the bottom or on one side? I think they are. 

 

I had the same problem with those produce bags as well, til the late wifemate showed me the trick.     Lick a couple of fingers and, pinch the bag between them, slide them back and forth on the open end....magic, it will separate enough to be able to open them up.

I now see Greg beat me to it, but works like a charm.  Also works with the bags at the checkout line.

Buy your food package free. I do.

I happen to live in central California, where food practically grows on stop signs.

Grab it, buy it, eat it.

There's a patch out in the Pacific south of Hawaii, the size of Texas, that's a vast floating reef of plastic bags.

If you slap a half dozen apples down on the belt, what's the harm?

Green beans, yeah I get it.

I'm semi retired , moving to a little house we bought out on a river mouth in Carmel. going to grow my own veggies.

AFA packaging, there is a modeling opportunity.

Those curved clear tubs with the flat snap on lid that "Spring Greens", "Baby Spinach" and all that come in. The plastic in those flat lids is really good for plunge molding. I've made some pretty good stuff with it.

Gentlemen, gentlemen! i'm a 65-year-old happily married man!

Milkmen! I'm old enough to remember the days when the Borden milkman came to our house two or three times a week, in his chunky, blunt-snouted old milk truck. I wonder if any of those old things are still around.

The first time I went to England, in 1978, I was interested to see, in the Borough of Kensington where I was rooming, milkmen delivering glass milk bottles - on horse-drawn wagons. I imagine a horse-drawn wagon in London is a rare sight now.

Modern supermarkets are fine things, but they have made buying food a bit less personal.

Please let us know if it works for you, Doc. (I learned the trick from my smarter half).

Vol does have a point about talking with the girls, though. But I'm sure you can come up with another reason to start a conversation.

jtilley

Greg,

Good idea. I'll give it a shot!

 

And miss talking to the girls?

Greg,

Good idea. I'll give it a shot!

jtilley

My pet peeve deals with those extra then, extra thin, clear plastic bags in the produce section - the ones you pull off a roll, then (supposedly) open up, stick your lettuce, tomato, or whatever inside and to shut. Even after I figure out which end is the unsealed one, I find it impossible to get the bag open. And it seems like my wife is never around when this happens to me. 

My solution is sexist. After struggling with the cursed thing for ten minutes or so I throw myself on the mercy of the nearest friendly-looking woman who's shopping in that section and ask her for help. She invariably gets the bag open in about three seconds, leaving me feeling even more incompetent than normal. How do they do it?

 

Oh goodie, I can contribute.....

Since you are in the produce section anyway, go fondle something with the wet mist going (I usually end up at the romaine since I'm buying some anyway). Wet your thumb and index finger on the wet veggie, you will have the bag open with a quick pinch and slide. (using your wet digits, of course)

The foil seal on sour cream and yogurt refuses to come off in one piece also after some struggle to get it started sometimes.

I find lately that food supplement and vitamin bottles, and condiment jars, etc. have a little seal on top that needs to come off before you have access to the contents.  Now the jars either have no tabs to help you remove the seal, or if they do, the seal is in two layers and only the top layer pulls off, making you hunt for a knife to get the second layer off!

So it's nice to know that I'm not alone when it comes to my claim that packaging is getting harder and harder to open.

My pet peeve deals with those extra then, extra thin, clear plastic bags in the produce section - the ones you pull off a roll, then (supposedly) open up, stick your lettuce, tomato, or whatever inside and to shut. Even after I figure out which end is the unsealed one, I find it impossible to get the bag open. And it seems like my wife is never around when this happens to me. 

My solution is sexist. After struggling with the cursed thing for ten minutes or so I throw myself on the mercy of the nearest friendly-looking woman who's shopping in that section and ask her for help. She invariably gets the bag open in about three seconds, leaving me feeling even more incompetent than normal. How do they do it?

Another pet peeve: those cardboard twelve-packs of soft drinks. The package usually has some perforations on top, so if you press hard enough next to the perforations you form a handle that lets you carry the carton comfortably in one hand. My question is: Are the stock boys ORDERED to stack those cartons with the handles either on the bottom or on one side? I think they are. 

Costs/quality goes down...prices go up...CEO gets a new Bentley, all the pencil pushes get new cars...the ones doing the actual work, driving in in their 89 Corolla rust bucket, doesn't care much about working, only to make someone else richer. Welcome to corporate!

My grampa was a milkman...bought a nice house, put 3 kids through college, and my gramma was able to travel the world after gramps passed away(before I was born)...his boss lived in the same neighborhood, and the owner didn't live on a higher level than anyone else...."share the wealth", and have good, quality people working for you. Sadly, them days is long gone.

There was a question I read years ago.....Why are eggs packed in a box that crushes when you toss your mail on it, and you dstroy the warranty information geting a cold chisel out of the package?

I got a box of gallon ziplocks at a big box store (and store brand) here awhile back...over half of them were not attached on at least one side at the zipper/bag joint.  At least they were easy to open.  More trouble to return them and go through the hassle that to just forget it and toss them.

Don, you hit it right on the head. As an old fart with bad hands, I've been finding it very hard to open those packs and boxes. I guess I'm one of those lucky ones that has (since the age of around 7) always carried a knife in my back pocket. My dad always said that my brother and I should NEVER go out without one. If the package is too hard for my hands to open, I just get out the trusty pocket knife and cut it open. 

I've set off a few alarms at the airport and the courthouse when I forget where I am and have it in my pocket. 

Jim  

We have alot of binder clips of various sizes to reseal all of those bags.

Absolutely.  Plastic packages that even have a tear-here marking on them, that no one but an olympic strong man can possibly tear.  Glues that hold a flap down on the top of a cereal box lid so that the body of the box will tear before the lid does.

Packages of snacks so tough that you must use a knife or scissors, as if all of us always carry blades!  CD packages you must buy a tool actually designed to open them.

I hear ya.  My wife always yells at me (lovingly, of course) about how I always ruin those bags that have the built-in ziploc seal on them.  A lot of bagged frozen foods have those but I swear I can't open them without completely ripping one half of the seal completely off its backing thereby rendering the bag unsealable.  I end up rolling up the top and sticking it back in the freezer.  My wife will find it several days later when she needs something for a recipe and she always knows I'm the culprit.  I've tried blaming the kids but somehow she knows better.  

Eric