Bad wrap – I’m right with Wogan on the scourge of packaging

“With three of these deployed on Christmas morning, at least they didn’t have to turn the heating on…” (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How easy they make the blogger’s life, articles such as this.

Never short of a word or two, Sir Terry Wogan really does say it all when it comes to the bane of modern packaging: the seamless, vacuum-sealed, tear-proof, bomb-proof casing in which manufacturers insist on entombing even the most harmless product. Like Alcatraz in reverse, nobody gets in, not without a broken nail, lacerated fingertips and sky-high blood pressure.

Pretty soon, zoologists may have to re-evaluate the old line about cockroaches being the last things left standing once Armageddon has swept the planet. Even their numbers may seem puny alongside the legions of unopened, unscathed consumer goods left littering our scorched Earth.

I remember when silver foil was merely folded around a bar of chocolate and you could find your way into the thing with just one hand. Nowadays? Let’s just say that the person who invents the miniature oxyacetylene torch that runs off a USB port will probably be set up for life…

If I thought someone could point me towards all the gravestones erected as a direct consequence of minimal packaging, I might be able to tolerate the situation. As it is, I suspect any investigation of this nuisance would lead us merely to a lot of  over-analytical bureaucrats with too much time on their hands.