Toilet Tissue and Broccoli

Several years ago I was walking down the aisle of the local grocery store when I met an older lady.  She had been a teacher and was several years into her retirement.  She was holding a regular small box of Jell-O and examining it very closely.  When she saw me she said “Look at this, they have changed the size!  Now it is this tiny little box.  What do you think of that?”  What I thought was, that this dear old woman was loosing her marbles.  A couple of years later she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s!

I recently had occasion to doubt my own sanity.  Although once, I heard a Doctor say, that if you think you are going crazy you are probably OK, people who really are, rarely know it.

Back to my concern and why I was worried for a few minutes.  I have been buying the same brand of toilet tissue for several years.  I always buy the 12 roll pack.  Well one day I pulled a roll out of the package.  It looked strange to me!  By George, it looked smaller, and I thought to my self “Oh oh“ in spite of what that Dr. had said, “I must be loosing it!”  But then I got over the shock, and pulled another roll from the package and sure enough they were not the same size.  The regular roll was about ¾ of an inch wider.  I had to laugh out of sheer relief until I realized this was not a laughing matter.  Indeed what is happening to the economy of the USA has caused manufacturers to figure out ways to cut expenses and increase their profits.  I had to wonder how much money was saved, (adding to their profits) by this simple little deceit. 

A few day later, I was making a broccoli casserole, and the recipe called for a 16 oz. bag of frozen broccoli. After I opened the bag, I happened to glance at the package and it indicated that the contents were only 14 ounces.  Hmm!  I will have to research this.  Am I paying the same price for the 14oz. size as I had been paying for the 16 oz. bag?  So, now I must check more closely while shopping so I can determine whether or not I am getting my money’s worth!  Drat!  It’s no big thing, I guess, but you know what, I feel a little bit cheated about the toilet tissue and now the broccoli. Though, I will try not to loose my mind over it!

Tamper proof, or use proof?

Who would have dreamed that those people who put poison into pain reliever capsules and

proceeded to place the boxes back on the store shelf, would create a whole new industry? Yes!

The tamper proof package became a booming business. 

 

My life had already been complicated by the “child proof” packaging, to the extent that I had to find someone to open the medicine bottles for me. Sometimes I had to rely on one of my children for that. And now, I really have a hard time with the “tamper proof” packages. However, I understand the need to protect the public! I really do! But I have a question for manufacturers regarding a lot of this new system. For example, why do spools of thread or flashlight batteries need those heavy gauge plastic packages? No one will ever poison them and furthermore, no one will be ingesting them. 

 

I live alone now and there are times when I am entirely helpless when it comes to opening some products. Also, my kitchen must have a pair of scissors and needle nose pliers and some very sharp knives or I could not survive. I use those items for the easier to open items. But there are some containers that still will not give up their contents.

 

I must admit, part of the blame is mine. I got old! Just not as strong as I was at 70! So the other day, I could not open a bottle after trying all my tricks and all my tools.  Probably worked for about an hour, off and on. I had to wait until my neighbor came home from work so he could do it for me. I handed him the bottle and in about a quarter of a second he handed it back to me with the lid loosened. 

 

I am now ready for someone to start a whole new industry! Packaging products exclusively for octogenarians!