Jars

Blowing the lid off jars

03.01.10

I speak on behalf of all aged, arthritic people when I ask why manufacturers of all kinds of bottles, tins and containers make them so impossibly difficult to open. Daily - nay, hourly - I struggle to remove something such as the lid of a jar of breakfast marmalade, only to give up in despair.

I read on the lid the singularly unhelpful words ''Safety seal pops up when seal is broken''. And where, may I ask, is the safety seal? Do they give us any indication of its whereabouts? Of course they don't. They must think we want to play a guessing game before we have our breakfast. Or perhaps a game of ''hunt the safety seal'' for some physical exercise.

After the rigours of getting myself something to eat for breakfast, I may decide that I would like something special for lunch. Perhaps some sardines? So I confidently take a tin of sardines from the cupboard - and what do I find? Despite being a tin, which surely is sufficient protection, it is sealed in a clear plastic wrap - and not only that, it is shrink-wrapped in such a way as to be impenetrable.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald