topic Re: FRUSTRATED! in Among Friends

FRUSTRATED!

eddyandme — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:23:11 GMT

Has anyone had difficulty opening your purchases lately? I have.

Today, I almost broke a nail trying to pull off the little covering ona tube of spackle. Unable to peel it off, I finally resorted to stabbing it with an awl! I have the same difficulty when opening a bottle of cooking sauce, also.

I get my k-cups from Amazon and every month I must go through the ordeal of peeling apart the top of the box -- it's glued!

Anyways, can't figure out why so many things are soooo difficult to open these days: I'm sure it's not only me!

Anyone want to share their whoes or easy ways of getting around it? I really would like to put an end to these frustrations.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

kaydee50 — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:27:33 GMT

No, you are not the only one. Trying to open Benadryl tablets is a real pain. Why does everything have to be packaged so that it's difficult to open?? Usually wind up taking a scissors or knife to many things. So unnecesary, IMO!

Re: FRUSTRATED!

santorini — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:32:24 GMT

What's an awl?

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Sooner — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:36:23 GMT

@eddyandme Yes! Yes! Yes! Those Amazon boxes like that are the worst! You can't cut them open, knife them open--you just have to pull and pull and pry them open.

I said last week I don't know how people older than me get much of anything open these days.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

smoochy — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:40:53 GMT

I swear at least once a day i declare that some packaging is senior proof. Its frustrating and ridiculous

Re: FRUSTRATED!

I am still oxox — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:41:17 GMT

@santorini wrote:
What's an awl?

@santorini It it a tool with a point

Re: FRUSTRATED!

geezerette — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:45:30 GMT

@santorini wrote:
What's an awl?

An awl is a pointed hand tool used for piercing or marking materials like leather, wood, or canvas.

(Similar to an ice pick.)

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Mz iMac — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:51:00 GMT

"Has anyone had difficulty opening your purchases lately? I have. "

Not since the 20th century. It pays to be lazy........

For boxes....Use a cardboard cutter old school or the newer/professional version

For jars...Use an electric jar opener

For pill bottles....Use a pill bottle opener. You can get those FREE from any Senior center.

For rx bottles....Tell the pharmacist you want a

NON-CHILD PROOF top.

Save the tops incase the pharmacist forgets or neglects to read your file/account.

For easy access use a Playtex glove which now are dotted ribbed to open anything easily.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

santorini — Fri, 29 May 2026 17:54:50 GMT

@geezerette wrote:
@santorini wrote:
What's an awl?

An awl is a pointed hand tool used for piercing or marking materials like leather, wood, or canvas.

(Similar to an ice pick.)

Thank you, @geezerette. I have not heard that word used before. Thanks for sharing this!

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Kachina624 — Fri, 29 May 2026 18:34:41 GMT

I got a tiny bottled of prescription eye drops I could not open. I took them to the vice on the workbench in the garage and used the pliers on the lid with all my strength. Bottle is still intact. My mail order pharmacy would not replace/refund. I had to pay for a new bottle.

My routine big gripe are the 12-packs of Premier Protein Drinks. They glue the ends shut with the world's most impervious glue. I keep a set of tools just for opening these #@%* boxes. I've gotten cuts, gouges and have bent tools on them.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

tansy — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:21:37 GMT

All the time...my husband deals with most of this for me but he's having more and more trouble.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

We rescue cats — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:34:43 GMT

I feel so badly for the vendors, they are in trouble whichever way they approach shipping.I just cancelled 6 autoships with Chewy because the boxes the ship in are huge but are not taped securely nor are they filled due to the weight, we cannot carry them into our house because they each weigh over 50#. It is infuriating. So I guess the vendors are going thru growing pains.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Luv2Dnce — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:36:42 GMT

For me personally, as I'm aging, I'm not that old though… I'm having difficulty opening some things that I never did before. I agree with you, though that certain things are being sealed incredibly well, probably for safety reasons. Although, the shipping boxes and packaging that I'm getting are the opposite. They're always hardly taped, ripped opened, dented and damaged a lot. So perhaps it's a good thing that the items inside are sealed very well.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

I am still oxox — Fri, 29 May 2026 19:54:11 GMT

@geezerette wrote:
@santorini wrote:
What's an awl?

An awl is a pointed hand tool used for piercing or marking materials like leather, wood, or canvas.

(Similar to an ice pick.)

@geezerette It is also used to make a pilot hole in a wall

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Icegoddess — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:06:53 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
"Has anyone had difficulty opening your purchases lately? I have. "

Not since the 20th century. It pays to be lazy........

For boxes....Use a cardboard cutter old school or the newer/professional version

For jars...Use an electric jar opener

For pill bottles....Use a pill bottle opener. You can get those FREE from any Senior center.

For rx bottles....Tell the pharmacist you want a
NON-CHILD PROOF top.
Save the tops incase the pharmacist forgets or neglects to read your file/account.

For easy access use a Playtex glove which now are dotted ribbed to open anything easily.

@Mz iMac All my prescriptions come with dual lids, child-proof on one side, not child-proof on the other side.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

Icegoddess — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:08:43 GMT

@We rescue cats wrote:
I feel so badly for the vendors, they are in trouble whichever way they approach shipping.I just cancelled 6 autoships with Chewy because the boxes the ship in are huge but are not taped securely nor are they filled due to the weight, we cannot carry them into our house because they each weigh over 50#. It is infuriating. So I guess the vendors are going thru growing pains.

@We rescue cats My husband has a drinking buddy who used to own a FedEx route. His drivers hated Chewy due to the heavy boxes.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

wagirl — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:11:35 GMT

OMG!!! My last pill container had a child proof cap on it--usually I can muscle thru those but gawd help me--this one was impossible so I took pliers AND a hammer and beat the dam* thing into oblivion!!! smashed the whole bottle --fortunately didn't harm the pills!!! Felt kind of good😁---anyway made sure I got the normal type of caps thru my pharmacy!!!

Re: FRUSTRATED!

SilleeMee — Fri, 29 May 2026 20:47:50 GMT

Secure packaging is important for shipping. Retailers don't want to deal with broken or missing items b/c of packaging issues. So, we must arm ourselves with 'implements of destruction' to get our packages open after they arrive at our door. Better to have that than the alternatives...missing or broken items.\

I had to buy a stair-climbing handtruck to get my pooch's food up the stairs. Also had to buy a box cutter, a bucket lid opener and some other tools to get things open around here by myself. It's a pita but what else can you do? 🤷

Re: FRUSTRATED!

geezerette — Fri, 29 May 2026 21:07:06 GMT

And for in-store purchases, they don't want to deal with possible product tampering and/or theft.

Re: FRUSTRATED!

DottieBlue — Fri, 29 May 2026 21:11:43 GMT

Yes, I have the same problems, and thought I was the only one.

I also bought a set of the Kuhn Rikon scissors which are very helpful to cut open certain types of packaging.