Plastic Packages Cause Injuries, Revolt 533
massysett writes "Everybody has been frustrated by plastic retail packaging that's nearly impossible to open. New toys and electronic gadgets arrive encased in plastic bubbles. Manufacturers say the packages protect goods and make them look nice, but opening them can be difficult enough to cause injuries that land people in the emergency room. Manufacturers have an appropriate term for the frustration: wrap rage. One man even invented a cutter designed specifically for cracking open plastic clamshells."
What do other people do? (Score:5, Interesting)
And what do they expect *us* to do? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:And what do they expect *us* to do? (Score:5, Funny)
Ok, we can provide an airhole if you insist.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re:And what do they expect *us* to do? (Score:5, Insightful)
Just this morning I was attaching some caster wheels to some furniture, and realised a needed a longer screw attachment for my drill. I went and bought one and sure enough it was sealed up good. Took me a bit of hacking to open, and that was with my toolbox right next to me. Again, opening items like this is easy enough, opening them without damaging them is another matter.
Another one that pisses me off is when they print the instructions on the cardboard which is sandwiched between the layers of packaging, so just cutting through it with scissors means cutting through the instructions. Not that I ever read instructions. *cough*
Then there is the whole environmental thing... where does all this packaging go once the item has been unpacked!!!
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Re:And what do they expect *us* to do? (Score:5, Insightful)
I work in a PC store and there's loads of stuff that can make a thief a quick buck in a few seconds. Ink cartidges are the biggest target, with Lexmark (Crappy cardboard rectangle) boxes being found open without contents all the time, whereas the really-tough-sealed ones aren't being nicked. Epson have a compromise, they've got the hard-squishy plastic shell (that milk bottles are made of) with a plastic film coating over the front. You need to pierce and open these (knife makes simple work) but it's not too easy to do instore.
Stores care more about stuff going missing from the shelves then it being purchased and not being opened at home. Granted this stuff is too hard to open and they need to sort it out, but slowly compromises will come.
slowly compromises will come? (Score:4, Interesting)
They've already made ink pack gadgets to protect clothes.
There are similar protective containers for dvds.
The cashier takes them off with another gadget of some sort (magnets?).
So solutions are near at hand with little/no creativity required.
That being said this is what *I'd* like to see:
A new package which is easy to open but makes a loud bang. Ever pulled a christmas cracker? [google.ca]
If the bang is hard to avoid thieves should be deterred.
As a bonus christmas mornings should get much more fun.
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I like the clamshells.. the product is better displayed. Most of the time you can visually inspect the contents... and the cost to the manufacturer are cheaper.. they use a few sheets of paper for printing instead of paying fo
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You miss my point. If you're properly staffed, then when a customer comes in, you move towards him, greet him, establish needs, present solutions, overcome objections, close, and add-on product/services. Lather, Rinse, Repeat.
Doesn't anyone know how to actually SELL things in a retail environment, or has everyone resigned themselves to just dealing with stock pickers, and cashiers?
Re:And what do they expect *us* to do? (Score:4, Insightful)
Let's have a show of hands from all the kind folks who have attempted to open a plastic bag of spaghetti at the seams, only to have it rip down the sides sending noodles flying all over the kitchen floor. I've never understood the logic of using a glue that is stronger than the material it is intended to seal.
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/me is showing hands
I've been wondering about this spaghetti or more often, pasta, packaging myself. But at least this packaging which is frequently supposed to be re-closed, can be dealt with using scissors.
Other kinds of packages are worse: I once bought a power-supply for notebook computers at an airport, one of these nice universal ones that would allow using 12V from the car or 100-240V from the mains. Since I had put the ordinary supply for the computer into checked baggage and I was waiting to c
Actually, it's more sinister than this. (Score:5, Interesting)
1. Nearly impossibly for the product to shrink (ie, someone walks up, takes the item from the packaging, leave the package, takes the item.
2. People feel guilty taking something back to the store that looks destroyed. I've actually gotten dirty looks from sales associates when I took a bluetooth headset back that didn't work right. The packaging was mangled because at the time the only thing I had handy to open it were my keys. So I poked holes in it until I could get my fingers into it, ripped it open, charged it....didn't work. Took a manager to get them to take it back.
So yeah. The stores won't put an open item that looks like *that* back on the shelf, so fewer returns. Win-win in their eyes. They don't really care about convenience on this one. In fact, the more inconvenient, the better.
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Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
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I've never had an injury from one of these things. I have a small pair of school scissors (like, 3 or 4 inches long) that work great. Never had a cut from one of these, never had a problem opening 'em. Personally I don't see the big deal. Aviation snips seems quite a bit extreme to me, 'cause I have yet to find a simple pair of scissors that won't do (Though I did once snap the handle off a pair with it. But it was a cheap pair anyways. I caulked it. It's still in my drawer.)
plastics (Score:5, Interesting)
But what makes plastics very transparent is also what makes them form those nasty sharp edges when broken or cut. In the jargon, you need plastics that are very 'glassy' at room temperatures.
So the situation ends up not much different than with glass (silica) itself. It's lovely stuff, very transparent, easy to form into different shapes at a low temperature, quite cheap -- but, alas, forming those nasty strong, sharp edges when you break it.
You can certainly go back to polyethylene for packaging, which is nice and soft, easy to open, without sharp edges. But it's a lot cloudier, since it's much more crystalline, and people don't like that, apparently.
Nah, you can have your cake and eat it too... (Score:5, Interesting)
What people have a problem with is when that clear plastic FRONT window is thermally, ultrasonically, or RF welded to a matching BACK clamshell.
This is what makes you have to break out the damn jackhammer to get to the item inside.
It's all to help prevent shoplifting.
Re:Nah, you can have your cake and eat it too... (Score:4, Insightful)
Maybe, but that's not obvious to me. Perhaps the major reasons are to assist in packing and prevent damage in transit. Small widgets are sorted and packed at high speed by machines. If you design a package that can be opened by the pretty feeble forces a human fingertip can exert, then it's not going to be able to be sorted at 80 MPH by the metal claw of a robot.
You're looking at it from the point of view of the thing sitting on the display hook in the store. But that's near the end of its life before use: it has a long history from factory floor to the store that you need to consider, and there's a good chance major aspects of the packaging are designed to meet the needs of distribution and transport.
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Unless you're talking about a mail-order warehouse, AFAIK, most of the transportation/sorting is done by the pallet or some other moderately large quantity bundled together. When the machine sorts a box full of boxes, no matter how flimsy the interior boxes are, unless it sticks a proboscis through the outer box or something, the inner boxes shouldn't be damaged....
There are four likely reasons: to deter shoplifting, to make the product as visible as possible, to reduce cost (cheaper to fuse plastic toge
Re:Nah, you can have your cake and eat it too... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:plastics (Score:5, Informative)
Well, I've taught polymer physics -- the chemistry is not what's interesting here -- so it would be most unfortunate if that were the case.
Whether a plastic is glassy or not does not correlate with whether a plastic is transparent or not.
What makes something cloudy or opaque? You need structure on the scale of the wavelength of light to scatter visible light. Undergraduate physics tells us that something with a high crystallinity, made of lots of microcrystalline domains, is probably going to have such structure, and amorphous (glassy) substances -- which as you've pointed out yourself have far less regular structure -- will probably not. Hence one generally expects polymers with higher crystallinity like polethylene to be opaque or cloudy, as indeed they are, and polymer resins with low crystallinity like PS to be clear, as, by golly, they are.
Here [plasticsresource.com] is a little intro on polymers from the American Plastics Council, in which you'll note the following:
"Amorphous polymers are generally transparent. This is an important characteristic for many applications such as food wrap, plastic windows, headlights and contact lenses. Obviously not all polymers are transparent. The polymer chains in objects that are translucent and opaque are in a crystalline arrangement...The higher the degree of crystallinity, the less light can pass through the polymer. Therefore, the degree of translucence or opaqueness of the polymer is directly affected by its crystallinity."
Hmmm... do you suppose those silly folks at the American Plastics Council failed polymer physics, too?
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Priceless... I LOVE slashdot!
Trauma shears (Score:3, Insightful)
Should be able to pick them up for $4 or so. Get a couple. They're extremely handy.
No good for precision cutting, but perfect for cutting through tough, thick plastic, cardboard, or card stock.
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Interesting)
I've done this a few times when faced with particularly annoying packaging. Once, they actually damaged the merchandise trying to get it out, so gave me a new one. (I doubt they would have done that had I damaged it myself.)
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I'm not saying this is a bad idea, because it's likely that the retailer does have a nice heavy-duty pair of scissors somewhere, but I do take issue with something.
The people working at the retailer are normal human beings that also buy things at stores. They know how horrible the packaging is, and the person that will be opening your package has absolutely nothing to do with it.
Tin snips (Score:3, Insightful)
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Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Interesting)
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I think The kitchen shears I have, about $1, are powerful and sharp enough, and as safe. For more heavyweight use, gardening shears. Ultimately, woodworking tools. The idea that you have to use a certified "package opening tool" is just more consumerism. If you don't have any of those, at least $6 isn't extortionate.
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Interesting)
Plus, in the upcoming holiday spirit, they'd make great cheap stocking-stuffers.
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
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Some basic tin snips should work fine, you can get them at Home Depot in the tools section for $10-20.
After using aviation snips (Score:5, Funny)
Re:What do other people do? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Insightful)
BTW, the plastic clam-shell packaging doesn't piss me off as much as DVD and CD packaging. There's nothing that starts the pounding in my head like the "Peel here" tab that can't be peeled, complete with too-strong glue that forces you to choose between cutting it along the seam with a razor blade and leaving it, or cutting it and then peeling it off from the unglued center, warping and stretching your brand new $23 DVD packaging. (Lets face facts here, I'm paying for the convenience of the packaging (which includes the DVD itself AND the case), not the movie itself, which is available for free (minus ISP costs) online).
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
I would like to humbly thank you for properly nesting your parentheses. You, sir, are truly a programmer.
Re:What do other people do? (Score:5, Funny)
Here's a tough problem I agonize over, and wonder if you'd have an opinion. Let's say you write something in parens and it's funny enough to warrant a smiley face. Can/should the paren for the smiley's mouth count as the closing paren? In other words, is it better to do "(that was funny:)" or "(that was funny:))"?
the second is wrong (Score:5, Funny)
You'd need to escape the smileyparen. Like so: "(that was funny:\))"
Re:What do other people do? (Score:4, Funny)
I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume this is ironic.
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No, not the kind that are stamped sheet metal that are popular now. The kind that are forged steel. Not that hard to find. And they work fine for cutting the welded seams on this sort of packaging. That's really all you need to do is cut away the welded seams. Which are right out on the edge of the packaging.
I like this form of packaging, because once you know how to open it, if you need to return an item, everything just slides back into the hard form of
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTjeAR2bnfU [youtube.com]
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just had this happen (Score:5, Interesting)
I just had this happen... I find the plastic wrap not only dangerous to me to remove, but it can be difficult to get the product out of the packaging sometime without damaging it.
I just bought a mini-jack to RCA cable by Dynex. I cut carefully around the edge and when separating the clamshell halves nearly cut myself on the hard sharp plastic... what the heck? Not an unusual occurance with today's annoying packaging but I've gotten pretty good at it. The problem with this package?
Turns out, there was an inner-shell piece "cleverly" designed to hold the ends of the cable in display in middle of the package, a third piece of plastic I couldn't see, and didn't anticipate. In extracting the cable (finally!) the edge of one of the plastics nicked the exterior of the cable... no harm, no foul I guess, but a tug a little harder or in a slightly different direction and the cable could have been compromised.
Also had a remote control I bought for my Dad a couple of months ago. I easily navigated the surrounding plastic and strategically popped out the remote only to find what had appeared to be a cardboard insert was instead the user's manual now cut in half replete with pages of remote codes (for universal remote). So, I had to tape the manual back together to look up the codes.
Throw into the rage mix CD packaging, infuriating! I've had CD jewel cases damaged in the process of freeing my music. And how annoying that "pull" tape holding the jewel case shut! It's almost impossible to remove cleanly and even if you get it off there's almost always some annoying residue.
I don't know if the intent is to be clever with packaging, prevent theft, but it's gotten so bad I have started factoring in how much pain the packaging looks to promise vs. how much I want the product. Sounds silly, but after a few plastic cuts for a couple of two-buck knick knacks...
Removing sticky residue from jewel cases/DVDs (Score:2, Informative)
I find the best way to remove the extra glue which stays behind is to use the sticky tape which came off, or an piece of packaging tape and keep applying it and pulling it off the stickum until it's all removed. Sometimes you may need to burnish the packing tape over the residue a bit, but it gets the job done and you've only wasted about 5 minutes of your life for the bastards who think this is an appropriate way to conduct business
As for CD cases (Score:2)
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Even easier is the so-called Baym technique for opening CDs. Just pop the hinge of the jewel case off. The case will then be hinged on the sticky tape, and it's trivial to pull off at that point. There's some minor risk of breaking the hinge, but I've only had it happen once, as far as I remember.
Once I used this technique on a White Zombie CD I bought from Best Buy, only to find that the disc inside was an old, horribly scratched Black Sabbath tribute album. I reassembled the case before removing the tap
Re:just had this happen (Score:4, Funny)
Re:just had this happen (Score:5, Funny)
You are much to lenient with your extremeties. I suggest removing the limb immediately. Make your vengeance swift and unmerciful. The hand has openly defied you in the midst of its peers. It has opposed you once, and there is no telling how far it may go next time.
Re:just had this happen (Score:4, Informative)
There are reasons to use these plastic gimmicks;
1) It is easy to package and can be done mechanically.
2) It is difficult for a thief to nick it.
3) It is bulky so if the thief stuffs it in their pocket, it is easily identifiable.
4) Items in it stay where they were put when encased. This prevents damage when shipping as well as makes display uniform.
and lastly...
5) Nobody really has taken corporate management to task for this so reasons 1-4 outweigh 5.
The only question I got is does the plastic really need to be that thick?
B.
Rage? Not quite, but certainly frustrated. (Score:4, Interesting)
The stuff that gets me down:
Plastic Clamshells [penny-arcade.com]
Why not buy used? (Score:2)
Recycling (Score:5, Informative)
Cutter. (Score:5, Funny)
Did it look anything like this [slashbuster.com]?
Re:Cutter. (Score:5, Funny)
No, more like this [neatorama.com]
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the part that looks like a blade is actually the bucket (well, buckets).
from wikipedia:
"The excavation component itself is a large rotating wheel mounted on an arm or boom. On the outer edge of the wheel is a series of scoops or buckets. As the wheel turns, the buckets remove soil or rock from the target area and carry it around to the backside of the wheel, where it falls onto a conveyor, which carries it up the arm toward the main body of the excavator."
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You want rage? (Score:5, Informative)
Alternately, they insist that the obviously-enormous forces you used to open the package must have damaged the product, so it's not their problem.
Yeah, both are bogus and if you stand up for your rights you get action -- but what do you want to bet a lot of people don't?
this story was accepted at the wrong time (Score:5, Funny)
then you would have gotten a buttload of seriously frustrated, angry, and demented comments in the affirmative
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then you would have gotten a buttload of seriously frustrated, angry, and demented comments in the affirmative
You must be new here... this story will get reposted multiple times before the holidays.
Just look for the "buttload" of seriously frustrated
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Where's the lawsuits??? (Score:3, Interesting)
Then, some genius came out with a specialized tool for deconstructing the dreaded bubble packs with ease: the OpenX (http://www.myopenx.com/). It's somewhat of a Catch 22 though, as the tool comes packaged within the very packaging one needs the tool to open. I don't own one, but it'd probably be a good stocking stuffer.
I just don't understand how spilling hot coffee on oneself is grounds for a lawsuit, but shredded fingers is not. Especially in America.
OpenX is dangerous crap. (Score:4, Informative)
OpenX has two cutterblades, a safe one for pushing and a hidden dangerous one that pops out of the bottom for starting the cutting process with a piercing cut. It's this latter blade I almost cut myself with. Clamshells are just too tough for the blades and it is highly likely that the package will slip when you try to use the starting cutter. I pictured family members trying to use the opener at Christmas with Clamshells on their lap--shudder. I decided not to give the gift of possible genital mutilation and exsaguination for Christmas and tossed all 4 in the trash. By some heavy duty sheers instead.
IMO
Just this week... (Score:3, Interesting)
I bought a new 80gb iPod and one of those silicone skins to keep it in.
While I was removing the theft-deterrent plastic packaging, one of the sharp plasic edges cut clean through the silicone.
The good news is that the folks at the Apple store took it back without complaint, even though they could have said I damaged it myself (which I did) and not taken it back. The gal behind the counter even went so far as to call it a pretty frequent occurrence.
A non-issue. (Score:2)
Patience, grasshopper... (Score:5, Informative)
Oh, gimme a break. A pair of scissors applied in the correct spot will open just about anything you can fit on your lap (you may need something more heavy-duty for larger items, I will admit).
As the bigger problem here, many stores balk at taking back defective goods if you've turned the packaging into confetti. Given that we have packaging so sturdy that you can't remove it without reducing it to a pile of ragged plastic strips, that makes it difficult to take back most products (although in most states, they legally must take it back if defective, and that includes software/dvds/cds - Look up "warrant of merchantability" and your state's laws on the subject - "State law" trumps "store policy" every time).
Personally, I think every product should have a sort of magic pull-string... Just untape the string and pull it, and the otherwise-invulnerable packaging neatly falls away in two or three tidy chunks to reveal its contents (and which, with a bit of care, you could reassemble the packaging enough to return it to the store without much fuss).
MOD PARENT UP (Score:2)
Re:Patience, grasshopper... (Score:5, Interesting)
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Now I just resort to using a scapel. My wife complains about me doing surgery on packaging, but I can remove most plastic wrap in about 1 minute. Sometimes I do it so well that if I return an item the store has problems figureing out if I even opened it and I have to point out where I opened it.
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Re:Patience, grasshopper... (Score:5, Interesting)
My solution? As soon as I pay for it, I ask the clerk if they have something to open it with, and generously allow them to do the opening.
If everyone did this, all the time, the problem would go away very quickly. If they complain, ask for a manager. IF they want a reason, here is mine. "You have workman's comp if you get injured opening this thing, and I have been cut by these types of packages. Also, you have a replacement if opening the packages destroys the contents."
EMT shears (Score:5, Informative)
For round bubbles, I take my pocket knife and punch a starter hole, then switch to the EMT shears to open the package. But often there is a flat heat seal around the package, and you can simply take cut the seal part off and get the package open.
steveha
Now (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Geez (Score:4, Funny)
Yeah, I agree the packaging is annoying, but all the comments here are perplexing me (e.g., "how do the manufacturers expect people to open these?", "Using a knife is dangerous!!")
Like, have people on Slashdot never heard of this fancy gadget called "scissors"? Come down from the trees, my monkey brethren, and let me show these wacky things called "tools".
Steve Martin's essay (Score:2)
steveha
FUNNY - Domesticus - Plasticus (Score:4, Funny)
Do you know how many times the US Customs dept calls up and asks us what specieces of CLAM is we are importing?
Our answer is always: "Domesticus Plasticus" followed by a long pause...
In other news... (Score:2, Funny)
Chainsaw anyone? (Score:2, Insightful)
The worst packaging is for computer accessories and such. The thickness and strength of the plastic used is abs
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I once had an experience with ridiculous food packing. It was so traumatic that I felt compelled to write about it:
On Freshness and Weiners
Since when did the security of my hot dogs become so paramount? I decided to have a couple for dinner tonight, but I could barely get the package open! At first glance, it looks like a standard plastic wrapper, with the requisite ziplock strip (for freshness!) But once I began to open the package, I realized it is actually a hermetically sealed vault with no les
Very Dangerous (Score:5, Interesting)
Did you sue? (Score:3, Insightful)
With the event you described, any decent ambulance chaser would take the case and negotiate a settlement, and the business will likely settle for an amount just less than their projected cost to win at trial. The lawyer will take most o
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Did you sue? I sure as hell would have. The only thing that is going to stop this madness is for everyone these things happen to sue. And don't just go for medical bills. File for unspecified punitive damages for the mental anguish you went through almost losing your [lw]ife.
Sue for WHAT? I sympathize with the guy for a very scary incident -- but knives don't just "jump" and slash your wrist. She was holding it in some dangerous fashion (how, I don't know -- I can't even see how this happens in the firs
Re:Very Dangerous (Score:5, Funny)
Hand Surgeons Love Em (Score:5, Interesting)
Bad for us non-surgeons, but good for them - he has a really nice boat!
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Should be subject of law (Score:3, Insightful)
Sealed ketchup bottles (Score:4, Funny)
You flip open the top of a new bottle of ketchup. You squeeze. Nothing comes out.
Oh, yeah. You forgot about the inner seal.
You unscrew the top and are faced with a circular round piece of foil which seals the opening. Attached to this is a white plastic semi-circle. This is sticking up, implying that by pulling you will also remove the silver foil seal, allowing access to the product.
You pull at the semi-circle [gently|firmly|side-to-side|straight up] and it detaches completely, leaving the silver seal in place and the product as inaccessible as before.
Colbert (Score:4, Interesting)
From march 2006
This is what product liability litigation is about (Score:3, Insightful)
This is what product liability legislation is about: Making companies pay for the damage their products cause, so they think twice about producing dangerous products.
A few mulitmillion dollar judgements for people who cut the nerves in their hands on the sharp edges created by opening the packaging should make some execs start balancing "inventory shrinkage" from shoplifing more sanely against bottom-line shrinkage from damage to their customers' bodies.
That should make a BIG difference in package design quite quickly.
thank god condoms (Score:5, Funny)
AMD switched a while back... (Score:4, Informative)
The Core2 Duo processors I have been receiving are coming in plastic inside cardboard. There's more plastic, but it's not hard to open. I still prefer the AMD packaging, and I hope Intel does something similar soon, as the plastic looks resealable, but isn't.
Vidar
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And of course, it never occured to you that whenever one "asks for an opened