And in mid evil times it was considered an aphrodisiac and was fed to newly weds as a sweet soup.

Don’t know what that has to do with what I am really PO’d about (and I am really PO’d) this week, but hey, it was something I found interesting. You see, things that interest me are really a highlight of… um… oops! I’m sorry… didn’t mean to keep you in suspense.

Let me tell you what I am so “tanked” about. (For those of you in Rio Linda – def: tanked Verb; as in, really angry to the point of screaming for an hour; Syn: PO’d)

Hard plastic “clamshell” packaging.

You know the stuff I am talking about. The sturdy crimped air-tight plastic packaging that almost everything at a Fry’s or Best Buy store is packaged in? This stuff is impervious to nuclear detonation. It can’t be opened with scissors, at least you can’t do it without getting a digit shaved off by a sharp edge. Knives add a whole different dimension to the “just open the package” issue (cruel joke about an “arm and a leg” in there somewhere). At one point in my quest of getting an item out of the package I got so frustrated fighting the plastic suit of armor that I resorted to just trying to rip and/or tear it apart. Six and half hours waiting in the ER and 12 stitches later… (but that’s another story)

I understand why retailers like the stuff. It makes a large, bulky package out of an item that could otherwise easily be slid into a pocket. Just try and shoplift a 2Gb MP3 player in todays clamshell packaging. Not that I would try and shoplift a 2Gb MP3 player mind you, but I think you can picture someone trying to smuggle a small television set out in thier pants. Retailers can place small high traffic items like MP3 players, cameras, accessories etc., right out in the open instead of having them stored in a locked glass display cases that only one employee who has the key can open up (and, of course, that employee is on a lunch break… but that’s another story).

Now I understand why most people use the internet to shop. Not as much of a headache to open a lightweight paper envelope with your item inside. Whoops! Wait a sec…

It’s in a clam shell package…

ARRRRRRRRGH!!

Until next week…