If you have ever gone shopping (like we all won't spend millions just a few months from now doing just that) for kid's toys, you can relate to my frustrations. We make our purchases and rush home all enthusiastic about the gleeful expression we are about to see exhibited on some child's face---this is especially true if they are our grandchildren. If you are anything like me, this is an every day occurrence. I can't pass a toy department anymore, even when I'm alone, without checking out the newest creations for the under twelve.
When we get our packages home, how often do we discover that we can't simply open the box and pull out the proffered surprise? But instead have to find a screwdriver to remove half a dozen or more tiny screws or have to make a trip to the garage to find a pair of wire cutters to cut several dozen rubber-coated wire twisty ties because they are twisted so tightly and wrapped so many times around the small toy that there is no other possible way of removing them! And all this while a two-year old watches in tearful excitement.
 Most two-year olds can't understand such time-consuming mechanics involved in the opening a child's toy and most adults---of any age---can't phantom the logic for such extreme measures encompassed in this type of packaging. I have often asked myself---no one else being around to ask---why? (My husband seems to make himself scarce when there are toys to open or assemble) Is it because the theft rate is so outrageous for anything not tied down? Or the insurance so exorbitant for transporting loosely packed items? Are they a safety risk to the toes should an unconfined toy fall out of a box while being inspected by an unsuspecting customer???? I have my doubts about more people being injured by loose toys, than are hurt while trying to remove the toys from these horrendous contrivances!
I knew a fellow once who tried to open one with a large firecracker; which worked but the toy that came out was useless.
The child, however, enjoyed it immensely, shouting, "Do it again, Daddy!"
On this particular day, my husband, Donnie, and I had made a trip to the mall to pick up a birthday gift for our young grandson. We had also made a stop by Sears where my husband had bought himself a new torque wrench--low and behold; the thing was enshrouded in the same type of cryptonite-type material used to package toys! This incredibly diamond-hard clear plastic that allows you to look-but-don't-touch the merchandise---ever! Not even after you get home!
At any rate, my husband's passion is for tools--all tools--and he could not wait to get home. Since I was driving, he was free to open his new prize with a pair of scissors he had found in the glove box of the SUV. After wrangling with the package for twenty or so minutes, he finally managed to pry it open and remove his torque wrench. He was very proud of himself for whipping that hard plastic container into submission. Now for the life of me, I still don't know why he did it. But, I was driving sixty miles per hour down the open highway, when suddenly he rolls his window down about six inches (the approximate width of the long, thin plastic container, sans wrench) and sticks the container out just far enough to catch the wind.
Now comes the interesting part--that plastic container caught the wind and began to whip my husband's nose at a tremendous rate! Because of the force of the wind, he was unable to bring the container back into the window before it had completed its vengeance against him and he was black and blue and wailing at the top of his lungs.
Although concerned, naturally for his safety, I could not stop the gut-wrenching laughter that forced me to pull over and wipe the tears from my eyes before I could continue to drive on home. Again I can't stress enough the dangers of this type of packaging (giggle!). I could very well have run off the road that day. I no longer allow (of course, he hasn't offered to again) him to open his packages before he is in the safety of our kitchen.
I'm sure there are a million and one very plausible reasons for making toy/tool packaging adult-proof, but what are they? Now that I have said my piece, I think I'll enlist the aid of "Mr. Google" just to see if there is a website that can answer my questions. Then if that fails, I think I'll write my congressman---isn't that what we pay him for?
Have a good day and watch out for snares in the toy (or tool) department.
Sandra E. Graham, author---Amos Jakey---Published by American Book Publishing. Visit my website: http://www.sandragraham-articles-books.com to check out my books and articles. If you enjoy reading, you'll like my books.
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