In a tight spot over packets that need teeth

IS it just me or are packages of certain foods harder to open?

These days, for some people my age, many packages containing food such as cereals, dried fruits, biscuits, lentils, rice, pasta, chips and so on are a struggle to open.

Besides the outer packaging (the box), there seems to be a trend for extremely tight inner packaging.

I guess this is because of a desire to keep the food fresher and also from being interfered with. But that inner packaging can be frustrating to open.

OK, I’ll admit my strength is decreasing, my hands are not as strong as they were and my fingers are a bit arthritic, but that is not the whole scenario. Packets are just harder to open!

If using full strength I rip the packet apart, the contents might fly all over the place including the floor.

Yes, I know there are instructions on how to open the packet, on the packet somewhere. But where? Usually in tiny print tucked away in some hidden corner requiring a microscope to read. And of course, my glasses are never handy.

So that leaves the solution of cutting the inner packaging to something like using my teeth. But because they are not as sharp as they were that leaves options such as scissors or a knife or worse, a Stanley knife.

The propensity for cut fingers then arises and that leads to the question: Have you tried to open the packaging of an individual Band-Aid recently?

You may lose a deal of blood looking for the instructions. I’m not going to go there.

And of course, there are those bottles you must push the top down first, before turning. Sure they are meant to be childproof, but they may prevent use by some older individuals as well who may be in need of the medicinal contents.

OK, I’ll be positive for a moment. Despite lacking the strength in my fingers to tear open the inner packaging of some foods, it seems my thumbs can still work on occasions.

If using full strength I rip the packet apart, the contents might fly all over the place including the floor.

When called upon to open a bottle of champagne, my thumbs seem to gain a new life and can cope with the demands put on them to pop open the bottle.

So, in short there is no need for me to be worried about dementia or cardiovascular disease or hypertension.

One day, in my dotage, I’ll be found slumped over the breakfast table surrounded by numerous miscellaneous unopened packages of food, strewn all over the room, that were too difficult to access.

The coroner’s report of my demise will simply read, “Malnutrition”.