Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Packaging

De-packagers needed
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At Christmas time many stores provide a free packaging service on the street side of the checkouts.

Has not the time come for an all-year-round de-packaging service?

Trained de-packagers would sit at their benches with their arcane instruments in full view of the entranced shoppers: hammers, side-cutters, de-magnetisers, drills, with a large range of bits; jigsaws, spray-cans of solvents, heat-guns, vices and soforth.

Happy shoppers would hand over all manner of purchases, clad in the traditional armour-plating, and would marvel at the skill and artistry of the de-packagers, saying often to their neighbours in line, "Remember when it used to take simply hours to undo the packaging at home?"

rayfo, May 30 2001

US Postal Service Containers http://www.ananova....?menu=news.quirkies
Apparently quite popular. [Cedar Park, Oct 04 2004]

[link]






       How do we take the de-packaged stuff home, then... why not just stop making packaging? The entire step of de-packaging would then be eliminated. I think.
jetgrrl, May 30 2001
  

       My biggest beef with Western capitalism is the packaging. The only good it seems to do is employ people, other than that, it is a complete waste.
thumbwax, May 30 2001
  

       maybe in some cases, the manufacturer could ask the customer to return the packaging, so that it could be used again. many of the items i have purchased recently have come in easy-to-open cardboard boxes which were still in pristine condition when i put them either in the recycling bin or in our storage locker (my fiancee thinks i'm crazy to keep those boxes but i just know they'll come in handy one day when we move). shipping costs might deter many companies form doing this, however, especially if the product is packaged in a country far from the one where it was purchased.
mihali, May 30 2001
  

       The Plastic Containers which US Post Office Uses make Ex-cel-lent Moving Boxes. Particularly if you are doing an in-town move. Just return them to the same Post Office you 'borrowed' them from.
thumbwax, May 30 2001
  

       What kills me is the packaging for Immodium. You would think this stuff is lethal poison. I literally sliced one of my fingers to the point I should have gotten a couple of stitches once trying to open one of those damn things. The plastic they use is tough, and sharp! Some of the newer (advanced) version have a split-and-peel foil backing which is still a PITA (foil/paper never comes off whole), but the old-style forces you to tear the damn plastic in half. There's a notch set back from the edge to weaken it, but I still have to bite through the un-notched portion before I can begin to tear it. And no, I'm not a scrawny weakling either.
XterraGuy, May 30 2001, last modified May 31 2001
  

       I thought this idea was quite amusing until I realized that I spent a day at work unpackaging samples for the boss, assembling products, and putting in batteries.   

       Don't some stores have "we'll assemble it for you" services for an extra fee, for things like bikes and grills and the like?
beland, Oct 20 2003
  

       [thunb]: So _that's_ whos been hoarding all the postal containers! [link]
Cedar Park, Oct 20 2003
  

       I dunno if someone has already said this, but we should have people who come home and unpack things for us. they would wait at the door, follow your car home then drive back to the store when they had done. Each one would have a tracker so they wouldnt spend too much time in one house.
nethinbutaverage, Feb 25 2004
  
      
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