Thursday was the twins’ birthday.
So even though I just did a little rant on the over-packaging of goods, I just HAVE to revisit this subject. Because NOTHING is as over-packaged as kids’ toys!
I mean, after I finished untaping, unstrapping, and unwrapping the twins’ new toys, I felt like I had defused a bomb or something. Maybe we should a have a toy-unwrapping robot, like a bomb robot, programmed to extract the toy without harming it.
One particular toy was a cute little train, with one car and an engine, that sat in its own little train depot. In order to hold this thing in its box, they had used twelve twisted wires, six molded plastic sleeves, two layers of cardboard, and a bunch of strapping tape.
Is this thing so delicate it can’t stay intact inside a box without all that stuff? (If so, I don’t think it should be going to a couple of two-year olds.) Where did they have to ship it from? The moon?
No, I know it probably came from a sweatshop in the Far East. I can just see those guys over there putting on the twisty wires, going, “Stupid spoiled American children! Have fun getting your little train out in under an hour! Ha! Ha!”
I seriously spent over an hour after the babies had gone to bed just getting toys out of boxes.
Later I talked about this with my daughters. They asked why it is that even the Barbies’ hair is taped onto the cardboard. I said, of course, that it’s so the Barbie looks pretty in the box so you will buy her.
My oldest said, “It’s proof that toys really do come alive, and they’re trying to keep them from escaping inside the store.”
Well, that’s as good an explanation as I’ve ever heard!
So even though I just did a little rant on the over-packaging of goods, I just HAVE to revisit this subject. Because NOTHING is as over-packaged as kids’ toys!
I mean, after I finished untaping, unstrapping, and unwrapping the twins’ new toys, I felt like I had defused a bomb or something. Maybe we should a have a toy-unwrapping robot, like a bomb robot, programmed to extract the toy without harming it.
One particular toy was a cute little train, with one car and an engine, that sat in its own little train depot. In order to hold this thing in its box, they had used twelve twisted wires, six molded plastic sleeves, two layers of cardboard, and a bunch of strapping tape.
Is this thing so delicate it can’t stay intact inside a box without all that stuff? (If so, I don’t think it should be going to a couple of two-year olds.) Where did they have to ship it from? The moon?
No, I know it probably came from a sweatshop in the Far East. I can just see those guys over there putting on the twisty wires, going, “Stupid spoiled American children! Have fun getting your little train out in under an hour! Ha! Ha!”
I seriously spent over an hour after the babies had gone to bed just getting toys out of boxes.
Later I talked about this with my daughters. They asked why it is that even the Barbies’ hair is taped onto the cardboard. I said, of course, that it’s so the Barbie looks pretty in the box so you will buy her.
My oldest said, “It’s proof that toys really do come alive, and they’re trying to keep them from escaping inside the store.”
Well, that’s as good an explanation as I’ve ever heard!
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