I’m hopeless at opening packaging. Despite reading the instructions saying ‘tear here’, ‘pull here’, or, in the absence of instructions, locating arrows hinting at a user-friendly weak spot, I invariably have to admit defeat and have recourse to a pair of scissors.
I even struggle to open those very flimsy plastic bags supermarkets supply for bread rolls (not the proper plastic bags that now cost 5p). The first challenge is to persuade just one bag come out of the container, not a handful. Clearly other people have the same trouble since shelves in the vicinity of bread rolls are usually festooned with discarded bags like deflated balloons after a child’s party. Seeing my exasperation, a kind man in Sainsbury’s once showed me his technique for opening these wretched bags; take a handle in each hand and just pull. Sure enough this opens up a gap. I have even shown other people how to do it and felt very good about it!