Tamper proof frequently means 'cannot open' in the product marketplace

[caption id="attachment_20463" align="alignleft" width="300"] Mucinex topless container[/caption]

Carol Forsloff---These days tech gadgets, prescription pills, over-the-counter medications, and ordinary items are wrapped intensely in plastic with complex lids, so as they offer a level of protection from theft or children's hands, at the same time they can become impossible to open and offer other forms of risk.

Some folks call this wrap rage.

A recent experience with a Mucinex container brought nighttime, unnecessary drama to what might ordinarily be thought of as a simple way to help end congestion and cough. But it became more than that and continued to bring discomfort and finally pain to weary hands that could not open the product in a reasonable fashion.

The container had no instructions for opening, except a dim and confusing image without script on the top of the bottle. The instructions were not instructive in any way that would allow the user to open up the lid.

Under the container lid, a piece of plastic tape had to be cut first and was, then the top of the bottle turned; and yet the container would not open. It took a knife, pliers and patience later in the morning to finally cut through much of the lid so it would open and the product could be used.

Sadly all of this occurred on an early Sunday morning, so the phone number for emergencies or directions for opening got only the message to call on Monday during regular business hours.

This experience occurs often, not just with the elderly but with other folks as well. A drinking water plastic container becomes a frustrating design for frustration instead of a simple way of getting something in a dry throat while traveling on the road. Even a man's full strength cannot meet the challenge on the open road, and many a bottle is cast aside when there are no tools just to take off the lid.

Knives and pliers and sharp objects can create injuries when we try to open heavy plastic containers. Many people are injured when this happens.

The packaging has become so troublesome that the Internet now offers suggestions on how to open these containers since so many people complain about the problem.

There must be an easier way to sell a helpful product and to protect it from the hands of children or thieves than to cause injury to the hands of ordinary folks who just want a drink of water or take needed medicine in the night.

This journalist won't show the bloody cut on a finger but instead the topless Mucinex container, as the fragments of the lid were cut and tossed aside.  But it demonstrates likely what many folks experience as a frustrating event when the need for the product is urgent.