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Wrestling with a Cardboard Box
I just bought a new vacuum, after the old one started leaving marks on my hard wood floor. I’m not patient with printed instructions, so I hoped it wouldn’t be difficult to set up. (I turned to YouTube.) The far bigger challenge was getting the vacuum out of the box. It was wedged in so tight that despite rigorous tugging, it wouldn’t budge. The easy solution would’ve been to slice open the box, but I wanted to keep it intact, in case of a return. I was cursing, dripping with sweat, and wishing I had a husband. 20 minutes and a few bruises later, I finally pried it loose.
Photo by Matt Simmons
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I dislike that styrofoam packing so much, Wendy. I think it’s worse that the fused plastic casings that you inevitably wind up hacking at with scissors. I bought a new lighting fixture for my dining area and I thought I’d never get it out of the box!
It wasn’t styrofoam, just cardboard. But it was wedged in there. I definitely needed another set of hands.
I joked that when I bought my new smartphone that it was an intelligence test just getting it out of the packaging (one that I came very close to not passing). Anyway, congrats on figuring out how to extract your vacuum from the box and set it up!
I know the feeling of wishing there was a little help around sometimes– for heavy groceries, fix it’s requiring a ladder or brute force, or when I cut myself washing dishes once and there was no one around to help figure out what to do next.
Neighbors and friends are great, but sometimes it’d be so nice not to have to ask.
I asked a neighbor once if could help me get the propane tank from the trunk of my car onto the patio so I could attach it to my gas grill. He told me he had a bad back and politely declined.
This is just one of the reasons I prefer to purchase a good used (‘preowned’) item, to avoid all the garbagey packaging; both extracting the item from it and disposing of it all I find supremely irritating.
Good point, Robin. I usually wear gloves when I open packaging so I don’t cut my hands. I do like new things, though.