# ‘Simple’ things that are surprisingly difficult **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 1, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404 "2023-07-01T15:16:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/41 "2023-07-02T12:55:26Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Pulling those little safety tabs off of food or condiment bottles. For a while I’ve been considering starting a “most difficult container security measure” thread. But yeah, simply opening a new bottle or jar could easily qualify for this thread. -Okay, there is a plastic ring around the outside of the cap. Is there a perforated portion to make it easy to remove, or is it easy enough to rip with a fingernail, or do I need a knife/scissors? -Now that the cap is off, there is ANOTHER plastic barrier. Is there a tab? How powerful is the glue they used to affix it? Will the barrier come off cleanly, in one piece? And how much of the contents will be affixed to it? Thank you to the Tylenol poisoner - a good candidate for the single person who has most affected the lives of the most people. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/42 "2023-07-02T15:19:16Z")
> [@solost](#): > > Not to mention those little stickers on produce. They are perfectly [edible](https://www.baytechlabel.com/6-interesting-facts-about-fruit-stickers), you know. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/43 "2023-07-02T15:33:48Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > They are perfectly [edible](https://www.baytechlabel.com/6-interesting-facts-about-fruit-stickers), you know I did actually know that! I doubt they taste very good though, and they certainly don’t look very appetizing when I forget to check for stickers, cut up strips of bell pepper for a stir-fry or something, and see the strips have little pieces of label on each slice 🤦‍♂️ ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/44 "2023-07-02T15:37:30Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > That’s why I love my bidet/commode combo. Amen. Finally picked up a Tushy conversion thingy a bit less than a year ago… absolutely worth it. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/45 "2023-07-02T15:38:02Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I doubt they taste very good though, and they certainly don’t look very appetizing Well, that’s what _somebody_ said about green eggs and ham. “Try them and you may, I say!” ( •\_•)\>⌐■-■ (⌐■\_■) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/46 "2023-07-02T15:57:41Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Well, that’s what _somebody_ said about green eggs and ham. “Try them and you may, I say! I don’t care what Sam I Am said, if it’s green and it’s not a vegetable, I ain’t eating it. ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/47 "2023-07-02T16:29:39Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > Pulling those little safety tabs off of food or condiment bottles. I’ll add shampoo or conditioner bottles. Where the seal is underneath the lid, so I don’t realize it’s there. And it’s not possible to remove the seal if my hands are wet. Like they might be if I’m already in the shower. ---
**Author:** ![P-man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/p-man/32/3606_2.png) [@P-man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/P-man)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/48 "2023-07-02T17:53:17Z")
For me, anything that involves putting things together. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/49 "2023-07-02T20:04:14Z")
> [@Die\_Capacitrix](#): > > I’ll add shampoo or conditioner bottles. Where the seal is underneath the lid, so I don’t realize it’s there. And it’s not possible to remove the seal if my hands are wet. Like they might be if I’m already in the shower. Yes, this! Why don’t all those seals have a little “ear” that you can grab to get the peeling off process started? I hate pill bottles that I get from my pharmacy. I have to stab the foil seal and peel from the hole in the middle of the seal to the rim. I cannot get it started from an edge. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/50 "2023-07-02T22:50:54Z")
Opening _anything_ with a child-proof cap. Fortunately, my pharmacy has a notation on my record not to use them for me or my wife. But there is one thing I buy that I buy that I have to tear off the cap with pliers and substitute an old cap that fits. And my wife has an aspirin bottle that has an expiration date in the 90s. But the pills aren’t that old, only the bottle is. ---
**Author:** ![PhillyGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ed655f/32.png) [@PhillyGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PhillyGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2023, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/51 "2023-07-02T23:04:14Z")
Surprised that no one has mentioned the classic: [Anyone Can Whistle](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ncyo8EUUCVE) > [@](#): > > Anyone can whistle > Any old day- > Easy. > It’s all so simple: > Relax, let go, let fly. > So someone tell me why > Can’t I? This is still me at 68. Whistlers have told me what to do. And I have never once been able. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/52 "2023-07-03T00:00:16Z")
Before Sondheim, there was A. A. Milne: > Cottleston Cottleston Cottleston Pie, > A fish can’t whistle and neither can I. ---
**Author:** ![BrickBat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@BrickBat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrickBat)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/53 "2023-07-03T00:47:51Z")
> [@PhillyGuy](#): > > This is still me at 68. Whistlers have told me what to do. And I have never once been able. I’ll join your club as a non-whistler. I can’t, and never could. Oh, I can sort of make a whistling _sound_ by making sharp “S” sounds between my tongue and teeth, but that’s it. I can’t vary the pitch, and I certainly can’t do the trilling/vibrato/tremolo type thing like the next door neighbor who lived next to me when I was a kid while he was working in his yard. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/54 "2023-07-03T01:15:27Z")
You just put your lips together and blow. ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [July 3, 2023, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/55 "2023-07-03T17:47:50Z")
Finding a chuck key that you had in your hand 2 minutes ago and put down somewhere within arm’s length of where you are currently kneeling, and that has somehow contrived to become invisible. The invention of keyless chucks must be a huge unacknowledged boost to productivity as every drilling task no longer involves long frustrated minutes of searching for the damn chuck key. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/56 "2023-07-04T02:03:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Opening _anything_ with a child-proof cap. Fortunately, my pharmacy has a notation on my record not to use them for me or my wife. Yeah-- you can get prescriptions without them, and you can even find OTC meds without them, although not every place carries them. The box will have big caution labels that the container inside is NOT childproof, and if there are children in your home DO NOT purchase. I saw one once that said something about “FOR PEOPLE WITH ARTHRITIS,” as in, “only if you are old enough for arthritis, and therefore, obviously don’t have children in the home.” ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/57 "2023-07-04T03:01:17Z")
> [@solost](#): > > But making one sandwich, especially the way I have to make it, I always forget is a surprising amount of work. Yours sounds harder than peanut butter & jelly. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct-lOOUqmyY) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/58 "2023-07-04T12:46:52Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yes, this! Why don’t all those seals have a little “ear” that you can grab to get the peeling off process started? For some time I’ve toyed with starting a thread about the most frustrating consumer packaging. It regularly impresses me how some products have security barriers which are east to figure out and remove, whereas others require that you use your teeth/knife/scissors. Kinda related, why are some products.- such as some chips, packaged in plastic that seems designed to tear irregularly when you try to separate the top seam? Whereas other chip manufacturers seem to use plastic bags that are NOT intended to frustrate the user. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/59 "2023-07-04T17:26:02Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Kinda related, why are some products.- such as some chips, packaged in plastic that seems designed to tear irregularly when you try to separate the top seam? Yes! I’ve taken to just using scissors, because I can’t remember which brands have bags like that, and I’d rather not have chips all over the floor. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404/60 "2023-07-04T22:47:11Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > Finding a chuck key that you had in your hand 2 minutes ago and put down somewhere within arm’s length of where you are currently kneeling, and that has somehow contrived to become invisible. Chuck keys cost all of a couple of dollars. Every chuck should have a corresponding key attached nearby by an appropriate leash. This isn’t hard. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/simple-things-that-are-surprisingly-difficult/986404.md?page=4)