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The day I realized I was opening boxes wrong my whole life | Deep Dive Requests - Vivisector

The day I realized I was opening boxes wrong my whole life

I always just ripped into packages like a normal person, cutting straight down the middle. Then my buddy who works at a UPS hub pointed out I was basically asking for the contents to get damaged. He showed me this trick of cutting the tape seam on the bottom flap instead - takes like 5 extra seconds but keeps everything safe. Now I'm wondering how many people still do it the fast way versus the smart way. Has anyone else had that moment where you found out a basic thing you did for 30 years was actually dumb?

3 comments

3 Comments

phoenix_singh254mo ago

Cutting the tape seam on the bottom flap is the only way to go. Keeps the box intact and nothing falls out. I saw this tip on a packing tutorial years ago and never looked back. Fast way is definitely the dumb way.

the_holly4mo ago

My cat actually sat on a box I was trying to open once and refused to move until I gave up and used the seam method. Guess she was trying to teach me something.

colethomas4mo ago

That's actually not always true though. I used to swear by the seam cut method too until I worked a shipping job one summer and realized you can't even use that trick on a lot of the newer boxes. Some manufacturers are using thicker double wall cardboard now that doesn't have a visible seam on the bottom flap anymore, it's all one piece. And then you've got the boxes with the perforated tape strips built in where cutting the seam actually breaks the whole box structure apart. I'm not saying fast way is better, tearing into it like an animal is never good. But the seam method isn't the only right answer either, depends on how the box was made. Just saying, there's more than one right way depending on what you're dealing with.