Sunday 5 April 2015

Boxing clever

Boxes: friend or foe?

Lately I had cause to question my hitherto undiminished love of boxes. Boxes create order from chaos. They collect assorted jumble and contain them in one usefully categorised location. They form squares and right angles from irregularity. They stack, they pack, and there is always a box somewhere that is exactly the right size.

Yet a box used wastefully annoys me. Why do amazon send small items in vastly oversized packages filled with paper or bubble wrap? Why not just use the right sized box? They of all people should have a selection of suitable options - they must have literally billions of boxes ready to use! I recently ordered some software that was essentially a CD, but it came in a small paper envelope, that came in a small square box, which was in a larger rectangular box, that slid out of a larger cardboard sleeve, contained within an Amazon box: four separate packages for no reason. By the time I reached the CD I felt like I had won a solo game of pass the parcel.

Also, despite having a range of boxes gainfully employed about the house, when I need another one I can never find one (perhaps due to my unnecessary fear of using the wrong size!). And I'm always sure that I know where to get one - usually the end of a supermarket checkout - but when I get there they are nowhere to be seen. Maybe I should just order small and cheap items from Amazon to get hold of the boxes. Maybe I should order a box from Amazon?!

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