For some reason, this is really bothering me, and it has occurred to me that it might be the root cause of the general malaise hanging over the American Consumer.

You might be wondering what is causing such a feeling, and imagining great and powerful economic forces at work here, but you would be slightly mistaken.

It is a force to be reckoned with, and it’s probably even hiding in one of your kitchen or desk drawers as we speak.

That irresistible force? None other than “Transparent Tape” – also known by one of the many brand names, “Scotch” tape.

I know, you can’t possibly see what the big deal is, but here’s where two massive ideals collide head-on. Grumpiness, and bottom-line thinking. Grumpiness, because it has finally bugged me to where I’m going to say something, and bottom-line thinking because manufacturers sometimes forget that real people have to use their product. I’m picking on “Scotch” tape because I happened to be impacted by that product today.

I was very innocently using the dispenser of tape when it bit me. Not the plastic case itself – since the manufacturers have figured out how to make a one-piece dispenser, there are no seams in the case – but the teeth that are used to tear the tape. For some reason, the tape seems to be getting sturdier – not as easily torn as in years past (or, am I getting old and weak?) – and the teeth on the dispenser are coming into play more often for me. I noticed, as I grated the teeth of the dispenser across the meat of my index finger this morning, that the width of the tape is just slightly more than the width of the teeth. Now, in the normal use of the dispenser, when you are in a hurry and you aren’t paying attention, you might not notice this as you pull the tape off at a slight angle and start the tearing off to one side. But I wasn’t that careless this morning – no, no – I managed to try to start tearing right at the edge of the case, at the same width as the tape. (i checked. the part of the tape dispenser where the teeth are is exactly as wide as the tape. the teeth are trimmed out by the plastic shell on each side, so you have a thickness of the plastic shell, the teeth, and then another thickness of the plastic shell, and this is all the same width as the tape itself.) This resulted in the tape remaining in one piece, and the aforementioned teeth chewing on the aforementioned finger.

Where are you going with this, Cary?

Good question, and I will tell you.

In the effort to pare the costs, even in such a small amount as the extra two teeth on the dispenser would cost (ok, and the extra plastic to make up the difference in width someplace else in the case), the manufacturer has increased the odds of the consumer hurting themselves by quite a bit. And, being a grumpy old fart, I figured that I would just go ahead and blog about it, because it really bothered me.

Overall, the company’s bottom line is looking good – they pared the cost of goods, raised the price a bit anyway, and are now making more money than before. Meanwhile, grumpy old farts and other users of the tape dispenser have to increase their costs by the addition of bandages, antiseptics, and chocolate. (chocolate is a pain reliever, you know. especially dark chocolate)

By the manufacturer’s callous disregard of the end-user, the overall attitude of the manufacturing sector towards the consumer is showing. Consumers are noticing, and it’s only a matter of time before a massive backlash occurs.

It probably won’t be pretty.

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