Ever since William Lewis was accused of lacing bottles of Tylenol with cyanide, packaging has all the qualities of Fort Knox. It’s especially troublesome for people who, like me, suffer from migraines and need quick access to pills. I wish I could use the hammer in my head to open the bubble pack that safeguards my Imitrex. Some might feel the same way about a laxative container, but let’s not go there.

Even a bottle of salad dressing requires a hack saw and drill to open, shrink-wrapped cosmetics are impenetrable, as is the plastic armor that surrounds my AA batteries. Opening those can lead to bloodied fingers and carefully chosen expletives. Lewis was never convicted of murder (it was the extortion attempt that put him away), but he certainly left us a gift – one impossible to unwrap.

Lewis died last summer at the age of 72. I hope his casket was shrink wrapped.