All I buy are boxes. I\u2019d rather buy \u201cstuff\u201d but stuff isn\u2019t for sale. Just boxes. It\u2019s a new world; I can\u2019t even guess how long it\u2019s been this way; it\u2019s been a gradual change. You can\u2019t buy things \u2013 you buy boxes, packages and hope the things inside are what you want. Not everything is like that; you can pick up an apple and examine it. You can try on clothes. You can test drive a car, but a lot of merchandise is boxed up, often with insufficient information printed on the carton. \u201cHow wide is it?\u201d No answer. \u201cAre the handles rubber?\u201d No answer. Then comes the BIG question, to yourself, \u201cShould I open the box and find out?\u201d <\/p>\n
I go that way sometimes, using the principle, \u201cIt\u2019s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.\u201d I can only do this if the merchandise is in an agreeable container or I have the equipment necessary to open a box that is glued and stapled or to take on an item in a shrink-wrapped body suit. That\u2019s when I\u2019m forced to start the \u201cget permission\u201d process and try to find a clerk. I swear they hang out in a break room, watching us on security cameras and falling out of their chairs laughing as we hold a \u201clocked\u201d box and impatiently look around the store for help, trying to decide if it\u2019s worth the risk to free the item from prison or to buy it as is and return it later if it doesn\u2019t meet our needs. Even at home, with an illegal burglar tool-kit, it\u2019s hard to get something out of modern-day packaging, especially if you are trying to preserve the prison, so you can return the item to the \u201cBox\u201d store.<\/p>\n
If you go the other way, and decide to open the box in the store without permission, you feel paranoid. At least I do. So, you go about the breaking and entering process like a thief, hoping you don\u2019t get caught and the store doesn\u2019t have a \u201cYou break it, you buy it\u201d policy that applies to both the merchandise and container. <\/p>\n
You\u2019ve got options. But none come easy. \u201cGet a clerk to open it. Buy it and return it. Open it yourself.\u201d Or talk yourself out of making the purchase entirely; saying to yourself, \u201cI don\u2019t need it that bad.\u201d The country is full of Big Box Stores, full of little boxes. That\u2019s made my favorite shopping choice, the ever-present national chain outlet called, \u201cGarage Sale,\u201d or its subsidiary, \u201cYard Sale\u201d. They let you see, touch and try out sale items. Someone is right there to answer your questions and best of all; they are often willing to negotiate the price. There is one problem with these merchants – they don\u2019t accept Visa. But nothing comes in a box!<\/p>\n