Annoying Things In Life - #1. Newspaper Cellophane Wrap

Some of you will still remember the days when the paperboy did his round and delivered the newspaper directly into the round cylindrical opening at the front gate letterbox. Many years ago, the concept of the paperboy sadly disappeared and now it is newsagents or home delivery centres which deliver my daily home newspapers. I have a delivery driver who attempts to land the paper somewhere in the vicinity of my property without getting out of the car. Usually my paper arrives before I leave for work, but there has been more than one occasion where it doesn’t arrive on time, particularly during the past Covid months. The trend now is to wrap the newspaper in a very tight clingwrap film which frequently defies all attempts to find the end/edge in order to unwrap it. Whilst I understand this protects the paper from the elements it does become a challenge to be able to read the paper without extracting it from its’ skin tight wrapping. I have even gone to the stage of buying a specific mini Stanley knife with a very sharp blade in order to extract the paper! My background as an assistant surgeon certainly has come in handy on these occasions. I will admit that one upside to the wrapping is that the delivery person (in their attempt to throw the paper without leaving the vehicle) produces some very awkward overarm backflip double twist throws in the air. Hence my paper can end up in a tree, behind the garbage can, in a pot plant and sometimes bounces off the front fence landing on the footpath in front of my neighbour’s property. I can remember many occasions when I have subsequently found the paper days later hidden in the back branches of one of front courtyard trees! At least those papers had survived any rainy days in the interim. Does anyone else identify with the dilemma of extracting their newspaper from the well fitted bespoke clingwrap covering!?