Domain Expertise and the Hostility of Objects

[azurelunatic]

We got some pastries on the last Costco run. The plastic boxes have reminded me that sometimes it takes domain expertise to be aware of how specifically hostile an object is.

Take plastic cake domes, the sort that have the black plastic "plate" underneath, and the plastic over top, and how you can never quite get them to close correctly.

A layperson has the chance of thinking, "Oh, this sucks, but I'm not a baker, I probably just don't know the trick of it."

A baker has the experience and knows the truth: while there are tricks, the plastic is truly malignant, and hates you. They're generally hostile, but they definitely hate the specific user who is trying to get them to close neatly.

Comments

[castiron]

I have just been dealing with one of those cake domes, and you have made me feel much better about my awkward attempts to open and close it.

[sraun]

Hmm - I'm apparently an outlier. As long as I have a big enough and strong enough flat surface (your typical kitchen counter or dining room table works just fine), I have no problem getting them to close correctly. My bigger problem is opening them without having the dome touch the frosting - I have problems with that, but still less than half the time.

[azurelunatic]

It requires pressure from a lot of angles to close, and my hands are simply too small to provide it without help.

[azurelunatic]

It's malicious! :D

[pauamma]

A recurring joke in alt.sysadmin.recovery was that SCSI wants blood or it won't work. An experienced sysadmin can usually arrange for the blood to be someone else's. (There was a core of truth to that. Adding internal disks was a common reason for dealing with SCSI chains and not all case or disk cage edges had the sharp angles ground off so scraped knuckles were a common mishap.)

[keplers_angels]

Thank you for this analysis! You could not be more correct.

[mdlbear]

I have trouble opening them, too; I have occasionally resorted to cutlery.

[silveradept]

Good to know that they are malicious rather than complicated.

[sraun]

I've been very successful putting the base on a non-flexible flat surface, carefully positioning the cover, and pressing down on it. IIRC, I put my hands at 12 & 6, push, the 9 & 3, push, and the slowly rotate around if need be.

[nadyne]

On the maliciousness scale, where do those cake domes fall in comparison to, say, those plastic anti-theft packages that are also all over Costco? I consider myself fortunate if I survive an encounter with one of those things without it having drawn blood.

[azurelunatic]

Those are intentionally, openly, straightforwardly malicious. No pussyfooting.

7-8 on malice, 10 on overt.

Plastic bakery packaging is 4-6 on malice, about 2 on overt.

[azurelunatic]

I worked in a membership club bakery for a while. It was fascinating.

[azurelunatic]

Excellent solution!

[azurelunatic]

They're both!

[kaberett]

*snork*