For hating the new bottle tops

[hopsalong]

What is going on?
Why were we not told that from now on we will never drink from a bottle without the half-cocked still-attached top spraying water/ milk/ juice all over our fronts?

It's amazing how liberals have managed to turn bottle tops into a culture war and think it's advancing their cause to mock and sneer at people who dislike the new tops. But liberalism today is essentially mass bullying so on reflection I'm not surprised.

Obviously, that's exactly what I said. How clever of you to read between the lines and come up with the most extremely unpleasant interpretation of my words that you can manage. I expect you're very proud of yourself.

Fair enough. I'm really surprised how many people are so upset about this.

Personally I like the new tops and find them easy to use. But if they are really bad for.most people I expect the design will change in time.

There's no other way to interpret an ableist statement such as

And people who can't manage the tops... I'd be embarrassed to admit that, tbh. You literally unscrew the top, clip it back, and then screw it back when you're done. How are you managing to hold down a job, care for children etc if you can't manage a bottle top?

You said people who physically can't open them should

1. Be embarrassed of their physical difficulties.
2. Aren't capable of keeping a job as though a physical difficulty caused entirely by poor product design means they would be unable to work - a physical thing specifically with a shit design change does not affect the intellectual capacity to work. Even working in a bar is still accessible because the majority of pub drinks are on tap or are opened with existing tools (metal lids) in the same way that non-disabled people open them.
3. Aren't capable of parenting children.

You couldn't get much more ableist if you tried.

I was specifically talking about able bodied adults. Apologies: I should have made that clear. It was intended as a light hearted comment about people pretending a bottle top was beyond them, not a comment on people with disabilities who may struggle to open things.

You are being ridiculous to suggest all people registered as having a disability, in any form, have an issue opening the new bottles.

It doesn't feel lighthearted. It's pretty much word for word yet another variation upon the theme of disabled people being generally incompetent, unfit parents and incapable of employment due to being useless.

When you spend your days dealing with issues with access, tiny buttons, entrances that require a sprint once you've buzzed in and a heavy door or gate to heft open, stairs everywhere, supermarkets with perfectly wide aisles all cluttered up with special offer shite making it impossible to navigate easily, hard plastic packaging and the whole narrative about disabled people being a drain on society, incompetent and shouldn't have children, somebody telling you that you should be ashamed of yourself for existing and voicing your displeasure with something as simple as accessing food or drink really, really doesn't come across as joking.

'Oh, but I didn't mean you, I meant somebody else' is no consolation.

You are being ridiculous to suggest that I meant all people.

https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9602/CBP-9602.pdf

This shows that again, around a quarter of people with a disability who were part of the research carried out by the DWP, based upon telephone interview - so excludes some of those people and others with hearing loss/deafness - have one that affects dexterity (over a third of disabled people over pension age/claiming Attendance Allowance).

25% of 16 million people. That's four million people before you add in others who aren't claiming disability benefits or were unable to take part in the research.

I apologised for my comment. I'm not really sure what else you want from me. I'm happy to apologise as I see how my comment could be taken as offensive, but that doesn't mean you have the right to endlessly lecture and berate me. Accept the apology or don't, it's up to you.

It doesn't have to be bad for "most people" to be a problem. It's bad for a lot of people who now struggle with opening them. Why should the minority be excluded?

I assume that this was the solution considered best and cheapest. Presumably there are also minorities that find this a better solution. I have adhd, for example, and I like the fact that I don't lose the bottle caps now. So, it works both ways.

Fair point. Well made.

Frankly I'd welcome a return of the Corona bottles. Kids of today don't know their worth! We used to visit people in the road who we knew bought bottles and ask if they wanted them taken back. Many would say 'oh keep the cash' which we then spent on sweets.

We used to go to the park on Saturday and Sunday morning and there were nearly always some left about. Often between the 3 of us we would supplement our pocket money by about 30p to 40p each. In the 1980s that was a lot to spend on sweets! I'd be very happy to see them return.

In most of Europe there are bottle banks at the supermarket. You put in your bottles and they pay out either cash or tokens for your shopping. We should do that here.

I just rip them off. i've never disposed of a bottle without the lid on anyway.

They didn't bother me until I broke my wrist.
Really hard to close with one hand.