[Wayner]

I bought a small appliance today and this is how it came:



What have we become?

[Saturn94]

Huh? 

[dlparker]

I bought a small appliance today and this is how it came:



What have we become?

Well, it had to go SOMEwhere. I think I might have stuck it somewhere else..

[charmerci]

I assume they did that so no one would plug it in in the store.

[Wayner]

That would be wrong. That is how it came in the sealed box.

'ner

[JerryM]

Seems to me it's an easy way to tell if the unit has been plugged in or not. 

[pehare]

child/idiot proof.  as a side note - what's this - there's no grounded plug?...blasphemous!

[ebag4]

It's safety orange, maybe you shouldn't plug it in! 

[paul79]

It's a flag for defect, but somehow it made it in the box.

[Saturn94]

Google search turned up nada....

[Wayner]

BTW, I have a cold and bought some cough syrup at the local grocery store and they asked me for my date of birth. Apparently, some national law has been passed that requires all purchases be verified by cashier. Perhaps the two events are related....

[charmerci]

BTW, I have a cold and bought some cough syrup at the local grocery store and they asked me for my date of birth.

Some cough syrups have quite a bit of alcohol or codeine in 'em. But then again, you don't look under 21!

[Guy 13]

The red tie wrap on the plug is like a seal on a bottle of pills,
it's to make sure that the buyer get something that's never been used - plugged in.
I saw something like that when I was living on planet Vietnam.
It's like when you buy soft drink in a restaurant in Vietnam,
they open it in front of you to make sure it has not been tampered with,
because at one time in a small restaurant they put drug in my Coke
and tried to put me to sleep and rob me (THonest to God, that's the truth)
but I took only one sip and fell slweepy,
got up and left and whent to the police,
the small restaurant was closed down shortly after,
because it was not the first time the police had a complaint from someone.

Guy 13
Formely from planet Vietnam where everything is possible.

[sfox7076]

There are also cough syrup abuse issues. Look up "Sizzup". Alcohol is the least thing to worry about there.

[RDavidson]

Actually it's "sizzurp." Three Six Mafia even made a song about it 15 years ago! It's been a problem for awhile, but recently has made a comeback (in the news) as I think young idiots like Chris Brown and Justin Bieber have been hospitalized for consuming it on a regular basis. And guess what happens when stupid stuff is splashed in the news? Right! We alert daring teenagers to give it a try and so on...

[Speedskater]

child/idiot proof.  as a side note - what's this - there's no grounded plug?...blasphemous!

Most low powered devices now are made using Class II (2) insulation. That's the Square in a Square symbol. It's often easier to get UL approval.
Don't connect a Safety Ground/Protective Earth to a Class II unit.

[DaveC113]

It's a flag for defect, but somehow it made it in the box.

Interesting... I just bought a blender that had one of these on the plug and it was defective. I was guessing it's so you can't return it after you use it, like breaking a seal.