But here’s where it started: with built-in holes. Five years ago, I noticed that every single paper bag in a stack of 100 had the same notched out hole in the bottom corner. Yes, I’m saying that every one of them had a hole that compromised the structural integrity of the bag. I thought at first that a careless stocker had cut too deeply with an X-acto knife to open a box of bags. But that wasn’t it. Because five years later, every single bag in every single stack has the exact same pre-built hole in the corner. No one noticed. And if they did, they didn’t care. No one in the entire production and shipping chain behind bringing paper bags to a nationally known supermarket chain noticed, or cared, that the bags were leaving the factory pre-destroyed. No line worker. No manager. No store rep. Nobody. Now, it’s spreading to bags at other grocery store chains.