Give your sandwich a roof

The easiest fix is to put your sandwich in a rigid container that fits it snugly — a loose baggie alone is why it gets squashed.

Think about what actually happens. Your lunch bag moves, stuff shifts, and whatever is on top wins. A soft bag does nothing to stop that. A hard-sided container does. The key is snug: if the sandwich slides around inside a big box, it can still smush against the sides. A container roughly the size of the sandwich keeps everything locked in place.

If you don’t want to carry a plastic box, use the tent trick: wrap the sandwich in parchment or a bag, then put something sturdy on top of it — an apple, a yogurt cup, a hard-sided snack container. That item becomes the roof, and the sandwich survives. Pack it on top of the rest of your food, never under the heavy stuff.

Also worth saying: slightly stale or hearty bread survives better than soft white bread. That’s not a fix, but it buys you forgiveness.

Future you deserves a sandwich you can pick up with one hand.