Q: I try to click, double-click, click and hold and select Open, and it doesn't open. How do I open it?
A: You have probably already tried this but let's at least cover the basics first. Trash is controlled by Finder which can sometimes act rather flaky. If you are having an issue with Finder itself (i.e. you cannot open a new Finder window or you see the 'Spinning Beach-Ball of Doom' whenever your mouse is sitting over the desktop) then 'Force Quit' Finder in which case it SHOULD (it doesn't always) relaunch itself. An easier solution would be to restart your computer. Have no fear of losing anything. The trash can will not empty out unless you tell it to. If after restarting, you still cannot open the trash can, you likely have something wrong with Finder. Are you having any other issue along the lines of accessing folders or drives? In other words, are you seeing the 'Spinning Beach-Ball of Doom' over the desktop any time other than during start-up?