15 Apr 2010
Why Is My Handbag So Much Bigger Than Yours?
I love big bags. A normally frugal person when it comes to buying clothes, I lose all sense of proportion when it comes to a nice cavernous bag that will hold everything I toss in and beg for more.
I’ve never understood how my friends can meet me for a movie carrying only a wallet…or a stylish little bag slung over the shoulder, so flat that it can’t possibly even contain a wallet. Don’t they need…well…everything with them?
I think of my bags as a kind of Boy Scout strategy; I’m always prepared. I might need any of this stuff at any moment. So here’s what’s typically in my bag (this is one of my favorite bags, a Longchamp I bought in Paris):
1) Kindle eBook reader. I’ve got 45 books loaded on there. You never know when you’ll get a minute to read, right?
2) Little yellow bag. It holds my earphones (for listening to music on the iPhone, listening to books on the Kindle, and using on airplanes in place of the horrible things the airlines provide), bottle of Zantac (a person could get indigestion at any moment), some Compeed blister pads (ditto about blisters), packs of gum.
3) Green lipstick case. A couple of lipsticks, a pot of lip balm, a few extra pens (pens do run out of ink, you know.)
4) Red camera case. Now that I blog and write a newsletter about Paris, I take pictures constantly.
5) Pack of Kleenex. Actually, this is a representative pack. There are usually at least three or four in my bag. Besides the obvious sneeze protection, very useful if you suddenly find yourself peeing in the woods. Not that I do, but I could.
6) Green glasses case. Can’t read without my glasses.
7) Passport. My passport is always on me. I’m just waiting for somebody to say, “Let’s go to Barcelona right now.” So far, nobody has. (See “Always Prepared,” above.) But I also much prefer using my passport going through airport security. You can stick your boarding pass and bag check tag in it. Makes a nice little package you’re not likely to lose going through the line. It’s too easy to drop a driver’s license.
Red sunglasses case. I always anticipate sunshine, don’t you? (I cannot figure out how this annoying little face appeared in my blog in place of the numeral 8, but I can’t make it go away.)
9) Wallet. Duh. This is a beautiful one my friend Mark gave me last year.
10) iPhone. I never loved a cellphone till I got this puppy. Email at a touch? Check. Entire phone and email directory? Check. Instant map of exactly where I am now? Check. App for translating this paragraph into French? Check. Unlike any other cellphone I’ve ever owned, I actually leave this one on.
11) Keys. Two keys for the front door, one for the apartment building garage door. Car key. Basement storage locker key (not that I ever go there). And all those little dangly things like gym entrance card, Safeway card, library card. (Okay, now that I have my Kindle I never go to the library anymore, but I could.)
12) Pen. One of many. (See 3 above.)
13. Little orange journal for taking notes. Sometimes you’ve just got to grab the thought as it comes. Yes, I could do it on my iPhone, but I don’t type so well with my thumbs.
14. Purple umbrella. Never know when it’s going to rain.
15. Compass on a red lanyard. You come up from a subway in a part of a city you don’t know well, and the compass is your best friend. I have actually navigated the twisting, never-parallel streets of Venice from one end to the other with my compass. Works way better than a map.
16) Missing: an Apple iPad. I lust for one, but I’m waiting for the next generation. Might replace the little orange journal and the Kindle. Might.
It all feels necessary to me. What’s in your handbag that you can’t live without?
This is totally hilarious!
I am one of your friends who meets you with a tiny purse and travels with a small suitcase, no matter how long I’m going to be gone. I cannot abide schlepping in any form. Even at the risk of not having something I might need or want. You plan for every eventuality– I don’t. Who knew our bag behavior could be such a metaphor!
Judy Leaver
April 16th, 2010 at 7:31 ampermalink
I’m still jealous you have that Longchamp in that color! I haul all kinds of stuff – but in Paris particularly, I NEVER leave home without my petit parisien map, my reusable shopping bag from Monoprix and my camera (even though I forget to take pictures).
Donna Morris
April 16th, 2010 at 9:21 ampermalink
Judy, you’re absolutely right — a very good metaphor. Makes me wonder how deep that goes through other things in my life.
And Donna, oh, a reusable shopping bag! I should have one! And of course, in Paris, I also carry the map book and a subway map — but never a guidebook.
Sheila Campbell
April 16th, 2010 at 9:29 ampermalink
Of course I had to empty my purse and take a picture of the contents. A smaller purse than yours and fewer items but that will change when I get my iPad–next generation, just like you! I never leave home without my epipen. I also have a little green case for all my coffee cards. This is Seattle after all!
Pat McGovern
April 26th, 2010 at 12:26 pmpermalink
Sheila, I love this post.
I am more neurotic than you, so in addition to much of what you carry, I also always have a small flashlight with fresh batteries; hand sanitizer; tube of lotion/moisturizer; a dozen low-dosage aspirin; and an inhaler in case of asthma (not that I’ve been afflicted for 20 years). I also have a leopard-print carry bag (lined in orange) which folds into a neat little packet. Because you just never know…
Nancy G.
May 8th, 2010 at 8:07 pmpermalink
Nancy, you are a woman after my own heart!
Sheila Campbell
May 9th, 2010 at 7:34 ampermalink