What’s in my bag?

I have a confession to make. Not something deep and dark but something a little more fun than that.

<deep breath>

I do not carry a purse. I never ever ever have. Don’t get me wrong, a purse is a useful thing. To some people.

I am not that kind of people. I just never got into the habit of carrying anything other than my backpack when I was high school or college. Any of the colleges.

I just done see why I should carry a school bag and a purse. This seems counterintuitive to me. Why carry 2 things when one would do?

To carry the thought further, why carry 1 thing when nothing will work as well.

What about your wallet? I carry it.

What about your phone. I carry it.

What about your keys? I tuck them into the back of the pants/shorts/skirts that I am wearing. The larger key fob keys has made this possible.

There is also this new-fangled thing that men have enjoyed for centuries. It is a small pouch that is sewn into the seam of the pants they are wearing.

I think they call them pockets.

There are a couple of reasons why pockets for women disappeared.

Fashion is one of them. Of course it is. Dresses were cut closer to the body and there was no room for pockets. It would spoil the line, you see.

Apparently there wasn’t any call for women to carry money or to have access to money. After all, the men had pockets. It is the attitude akin to the why teach women to read. Reading and thinking is suspicious.

Eye roll.

Another more sinister reason is that women with pockets were suddenly especially suspicious.

Who knew what she was harboring in her skirts!

A puppy or kitten. Money she had saved from the shopping in order to run away from her abusive husband. Or political tracts/articles that she had no reason to read because she wouldn’t understand them anyway.

This is sarcasm. But what isn’t sarcasm is that it was yet another way to financially control women. Why would a woman need to have money if she could charge anything at the shop with the bills to be sent to her husband. Or her father. Or her brother.

Ahem.

Pockets and access to pockets is not the reason that I’ve never carried anything but a backpack for school or a work bag for the hospital. I have just never cared to.

It just always seemed like something to lose. Not to mention that you have to have one for day and one for going out. You have to match the purse of the day to your outfit.

Frankly, no thank you. I’m a simple soul and I don’t need a purse. But I would like pockets.

To that end all the clothes that I have bought in the last several years must have pockets. Yes, even pajamas. And dresses. And skirts.

The overall secret to this freedom?

Small wallet and minimal keychains. Too many keychains is bad on your ignition anyway.

But what if you need X, Y, Z?

We’ll look at what’s in the wallet next time. But it isn’t much. Simplicity is the keyword, after all.