Spring is almost here and I have completed the ritual of cleaning out the black leather handbag (or pocketbook as my Mom would have called it)I carry in winter in favor of a lighter, if you will, springier purse. I probably could win on a game show with the things I discover in the bottom of my winter purse -- I had the usual stuff like a lipstick with no lid, a stubby pencil, a few cough drops and wadded tissues. I also found a ticket, circa 1985, for one admission to the Empire State Building, a key to a beater car that I no longer own, a tag that certifies that I had our dog vaccinated against rabies in a city in which I no longer reside and a walking guide to the city of Florence, Italy.
Now, lest you think I'm a sophisticated traveler, let me explain. I am not. I am, however, a pack rat. Yes, this purse has actually been to all those places over a span of 20+ years. I have to say the purse is still in pretty good shape after all this time, other than the hole in the front pocket lining that allows any number of odd bits to slide through it into the actual bottom of the bag. When I root around in there, I find the missing lid to the lipstick, another lipstick that I never wear (probably because I lost track of it!) and a small bottle of perfume I bought in Paris in 2000.
I went with my spring purse to the grocery store and, of course, did not have my discount coupon -- it was still in the black bag. I went to buy knee highs at a discount mall and did I have my "Members Only" club card? No, I had several others from different merchants but not the one I needed. You guessed it, it was still in the black bag.
Over the next few months I will be able to identify all the bits that I need to function as a consumer in society. I will place them in my spring purse and go about my business. However, come winter, when I go shopping again I will have to explain to the clerk that although I have the coupon or card that she requires to ring up my sale, I have recently changed purses and don't have the blasted thing on me.
No doubt, she will smile and say, "I understand completely."
