Weekend 3-way: We've got baggage

I lug around a pretty good sized purse, which is a good thing, because I store a lot of crap in there. So much, in fact, that it’s often hard to find the specific piece of crap I’m in need of at any given moment.

My phone and keys do have dedicated areas, which is essential.

But the other stuff? Who knows.

Sometimes when I’m fishing around in there I pull out the damnedest things. Barbie doll shoes and sticky pacifiers, expired coupons and old airplane barf bags. Things that have obviously have no place being carted around by me day after day after day. But yet are.

I’ve got a hunch that I’m not the only person with too much baggage though. And it’s the moment of truth…what’s the most random item in your purse?

Beth:
Well I have to say that today’s pickings are slimmer than I thought they’d be. No Barbie shoes or barf bags, although the airplane headphones that my husband felt compelled to take (but will never use) are still in there, and probably qualify as the most random item. I mean really, when is the next time I’ll be using them, August? Never?

Wait, they fit right into my iphone, so actually these could be used at any time and now qualify as useful! (I should really go through my purse more often).

Still looking….




Is it the ticket stub(s) to a concert performance from two weeks ago? Last week’s grocery list (which, by the way, I never look at but my husband feels compelled to send me off with)? Old store receipts? Or the ubiquitous Ralphs rewards card sign-up sheet?

It’s gotta be the crumpled, slightly illegible grocery list.

And honestly, what NUTS aren’t healthy?

Jacquie:
Oh, this is going to be good. My purse is a toxic wasteland. I switched back to the handy-dandy backpack model now that I’m so often using both hands to propel a wheelchair. So yes, that means I’ve been using this purse for about 6 weeks, and already the random-o-meter is binging right off the charts. I actually just finished cleaning out my wallet, because it was becoming dangerously costanza-esque and although funny, that’s too embarrassing to post in photos. Even for me.

Let’s see what we’ve got in there today:

Exhibit A: kneepads and fingerless gloves

Not exactly random, per se, knowing what we know about my kiddo. Some might wonder why these items are in my purse rather than, say, his backpack. Where he could actually retrieve and use them if desired.

Exhibit B: beer coupons, baseball cards, and $11

Again, the cash might not appear random. But please recall, I just cleaned out my wallet. These bills were wandering loosely around in the depths of my backpack, along with several hard candies and loose change and pills that are probably advil? The baseball cards were garnered at the game last weekend, and the coupons? Come on. Beer!

Ellie:

Wow. You two have me so beat.

I walk or bike to work wearing a backpack, so I can't let the clutter pile up too much. I don't want to end up like those poor high school kids bent over in two, carrying their backpacks around.

I never find barbie shoes in my backpack, and I certainly never find kneepads. Or money.

No, what builds up for me is paper.

I end up with lists of things to do, the pronunciation of a certain Icelandic volcano, my Customer Appreciation Day tally, the agenda for today's Parade Parade festivities in New London (amended to include the ponies running at the Belmont Stakes today. Go Fly Down!), lots of copies of NYT crossword puzzles -- I never go into a post office without one -- and a postcard of this guy:

That's Swede, sitting in the Tavern in the old days. Isn't he great? And on the other side I wrote down one of my own quotes, from our fabulous time in Charleston with the lovely Paul and Keely, which, presumably, I was going to send them, but which is still in my backpack:

I think Swede would agree.