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Abstract

Friday. There’s nothing quite like the smell of junior high lunch food wafting up the hallways — so of course, I was all in for buying my lunch each day.</p><p id="3ed2">By high school, that purse was filling up with stuff. I had also acquired several different purses. I even had one that was embossed with my initials. And I was addicted to carrying a purse, I didn’t go many places without it.</p><p id="f9be">That purse also became a vessel for which to carry tampons. Even though every girl I knew had a period by that time in my life, I found the need to hide the fact I was having mine — in the comfort and safety of my purse. If you asked the teacher to use the bathroom in class, and took your purse, every girl knew you had your period. That was the one time I left my purse behind — those emergency trips to the bathroom during my period.</p><h1 id="52bb">My bag</h1><p id="16c3">The moment I stepped foot on the rolling hills and hollows that lined my midwestern college’s campus, I realized that carrying an actual purse would mark me as a freshman. No one wants to be singled out as a freshman in college, especially, a freshman.</p><p id="3d9c">That’s why I didn’t carry a purse in college, I carried a bag. Carrying a bag is not the same as carrying a purse. A bag is bigger than a purse and can hold more stuff than you really need on a daily basis. When I was a college student that meant notebooks, textbooks, and occasionally, a water bottle.</p><p id="37a7">After college, I carried a purse and a bag. the stuff I needed on a daily basis spawned more stuff that I needed on daily basis. Through the years, I’ve invested in nicer purses. I know it seems weird to call a purse an investment, but it is something that I carry every day. It might as well be a nice one, right? My favorite is a beige and patterned purse that includes a shoulder

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strap and a smaller strap I can loop my arm through. It holds all my stuff. Even a cell phone.</p><p id="777f">Though I’ve resisted for years, I now carry a cell phone so if I forget or lose one of the things I have to have on a daily basis, I can order another one and do it on the spot.</p><h1 id="8dd2">The more things change…</h1><p id="b6a7">Now you need a phone with a really good data plan. You also need a really cute phone case. The phone case is to millennials what the cute purse was to us, kids of the eighties (we’re not quite boomers and not really gen X). Yikes. I’ve noticed that some women only carry their phones — no purses. How do you do that?</p><p id="ca94">The phone case today is used as an expression of your personality. You can get all manner of cases and even get them personalized. I’m a little old school, and apparently daring, I don’t use a phone case. I rely on my ability to grip my phone as its the only protection.</p><p id="246a">I still carry a purse though. I have to. I need something to carry my phone. Sigh. I’ve come full circle.</p><p id="5cb6">The more things change, the more they stay the same.</p><p id="4a16">If you’d like to read more stories by me and want to support me as a writer, I hope you’ll consider becoming a Medium member. It’s $5 a month, giving you unlimited access to stories on Medium. If you sign up using <a href="https://nparish86.medium.com/membership">my link</a>, I’ll earn a small commission.</p> <figure id="6d87"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://nparish86.medium.com/embed/list/d62dfd2ddac4" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="184" width="undefined"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure></article></body>

Carrying a Purse Means Carrying Crap I Don’t Need

A gateway to more stuff

I carry a purse. I have since the day I started seventh grade. I don’t know that I automatically needed more stuff going from sixth grade to seventh grade. Though in seventh grade, I did start junior high school and that meant the need for a junior high school identification card. So I guess I started carrying a purse for the sole purpose of having something to hold my newly minted ID card. That seems excessive.

A gateway to other stuff

But deciding I needed a purse in seventh grade provided a gateway to all the other stuff I might need. That ID card needed some company, right? Plus, I had to fill up that new purse I made my mom buy me.

I couldn’t carry a purse with only my ID card inside. I had to think up the need for other stuff. First, there was lip gloss. When I started seventh grade, I also had a sudden need or desire for moist glossy lips at all times. I didn’t wear make-up yet, only lip gloss and sometimes, I’d add some eyeshadow, but only sometimes. I also added an abundance of writing utensils, both pencils, and pens, in my purse. I wanted to have a choice.

Since I had a purse and that identification card, I also started carrying a wallet. Apparently, I needed something to carry my lunch money in along with that ID card. I stopped bringing my lunch in seventh grade. They served bad pizza every Friday. There’s nothing quite like the smell of junior high lunch food wafting up the hallways — so of course, I was all in for buying my lunch each day.

By high school, that purse was filling up with stuff. I had also acquired several different purses. I even had one that was embossed with my initials. And I was addicted to carrying a purse, I didn’t go many places without it.

That purse also became a vessel for which to carry tampons. Even though every girl I knew had a period by that time in my life, I found the need to hide the fact I was having mine — in the comfort and safety of my purse. If you asked the teacher to use the bathroom in class, and took your purse, every girl knew you had your period. That was the one time I left my purse behind — those emergency trips to the bathroom during my period.

My bag

The moment I stepped foot on the rolling hills and hollows that lined my midwestern college’s campus, I realized that carrying an actual purse would mark me as a freshman. No one wants to be singled out as a freshman in college, especially, a freshman.

That’s why I didn’t carry a purse in college, I carried a bag. Carrying a bag is not the same as carrying a purse. A bag is bigger than a purse and can hold more stuff than you really need on a daily basis. When I was a college student that meant notebooks, textbooks, and occasionally, a water bottle.

After college, I carried a purse and a bag. the stuff I needed on a daily basis spawned more stuff that I needed on daily basis. Through the years, I’ve invested in nicer purses. I know it seems weird to call a purse an investment, but it is something that I carry every day. It might as well be a nice one, right? My favorite is a beige and patterned purse that includes a shoulder strap and a smaller strap I can loop my arm through. It holds all my stuff. Even a cell phone.

Though I’ve resisted for years, I now carry a cell phone so if I forget or lose one of the things I have to have on a daily basis, I can order another one and do it on the spot.

The more things change…

Now you need a phone with a really good data plan. You also need a really cute phone case. The phone case is to millennials what the cute purse was to us, kids of the eighties (we’re not quite boomers and not really gen X). Yikes. I’ve noticed that some women only carry their phones — no purses. How do you do that?

The phone case today is used as an expression of your personality. You can get all manner of cases and even get them personalized. I’m a little old school, and apparently daring, I don’t use a phone case. I rely on my ability to grip my phone as its the only protection.

I still carry a purse though. I have to. I need something to carry my phone. Sigh. I’ve come full circle.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

If you’d like to read more stories by me and want to support me as a writer, I hope you’ll consider becoming a Medium member. It’s $5 a month, giving you unlimited access to stories on Medium. If you sign up using my link, I’ll earn a small commission.