I have a confession to share with you. I used to never carry a purse. Sure when I was a little girl I did because that is what most little girls do. I had a pink purse that I carried when I was young, and I left it at Flakey Jakes once. I used to love Flakey Jakes it was the best burger joint in the world. I was devastated when I lost my pink purse. My mom called them and they asked for some kind of identification because anyone could really call up somewhere and say I lost my purse and then claim someone else’s property. So, the only thing I carried in the purse was a tube of Neosporin. What kind of weird child does that? Well my childhood best friend’s dad used to work at the place they made Neosporin and I am thinking that he gave me that tube, as I don’t remember purchasing it myself. I was able to get my purse and my coveted tube of Neosporin back, in case you were concerned.
I think I might have carried a purse occasionally in high school, but nothing to where I can remember. I just put money in my pocket and that worked for me. When I got my bank account, I carried my debit card in my pocket along with ID. I didn’t even have a wallet. Most women’s wallets are huge and I didn’t wanna try and cram that in my pocket, I would look like a clown. I finally bought a wallet in 2005. It was more of a billfold with Strawberry Shortcake on it. I still have this wallet, even though it is almost 7 years old. It has corduroy on it and it is still in perfect condition just a little dirty in spots. I would carry in my back pocket, when I first bought it. I still didn’t carry a purse. They are just something extra you have to deal with, and I was fine as long as I had pockets. When I was married, I had my ex-husband carry my cards for me in his wallet.
Right after Noah was born, my mom came to me, and sat me down and we had a talk. She said “It’s time for you to start carrying a purse.” She was right, babies have a lot of stuff, I would have probably been happy with just a diaper bag, but sometimes I didn’t wanna lug the diaper bag around to the grocery store or whatever. I wanted to be able to throw a diaper in my purse and be done with it. So, my mom gave me an old purse. It is a Jones New York purse and even though it is 8 years old it is still in really good condition. It only has a few stains and no rips or tears. I still am using this purse and despite the ridicule of family members about my Strawberry Shortcake wallet I still use that too. Occasionally I get compliments from cashiers about it. It’s cute and practical for me. My sister went as far as to buy me a “big girl” wallet, I never used it, it is sitting in a drawer, with the tags still on it. There isn’t a change place in my wallet so on the bottom of my purse there are coins, which also works for me.
I am not someone who cares about if they have a Prada or a Coach purse. I don’t have a purse collection. I haven’t spent hundreds on purses. Heck it was a hand me down, and it is still a great purse. I have thought about buying a backup purse, but now I think about it, I have a lot of memories with this purse. Maybe someday it will fall apart and I will get a new one. Otherwise I think I will keep using it. It may as well be my trademark accessory.
