What’s in Your Wallet?

There’s a commercial on TV for a credit card asking, “What’s in your wallet?”

There is also the age-old question about what women actually carry in their purses. I’m here to share what I carry in mine.

I have many purses…probably around twenty. Most of them are designer bags that I did not purchase. Generously my sons have purchased them for me. Most of them are small, several are medium-size, and there are two large tote-like bags.

When you buy or receive a designer bag, I find the one thing they are lacking is compartments for organizing. The one I am currently using, and have been using for a couple of years, was a gift from one of my sons and I know it cost more than my monthly house payment. And there isn’t one single, solitary pocket or compartment in it.

With that said, it’s like a carry-all bag for me. Occasionally I have stunned people when they mention something they wish they had or forgot at home. Like a rabbit being pulled out of a magician’s hat, I pull that item out of my bag.

About fifteen years ago my youngest son purchased a used car. On the driver’s side visor, there was an elastic strap to hold papers or whatever, and the elastic was very stretched out and hanging down. I noticed it when he took me for a ride and mentioned it to him. He said if he had a paperclip, he could fix it. I reached into the coin section of my wallet and pulled out a large paperclip. He’s like…”You’ve got to be kidding.” Nope…here you go!

Another time Bill and I were out riding our motorcycles with some friends. Our friends received a phone call from their son who happened to be out riding motorcycles with his girlfriend. She had a mishap on the bike, had some road rash and scrapes. They weren’t too far from where we were, so we rode over there.

Jen was a little banged up. I got my purse and pulled out a zip-lock bag of Neosporin and bandaid’s. One, two, three…I had her all taken care of. Another round of odd looks from the peanut gallery.

Not too long ago I was at a craft fair in Florida. I was wandering around and stopped to look at something. The lady next to me was on her phone talking to someone about something she found but didn’t know if it was going to fit in the intended space. She told the person on the other end of the call that she wished she had a tape measure.

I tapped her on the shoulder and told her I had one. Dug to the bottom of my purse and pulled it out. She measured the item and it was perfect. She bought it and thanked me for having the tape measure. It’s just a small one that doesn’t measure more than six-feet and it’s got a tiny level on it also. It has come in handy more times than you know.

About two weeks ago, my son, granddaughter, Bill and I went to play Pickleball. Instead of just taking my paddle to the courts, I took my Pickleball bag.

Bill had recently purchased a new Pickleball paddle and the group that we play with during the week requires everyone to have their name on their paddle. While we were waiting for a court, I noticed Bill hadn’t put his name on the new paddle. I reached into my Pickleball bag and pulled out my label maker.

Now before everything thinks I’m totally off my rocker, the reason the label maker was in my bag was because several people that we play with during the week don’t have their names on their paddles nor do they have a label maker. I mentioned that I would bring mine along the next time we got together so I threw it in my bag so I wouldn’t forget it.

My granddaughter who is fifteen, stepped back, looked at me and said, “Don’t tell me you just pulled a label maker out of your bag…” Yes I did. She proceeds to ask me who the hell carries a label maker with them. I explained why I had it and she understood. I made a label for Bill’s new paddle, put the label maker away, and went to play Pickleball.

So there you have it folks…you now know the kind of ‘stuff’ I carry around. Oh, there’s more but we’ll save that for another time.

The only thing missing from my purse is money!