Carry on

Do you wonder why women in New York carry over-sized handbags, and what we keep in them? First off, please know that when we leave the house in the morning, or, on the weekends, after noon, we have no idea when we'll return, and frankly, it may not be until the next morning.

Ahem.

What you keep in your car, we tote - we are urban sherpas. One might assume that the summer lightens the proverbial load, as there are fewer gloves, hats, ear muffs, scarves, leg warmers, cold medications, boxes of kleenex to tote. But the summer brings its own set of accessories, mostly in the form of bottles of water, air conditioning-fighting wraps and sweaters, and the same sick-related items for the colds we develop as we move from 90 degree, 100% humidity sidewalks to 60 degree, bone dry air conditioned foyers, lobbies, movie theatres, restaurants and offices.

I left home today with an approximate sense of what the next few hours had in store (brunch, movie), and ran a few errands en route. What I carried:

The Usual Suspects: wallet, keys, make-up case (in need of replacement), subway map (which I irrationally cling to, but which is useful for assisting good-looking tourists), subway pass/work ID badge case, sunglasses case, current issue of The New Yorker, business card case, shopping bag that folds to a tiny packet, barrette, cell phone, blackberry.

Today's Special: two packs of Crane's notecards, one bill that has yet to be passed on to its owner, triple A batteries (for the remote for the new DVD player), a sweater for the movie theatre, and Shichimi Togarashi.

I'm just saying.


Previously: Speaking of Handbags