My turn! My turn! Just as my lifestyle has changed over the years, so has what I choose to carry with me as I adventure through life. I have vague memories of carrying a purse in high school, but I couldn’t say what was in it; probably make up. What I do remember is paring way down when I got to college. I found an old change purse with my name on it that someone had given me as a child. It was just the right size to hold my driver’s license and some cash. If I was heading to class or the library, it was easily dropped into my backpack and off I went. Those days are gone, but I’ve stuck with the paradigm of using “stages” of baggage. My life today functions well with the four-stage model described below. Keys are another story entirely. It was only this year that I discovered that the stage model could be applied to keys as well. I found myself with a job that entailed two separate sets of keys in addition to my own personal key set. I was not about to lug all that metal around with me all the time, nor was I fond of breaking my fingernails trying to get the necessary keys on and off a traditional key chain. I found my perfect key chain at a car wash. It is small, simple and makes key removal extremely easy. All you have to do is pull on the band that holds the keys and you can remove or add whatever you want, and when you let go, everything snaps back into place. Now I use that for my everyday keys and I’ve added cheap “dog leash clasps” to the other sets and can snap them on to any other key set at will. Enough keys, on to the stages: Stage One: ID/Cash/Keys This stage is for walking the dog, exercising, and going to bars or parties. I never know what to do with my purse at parties. If I’m exercising, I use an even more abbreviated version, just ID and house key (Stage Zero?). I never, never leave the house without ID. Stage Two: Wallet/Keys/Pager My wallet must satisfy two conditions. First, it must have a change purse that closes securely. Second, it must fit into my pocket. The wallet I have right now is the largest one I’ve owned as an adult. It’s a bi-fold with a snap closure and an external change purse. It contains the following. $1.40 in change and four dollar bills small jewelry screwdriver, my eyeglasses used to fall apart regularly two of the “key sized” member cards for grocery stores I don’t frequent scrap of paper with the code to the office alarm system SubClub card debit card for checking account ATM card for savings account Visa card, ASU alumni association Safeway club card AAA card, always take that! auto insurance card US West calling card HMO insurance cards AZ driver’s license emergency notification card credit card sized, solar calculator wedding picture Stage Three: Purse The purse has to be large enough to fit my camera in it, which is just a normal point-and-shoot type of camera. There also has to be a special place for my keys, so they don’t sink to the bottom and get lost. Finally, it has to be small enough that the items don’t move around much, so I can find what I need quickly. Oops, I almost forgot one more important point; the top has to close so that things don’t fall out. The purse I have now is brown leather, about 7 inches deep, 10 inches wide, and about 5 inches thick. It has a long, thin shoulder strap that I can wear over my shoulder or put my neck and arm through so that it crosses my chest and stays more securely in place. I bought it at Payless Shoe Source after the lining in my Perry Ellis bag ripped. (Perry Ellis did not meet two of the qualifications listed above, either.) This one happens to fit in the bottom drawer of my desk, which I think will be a requirement from now on. The brown bag has three compartments, containing: Small front pocket: credit, debit, and ATM receipts to be given to my bookkeeper/husband return address labels, courtesy of Paralyzed Veterans of America user’s guide for my pager with my husband’s pager number scribbled on it Certs Powerful Mints in credit card sized dispenser card holder – Costco, ASU student ID, Coffee Plantation punch card, Hollywood video rental card, Modern Woman charge card, Discount Club card, and business cards 98-99 monthly planner, courtesy of Desert Schools Federal Credit Union, inside the back cover are punch cards, business cards for StandUp for Kids volunteer organization, postage stamps, Entertainment 98 coupons, and a post it note with the phone numbers for one of my fellow StandUp for Kids volunteers. Middle section, the largest part: wallet camera spare roll of film hairbrush feminine hygiene case scrunchie, white, unused since I cut my hair pair of small earings Zip-around back pocket: business card with StandUp for Kids founder’s cell phone number written on the back, in business card slot squeeze tube of Blistex in the photo pocket, sometimes included in Stage One small metal nail file with cover in the photo pocket nail clipper in the photo pocket three pens in pen holders – Pentel RSVP in purple (fun), Le Pen in burgundy (stylish), and Hybrid Gel Roller in black (professional) keys pager tiny bottle of black and orange glitter nail polish lipstick, L’Oreal Colour Endure Lipcolour in Mauve Amour, for business meetings, lunch with Mom, and self-esteem emergencies Stage Four: Attaché Case Alright, so it’s a glorified book bag, it was free. Actually, it’s very nice. It’s soft, black pseudo-leather and mesh with a shoulder strap and handles. The bottom is made to accordion-out to a larger width when you unzip it, a feature I have found very handy. I used to carry a back pack, but I’d only hang it over one shoulder anyway, so when I got an office job, I figured I could use something a little more “grown up” or maybe, clandestine? Either way, this is a very basic bag. The main “book” area holds: pad-folio with yellow tablet, rose stationery, and a pen a list of a few hundred foundations that might possibly grant money to our local StandUp For Kids chapter single-subject, green spiral notebook, with Pentel Twist-Erase mechanical pencil and floppy disk two of four text books for my current class file folder with copies of everything that I’ve sent to the Graduation office several copies of StandUp for Kids information packets my husband’s old 486 laptop, with power box and cord The array of side pockets and compartments etc holds: pens – probably purple and green RSVPs other membership and business cards that I don’t use bank deposit envelopes and slips stuff I haven’t looked at in the last 6 months The larger flap pocket that fastens over the other compartments holds: bottle of Aleve map of downtown Tempe and local restaurants menu from Kyoto Bowl miscellaneous papers small bottle of hand lotion large metal nail file with cover random items often contains Stage Two directly, skipping Stage Three entirely There you have it, the four stages of life with Jenny. When I bring my lunch to work I usually carry it in a plastic grocery bag and leave the bag in my car when I’m done so I can use it as a trash can. When I leave town for more than a day, I pack everything into a sport bag, including shampoo and soap, etc. It’s wonderful not to have to wait for baggage at the airport, just land and go. For more information about StandUp for Kids, please see www.standupforkids.org. Thanks! Back Home | Index | Notification | Webcam | Dreams | Mood Swings | Tea Leaves Books | Music | Reflections | Guestbook | Postcards | Web Design | Bio | Search Copyright © 1998 Willa G. Cline