What's The Point Of A Stylish Purse?

I decided to touch upon a sensitive subject about which I've written before but still cannot quite grasp. Perhaps someone has an answer for me.

I dearly love Mrs. Griz but cannot understand her reasoning for carrying a large and stylish purse -- I know, I don't always make sense to her either.

She likes to carry a large stylish purse with enough room for her wallet, her phone, a few makeup supplies, emergency medical items, keys, tools, etc. I'm not sure, but she may even have a selection of duct tape, glue and other things one might need in a pinch tucked down inside the abyss. However, when we get to where we are going, she pushes it under the back seat and out of sight because -- I'm surmising here -- it's too heavy and uncomfortable to carry. If necessary, she'll grab her wallet and take that with her.

My thinking is: if she is only going to carry it between the house and the car, why does it need to look nice and stylish? And, what's the purpose of going out and buying a new purse from time to time?

For whatever reason, whether the season of the year, a change in styles or having outgrown her love for her old purse -- I don't know -- Mrs. Griz just determines it's time for a new one. I don't think it's because the old purses are worn out or ragged -- they appear to have at least 20 or 30 more useful years of service left in them to me!

The last few times I've tagged along while she was purse shopping, I suggested a few smaller bags which would have had plenty of room for her wallet, hairbrush, keys and a considerable amount of other stuff, but she never seems quite satisfied with small purses or satchels because they just don't hold all the things she is accustomed to carrying.

Carrying may be the wrong term. Her purses serve more as a container or sack to transport items between the house and the car and a way to keep all those items in one place, usually on the floor or in the trunk of the car.

I do understand why she doesn't carry her purse. It's too heavy to lug around everywhere and just might cause her some sort of skeletal damage or deformity if she carried it all the time. There have been a few times I've had to carry my wife's purse between the house and the car for her, and I was amazed at all the stuff she has in there -- I think it might even contain a few of the tools I've been missing, you know, pliers, hammer, screwdrivers, electric drill and the like. I know I saw a tape measure or two in there.

And even though her purse usually has compartments and dividers, finding anything inside that purse can be a nightmare. She often has to dig around for several minutes and sometimes even dump it all out to find such things as her car keys and ringing cellphones.

When she talks about needing a new purse, I get a bit critical. I've suggested on more than one occasion that she just get a big burlap sack and dump all her stuff in there and set it on the floorboard of her car. It will hold a lot more than most of her purses and I expect they cost a lot less too! After all, why does she need fine leather or cloth if she's just going to leave her purse in the car and not carry it?

The feed sack idea failed. It could have to do with style and appearances or it could be because the sacks don't usually have inside compartments, so I've become even more practical in my suggestions.

"Instead of buying a new purse, how about buying a big compartmentalized toolbox?" I asked her. "A toolbox would work great," I added. "You could organize everything in the drawers and compartments and never have to dump it all out again. Things would be easy to find. And, since you just carry it around in the car, it wouldn't matter that your purse bore the name of a tool company on the outside."

My suggestion would work perfectly for her. She could haul everything she might need with her in the car, including a few tools, just in case she broke down.

Buying a big toolbox with drawers and compartments sounded OK to her, but she wanted it to organize other stuff in the garage and not to replace her purse. I just don't understand!

--RANDY MOLL IS THE MANAGING EDITOR OF THE WESTSIDE EAGLE OBSERVER. HE MAY BE CONTACTED BY EMAIL AT [email protected]. OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR.

Editorial on 05/08/2019