Conference turris::womannotes-v1

    I carry a pocket book because most of my clothes don't have
    big enoug pockets!
    
    My purse holds my wallet, my hair brush, my lipstick and
    compact, an assortment of pens and pencils, various unsent
    mail, my car keys, feminine supplies when needed, my calculator,
    my check book, and usually a paperback book to read when I have
    to wait somewhere....
    
    Bonnie

	My wallet, a comb, a tape measure, scissors, my checkbook,
	address book, calculator, keys, pens, drugs (over-the-counter :-) ),
	and feminine supplies.  All of which (except for the last), my
	husband has had to borrow at one time.  I've also carried
	his wallet, his keys, his checkbook, his sunglasses, a notebook
	for when we're shopping around, the film when we're traveling, etc..  

	My question is why don't more men carry purses?  Then maybe
	we wouldn't get pursitis (maybe spelled wrong, but it's when
	your shoulder hurts from carrying a purse) from carrying everything
	for everyone.

	...Karen

    Here's my list:
    
    Wallet, loose coins, a pen, pill box, bottle of lactrace enzyme
    capsules, chap stick, sun glasses, granola bar, pocket calculator,
    my keys, my extra keys, Rich's extra car keys, sewing kit, various
    paper scraps with illegible writting, sometimes Rich's wallet, some-
    times Rich's sunglasses, sometimes a cheap trashy novel, or a good
    science fiction novel.  
    
    Bye!
    

    I've tried over the past year or so leaving the purse at home on
    occasion, and it's wonderful not to have the thing constantly banging
    about on my shoulder!  The few things I really need I put in my
    briefcase.  Now I find myself wondering why I really DID carry one
    all those years!
    
    							Pat

    i usually carry a purse when i'm not lugging a briefcase. i've got
    a wallet, my digi-badge, keys, sunglasses, and reading glasses; 
    occasionally i include tampax. i can usually handle a wallet and
    sunglasses in various pockets, but the reading glasses are hard
    to tote around without losing or smooshing them. when i carried
    a larger purse, i also included an appt. book and aspirin for hubby.
    
    e

I don't carry one because I think they're a nuisance. The things I might need
at work I keep in my desk. Other things I keep in the truck. If I really have
a lot to carry around, I'll bring a backpack.

Jenna

    I don't carry one because I have this problem of forgetting my head
    if it wasn't attached. So I keep everything I really need on my
    person (wallet in my hip pocket, keys and change in my jeans, pen
    or pencil behind my ear). Any other "important stuff" that I might
    need for work (glasses, hex calculator, package of Twinkees) I keep
    in my briefcase. Also, I keep a lot of stuff locked in the trunk.
    
    Deb 

    Le'see...
    
    My two principle purses for 1987 have held:  A wallet with cash,
    receipts, stamps, credit cards, and a checkbook, mostly in two
    names.  Another wallet, with a third name.  Another checkbook with
    a fourth and fifth name.  A change purse.  Various pens and pencils.
    A small loaded gun.  A case for my glasses, a purse to hold my
    contact lens gear and some lipsticks.  A loose diamond.  A hairbrush.
    Two jackknives.  A pocket calculator, a business card hollder and
    two notepads.  My daytimer, and two sets of keys.  Maybe a
    paperback book.
    
    							Ann B.

    P.S.  A cap gun.

    I just started carrying a purse this year.... I never liked lugging
    it around and I also had a terrible habit of loosing them!  I got
    tired of paying 5.00 for duplicate licenses so I stopped carrying
    one.  Then I started carrying one again because I needed a place
    for my necessities!  Perfume, eyeliner, papers, medicine, mirror,
    chapstick, pens, paper, cigerrettes, lighter, wallet, ect.... 
    
    P.S. I just leave my license in the car!

I've never been without my purse and probably never will.  My only problem
when I get dressed up is trying to find a "small" dressy purse to hold the
bare necessities.

For all it's worth, here is what my purse contains at the moment.

My DEC badge, five pens, one address book, one small notebook, two finger
nail files, my second checkbook, the remote for my answering machine,
prescription pills for migraines, one hair pick, two combs, three lighters,
one extra pack of cigarettes, feminine supplies, matches, a letter from my
son's school, and my wallett.  The wallett contains license, credit cards,
money, megabucks tickets, stamps and various store receipts that I might
need.  By the way I just cleaned my purse out this weekend so it's kind of
on the light side at the moment.

Susan

    I carry one, too.  I wouldn't if more of my clothes had pockets
    - designers must think that either women do not need to carry anything
    (unlikely) or that since we already have hips, hip pockets in our
    slacks would look bulky.  I take a dim view of leaving my wallet,
    keys, checkbook, and tampons in my coat pocket (at least it HAS
    a pocket) all day long.   I very rarely use my briefcase unless
    I am lugging around a lot of papers which I don't want to have get
    rumpled or rained on - not often - its a lot less convenient than
    a purse to carry.
    
    Anyhow, some men DO carry what I would call a purse, especially
    in Europe, usually as a shoulder bag.

    I always carry a purse, and it has to be large enough for a large
    size paperback (since so many paperbacks seem to be big now).  I
    never like to go anywhere without a book to read.  You never know
    when real life is going to get too boring to handle.
    
    At the moment my pocketbook contains a wallet with license,
    registration, money, credit cards, stamps and layaway receipts,
    a paperback book ("A Piece of My Heart" about Female Vietnam vets,
    very interesting), a brush, compact, blush, mascara, chapstick,
    several pens, a small notebook, checkbook, sunglasses, sanitary
    napkins, tylenol, cold tablets, some bandaids, some letters, nail
    clippers and nail file, and car and house keys.  I couldn't fit all 
    that stuff in my pockets since often I don't even have pockets.
     I've never had a briefcase, and find a pocketbook at lot more
    convenient and comfortable than a backpack (a lot of stores have
    signs saying you can't bring backpacks in, what do you do leave
    it on the sidewalk with all your stuff in it?).  
    
    I've carried a pocketbook since I was about 9 years old and don't
    consider it an inconvenience.
    
    Lorna
    

    I keep most of the same things that the rest of the people who have
    responded to this note do.  I have the small edition of the Day-Runner
    which has room for calendar, address book, pad, pen, pencil, checkbook,
    key, check register, business cards and stamps all in one book.
    There's also a pocket for license, credit cards, etc.
    
    I can get by without a purse if I just carry that, but it ties up
    one of my hands!  And it's too big for a pocket.  So I put it in
    a leather shoulder purse or a backpack, thus freeing up my hands.
    
    I actually prefer the backpack of the two, but have run into the
    same problem Lorna has.  It's so ironic that you sometimes have
    to leave a small backpack at the courtesy counter, yet you watch
    women coming into the store with tote-bag sized purses and they
    are never stopped!  I only wish my backpack had a pocket which you
    could only access when the back pack was off your body (the zipper
    would be against your back).  I'd feel safer using the backpack
    in the city if I could stash my credit cards safely away.
    
    Holly

    
    I keep mostly the same stuff as everyone else, plus all those zillions
    of pieces of paper with three month old shopping lists, phone numbers
    with no names attached, keys to cars I haven't had in years, bits
    of circuitry, screwdrivers, swiss army knife, an occasional phone
    connector, dead cigarettes, contact lens solution, etc, etc.
    
    It is a wonderful place to hide special presents for my husband.
    He has a real (and understandable) phobia about my handbag (lovingly
    referred to as "the abyss") and refuses to touch it.
    
    Rita
    

    Re: shopping with backpack
    
    I  used to carry a plastic shopping bag folded up inside
    my pack.  If I remembered, I'd take it out and insert the backpack in
    it before entering stores that object to backpacks.  Otherwise,
    when asked to "check" my pack, I'd ceremoniously move from the pack
    to the bag -- anything I would want while shopping OR that I *really*
    didn't want to lose (especially when I lived in New York).
    
    Bob

	Well, I do carry a purse, but in a mode that allows me to leave
	it stashed away for most of the time.

	Into pockets go wallet, keys, and DECbadge.  Depending on
	circumstances, tissues and/or pocketknife, too.  This gives me
	mobility and, um, financial solvency :-) for immediate problems.

	Left in the purse are two checkbooks, calculator, 2 Swiss Army knives,
	pens, dice (3D6, actually), the ubiquitous bits of paper containing
	everything from obsolete shopping lists to a $/1000 table for likely
	mortgage rates, tissues, antihistamines, aspirin-like substances of
	several types and strengths, misc. other allergy-relief stuff, 
	contacts stuff, lipstick, comb, and, usually some small "emergency" 
	toy (shuttle model at the moment).  Yes, I could live without these,
	but they've almost all proved useful often enough to get put back
	in after a cleanout.  And it's certainly too much to fit in pockets!
	
		Helen

    Why do I carry a purse? Because it's so conveinient for me to carry
    all the items I consider necessary. ID, checkbook, cash, keys, small
    brush, lipstick, small cologne and chewing gum reside currently
    in my handbag. Could you imagine all of that in my pockets? I have
    enough bulges as it is! ;-) I can only think of a couple of times
    where I have forgotton to pick up my purse and then it was due to
    extreme distraction or illness.
    
    I know of a few men that carry shoulder bags or back packs to stow
    their necessities in and it doesn't strike me as odd at all. Some
    people just have a need or a desire to carry more than some other
    folks do.
                                 -sunny-

    This is fun!
    
    I carry a pocketbook as much out of habit as out of necessity! I
    usually carry too much to stuff in my pockets when I'm coming to
    work or going shopping for food or other stuff (need checkbook,
    lists, receipts, credit cards, etc.). If I'm just going out for
    fun after work or on the weekend, I will often just take some
    identification and money and house keys and change for the T and
    of course that EMERGENCY DIME that our parents always taught us
    to have in our pocket - and carry these things in my pockets. If
    I'm going dancing (not often enough!!), I will take a very small
    pocketbook so that I can wear it while I'm boogeying!!
    
    I carry much the same selection of items mentioned in previous notes,
    with the addition of sunglasses, toothbrush and toothpaste (got
    in the habit of brushing after lunch since I've worked with customers
    so often), business cards, and lip gloss (I get chapped lips even
    if I stand in front of an open refrigerator too long ;-} )
                                                  
    Elisabeth

    I usually keep my purse with me so I'll always have my wallet and
    checkbook and keys and most importantly my necessary medications.
     In addition there's a comb, first-aid stuff in case I get a papercut
    or something heinous like that, my glasses, chewing gum, aspirin,
    etc.
    
    I never did in high school, nor in college (it was not the IN thing
    to do with a ratio of 10:1 (m:f) and 7:1 respectively, many men
    seem to frown on that, but I have found that they often cram their
    pockets with keys, wallet, comb, etc).  Also, during college, the
    backpack/bookbag served the double purpose well.
    
    p.s.  the only kind of purse I object to is the 20 ton sack carried
    by women on "let's make a deal", where Bob Barker asks "does anyone
    out there in the audience have a 5/16 ratchet screw driver and a
    campaign button that says "I like Ike"?".....but then again, I spose
    I'd fill it to the brim if I might make an extra $50 with it.
    
    -Jody

    Nice to know I'm not alone - I carry a purse for the convenience
    of having all that good stuff with me in case I need it - along
    with things for my husband (rolaids, keys) and daughter (who NEVER
    remembers her hairbrush).  Assorted wallets, checkbooks, medications,
    kleenex, pens, pencils, scraps of wallpaper in case I finally see
    curtains I want to buy, the piece of paper with the window sizes
    scribbled on it, credit cards, emery boards, cosmetics, and DEC
    badge.  I keep trying to cut down, but somehow the stuff grows.

    DECbadge, sunglasses, 2 bunches of keys, penknife, pens, plastic
    bag, wallet for each relevant currency (varies between 1 and 3),
    passport, residents permit (required when living in Foreign), 2
    cheque books, driving licence, things I am looking after for the
    kids, .....
    
    	And no pocket suitable to take more than a handkerchief. Of
    course I use a handbag.
    
    	I was warned I might be embarassed when I visited the U.S.,
    but I didn't find it a problem.
    
    		Dave

    Wallet, checkbook, badge, keys, sunglasses, business cards, hairbrush,
    miscellaneous, too-important-to-throw-out papers, book (always!), 
    Sudafed, pens...           
                                      
    ...too often, my husband's wallet, checkbook, badge, keys,
    sunglasses, business cards, comb...
    
    ...bunches of pictures of my baby...
    
    ...and surprises from her.  Today, I reached into my pocketbook
    for a pen to sign the credit card slip at lunch and came out with
    a pacifier.  How embarrassing!  
    
    
    -Tracy
    
    
    

    I have all three at work:
    
    A large shoulder bag contains my purse, all kinds of papers, umbrella,
    walkman, a dozen tapes, lunch, keys, flashlight, extra batteries,
    plus anything else that might be needed.
    
    A purse that contains 2 checkbooks, cosmetics & medicine, seldomly
    used id's and credit cards, small daytimer, extra keys, stamps.
    
    A tiny wallet that fits in most any pocket that contains money,
    important id's and credit cards.
    
    Most of the time I can carry the wallet and leave the purse and
    bag at my desk or at home.
    
    Nancy

    I wonder where men, and women who don't carry either purses or
    briefcases, carry their pocket calendar, checkbook, spare pair of
    eyeglasses (essential if your vision is like mine), stamps, allergy
    medicine, and all that sort of stuff?  Paul usually either has me
    put it in my purse, or loses it (checkbook, especially) when it
    falls out of his pocket.

    Real men don't use calculators - they hire a CPA ;-)
    
    My spare glasses are in the glove compartment - poor vision or
    no, I can find the car ! Checkbook usually home, I pay cash.
    
    Dana

    I don't carry a calendar, I use MARK/TICKLE in mail for work
    things and remember personal appointments. I don't carry a checkbook
    normally. I try to pay cash. If I do need one it fits nicely in
    a breast pocket or a jacket pocket. Stamps fit very nicely in
    my wallet. If I need medicine a few doses fit in my pocket. Larger
    amounts can be locked in my desk. Extra glasses, if I needed them,
    would be kept in the car or desk or both.
    
    I keep keys in one pocket, money in an other, a wallet in a third
    and a comb and handkerchief in the fourth. What else do I need?
    
    				Alfred

	Which brings up the point that women's clothes are not designed for
	carrying anything.  Even outfits with jackets don't always have pockets,
	especially inside pockets which are more secure.  

        Which reminds me of my first job.  With your badge they gave you a
        penholder to display the badge and hold pens by placing it in your
        breast pocket.  Then they came out with chains you can put around
	your neck.

	...Karen

    I don't carry a pocketbook, I carry a small keycase that has a zipper
    pocket. It carries everything I need. License, credit cards, one
    check torn out from my checkbook for a 'just in case', and money.
    I found that when I carried a comb, I never used it and I have one
    at my desk, my glasses I wear, if I need any drugs, I put them in
    my pocket or keycase. This keycase easily fits into the pocket of
    my coat or in my pants pocket when I even carry it. It usually stays
    in the car and I just take my license and money. I'm sorry, but
    I see no need to lug a pocketbook around filled with stuff I'd probably
    use once a month.
    
    Melanie

    
    Good point, Karen.  It really ticks me off that women's pants seldom
    have pockets (especially back pockets)  Where do they expect you
    to put your wallet?
    
    Justine

re:< Note 519.25 by CADSYS::RICHARDSON >

�    I wonder where men, and women who don't carry either purses or
�    briefcases, carry their pocket calendar, checkbook, spare pair of
�    eyeglasses (essential if your vision is like mine), stamps, allergy
�    medicine, and all that sort of stuff?  Paul usually either has me
 
pocket calender? don't own one, my watch tells me what day it is and I have
a calender on my wall at work, other than that, I don't care what day/month
or year it is. checkbook stays at home, i only use it to pay bills. glasses
stay in my face unless i wear contact lenses, and i have eye drops in my desk
if needed, stamps stay at home or in my wallet which is kept in my coat pocket
if i'm wearing a coat, otherwise it stays at home or in my truck. tylenol
stays in my desk. I don't buy clothes without pockets, and that's where I keep
keys and money etc.

Jenna

    What is MARK/TICKLE in mail?  Sounds like something useful to know
    about.
    
    Holly

>        What is MARK/TICKLE in mail?  Sounds like something useful to know
>    about.

    It's one of the many features of DECmail-11 (not to be confused
    with DECMAIL) that I got used to years ago that keeps me from using
    VAX Mail. MARK/TICKLE lets me assign a date to a mail message. When
    that day comes MAIL makes the message 'new' again. When ever I get
    mail about anything important I mark it to become new again on the
    appropriate date. It also shows up with that date when I do a directory
    of my mail folder. It helps me remember to make it to meetings.
    
    See RSTS32::DECMAIL-11 for more information. DECmail-11 runs under
    VMS, RSTS/E and RSX. It's also that basis for A-TO-Z Mail.
    
    			Alfred

    In 1976-7, I bought the *biggest* bag that Coach made:  almost,
    but not quite, like an overnight bag.  I was leaving for 1 year
    in England for a semi-sabbatical (before DEC days).  I had two
    daughters, ages 6 and 7.
    
    I had the usual wallet, 3 passports, tissues, pens, crayons and
    scratch paper, a couple of apples for hungry tummies, copies of
    professional papers and resumes (never know when a hot job
    prospect might occur, huh?), Swiss army knife (especially for
    cutting cheese and opening wine bottles, of course, but airport
    security never likes it much!).  Lets see, by that year we were
    past the pacifiers (3, in case 1 got lost).  And sunglasses,
    address book, daily schedule for the year (!?), assorted medications
    and feminine supplies (sanitary and/or cosmetic), credit cards,
    and, *of course* a flashlight and a roll of toilet paper!
    
    Yes, folks, there was this day when I ended up with 2 hungry
    children in a museum with a power outage.  After the apples,
    they wanted/needed the "facilities"...FAST.  Not difficult with
    aid of flashlight, much to the amazement of the others stranded.
    And, lo and behold, no toilet paper (that was common there, and
    when there was some, it was often more like wax paper).
    
    YES, I HAVE A DENT ON MY LEFT SHOULDER.  ;-)
    
    I no longer carry the roll of toilet paper or a flashlight.
    
    I just *love* being able to be the oh-so-proper professional
    woman who pulls out the swiss army knife to detach some computer
    cable while every one else is searching "down the hall"...
    And better yet to open that nice bottle of wine!
    
    	Penelope

        Let's see. I have a spare pair of glasses in my car, another in
        my wife's car, one in my desk at work, another in my bed-side
        table, and the last pair (which as I slid down a mountain on it
        isn't very useful) on my dresser in the clutter.
        
        My pockets contain: key ring (house, car, car alarm system,
        wife's car, lab, desk, and suitcase), change (usually about
        $2.00), money clip (with built-in knife and nail file), nail
        clippers (often wandering about outside of my pockets, the pesky
        things), pen, comb, assorted papers (usually a pay stub, an ATM
        receipt and a random scrap with something vital scrawled on it),
        a half dozen paper napkins (there from the last time we ate out
        until just before one of the boys needs his face wiped, washed
        or sand blasted), a decongestant or two in foil in the worst hay
        fever seasons, and often a small toy.
        
        (A few years ago I completely broke up a meeting at work when I
        produced not one but two pacifiers from my pocket while trying
        to find the piece of napkin with the vital tidbit I'd written
        down earlier.) 
        
        My wallet contains my DEC ID and after-hours card-key, drivers
        lisence, credit cards, ATM cards, gun permit and FID, pictures
        of my wife (some of which are not for public consumption) and
        kids, library card and cinema membership, and a few receipts
        good for refunds if presented later, and assorted business
        cards of friends and family. 
        
        A locking-blade knife in a sheath on my belt (of late the one I
        got as my DEC 10 year gift.) 
        
        At times I've warn a purse containing my change and nail
        clippers tied to my belt. The drawstring is broken and
        restringing the netsuki is a pain, so I haven't repaired it. (I
        was shocked once when a cutpurse tried to cut it off my belt. I
        thought cutpurses had been obsoleted.)
        
        I also carried a small notebook for recording my expenses for a
        year or so. It (actually its replacment--it disintegrated) now
        resides n my car and records only gas and milage (and oddments
        written down when I'm in the car). 
        
        JimB.

    I carry wallet (with $$, ATM cards, misc receipts, checks to be cashed,
    stamps, etc, etc); brush; credit cards; license & registration; small
    scissors; pocket knife; kleenex; "weekly minder" calendar (which also
    has a phone numbers section); sunglasses; my checkbook; the checkbook
    for an organization of which I'm treasurer; keys; drugs, both OTC and
    prescription; pens and pencils; other stuff as in numerous previous
    notes.

    Although I occasionally leave it home (it's a real drag at an amusement
    park), that's very rare.  Even in jeans with a full complement of
    pockets, there's not enough room for everything.  This doesn't mean I
    don't wish more skirts had them!
    
    I can't imagine not carrying a calendar -- what do you do when someone
    wants to know if you're free a week from Saturday?  I certainly can't
    keep track of all my various commitments in my head!  My husband always
    refers such questions to me.  His stuff tends to live in his van, or in
    the house.

    He also claims I have an anvil collection in my purse.  I've never been
    able to figure out why it should be quite so heavy.
    
    Beverly
    

    
    
    In addition to all my personal stuff, I also carry items for
    my husband...men don't like to carry bulky or awkward things
    that make bulges in their pockets!  ;-)
    
    Speaking of pockets-the best solution I've found for avoiding
    a purse, but still having everything I need right at hand, is
    camoflauge pants!  You can stuff all kinds of things in those
    giant pockets!!!
    

    Let's hear it for large pockets.  I stopped carrying a purse regularly
    when my wallet was lifted from one on the T two months after
    I hit Boston.
    
    Into the jeans go me, wallet, badge, swiss army knife, change and
    T tokens, random dollar bills, hairpins and a spare barret, a ribbon, 
    recent movie ticket stubs, tampons ("O.B"--the compact kind)(has
    anybody else been as much a clod as I am, and in reaching for a
    wadded up dollar bill for a small cash transaction, pulled out a
    tampon...well, we both thought it was funny, luckily) when appropriate.
    Then my preferred attire is completed by a denim jacket with enormous
    pockets, into which get tucked zoom lenses, small notebook, pens,
    novel, spare silk scarf, gloves, keys, small purchases, 
    random detritus, and my hands (somewhere).
    
    Well, when I go to work, the jacket gets emptied to my macinaw,
    along with two more novels and five technical magazines, my address book,
    toothbrush, tapes, business cards, 7 days unread mail, hairbrush,
    all my other keys, spare socks and undies, and more random detritus.
    It's sort of a purse in shape, but more like my dearly departed
    backpack in functionality.
    
    I don't have too much trouble with women's clothes that don't have
    room--I don't buy them much.  Lately I even try out jeans to see if where
    the wallet will ride.  I used to only swear by Levi's, but I've
    recently found some Liz Claibornes that I like and which aren't
    a second skin and they've gots pockets.  I have two tiny purses
    for dressier occasions...they lose though because they don't really
    work for keeping my hands warm, and indoors my hands are usually
    in my jeans pockets (unless of course, I need them to help talk
    or type).  Maybe I should wear gloves?  Little net ones, that I
    could type in.  :-)  Hmm.