Murse, Man Purse or Very Brief Case

Time was women had purses to carry makeup touch up needs, billfolds, change purses, gum, trash, pills and tissues.  Headscarves and gloves needed a place to be kept during visits or church.  The check book and a separate calendar or appointment book was needed.  Feminine hygiene items needed to be hidden in a container stolen away from sight in the inside zipper pocket.  If you had a small child, a diaper bag would, also, be needed to hold extra clothing, bottles, toys, etc, etc, etc.

Men had money clips or small billfolds.  Some had pockets filled with change and the always present folding knife.  Before the day of wrist watches, a pocket watch was carried in the little pocket nothing else will fit in these days.  Business cases or brief cases were an acceptable form of bag for a man to carry for business reasons.  Only for business reasons.  Yes, men traveled much lighter than the females.

The Jack Bag for when you might need to blow up something.

Times have changed.  Gadgets seem to rule all our lives in this century.  Cell phones, androids, tablets, laptops, detachable keyboards, headphones, MP3 players, iTouch, iPad .. you get the idea.  Us women have it easy, just buy a bigger purse.  Maybe convert to a backpack.  Just one more thing to stick in the bag.  One more thing to dig past to get to the secret compartments for the personal items.  Or the last stick of gum.  Down.In.The. Bottom.Somewhere.  No big deal.  No criticism, no jokes, no sideways glances.

It's a satchel not a purse.

The poor guys have it tough.  Where to keep all the gadgets.  Especially when they do not want to part with the PDA's cause the phone just is not as easily accessed.  How to carry the one shot camera, a Kindle Fire, cell phone, one billfold with Mother's SS and medical information and another for his own information?  There are not enough pockets even in cargo pants!  Besides phones are crushed when sat on or leaned against in a pocket.  A briefcase would certainly hold all the stuff.  It just seems over kill to take a brief case to meet the buds for coffee.

Enter the messenger bag.  The perfect solution but for one thing, most guys are not a messenger.  Most guys are not riding a bike carrying time sensitive papers to Wall Street.  Guys are going into the local Auto Zone to purchase a new battery.  Auto Zone personnel look suspiciously on men carrying purses.  A messenger bag in redneck country looks like a purse.  A man with a purse, a murse or man purse, will get comments and snickers from both men and women.

My sweet hubby was conned by me a few years ago to quite carrying the Land's End canvas brief case.  It held everything and then some of the stuff he wanted to carry.  Then he spent

f  o  r  e  v  e  r

hunting for the particular section that contained any of the aforementioned items.  We I purchased a mini messenger bag for him.  He found it quite useful and has used it in spite of the ridicule.  Just last Friday Son remarked he has to remind both parents to pick up their purses.  The Son did that sideways look thing.

One yummy looking pouch.

Alas, the bag is now worn to the point the zippers are no longer working.  We I spent several hours on the internet researching bags.  Hubby review the different options.   I had 3 shipped so he could try them on to get the best fit.  Two of the three have arrived with one already rejected.  Sadly the rejection would have yielded the least amount of ridicule.  It is a tablet backpack.  He did not like the zipper configurations.  And the strap would not go around his chest the way he wanted.  The last of the 3 is due tomorrow.  I'll keep you updated on the whole which bag to choose.

Until then, do not judge the poor guy whose wife has forced him to use a purse.  It is not his fault she became tired of helping him find the stuff in the oversized brief case.  It is not his fault he wants all his toys near at hand at all times.  It is not his fault society looks with ridicule on a male person that has discovered the usefulness of a bag full of crap instead of pockets full of crap.


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