Blogging from Thai

Overheard at my lunch with Diana today:

"Where's my wallet. I used it to get off the metro today. Maybe it's in my purse holder."

What, you might ask, is a purse holder?

I feel wholly unqualified to answer such a question as it lies so far outside my realm of expertise. Instead I've enlisted resident expert in over-sized female baggage, Alicia, our blog's first ever guest author. What some call a purse holder, she calls luggage. The names are different, the concept is the same. Without further ado: The Luggage Manifesto.

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The Luggage Manifesto

The Purse

People often ask me, "Alicia, why do you carry a bag so large?" I usually laugh because random people I don’t even know make fun of the very large bag. My usual response is, "I just have a lot of stuff to carry." I’ll let you in on the real truth. I carry a bag so large because for some reason, I feel naked without it. There is just no way I could ever leave for work with just a wallet in hand. Are you interested in knowing what I carry in a bag so large? For example, today I am carrying the following items:

• Make-up bag
• Two notebooks
• A book (you never know when you’ll have time to kill)
• Wallet
• 2 Business card holders that I don’t use
• Lip gloss
• Mini hair brush
• Various papers that I’ve been choosing to ignore
• Two parking tickets which have been paid
• Chapstick
• Gum
• A couple of pens
• Nail buffer
• Keys
• Hair rubber bands and bobby pins
• A roll of film that should have been developed over 6 months ago

The large bag often shields me from undesirable situations such as a very crowded bus or crowded metro. If I have to make my way through an angry crowd, I put the bag in front of me and forage my way through. Being almost 5'1", there is no way I would be able to make it through that kind of a crowd with a wallet; it just wouldn't be the same.

The Purse Holder

I remember back in February when I bought Luggage Number Two, I thought to myself, people are going to be pissed on a crowded bus. I quietly laughed to myself and brought my purchase up to the counter at Coach. I didn’t care, I got such a great deal how could I not have bought the bag?! I absolutely love this bag and I take special care of it. I brought it to softball one day, and instead of throwing it on the ground like other people’s dirty backpacks, I took a large map, unfolded it, and placed my bag lovingly on top. I was concerned, you see, about the bottom of the bag getting dirty since the leather is so light.

So to all those haters out there, the large bag is a part of me, kind of like my child, and I’m not giving it up anytime soon. You can continue with your comments and your dirty looks, but I’m not going down without a fight!