The Purse

So, at a Starbucks, I was rummaging through my handbag for the stupid Christmas drink card (the one where you have to buy so many Starbucks drinks to get a free planner you will use for 2 months tops in a year) and finally had to admit I’m a junkie – a junk collector that is; and the worst kind. I can’t seem to throw out anything from my handbag (even when I have to change handbags every so often, I still carry over the junk from the last one). My friend, who witnessed the entire rummaging incident at the Starbucks counter (and who found herself squirming and apologizing to the queue of people behind us), gave me a stern lecture about the “Rule of Essentials” later – “You only keep what is absolutely necessary in your purse,” she said, “… the things without which, from day to day, you would feel vulnerable without.” Sounds easy, I thought. “The question that needs to be asked,” she continues, “is: If I am run over by a car or a bus today, what will the coroner say about me when all the stuff in my handbag gets tucked away in some plastic bag?”

I’ve toiled and troubled. By the end of the day, here are my Top 10 (and not necessarily in order of importance):

1. Wallet, of course. And that includes my BPI ATM (for EPS purchases) and my Citibank credit card (I’ve had it for ages).
2. Cellphone. Self-explanatory.
3. Car keys. Maybe this shouldn’t count because it actually means the car which you can’t fit into a purse …

So ...

3. Paper powder. I can’t stand a shiny nose.
4. Lip liner. Works wonders when you don’t otherwise put any makeup, including lipstick, on.
5. A good pen. That meaty check merits a serious flourish.
6. Floss. For paella-negro type moments (sadly, experience taught me the value of always having Oral-B, Waxed, on-hand …)
7. A nailclipper. Uh-huh. My fingernails grow suddenly long (and make typing on the computer inefficient) as I am working on the most rush-rush of documents.
8. Thumb-drive. Beats relying on someone to email you that all-important document you just worked on together on his computer.
9. House keys. You never want to be shut out of your own apartment. Especially when you need very badly to pee after being stuck in hour-long traffic.
10. Last but certainly not the least, a concealer. Damn hormones.