As
a result of my article on the size of women’s purses I received a
number of comments….all favorable and in agreement with my point
of view. In fairness to the ladies, this week I’d like to expound
on the wallet/billfold carrying habits of the male species. Trying
to compare the items that men carry to those carried by women
cannot be done very accurately since it’s like comparing apples to
watermelons.
Men don’t carry diapers and baby bottles. Men don’t carry extra
sewing kits and buttons. Men don’t carry their entire medical
histories around with them either. Men do carry more credit cards
than they need. I think I have about 15. Most of these I never
use, but men have a tendency to keep as many credit cards on hand
as they can carry as a sort of macho/trophy indicator of some
sort. You can never tell when you might run out of gas and just
happen to be close to the only service station left in the entire
free world that only accepts some credit card that you haven’t
used in 12 years. It could happen and you would do well to be
prepared.
Think about the scouting motto…”Be Prepared” …see, that should
give you some indication about the thought process assigned to the
males of this planet. On the other hand, take notice that only the
GIRL scouts SELL something which should give you another
indication that women are trained early on to become proficient in
the techniques of SHOPPING. Anyway, back to my story. If you were
to perform an autopsy on the average wallet, you’d probably find a
number of useful items. Such as 21 business cards from people he
met once at some trade show in Milwaukee, Peoria and Reno. He has
no clue as to why he keeps them, but will swear to you that they
have a purpose, and he knows it’s important. He just can’t think
of it right now. He will have several phone numbers written on
small scraps of paper, some of which are so old they don’t have
any area codes. He will never throw these away for one reason or
another. He will never keep a receipt for any clothes he has
bought, but he will keep one for a fishing lure. His hunting and
fishing license from 2 years ago will still be in there, he never
can tell when he’ll have to use it again. His kids are grown, but
his pictures of them would make you think they still play little
league. His picture of his wife is before she had gray hair. The
pictures of his deer and last good trout are updated every year.
He has some stamps..only problem is they are for 25 cents and not
good for anything except postcards. He’ll keep some bonus coupons
for some sale or another that expired over a year ago. He thinks
they may come in handy sometime in the future.
The male gets by without a purse for another very good reason
which is pockets. We use them for our keys, pocketknife, change,
glasses and cash. There was a fashion movement some years ago,
where men were encouraged to carry a purse. It didn’t last for
very long. In retrospect I don’t think it was because they weren’t
practical. It may have been that we just couldn’t remember to pick
them up and carry them with us when we leave. Another reason that
you see women carrying the babies more than men. We’d set them
down somewhere and forget where we left them if it was our
responsibility. Isn’t nature wonderful? Just look at the
kangaroo.. it’s the female that has the purse…..and does the
carrying. I think the male has a pouch as well, I couldn’t find
any information to the contrary. The last report of an
investigation of the contents of a male pouch revealed among other
things several credit cards….some old pictures and……
